I sometimes commiserate with fellow professionals about how long it can take clients to sign their Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs).
It can be months, sometimes years.
If the ball is put in a client’s court, they can think, ponder and plan to consider the draft documents, for far too long.
My process is different. If you’re able to confirm what you want in your Will, and provide all relevant details such as full names and addresses for all the individuals you name, I will make a commitment to you, that you can sign your documents about two to three weeks later. And we will book your second appointment in, then and there.
Why do I agree to turn things around so quickly, putting additional pressure on my team and myself?
I genuinely believe that it’s good for clients to be able to remember our conversation, the details and the thought process. When my clients return to my office to sign their documents, they have to pass my verbal quiz.
We all know what a Will is. When will it take effect? Can it be changed after today? Can it be changed after you die? What about your spouse – can they change their Will after you die? Who’s in charge as executors? What does that mean?
And are you signing Lasting Powers of Attorney? Why? Why not? Who are you appointing as attorneys? How much power does that give them? When do they get that power? Really? Is that what you want?
I’d like to think that all my clients would remember all these details if we met up eight or nine months after our first meeting. However, it’s far easier for everyone involved, for me to take the instructions, get on with preparing simple documents that will delight, then for documents to be signed in the relaxed but professional setting of my office.
Get it done, and move on.
I’d encourage anyone thinking about getting their Will or LPAs in place, to act as soon as they’re ready, and approach the experience with the expectation of getting things in place efficiently and reasonably quickly.