Creating an Informal Will while in Full Lockdown or Quarantine
In difficult times we have to stick together! Except now... keep a safe distance :)
We know this is a difficult time for everybody and we just wanted to let you know we are here for you.
While at home, lots of Kiwis are taking the opportunity to put their affairs in order, which is great! So we want to make sure you’re aware of the amendments that have been made to legislation pertaining to signing and witnessing your Will while an epidemic notice is in place. To help you out we have outlined the process below:
Advise your Will drafter (us) that you intend to sign and witness your Will during this isolation period.
Our Will drafter will add a special clause that acknowledges that the Will is going to be signed and witnessed according to the accepted legislated amendment when a COVID-19 Epidemic Notice is enforced.
The Will is then sent to the writer
The Will writer sends the Will to two witnesses who are not mentioned in the Will and meet the witness criteria
The Will maker organises an audio-visual call (like zoom or skype) with both witnesses.
The meeting must be with all three present simultaneously. Each person must have the exact same copy of the unsigned Will in front of them
The Will maker signs and dates the Will in front of both witnesses
The witnesses then sign and date their copies of the Will
All three involved must each photocopy or take a picture of 2 pieces of acceptable ID, one of which has to include a photo (acceptable options could be a passport, a birth certificate, or a driver’s licence).
All 3 Wills and 6 pieces of appropriate ID are sent to one holder (at this stage it is unclear who this should be so we recommend it be the Will writer)
If you have a package with us we recommend storing all 3 Wills and 6 pieces of ID in your digital vault.
Once the epidemic notice is lifted, a complete and formal Will should be remade (we are offering Footprint Package customers a second copy of their Will at no extra cost.)
If you are unclear on the process and prefer to have a chat about it feel free to give us a call and we can walk through it together.
Our top priority is to serve you and ensure you and your family have peace of mind and the support only a Will can provide. As a digital company, throughout this period we're set up to continue business as usual. Our team is working from home (probably in pj's) and ready to help you out any way we can. One of our core values is that we'll see you right and we mean that now more than ever. So give us a call, shoot us an email or we can even set up a zoom meeting for face-to-face interaction.
We're all in this together and we're ready to continue doin' our bit. Look after those in your bubble and know we're here when you need us!
