Executing Texas Estate Plans in the Era of COVID-19
These are unprecedented times, even for estate planning attorneys. The advent of COVID-19 has “persuaded” many clients to either consider establishing an estate plan for the first time or to re-assess their current estate plans. As a result, estate planning attorneys across Texas are working hard during this period of great uncertainty to develop and protect their clients’ legacies.
Yet a finely crafted estate plan is useless if it is not properly signed and executed. Texas law has strict parameters for the signing of certain estate planning documents. For example, a valid will in Texas must be in writing, signed by the individual making the will (the testator), and attested by two or more witnesses. The witnesses must be within the physical presence of the testator when witnessing the execution of the will. A notary public signs the will as well (though this is technically not a requirement under Texas law). Between the testator, witnesses, notary, and estate planning attorney, a total of five or more people typically attend a will-signing ceremony. In the era of COVID-19, that’s a social faux pas. Government regulations may forbid a gathering of such size, and in the author’s experience, clients are presently uncomfortable with exposure to more than one non-family member at a time. Therein lies the chief problem facing estate planners: how to safely convene with clients to sign and execute their essential documents?
Governor Greg Abbot’s Emergency Order
In recent weeks, Texas Governor Greg Abbot has attempted to provide estate planners with a method for electronically notarizing wills, powers of attorney, and other estate planning documents. Typically, a notary public must also be in the physical presence of a client while he or she is executing a will. Governor Abbot’s emergency order enables a notary to instead observe a will-signing ceremony over Zoom or similar “electronic means.” The notary would then need to receive a faxed or scanned copy of the will (or other estate planning document) and affix his or her signature and stamp to the same. The notarization process is complete upon the notary’s return of the will and other estate planning documents to the client by scan or fax. This temporary fix aims to alleviate the need for large gatherings and can help clients execute their estate plans without undue delay.
Concerns with Electronic Notarization
But as with any temporary amendment to the law, Governor Abbot’s relaxation of notarial standards remains fraught with questions and legal concerns. For one, the required witnesses must still physically attend a will-signing. That fact alone may still dissuade clients from pursuing execution of their estate plan during the pandemic. Questions also remain about the extent of Governor Abbot’s authority to authorize such a suspension of Texas law. Probate litigators may later capitalize on the legal uncertainty surrounding wills notarized by electronic means and initiate a contest in probate court[1]. All this to say, estate planners must proceed with caution when utilizing electronic notarization for estate plans. Certain clients and potentially contentious dispositions of property in an estate plan may not warrant this unproven method of execution.
Trusts and Holographic Wills
However, estate planners have developed another creative approach to this executionary quandary brought on by COVID-19. Trusts can provide a workaround for the more stringent execution requirements of a will. A valid trust in Texas only requires the signature of the client seeking to establish the trust. As a result, clients may print the final version of a trust instrument and sign in the safety of their own home. No public gatherings are necessary.
A trust’s terms provide for the disposition of the client’s property upon death, much like a will. But for a trust’s terms to be effective, a client must transfer his or her assets into the trust. This can be a tedious task involving the drafting of deeds, assignments of interest, and many more documents. A client might also need to personally visit a financial institution to change accounts into the name of the trust: another no-no in the era of COVID-19.
A holographic will might serve as the catchall for assets that have yet to be transferred into a client’s trust. Unlike typewritten wills, a holographic will is entirely in a client’s handwriting. Texas law does not require witnesses or a notary to sign holographic wills. A client could then print and sign the trust while also drafting his or her own holographic will (with an attorney’s instruction) to sign as well.
These homemade, holographic wills are only intended as an interim solution. But they ensure that the assets in a deceased client’s estate will “pour over” into the trust that he or she established, thereby making the estate assets subject to the trust’s dispositive terms. In short, a properly drafted trust and holographic will can provide clients with a temporary fix to the dangers of gathering in larger groups for signing a will and other estate planning documents. Together with the electronic notarization of wills and estate planning documents, these methods give estate planners a chance to achieve their clients’ goals in the midst of the current pandemic.
Spencer Turner is an associate attorney at Farrow-Gillespie Heath Witter LLP. Since obtaining his license to practice law in 2016, Mr. Turner has focused his legal efforts primarily in the trust and estates arena. He has been featured as a speaker on various aspects of the probate process at several seminars hosted by the National Business Institute. Spencer is a graduate of from Baylor University School of Law.
[1] Few things excite probate litigators more than a video of an elderly testator executing his or will. An astute attorney can use a recorded Zoom session to sow doubt and concern among members of the jury regarding the elderly testator’s mental capacity.
