Life has many big milestones to celebrate; such as buying your first home, having your first child, and making a life commitment to a partner to name a few. We also have big moments that have a huge impact on our life including difficult times such as separating from a long term partner or learning that you have a critical illness. Each of these moments take a lot of our time, energy and focus.
What is not often thought about right away is that these moments can have an impact on the steps we would want to take should the unthinkable happen and we were to suddenly pass away. What should happen to our assets? Who is responsible for our children or a challenged adult that we support? The answer to these questions is what is covered in estate planning which is, in this case, the creation of a Will.
The last thing anyone wants to think about when waking up throughout the night with a newborn is their estate planning. While many of us know we should be thinking about it and taking steps to put it in place, it can often feel overwhelming in an already overwhelming time. For many new parents, deep in the struggle of sleepless nights, endless feedings and new routines, it is just one more heavy burden on top of others. Having big conversations and make big decisions, such as agreeing on who should be the guardian of that little angel who woke you up, can often be difficult.
Such was the case for Lana and her husband, Jeff. “We knew we needed to get our Wills done but the struggle to find the time and energy to get to a lawyer’s office was real. The effort to coordinate taking our kids to a lawyer’s office, or harder yet, finding someone to take care of them not once but twice so that we could go was all too much. It left us feeling like there was no solution to get our Will done and was a stress in the back of our minds. In the end, we found a friend of a friend who was a lawyer and came to our living room to do our Will for us. If we hadn’t had that perfect situation, I have no idea how long it would have taken us to get it done”.
Many parents can relate to this situation. A critical task gets left undone, and in so doing causes us stress. So, how do we find the time to do it? Bringing young children to a lawyer’s office can feel impossible, especially when they go to bed early and your partner works until after the lawyer’s office is already closed. Finding time for these important tasks is extremely difficult as any parent will tell you.
In 2019, Harmony Johnson had a 7 week old baby and her husband was in the middle of opening his own law firm. It struck her that law doesn’t make things easy on clients. You have to call during business hours to make an appointment, go to in-person meetings and go in again for on-paper signatures, etc. After working digitally for years, this felt incredibly foreign and onerous. Enter COVID-19 and no one wants to be in a room with anyone, let alone a lawyer’s office who is in a room with who knows how many other people each day. In response, BC created emergency measures to allow a Will to be executed remotely. The catch? Lawyers weren’t set up to work that way. “I couldn’t believe that the only options available to people were either an online, fillable form with no lawyer input or physically going into someone’s office. As a busy parent of two, who has time for that?”. In this she saw a gap – create the systems to support an efficient, low barrier, remote option for someone to get their Will done while still engaging with a lawyer.
“BC finally updated the law to permanently allow for remote signatures but still, this wasn’t an option for most people because businesses weren’t set up to effectively do it and they certainly weren’t promoting it. So, I wanted to create a new path – a business structured from the ground up to support a low customer effort, entirely virtual Will process. One where you could book an appointment online while your kids are in bed and you finally have a mental moment to think of something else. Where you could meet with a lawyer virtually while the baby is napping at home and your partner is at work somewhere else. Where there was a client portal so I didn’t have any concerns with sensitive documents being sent by email. So we built it. I’m so excited to finally have an option to offer British Columbia residents that fits our busy lives. Like so many other services do today, it allows us to do it from wherever we are.”
So, have that conversation with your partner, make those decisions, book that online appointment and get that monkey of creating a Will off your back knowing you have full legal support and it will take a fraction of the time and effort it used to. Sleep better, get a Will. Well, if that new baby will let you sleep…
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Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or legal advice. Consult with qualified professionals to create a personalized estate plan suitable for your specific circumstances.
