Solicitors hold 'social distancing Wills Day' in Northampton's car parks and gardens to help clients get affairs in order despite lockdown

A Northampton solicitors firm held a "social-distancing Wills Day" last week where they met clients on fly-by visits in car parks to help get affairs in order despite the lockdown.

In a morbid but frank statement, solicitors Max Engel & Co say many of their clients "are quite rightly wanting to ensure their affairs are up to date" during the coronavirus pandemic.

In response, the firm say they are now arranging incredibly brief exchanges in car parks and other public spaces so clients can sign their wills with two witnesses without breaching social distancing guidelines.

One of the firm's solicitors, Rebecca Walker, told the Chronicle & Echo: "For many of our clients, signing their will is at the forefront of their minds.

"Last week, my colleague Claire Beard and I held a Wills Day whereby we arranged beforehand to discuss, approve and amend existing wills by phone and email.

"We then arranged appointments for clients to meet us for a very short car park visit to sign their wills or went out to visit clients if they could not travel.

"For these mini-meetings, we wore face masks and gloves, took hand sanitiser and antibacterial wipes with us, had a large box of pens - so the client could take one if needed, sign and keep it or bin it.

"For others, the clients remained indoors and signed whilst standing at the window."

In will-writing, the law strictly states that the will must be signed in front of two independent witnesses - who must also sign it themselves - and all three people must be present at the same time.

But with new social distancing rules, this act of signing a will is now very difficult, as it requires three people to be in relatively close proximity to see each other sign.

Rebecca said: "During this time, we have also been asked to visit clients in Care Homes and at the Hospital where our clients have been desperate to sign their Wills and ensure that their final wishes are in place.

"The feedback that we have received from our clients has been very positive and they have been extremely grateful that we have made it possible for them to sign their Wills.

"For some, Claire and I have been the only people they have seen or spoken to in a while. Their happy faces are what keep us going in such difficult times."