Wills, Powers of Attorney, and Estate Planning During Covid-19

On April 22, 2020, the Province of Ontario issued an order to allow remote witnessing of Wills and Powers of Attorney. The documents are now allowed to be signed in counter parts as well. This now means that Wills and other documents do not have to be signed and witnessed in person, giving us an opportunity to continue to serve our clients safely during COVID-19.

Our firm uses leading industry technology to assist our clients to complete their wills quickly and safely. We gather relevant estate planning information from you. We provide you with advice over email, phone, or video-call. We then prepare the drafts and send them to you for review prior to signing them.

When it is time to sign your will and powers of attorney you can choose from four options that we have available to you:

1. You can find two witnesses to sign the will for you. We will give you instructions and a checklist to complete to make sure that the signing complies with the legal requirements. The witnesses must be at least eighteen years old, of sound mind, and not a beneficiary or married to a beneficiary.
2. We can sign the will and powers of attorney remotely via video-call. One of our witnesses will be a licensed member of the Law Society of Ontario which complies the law.
3. You can come to our office, by appointment only, and sign following the safety protocols we have in place.
4. We can meet with you at a location that is a reasonable distance from our office, again, following our safety and distancing protocols.

We provide legal advice on estate planning, including Wills and Powers of Attorney in Spanish, Polish and Serbian.