Dear Friends of Clarity:
At Clarity Legal Group we see the challenges of dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic as an occasion for all of us to come together as a community while staying physically apart. It is essential to protect each other, especially those who are most vulnerable among us.
The services we provide in the areas of elder law, estate planning, and healthcare planning seem particularly timely under the circumstances. The latest Stay-at-Home orders issued this week by the State of North Carolina, Orange County and the City of Durham exclude our legal services from the orders, meaning they are deemed “essential services” and we can provide legal services and clients who need our help can leave their home to receive assistance, so long as social distancing requirements are observed during meetings.
While we are still conducting business at full speed, it is far from business as usual. In order to meet client needs in the current environment, most (some days, all) of our staff is working from home, we are conducting consultations and document reviews by video conference, and we are holding shorted meetings for signing of documents structured to maintain physical distance, keep tables, work surfaces, seating and other materials disinfected, and otherwise comply with county, city, or state safety guidelines and to account for the particular health concerns of clients.
We have put into place an accelerated 5-Day Rocket Process for clients who feel either an urgent need to complete work or desire to minimize contact with other people in getting this done:
- Our attorneys and staff will conduct a video consultation with the client.
- Upon request of the client, we will use an expedited process for estate planning:
- A five-business-day timeline from initial consultation to having the new legal documents executed, witnessed, notarized and in effect.
- Additional post-signing document review by an attorney through video conference.
- A guaranteed 120-day period after the signing during which we will make modifications to the plan documents at no additional cost to clients.
- Post-signing completion of our standard and sometimes extensive work completing any changes in account ownership, real property ownership, or beneficiary designations.
- For clients who are vulnerable due to health care concerns or just particularly concerned to be extra careful, we have established a drive-by procedure for signings, in which clients are able to sign critical documents without leaving their cars, thus keeping them and our staff safe.
If you know someone who needs an estate plan, health care or Medicaid planning, or needs important improvements to an existing plan and needs prompt action, this process is a way for them to get comprehensive planning, quickly and in a safe environment.
As always, Clarity Legal Group professionals will work directly with the client’s financial advisors and institutions to ensure that all account ownership and beneficiary designations are in alignment with the estate plan. No plan is complete until this is done fully and correctly.
On behalf of all of the professionals of Clarity Legal Group, we wish you well!
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