Member Article

Redcar law firm sees surge in will requests during lockdown

Cygnet Law in Redcar has seen a rise in requests for wills since the coronavirus lockdown began on 23 March and has had to employ creative solutions to fulfil the demand.

Many people have become concerned about estate planning and preparing for the future in light of the recent news about the coronavirus. This has led to a significant rise in enquiries from people looking to put their affairs in order.

As wills must be signed by the both the person concerned and two witnesses simultaneously, it is not possible to complete one without some face-to-face contact. This has meant the team at Cygnet Law has needed to work on solutions that ensure all documents are legally binding whilst adhering to government guidelines on social distancing.

Gemma Brooke, director and head of conveyancing, wills and probate, said: “The current circumstances have led to a lot of people contacting us wanting to create wills. We have heard from clients that this has given them a bit of control and offered some peace of mind in these very difficult times.

“We’ve created a system where we do the majority of the work remotely, using phone or video conferencing, scanning or posting documents for clients to check, and getting everything as ready as it can be so that as little as possible is done face-to-face.

“The team has collected signatures on doorsteps and driveways, while adhering to social distancing rules. It’s not something we’ve ever had to do before, but we’ve just had to think of creative solutions.

“For those clients who have preferred to attend our office to sign their wills, our priority has been to ensure that this has been done in a managed and controlled way, adhering to social distancing rules at all times whilst still offering this vital service to our clients”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by News Gathering .