Alternative Methods of Estate Planning You Can Use During a Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a much greater need for flexibility with work and communication. People are now working remotely and having virtual meetings and conferences in place of in-person ones. With many legal offices and courtrooms being closed or having certain limitations in place due to the pandemic, it has become important for attorneys to find alternative methods of providing their services.

In the area of estate planning, this means relying more heavily on virtual communication and appointments. Here are a few examples of some of the alternative methods that can be employed to get your estate planning done.

• Sending and receiving documents virtually: Rather than meeting in person to get documents and go over them, attorneys will rely more heavily on delivering documents via email or the cloud, and setting up virtual conferences with clients to go over these documents with them.
• At-home document signing: You may be able to sign documents at home by following the directions of your attorney, so long as you have witnesses present and appropriately distanced. Digital signatures are also a possibility for certain types of documents.
• Online notarization: Social distancing measures can make it difficult to get documents signed by a notary public, but online notarization is possible in some states (including Florida) for wills and other documents.

For more information about some of the other measures being taken to work around the circumstances of the pandemic for developing and validating estate planning documents, contact a trusted Tampa, FL estate planning lawyer at BaumannKangas Estate Law.