Complete Your Will While Practicng Social Distancing

As the COVID-19 crisis has unfolded, we’ve had a number of concerned folks contact our office who are eager to get their Wills drafted. Their only hesitation is that they don’t want to put themselves or their loved ones at risk of infection in the process. Does this sound like you? Well, luckily, we have the solution for this Catch-22. Here at Law Office of Kara Jones, PLLC, you may schedule a free consultation with an attorney without having to leave your home by utilizing our new phone- and video-conference features. Even better, you will be able to complete the entirety of your estate planning process, from start to finish, without ever having to step foot in our office. The process is fast, easy, and, most importantly, safe for you and your family.

After your phone consultation with the attorney, we will begin drafting your estate planning documents. This process takes 1-2 weeks. Once the documents have been drafted, they will be emailed to you for your review. As soon as we receive confirmation from you that the documents have met your satisfaction, the last step will be to get them signed. In Texas, with some exceptions, Wills must be signed in front of a notary and two witnesses in order to be considered legally valid. This requirement presents an obvious challenge to those looking to execute their estate planning documents while adhering to social distancing guidelines. Fortunately, we have devised three ways you can get your documents finalized without having to subject yourself to the risk a traditional signing appointment would impose.

Option #1: Holographic Simple Will – There is a loophole in Texas law that allows one to forgo the notary and two witnesses stipulation mentioned-above. It’s called a ‘Holographic’ Will. This simply means that your Will is written out by-hand, by you. Don’t worry; we’ll do all the heavy lifting. Your job is merely to transcribe the Will we draft for you into your own handwriting and sign it. Once you have done that, your Will is effective. If you wish, you may contact our office after the COVID-19 situation has resolved and schedule a traditional signing of your Will. This will be a free opportunity for you to resign printed versions of your documents, as per our normal procedure.

Option #2: Use Your Own Notary Service & Witnesses – Another option is to utilize mobile notary services and people in your life, with whom you’re already in contact, as witnesses. Such witnesses could be neighbors, friends or family members who are not beneficiaries of your estate planning documents. As for the mobile notary, we would be happy to provide you with a trusted referral.

Option #3: Vehicle Signing – This unique method is our answer for clients who would like to have their signing appointment supervised by an attorney while also complying with social distancing precautions. In a nutshell, all participants of the signing, including witnesses and the notary, will remain isolated in their respective vehicles, only emerging when it’s their turn to sign the documents. After each party signs, they sanitize their hands and return to their vehicle. This process repeats until each person has had a turn and the documents are thereby finalized.

If you have any questions regarding the three signing options, please give Law Office of Kara Jones, PLLC a call at (512) 337-5030 in order to schedule a free consultation with an estate planning attorney. And, please, do not attempt to draft these documents yourself using an online legal service. With such cheap products, you tend to get what you pay for. Dictating how your assets will be distributed upon your death is too important a task to not have handled by a licensed professional. So give our office a call today. Choosing to have your estate planning done correctly may give you some of the certainty you need to make it through such an uncertain time.