Legal stuff, Power of Attorney, wills etc.

Lalalil

My partner and I were in the process of setting this up but with the lockdown we’re a bit stymied about getting things witnessed and signed. We were doing it ourselves, without a solicitor, but now can’t go to our attorneys and certificate provider and wondered what to do and how to protect one another legally if, god forbid, we are very ill with this virus. Any thoughts?

mwarby

I would still do your best to put your wishes in writing and sign it. It’s not ideal but I suspect it’s far better than nothing. You could also post a copy to your attorney, that might help to prove the document wasn’t created or altered after the event, if you communicate by email you could email them a scanned copy, perhaps even with a video of you both signing it

I'm no lawyer, just trying to give you ideas as to how to improve your situation with what you can easily do

Jeremy535897

If your arrangements will be straightforward, get a will kit off the internet each. It will tell you how to do it to have legal effect. You can always revoke it later.

p00hsticks

Jeremy535897 said:

If your arrangements will be straightforward, get a will kit off the internet each. It will tell you how to do it to have legal effect. You can always revoke it later.

Like the OP says though, the issue is that having completed it, for it to be legally valid it needs to be signed in view of witnesses, who also have to sign it. This gets tricky now we're all supposed to be staying at home and practising social distancing when out.

If you're on speaking terms with the neighbours (and they're not relatives or beneficiaries) I guess you could go out into the garden to sign it in view of them and then put the document on the garden wall for them to take add their signatures and witness details to...