{"id":20061,"date":"2020-04-15T07:29:53","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T07:29:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smh.group\/?p=20061"},"modified":"2023-02-15T13:43:52","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T13:43:52","slug":"making-a-will-during-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Making a Will during Covid-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s never a great time to write about the importance of making a Will<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, especially when you\u2019re in the middle of a global health epidemic, however the Covid-19 outbreak is leading to a sudden increase in people making or updating their Wills in the UK. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless\nof what is going on around us at present this shouldn\u2019t halt your plans to make\nsure your wishes are protected after you die. If making a Will is something you\nhave just never got around to doing, then maybe now is the time to put those\nplans into action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making a Will isn\u2019t just something for older generations \u2013 it is recommended that anyone with dependents, such as a spouse, partner or children should have something in place should the unexpected happen. Likewise if you are a homeowner or have any other significant assets – have you thought about what would happen to them in the event of your passing? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having a\nproperly drafted Will in place will ensure your wishes are upheld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can you make a Will under social\nisolation rules?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Putting\nyour wishes in place and drafting the Will can be done remotely anyway, so\nstating your wishes can be done via email, phone or video call, which is\nsomething we do for some of our clients already. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re\nhappy to take instructions from our clients via any of these methods to get the\nwheels in motion, and the document can then be emailed or posted out for your\nreview prior to finalising the finishing touches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about signing the Will?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As you may\nbe aware, a legally binding Will needs to be physically countersigned by two\nindependent witnesses. This is typically done in a meeting involving the Will\nmaker, the Legal Executive (acting as one of the witnesses) and another witness.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legislation states that the signature of the Testator (the person making Will) is made or acknowledged in the presence of two or more witnesses present at the same time, and each witness either signs or acknowledges their own signature, in the presence of the Will maker (but not necessarily in the presence of any other witness). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In theory this means you could:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Stand in\nyour garden with a neighbour either side of their garden fences, watching you\nsign your Will, and then they can each sign the Will, they do not have to see\neach other sign as well. <\/li>
  2. You could also be on a video call with two witnesses who,\nat the same time have both seen you sign your Will but then you send the Will\nto them one at a time to add their signature to the document. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    So by\nrelaxing normal protocol and following the legislation, your Will can still be\ncompleted whilst adhering to social distancing guidelines.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you are\nstill struggling to obtain witnesses then we could also provide a video call if\nabsolutely necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Just remember that your witnesses cannot be your spouse, a related family member, anyone who is named as a beneficiary or anyone married to a beneficiary in the Will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Will this affect the privacy of the\ncontent of the Will?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Witnesses\ndon\u2019t have to read the document, they just need to be there to sign it. So\nthere is no need to worry about someone reading something that is private to\nyou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As long as\nthey can see that you sign and you acknowledge it is your Will, this is\nsufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What should you do with the signed\nWill?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Please\nreturn the original signed document to us using a prepaid envelope provided so\nthat we may check it has been signed and witnessed correctly. We will then send\ncopies out to you for your records. Alternatively if you cannot do this and you\nhave the facility to scan the signed document to us to check, please do so and\nthen you can return the original once the restrictions have been lifted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How can you make a start with drafting\na Will?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    If making a new Will or updating an existing one is a priority for you at present, all you need to do to get started is to contact our Wills & Probate<\/a><\/span><\/strong> team on 0114 266 4432<\/strong> or email wills@smhca.co.uk<\/span><\/strong><\/a> and we will be in touch with you to start the process of drafting your Will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you cannot reach us during this busy time or your matter is urgent you can email our Legal Executive directly at Hberridge@smhca.co.uk<\/span><\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We\u2019re\nthere for you every step of the way so if you have any questions our team are\nmore than happy to assist. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It\u2019s never a great time to write about the importance of making a Will, especially when you\u2019re in the middle of a global health epidemic, however the Covid-19 outbreak is leading to a sudden increase in people making or updating their Wills in the UK. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16757,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[494,498,479,523,399,63],"class_list":["post-20061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wills-probate","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid19","tag-making-a-will","tag-social-isolation","tag-will-drafting","tag-wills-probate"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMaking a Will during Covid-19 - SMH Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s never a great time to write about the importance of making a Will, especially when you\u2019re in the middle of a global health epidemic, however the Covid-19 outbreak is leading to a sudden increase in people making or updating their Wills in the UK.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making a Will during Covid-19 - SMH Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s never a great time to write about the importance of making a Will, especially when you\u2019re in the middle of a global health epidemic, however the Covid-19 outbreak is leading to a sudden increase in people making or updating their Wills in the UK.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SMH Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-15T07:29:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-15T13:43:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/will-writing-services.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"585\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brendan Hall\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brendan Hall\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brendan Hall\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e\"},\"headline\":\"Making a Will during Covid-19\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-15T07:29:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-15T13:43:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/\"},\"wordCount\":781,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/will-writing-services.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"coronavirus\",\"covid19\",\"Making A Will\",\"social isolation\",\"will drafting\",\"wills & probate\"],\"articleSection\":[\"SMH Wills & Probate\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/\",\"name\":\"Making a Will during Covid-19 - SMH Group\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/will-writing-services.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-15T07:29:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-15T13:43:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e\"},\"description\":\"It\u2019s never a great time to write about the importance of making a Will, especially when you\u2019re in the middle of a global health epidemic, however the Covid-19 outbreak is leading to a sudden increase in people making or updating their Wills in the UK.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/will-writing-services.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/will-writing-services.jpg\",\"width\":585,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"will writing services\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Making a Will during Covid-19\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/\",\"name\":\"SMH Group\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e\",\"name\":\"Brendan Hall\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe3e3bb96786e02b14d97d1c006fde60e4080a2841fd919bafa62c4cc1c65688?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe3e3bb96786e02b14d97d1c006fde60e4080a2841fd919bafa62c4cc1c65688?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brendan Hall\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/author\/brendan-hall\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Making a Will during Covid-19 - SMH Group","description":"It\u2019s never a great time to write about the importance of making a Will, especially when you\u2019re in the middle of a global health epidemic, however the Covid-19 outbreak is leading to a sudden increase in people making or updating their Wills in the UK.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Making a Will during Covid-19 - SMH Group","og_description":"It\u2019s never a great time to write about the importance of making a Will, especially when you\u2019re in the middle of a global health epidemic, however the Covid-19 outbreak is leading to a sudden increase in people making or updating their Wills in the UK.","og_url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/","og_site_name":"SMH Group","article_published_time":"2020-04-15T07:29:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-15T13:43:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":585,"height":250,"url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/will-writing-services.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brendan Hall","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brendan Hall","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/"},"author":{"name":"Brendan Hall","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e"},"headline":"Making a Will during Covid-19","datePublished":"2020-04-15T07:29:53+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-15T13:43:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/"},"wordCount":781,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/will-writing-services.jpg","keywords":["coronavirus","covid19","Making A Will","social isolation","will drafting","wills & probate"],"articleSection":["SMH Wills & Probate"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/","url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/","name":"Making a Will during Covid-19 - SMH Group","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/will-writing-services.jpg","datePublished":"2020-04-15T07:29:53+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-15T13:43:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e"},"description":"It\u2019s never a great time to write about the importance of making a Will, especially when you\u2019re in the middle of a global health epidemic, however the Covid-19 outbreak is leading to a sudden increase in people making or updating their Wills in the UK.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/will-writing-services.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/will-writing-services.jpg","width":585,"height":250,"caption":"will writing services"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/making-a-will-during-covid-19\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Making a Will during Covid-19"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#website","url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/","name":"SMH Group","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e","name":"Brendan Hall","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe3e3bb96786e02b14d97d1c006fde60e4080a2841fd919bafa62c4cc1c65688?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe3e3bb96786e02b14d97d1c006fde60e4080a2841fd919bafa62c4cc1c65688?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brendan Hall"},"url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/author\/brendan-hall\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20061"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24185,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20061\/revisions\/24185"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}