
Platinum Jubilee Offer – £70 off!
Lasting Powers of Attorney and Trust Wills
We celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s 70-year reign with £70 off*
Get Started
*Applies to list price of Lasting Powers of Attorney and Trust Wills only.
*Excludes VAT & Office of Public Guardian Registration charges.
*Valid for appointments that take place by 30 June 2022.
Will Witnessing by video call
Amendment to Wills Act
Retrospective will witnessing by video call
Temporary legislation
Find out more
Extract from MOJ website;
Distanced witnessing – ‘clear line of sight’
In the existing law a witness must have a ‘clear line of sight’ of the will-maker signing and understands that they are witnessing and acknowledging the signing of the document, for example if self-isolation or social distancing have prevented the signing and witnessing of a will by people in the same room.
The person making the will must have a clear line of sight of the witnesses signing the will to confirm they have witnessed the will-maker’s signature (or someone signing on their behalf and at their direction).
The following scenarios would lead to a properly executed will during the pandemic within the existing law, provided that the will maker and the witnesses each have a clear line of sight:
Video-witnessing
In the new law, all of the legislation set out above applies where a will is video-witnessed.
The type of video-conferencing or device used is not important, as long as the person making the will and their two witnesses each have a clear line of sight of the writing of the signature.
To reflect this, the will-maker could use the following example phrase:
‘I first name, surname, wish to make a will of my own free will and sign it here before these witnesses, who are witnessing me doing this remotely’.
Witnessing pre-recorded videos will not be permissible – the witnesses must see the will being signed in real-time. The person making the will must be acting with capacity and in the absence of undue influence. If possible, the whole video-signing and witnessing process should be recorded and the recording retained. This may assist a court in the event of a will being challenged – both in terms of whether the will was made in a legally valid way, but also to try and detect any indications of undue influence, fraud or lack of capacity.
The following scenarios illustrate circumstances in which video-witnessing might be appropriately used:
Example 1:
the testator (T) is alone and witness one (W1) is physically present with witness two (W2). Together, W1 and W2 are on a two-way live-action video-conferencing link with T
Example 2:
T, W1 and W2 are all alone in separate locations and are connected by a three-way live-action video-conferencing link.
Example 3:
T is physically present with W1, and they are connected to W2 by a two-way live-action video-conferencing link.
Example 4:
T is physically present with a person signing the will on their behalf (and at their direction), and connected to W1 and W2 by two or three-way live-action video-conferencing (depending on whether W1 and W2 are in the same or separate locations)
Signing and witnessing a will by video-link
Signing and witnessing by video-link should follow a process such as this:
Stage 1:
Stage 2:
The witnesses should confirm that they can see, hear (unless they have a hearing impairment), acknowledge and understand their role in witnessing the signing of a legal document. Ideally, they should be physically present with each other but if this is not possible, they must be present at the same time by way of a two or three-way video-link.
Stage 3:
Stage 4:
The next stage is for the two witnesses to sign the will document – this will normally involve the person who has made the will seeing both the witnesses sign and acknowledge they have seen them sign.
Stage 5:
Consideration may be given to the drafting or amending of the attestation clause in a will where video-witnessing is used. The attestation clause is the part of the will that deals with the witnessing of the will makers signature. For video-witnessed wills it may be advisable to mention that virtual witnessing has occurred, along with details of whether a recording is available.
Electronic signatures
The Government has decided not to allow electronic signatures as part of this temporary legislation due to the risks of undue influence or fraud against the person making the will. These risks were identified by the Law Commission in its 2017 consultation paper on wills. The Law Commission is undertaking a law reform project which will include consideration of the possibility of allowing electronic wills in the future.
Recent Posts
Platinum Jubilee Offer £70 off Lasting Powers
May 11, 2022£50 off Lasting Power of Attorney
April 4, 2022Stay fit and healthy in midlife
March 7, 2022Trust Registration Service | Register with HMRC’s
February 21, 2022Planning: A Pension Guide
November 30, 2021Categories
Services
Leave Us A Review