BREAKING NEWS:
Yesterday afternoon, Governor Bill Lee signed Executive Order Number 26 allowing notaries and witnesses to verify and execute documents via video conference.
Former WB partner, Lang Wiseman, serves as Governor Lee’s Chief Counsel and drafted the Order. Over the last week, our lawyers provided input and feedback to Wiseman to ensure that the Order fully allows all documents for estate plans to be completed 100% via video conference, thereby allowing our clients to create a will or trust and other ancillary documents without ever having to personally visit our office. For clients who still prefer to sign documents in person, we are continuing to take precautions and provide a safe environment with limited staff and attorneys in the office.
We are excited to have this additional option available to continue to service our clients' estate planning needs. Contact us now to discuss your estate plan.
Estate Planning in the time of COVID-19
The Memphis and the Shelby County municipalities have issued “safer-at-home” orders to slow the spread of the coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19. Fortunately, Wiseman Bray PLLC is exempt from the orders due to the nature of our legal work as an essential service. Therefore, we are open for business and are working diligently to meet our clients’ estate planning needs.
Given the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, now might be a good time to review, update or implement your important estate planning documents. We are meeting with clients via videoconference and by telephone and limiting the amount of in-person appointments to a minimum. During an initial videoconference or telephone call, we are able to determine our clients’ estate planning goals and objectives as well as recommend estate planning strategies to accomplish them. After the draft documents are prepared and emailed to the clients, a second videoconference or telephone call is scheduled to review the documents. To complete the estate plan, a final in-person meeting is held for approximately 30 minutes to sign the estate planning documents in the presence of two witnesses and a Notary Public.
We remain overly cautious and are carefully following all state, local, and CDC guidelines to help limit the spread of COVID-19. Furthermore, none of our employees or their family members have tested positive or demonstrate any symptoms of COVID-19. We continue to operate on a normal schedule, but have implemented the following measures:
• We have moved all associate attorneys to remote work.
• We are rotating our staff schedules, so only two assistants are present at the office each work day.
• We have instituted and are continuing the practice of cleaning and sanitizing our conference rooms before and after each meeting with clients by thoroughly wiping the conference room table, chairs, doorknobs, and light switches with EPA-registered disinfectants.
• Employees are practicing all CDC-recommended measures, such as frequent hand washing and use of hand sanitizer.
• Management is monitoring CDC updates and communicating these to employees and their families.
• Employees are postponing travel and any other unnecessary activities until further notice.
Please contact us if you want to schedule a meeting to discuss your estate planning in more detail or have questions about our policies.
Over the last week, our office has been bombarded with questions about estate planning and healthcare powers of attorney. The recent spread of coronavirus has many people considering their own family’s future during this pandemic. To assist with this surge in client interest, our estate planning team is presently working extended hours to assist as many people as possible.
While routine reviews of your estate plan are essential to keeping your plan current and functioning as intended, there are also some life events that should trigger a more immediate review to make sure things are in order. Where does a coronavirus pandemic fall on the scale of changes that trigger a review? We feel it’s an important life change. If your estate planning is thorough and has been kept up to date with regular reviews, we do not recommend any additional action steps. If you have never executed an estate plan or have not kept your planning up to date, it may be time to gain the peace of mind that comes from proper estate planning.
However, we believe the coronavirus doesn’t change the need to have an estate plan or the details of the plan. It only makes the risk of not planning seem more real and exposes our natural inclination to procrastinate. You should approach your estate planning not out of a fear of illness, incapacity or death, but with an appreciation of reality. How will a prolonged illness impact you and your family? Who will make healthcare and financial decisions for you if you are unable to do so? Who will handle your affairs and ensure that your wishes are followed at your death?
A comprehensive estate plan puts legal documents in place that address both your possible incapacity and your death. Your plan should consider all of your assets and direct their management during incapacity and efficient distribution at your death. Your plan should also ensure that the titling and beneficiary designations on your assets are aligned with the legal documents intended to manage your affairs in event of incapacity and dispose of your assets pursuant to your wishes at your death.
Medical data suggests that the mortality rate is much lower than the rate at which coronavirus may cause an incapacity. Therefore, we recommend that all clients have these three basic documents, regardless of their wealth or health:
· A financial power of attorney for property: The power of attorney will allow your agent to pay your bills and make other time-sensitive decisions during a period of incapacity.
· A power of attorney for health care: The healthcare power of attorney will allow your agent to make medical decisions for you (in consultation with your physicians) if you were unable to make those decisions for yourself.
· A HIPAA Authorization: The HIPAA authorization authorizes those you designate to access your protected health information.
In order to continue to serve our clients, we continue to operate on a normal (even extended) schedule, but have implemented the following measures:
Management is monitoring CDC updates and communicating these to employees and their families.
We have instituted the practice of cleaning and sanitizing our conference rooms before and after each meeting with clients by thoroughly wiping the conference room table, chairs, doorknobs, and light switches with EPA-registered disinfectants.
We have instituted the practice of continually cleaning our offices.
Employees are practicing all CDC-recommended measures, such as frequent hand washing and use of hand sanitizer.
While this COVID-19 is new, coronaviruses and other respiratory viruses are not new. Taking simple precautions will allow you to sleep easier and help you avoid this current outbreak.
Please contact us if you want to discuss your estate planning in more detail or have questions about our policies.
Wiseman named SEC Legend.
https://utsports.com/news/2020/3/3/mens-basketball-wiseman-to-represent-vol-hoops-as-sec-legend.aspx
UTSPORTS.COM
Wiseman to Represent Vol Hoops as SEC Legend - University of Tennessee Athletics
Position: Part-Time Receptionist
Wiseman Bray PLLC is seeking a part-time receptionist to work 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday. The primary job will be answering phones and assisting with filing. $15/hr.
Please send all inquiries and resumes to info@wisemanbray.com.
WB client opening second location.
https://dailymemphian.com/section/food/article/9596/belly-acres-begins-expansion-with-a-new-restaurant
DAILYMEMPHIAN.COM
Belly Acres begins expansion with a new restaurant in Regalia - The Daily Memphian
We are pleased to announce that Lindsay Jones and Will Patterson were recognized by the 27th Edition of the Best Lawyers in America!
WISEMANBRAY.COM
The 27th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America© Recognizes Attorneys Lindsay Jones and Will Patterson - Attorneys – Wiseman Bray PLLC
We're excited to support school choice for families in Tennessee. Today we filed our brief with the Tennessee Supreme Court asking the Court to uphold the Tennessee Education Savings Account legislation because school choice initiatives improve education performance and outcomes.
https://www.schoolchoicetn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/AFC.Amicus-Brief-for-Rule-11-Application.pdf
SCHOOLCHOICETN.COM
www.schoolchoicetn.com
We are pleased to announce that Chris Patterson and Austin Rainey were recognized by the 27th Edition of the Best Lawyers in America!
WISEMANBRAY.COM
The 27th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America© Recognizes Attorneys Chris Patterson and Austin Rainey - Attorneys – Wiseman Bray PLLC
