Wills and coronavirus

In this section you'll find information and updates related to coronavirus that are relevant to the law on wills.

The UK's response to coronavirus is changing regularly and often very quickly. While we'll continue to make every effort to keep this page up to date, there may be short periods where what you read here is not the latest information available. Where possible we've tried to provide links to official sources, so you can check the current situation.

Inheritance tax

On 9 April 2020, HMRC announced a number of process changes as a result of the pandemic, including payment of inheritance tax and signing the related forms.

Signing wills

Social distancing rules and restrictions on movement have made it difficult to follow the strict rules that are in place for signing wills.

England and Wales

In September, a new law was introduced to temporarily allow wills and codicils to be witnessed remotely using video conferencing software (e.g. Zoom, Facetime or Skype).

The change is backdated to 31 January 2020, meaning that any will or codicil witnessed by video technology since then will be legally accepted, providing the quality of the sound and video was good enough to see and hear what was happening.

The government has said that using this method should be a last resort – if you're able to sign your will or codicil in the usual way (i.e. with everyone being physically present together), then you should still do that. If you really have no choice but to use video technology, keep in mind the following points:

• The type of video-conferencing or device used is not important, as long as the person making the will and their 2 witnesses can each clearly see the others signing the will.
• Witnessing pre-recorded videos won't be allowed - the witnesses must see the will being signed in real-time.
• If possible, the whole video-signing and witnessing process should be recorded and the recording kept.
• You and the witnesses have to sign the same original document. This means that, after you've signed, the original will document will have to be given/posted to the witnesses (or each of them in turn if they're not together). There'll have to be at least one further video-conferencing session, probably on a different day, for the witness signatures.

The Ministry of Justice have suggested a process to follow.

The law is set to remain in place until 31 January 2022, although this may be shortened or extended. Afterwards, you'll only be able to make a new legal will or codicil in the usual way.

For guidance on signing in the usual way amid COVID-19, see the guidance below under Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland

Witnesses, in all likelihood, must be physically present. Witnessing the signing of a will via a video call (e.g. Skype, Zoom, Facetime, etc) is not generally thought to be acceptable.

Also, the witnesses must not include anyone who is a beneficiary of the will, or their spouse or civil partner. That means members of the same household are unlikely to be able to witness a will.

Provided everyone remains a suitable distance apart and is present for as short a time as possible, it may be possible to get a will signed while following social distancing requirements. Crucially, the person making a will and the witnesses must all be present and be able to see each other sign. This may be possible through a window, for example.

You should consider extra precautions, such as:

• each party using their own pen;
• wearing disposable gloves; and
• placing the signed will in a sealed bag and leaving it in an undisturbed place for, say, 72 hours (it is not thought that the virus can survive on paper for longer than this).

Of course, all of the other recommendations such as avoiding touching your face and washing hands as soon as possible should be followed.

Consider filming the signing of the will if possible, to avoid any possible disagreements later. You may also want to think about re-signing the will once social distancing requirements are lifted, where this is appropriate.

Scotland

The position is slightly different in Scotland.

A will is formally valid if signed by the person making it. Witnesses are not required for a will to be formally valid. Witnessing is required for a will to be 'self-evidencing'. In most cases a will should be self-evidencing or confirmation to your estate won't be granted (in other words, it could make things more difficult for your executors after you've died).

If you can arrange for a suitable witness to be physically present when you sign your will, you can apply the suggestions above (under England, Wales and Northern Ireland).

If you can't arrange for a suitable witness to be physically present, then, unlike in the rest of the UK, you're allowed to use any form of video call:

1. While on the video call, sign the will on each page, including the last page, making sure that the witness can see you do this.

2. Send the will to the witness, so that they can sign it and add the relevant information (i.e., their full name and address, and the place and date of signing).

If, however, you cannot find a suitable person to be a witness, and you cannot access any form of video call, then you can just sign and date the will. This will still result in a valid will – it just won't be self-evidencing. If you do this, you should sign a replacement, fresh copy of the will with witnesses as soon as possible after self-isolation and social-distancing measures have been lifted, so you can make it self-evidencing.

Wills and capacity

Sometimes, there might disputes about a person's mental capacity to make a will. These can be avoided or the risk reduced if a medical practitioner confirms that the person has the requisite capacity and, at the same time, makes a record of their examination and findings.

However, even before the pandemic, it was not always easy to find a medical practitioner to provide a report on testamentary capacity. Now it is likely to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, given the enormous pressure on the NHS, although a remote assessment may be a more likely prospect than one face-to-face. There are private providers that can conduct remote assessments at a cost.

There is no answer to this; it is simply a risk factor that should be noted and another reason, perhaps, why you should think about re-signing the will once social distancing requirements are lifted. Ultimately, it is likely to be better to make the will than not to do so.