Under current Massachusetts law, in order for a notary to
notarize a document, the person must personally appear and sign a
document before the notary. As of noon on March 24th,
Governor Baker ordered all non-essential businesses and
organizations to close in person operations. Among the many
businesses that closed their doors, law firms have moved to working
remotely and closed their offices. However, clients are still
required by law to sign many documents physically in front of a
notary.
Many of our clients are at high risk and cannot or should not be
exposed to witnesses and a notary. However, without essential
estate planning documents, such as health care proxies to authorize
a person to make medical decisions for them and durable powers of
attorney to authorize a person to make financial decisions for
them, our clients will have no one to act on their behalf during
incapacity. In addition, if these high-risk clients die during this
pandemic, they will not be
