Witnessing Wills and POAs in Counterpart
Thanks to the swift response of the Attorney General, Wills and Powers of Attorney can now be witnessed in counterpart.
The new emergency Order now confirms that a Will and Power of Attorney can be signed and subscribed by witnesses on separate documents in counterpart.
By using video conferencing and counterpart, wills and powers of attorney can be fully executed remotely, giving immediate validity to the documents. Previously, all three signatures (the testator/grantor and two witnesses) had to be on the same document. That required the couriering of the document around for up to three separate signing ceremonies.
You can find more details, our thoughts for the process for executing in counterpart and an updated execution checklist on the Hull e-State Planner Blog (click here)
The updated checklists and resources for your consideration can also be downloaded here:
- WILL EXECUTION IN COUNTERPART CHECKLIST (LINK TO CHECKLIST)
- POA EXECUTION IN COUNTERPART CHECKLIST (LINK TO CHECKLIST)
- AFFIDAVIT OF EXECUTION (LINK HERE)
- ATTESTATION CLAUSE (LINK HERE)
As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions.
Ian Hull and Jordan Atin
Hello,
Thank you for this useful blog post – your guidance on the COVID-related orders has been quite helpful. I do have one question for you that perhaps you have considered. Your Will Execution in Counterpart Checklist contemplates two affidavits of execution (one for each witness), and that the originally-signed will would be attached to both affidavits – does this mean that you are using the one originally-signed will as Exhibit A TO both affidavits? In other words, both affidavits “share” an Exhibit A?
Thank you!
Patrick
Yes, that is exactly what it means. Thanks for your comment.