Estate Planning in the Age of Coronavirus

A Will, Health Care Proxy, Living Will…

Do you have these documents, are they current (please see below), and are the appropriate people aware of where* they are?

An attorney-friend of ours, Larry Peck, wrote the letter below. We believe the content is extremely important, particularly today. Please take a moment to read this. We hope you agree and decide to call your own attorney or Larry …or maybe you’re comfortable with the work you’ve already done in this area.

Estate Planning in the Time of Coronavirus

Dear All,

I hope that all of you, your families and friends are in good health.

Not surprisingly, lawyers are seeing a significant rise in demand for wills and other estate planning documents from people worried about coronavirus.   

In order for a will to be validly signed, the will must be signed in front of two independent witnesses present at the same time.  This can be a particular difficulty while complying with the government's guidance to reduce social contact.  Fortunately, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has issued executive orders permitting video-witnessing and video-notarizing of wills, lifetime trusts, health care directives, financial powers of attorney and other estate planning documents, provided specific conditions are met.  That means that clients do not need to make a risky trek to their attorney’s office and may sign these important documents before videoed witnesses and notary in the safety of their own home, all coordinated by an attorney virtually.  Gov. Cuomo’s executive orders remain in effect until May 7, 2020. 

Coronavirus has presented new wrinkles with respect to advance health care directives. Typically, your health care agent would be in the hospital with you advocating for your desires if you are not able to express yourself.  However, because the COVID-19 disease has resulted in closing off hospitals to visitors and confining patients to isolation, language should be added to your documents that will authorize your agent to give instructions by telephone, web conference, email, Zoom, Skype, FaceTime and other forms of communication.  Also, it is critical to amend any old living will that may have prohibited the use of a ventilator (a common provision), which could prove to be a death sentence if you or a loved one contracts coronavirus.

Finally, it is important for parents to designate someone to take care of their young children if both parents become sick and need to be quarantined from their children until well.  New York’s standby guardianship act allows parents to initiate the immediate transfer of temporary guardianship powers to someone the parents trust until a more permanent arrangement and hearing can be put in place.  This is critical now that courts are closed or operating on limited schedules because, when the courts open again, they will be overwhelmed with cases.  That means that, without any plan, if you are incapacitated by COVID-19, your young children may be left in an unfamiliar environment, possibly waiting a long time for a court to appoint a guardian. 

If you have any questions relating to estate planning, please do not hesitate to contact me at my office at 212-324-2890, on my cell at 917-699-2210 or through email.

Stay healthy.

With kindest regards.

Larry

Lawrence J. Peck
Attorney-at-Law

E-mail:  Larry@EstatePlanningNewYorkGroup.com

www.EstatePlanningNewYorkGroup.com

*An important and commonly overlooked step: let someone know! Entrust someone, possibly outside the home, with the type of document and the location…and access! It is vitally important to confer with anyone appointed in the documents (for example a guardian for children or someone entrusted with medical decisions) prior to document creation and to update them on any changes. But remember location and access are key.