MEDIA RELEASE

UK Law Firm welcomes success of its campaign for video wills

A South West based firm of solicitors is delighted to see the success of its campaign for video wills as the Ministry of Justice announces forthcoming reform that permits the use of video platforms like Skype or Zoom.

Solicitors Title, an innovative firm of solicitors based in Exeter and Taunton was the first law firm in the United Kingdom to prepare and execute a will entirely over the internet. The client was in self-isolation 150 miles away. 

The established view of the legal profession, including the Law Commission, was that a will had to be witnessed in the physical presence of a testator to be valid under the Wills Act 1837.  Dr Nicholas Bevan at Solicitors Title tested this assumption with his own research.  After reviewing over three hundred years of rulings he found that not one insisted on a physical presence.  The crucial requirement is there should be a ‘clear line of sight', sufficient to allow a testamentary witness to confirm first hand that the will was properly executed.  

The firm took the decision to share its research with the government and welcomes the very positive response that will result in an amendment to the Electronic Communications Act 2000. Advocate General, Lord Keen of Elie, QC, responding on the government's behalf, acknowledged the conclusions put forward by Dr Bevan at award winning Solicitors Title as "an argument with force, set out in impressively comprehensive terms.'

Dr Bevan has developed a new protocol for exploiting video technology that protects individuals who are self-isolating or shielding against any risk of exposure to Covid 19.  It breaks new ground by invoking a statutory right originating from 1677.  This enables a solicitor to sign the will in the testator's name, thus sparing the client from travel and avoiding any indirect exposure to potentially contaminated objects.

Solicitors Title is now instructed by a number of ex pat clients requesting wills, which will be executed remotely in the UK - forging a new international legal precedent.

Further details from Solicitors Title, www.solicitorstitle.co.uk or email: Nicholas.bevan@solicitorstitle.co.uk

For press information contact Jane Adkins, A Head for PR Ltd, T/: 01935 813114; M/:07960698089 or E/: jane@aheadforpr.co.uk

July 2020 (ST 01)