Virtual Witnessing and Executing a Will or Power of Attorney
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ontario government issued an Emergency Order in Council (the “Emergency Order”) allowing Wills and Powers of Attorney for Property and Personal Care to be virtually executed and witnessed.
A valid Will or Power of Attorney in Ontario requires a signature of the individual making the Will or giving the Power of Attorney in the presence of two witnesses. The proper witnesses must be:
- Over the age of 18;
- Not a beneficiary under the Will or a spouse of the beneficiary;
- Not one of the named attorneys or a spouse or partner of a named attorney; and lastly,
- Not a child of the person granting the Power of Attorney.
All parties must be physical together for the signing of the document. If these rules are not followed precisely, the Will or Power of Attorney will not be considered valid.
The Emergency Order that has now been put in place, states that the requirements that a Will or Power of Attorney be signed in the presence of two witnesses “may be satisfied by means of audio-visual communication technology”. This includes “any electronic method of communication in which participants are able to see, hear and communicate with each other in real time”. These methods include the increasingly popular Zoom videoconferencing application, FaceTime, Skype and/or any other application that the two witnesses can use to see and hear each other all times during the signing of the documents.
In order to prevent issues of lack of capacity and/or undue influence from occurring when the signing of a Will or Power of Attorney is being virtually witnessed, the Emergency Order has required that at least one of the virtual-witnesses must be a licensed lawyer or certain paralegal in Ontario.
Noohi Law is here to help you draft a Will or update an existing Will from the safety and comfort your home. Contact us today at 647-957-0218.
