This isn’t fair!

A few days before Mother’s Day this year, I was supposed to be picking my Dad up for a week of care. Technically, it’s care for him and respite for my step Mum, but in reality, it’s a week of fun and delight.

However, we as a family came to the conclusion that it wasn’t happening.

Yes, Covid-19 had scuppered our plans.

Dad’s 81 years young, and while he’s a tough cookie, we wanted to protect and care for him, and driving him an hour and a bit, away from his home, seemed to cross the line of what would have been responsible, during that week.

I sat on my sofa, weeping down the phone to my step Mum, saying “it’s not fair!” She soothed me, and agreed that I can have him for two weeks when this is all over, and we all had to move on.

Some things in life are not fair, and no doubt there’s more unfairness coming our way over the forthcoming weeks and months. This Coronavirus appears to have been menacing, moving secretly among us, causing havoc.

What I found, even in the first few days of having shifted my working station to my home, is that people with a bit more time on their hands, were ready to reach out and understand what’s required to get their Wills in place.

I no longer need to offer evening appointments, as people were at home more.

The process has had to adapt. Instead of maybe having a video Skype meeting and then popping to my office in St Albans to sign Wills, clients now take responsibility to ensure their Wills are validly signed. And clients are getting in touch from far away – Cheshire, Chesham and Chichester.

I confess to being a little tedious when explaining the formalities of Will signing, urging clients to work on the basis that after their death, they will be the randomly picked people, who’s witnesses will be quizzed about whether everyone stayed in each other’s presence.

It’s sensible to maintain a distance of two to three metres between you and anyone who is not part of your own household, but you do need to remain in each other’s presence for the whole Will signing process. And don’t share pens!

Since writing all the above, when I was still sore from losing my week with my Dad, recalling how I had said out loud, “it’s not fair” through streams of tears, things developed for me personally. I wrote about it in the Law Society Gazette. I contracted Covid-19 and was incapacitated for nearly two weeks. I spent the following few weeks recovering. Another example of how unfair life can be, given how careful I had been. But what a blessing that a family member of mine who works in the pharmaceutical industry made me agree to treating the recovery with respect, to prevent a relapse.

Some people who have been meaning to get round to getting their Will in place, have put it off through lockdown. Some people will find themselves in hopsital over the next few months, possibly during the second wave. Some will inevitably die. It’s not fair, that some of these people had genuinely been planning to take action this year. They won’t get the chance.

Life isn’t always fair, but we still have to just do the best we possibly can.

If you’re planning to get on with your Will, and you want to chat through anything, please get in touch with Jane through the normal methods – our office line is 01727 840 240 and the email is still Jane@jcwillsandprobate.co.uk