The BC Notaries Association is encouraging people to make sure their legal affairs are in order during this pandemic.

Speaking on NL Newsday, president Dan Boisvert says member notaries are fielding more calls now to prepare documents.

“The most common one certainly is the will. And of course the will comes into effect after you pass away and determines who gets what of your assets, so that’s a pretty common one. The power of attorney is an extraordinarily important document. It allows you to appoint someone to look after your financial affairs in the event that you cannot.”

Boisvert says the power of attorney could make financial decisions if you become mentally incapable, but also if you are stuck in another country and in some kind of trouble, as many people now have been because of borders being closed.

“It’s not just that now is a good time to think about it, we’d like people to be thinking this sort of all the time, from a planning standpoint,” he says.

“What we’ve seen I think lately, certainly in my office and many of my colleagues’ offices, there’s certainly been a heightened request for these types of documents. And certainly, people are thinking much more about health right now as we are in the middle of a pandemic.”