20 Apr 20

Estate Planning

How do you make a legally valid Will during lockdown?

Coronavirus has prompted many people to realise the importance of making a Will. Without a Will, your assets may not go to those you intended, following your death.

In the United Kingdom, a Will requires the signature of two independent witnesses (under Scottish Law only one witness is required) in order to be valid. Without these signatures, a judge may rule the Will null and void. So what happens when you need to make a Will during a global pandemic crisis when the whole country is on lockdown?

You might think the rules around leaving your house during lockdown would mean that you would be prevented from creating a valid Will or updating an existing one. However, with a bit of ‘outside the box thinking’ many of us are still getting their Wills witnessed. How? The BBC reports that Wills are being signed over garden fences, on car bonnets or in driveways, with a solicitor looking on.

The Ministry of Justice says they have no plans to change the current rules as they are there to protect the elderly and vulnerable from fraud. So determined Will-writers will need to continue to find ingenious ways of getting their Will witnessed during the crisis.