Can’t get the signing pf my will and testament witnessed by a doctor

[Cheryl M]

I’m sorry if ths kind of post is not allwed (or if it's in the wrong place) but I don’t know what else to do about the situation.

Last year I managed to get a will drawn up online for free. I mentioned that I have quite serious memoriy loss (obviously undiagnosed since doctors don’t take that kind of thing seriously in ME pateints). The company advised me that since that was the case, the will might be challenged by my dodgy relatives on the grounds of me not being compos mentis at the time I made and signed it.

So, they told me that the signing of the will needs to be witnessed by too people, and at leat one of those should have a medical background. This means that if the wll is challenged, the medical person will be able to testify that I was of sound mind when I made it.

I contacted my GP surgery and asked if someone working there (a doctor or nurse( could do it. They have always been useless, so I was unsurprised to get the reply, “We do not offer that service.” I contacted a lawyer asking if they could help me and they said (perhaps unsrprisingly0) “We do not asisst with wills we have not drawn up.” So I asked Citizens Advice.

To my astonishment, Citizens Advice have responded, “Yes, it sounds as if you need a medical worker to witness the signing, but NO-ONE IS OBLIGED TO PROVIDE YOU WITH ONE.” They asked if there is a specialist in charge of my memory loss (whch there isb’t obviously) and whther I could get that person to help. They said all I can do is politely ask various medical staff “Please will you witness the signing of my will?” but none of them are obliged to say yes!

I am just staggered. Obviously you get treated veyr badly when you have memory loss, but it just stuns me that they can refuse to do any investiagtion or diagnosis and I’m not even allowed to make a wil to make sure the abusive realatives don’t inherit! So the will is just sitting there, unsigned!!

 

[hapl808]

Try to find a different local legal aid service (not sure what Citizens Advice is) or law school to help you? That would be a path in the US, not sure for UK.

Also, do NOT emphasize memory loss or cognitive issues. Since medicine dismisses ME/CFS, you can do the same as mainstream medicine. Just say you have some fatigue issues and health problems, but you are absolutely of sound mind (since it sounds like you are).

You mainly need a recorded will that is clear and simple, and therefore more difficult to challenge. The more complex, the more people can argue about it.

Do you have notary public type services there? I would skip the medical professional thing - that seems like a needless complication. It could still be challenged (just with a different medical expert), and how are you going to even explain why you need a medical expert in the first place? For a mostly non-recognized health issue?

Unless you're already formally diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer's or similar, or if your estate is likely to be significant - I think they are suggesting needless complications (pretty common in the legal world).

 

[Cheryl M]

THanks for your reply. Citizens Advice is a UK organisation that provides people with free legal (and other) advice, so they would have no motive to make up problems to push up the costs...

My will is extremely simple.

Yes, I sort of see what you mean, that no-one believes me about the memory loss, so I could just count on that and ask my neighbours to witness the signing. But I am hoping to get a disganoses at some point, so that would throw a spanner in the works. But I suppose I could just make a new will then (and hopefully at that point there would be a specialist in charge of me, so they could maybe witness it). Hmmm... yes

 

[hapl808]

THanks for your reply. Citizens Advice is a UK organisation that provides people with free legal (and other) advice, so they would have no motive to make up problems to push up the costs...

It's not to drive up costs, it's that lawyers are (by trade) extremely risk adverse. So the 'best' advice is to have two world class specialists not involved with your care to give two independent witness statements about your will and being of sound body and mind. Ideally then verified by a judge reviewing affidavits from the experts that those statements were given freely and they were not compensated. All notarized and registered with a local barrister. And so forth.

Even if you get a diagnosis in the future, unless they decide you were retroactively unfit at the time you wrote the will, that shouldn't affect it. Anything can be contested no matter how ironclad, so you just want to make it difficult and expensive. Again, if your estate is large enough - it probably will be contested. If it's not, it's just triage - make it more expensive to fight than anything they would possibly collect. Not sure if that makes sense.

Maybe a notary - but again, I'm not sure how it works. Maybe call Citizens Advice again and don't mention the medical stuff and just say you want to make sure it's clear because of toxic family and how do you get it witnessed.

(Lots of lawyers and law professors in my family, so I'm familiar with this kind of thinking. Lawyer's jobs are usually to anticipate absolutely everything that 'could' go wrong, but that can needlessly complicate.)

 

[liza58]

Perhaps you could write a letter to be stored with your will, explaining why you have left certain people out of it? That could demonstrate your cognitive functions were sound at the time of writing it. On a separate note, I would go back to your GP and push for some kind of official memory assessment. Hope that helps x

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Also, do NOT emphasize memory loss or cognitive issues.

how would they even know this? I would recommend not volunteer such information.

Maybe a notary - but again, I'm not sure how it works.

we just went thru getting ALL those types of documents executed given my husband had a severe stroke, but nothing was correctly in place, nor were any of my documents. So we used a local notary who works with an attorney and I paid some $$.

(advanced directives, a will and Power of Attorney )...gosh we had so many troubles that we worked through over many months: credit card refusing to change our mailing address,, required a POA ...GOOD GRIEF) (and my name is on the card and I am who pays it). My will is: give anything to my one child thank you.

It's sort of a relief to know nobody is going to fight over anything.

My husband never put anybody's name on any bank accounts. So we have $2000 locked in a bank that requires we show up physically and we can't.

- if at all possible, if your older, give as much money away as you can, and especially if you have a family member you trust and they are there for you.

- we had to GIVE BACK every dime my mother had in a bank account, most of which came from an accident in which she was broken by a stupid speeding car, and I was the person who was visiting her, spending my limited money/ very costly to visit my MOM. She put my brothers name on every one of her accounts but he paid no attention and rarely visited her.

there is a 30 month rule in Medicare about giving money away: they will still count it....as recently given away in order to appear to have less cash.

- people behave most badly, fighting over stuff and money and property.

 

[Cheryl M]

Perhaps you could write a letter to be stored with your will, explaining why you have left certain people out of it? That could demonstrate your cognitive functions were sound at the time of writing it. On a separate note, I would go back to your GP and push for some kind of official memory assessment. Hope that helps x

There's actually a specific section of th will where I explain why I have left people out, saying (more or less word for word) "one family member is abusive and the others have not been supportive while I've been ill". So that's very brief, but hopefully it will do.

 

[hapl808]

There's actually a specific section of th will where I explain why I have left people out, saying (more or less word for word) "one family member is abusive and the others have not been supportive while I've been ill". So that's very brief, but hopefully it will do.

Yes, having it in the body of the will is a good idea - with no inflammatory language or accusations and very neutral emotion.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

If you do not know this story: well it's so FASCINATING........it involves wills, and relatives you never see.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...e-clark-and-the-fortune-she-left-to-her-nurse