Technology & Estate Planning
The future is here – and it benefits our clients significantly!
We are pleased to be early adopters of reliable new technologies that Washington and Idaho have adopted to make remote execution of wills, trusts, real property deeds, powers of attorney, and other documents easier and fully valid. You can be anywhere in the world and we can “remote online notarize” any document for use in the United States, or even e-sign your Washington or Idaho will and have it witnessed and self-proven no differently than a paper will signed with ink.
If you wish to be prepared for the new reality above – and, frankly, we suggest you be prepared – consider doing the following:
➤ To have the most robust capability – to e-sign and “remote online notarize” a document from anywhere in the world – ensure that you have a fairly up-to-date laptop or desktop computer with operational speaker, microphone, and camera (built-in or external, such as USB). Mac or PC is fine!
➤ Tablets and smartphones with speakers, microphone, and camera can be used to review and sign shorter documents. For longer documents, you will likely want to have a laptop or computer.
➤ Test your device’s capability with a videoconference platform like Zoom (join a “test” meeting) or Google Meet (click the gear icon ⚙ in the upper right of the website). If your device works, you are ready for the full range of electronic signing and notarizing available, wherever you may be!
Author Bio
Joshua McKarcher, Estate Planning Attorney
Joshua McKarcher is the founder of McKarcher Law PLLC in Clarkston, where he practices estate planning and administration for families in the Lewis-Clark Valley and throughout Washington and Idaho. He handles the cross-border planning that families with property or relatives in both states need.
He earned his law degree from The George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., graduating in the top 2% of his class, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as Managing Editor of The George Washington Law Review.
He began his career at Covington & Burling LLP, handling complex corporate bankruptcy and insurance insolvency matters. He argued and won before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, where the court ruled unanimously in his clients’ favor, and he won unanimous opinions twice before the Idaho Supreme Court, which overruled one of its precedents at his suggestion during oral argument.
That experience, spent untangling estates and businesses after something has gone wrong, is what shapes his work today: building estate plans that identify and minimize the risk of disputes, keep families out of probate, reduce estate and income taxes, and protect what people leave behind.
537 6th Street, Clarkston,
WA 99403
