Legal firms 'inunduated' with requests for wills due to Covid-19
Legal firms 'inunduated' with requests for wills due to Covid-19
Interest in establishing a will among younger people, including those in ther 50s, has shot up, lawyers have reported.
THU, 18 FEB, 2021 - 06:45
NEIL MICHAEL
Requests for wills have “shot up” since the start of the pandemic, according to legal firms.
While people would previously have put off doing up their will until much later in life, more and more people in their 50s are doing them now.
More people are also drawing up Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) agreements to allow another person to make decisions on their behalf should they become unfit to make decisions for themselves.
Damien Cashell, whose Cashell Solicitors firm has three offices in Co Kerry, said: "We have been inundated with requests right across our branches.
"There has been a huge increase in wills, power of attorneys, and farm transfers from parents to sons.
Interest has shot up, especially among people in their 50s.
He said the extra cases are linked to Covid-19 because people are worried about what will happen if they were to die or be incapacitated if they were to contract it.
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"In the past, people would have waited a lot longer to sort out their affairs, and the clients would have tended to be older, more in their 70s and 80s.
"But we are seeing way more people in their 50s and onwards now."
He added: "Where they are more elderly, it's quite strange having to do your business through the open window of a nursing home.
For those who come to the office, we talk over things on the phone then they drive up, park, roll down the window, and sign the necessary documents and hand them back to us.
Colette Neville, a probate solicitor with leading Cork firm Cantillons Solicitors, said her firm is also experiencing a huge rise in the numbers of clients interested in wills.
“There has definitely been a big increase in the number of inquiries we are getting,” she said.
“People don’t like talking about doing a will but they are thinking about their own vulnerability because of Covid-19.
“And people are also increasingly wondering about how they will cope if they become unable to manage their own affairs.”
