The COVID-19 pandemic created a whole host of problems in the area of estate planning. When the lockdowns began in March 2020, trusts and estates practitioners were faced with unique problems: How would our clients execute their estate planning documents? Would the pandemic mean that individuals would be prohibited, for a long period of time, from effectuating their estate planning goals? What about those individuals who were chronically ill or faced a short life expectancy?

Of course, the fears of estate planning practitioners were allayed when then-Governor Andrew Cuomo signed certain executive orders which allowed our clients to finish the estate planning work they had begun. But what would happen once some of these clients died? Would the courts recognize the executive orders and admit their wills to probate without a problem? What sorts of issues would their family members face?