Since publishing the news that Lehigh County has established a “virtual probate” process by videoconferencing, it’s been learned that five other counties have published similar procedures. The list (as of 3/31/2020) is as follows:
Most of the procedures require the participation of a lawyer, and some of the procedures seem to require that the lawyer and clients (personal representatives) all participate in the conference call from the same location, which would seem to defeat the “social distancing” goal of the videoconferencing process. That might not be the intention, or the procedures may change.
This situation will be changing quickly, and so the home pages of the relevant county should be checked before starting the probate process (see our directory of Registers of Wills), and a telephone call or email may be necessary or appropriate.
