As a result of the COVID19 pandemic and state of emergency resulting therefrom, on May 19, 2020, the BC Government officially loosened the restrictions surrounding the execution of estate planning documents. It is now possible for Wills, Powers of Attorneys ("POAs"), and Representation Agreements ("RAs") to be executed using video conferencing technology.

Wills

With respect to the execution of Wills, will-makers and witnesses can now sign a Will in counterpart and witness the signing in each other’s “electronic presence” (ie. via video conferencing) according to Ministerial Order No. M161. For these rules to apply, at least one of the witnesses must be a lawyer, and the Will must contain a statement confirming that the requirements of the order were met.

POAs & RAs

With respect to the execution of POAs, donors, their attorneys, and witness(es) can now sign a POA in counterpart and witness the signing in each other’s electronic presence according to Ministerial Order No. M162. In this case, the witness must be a lawyer or notary public, and as with Wills, the POA must contain a statement confirming that the requirements of the order were met.

Ministerial Order No. M162 also applies to RAs. As with the other documents, the witness must be a lawyer or notary public, and the RA must contain a statement confirming that the requirements of the order were met.

This article is intended for information purposes only and should not be taken as the provision of legal advice. Grace C. Cleveland is a lawyer with the law firm of Cleveland Doan LLP and can be reached at (604)536-5002 or grace@clevelanddoan.com.