Covid-19 & Estate Planning

When life is “normal,” people are not thinking about estate planning. And why should they?  When work is going well, you and your family are healthy and “young” – the last thing anyone thinks about is what happens to one’s assets when one dies. Naturally, when clients come in to meet with us to discuss their estate plans, nine times out of ten, some event occurred (a divorce, a new child, an illness, the loss of a loved one) which causes them to think about these end of life issues and their assets. These types of issues are the wakeup calls that prompt most people to update – or put in place – their estate plan.

The Covid-19 pandemic is one of these wakeup calls.  Thankfully, the science tells us most all of us are not at risk of anything serious. And the vast majority of us will weather this storm just fine.  However, the virus is causing us to change our way of living, albeit temporarily, and to reflect on life matters that we previously ignored. For the first time in a long time many of us are thinking about the “what ifs?” of life. Accordingly, now is the time all of us should be thinking about our estate plans.

Here at Smith Jadin Johnson, we are conducting estate planning consultations via telephone and other technologies (like Zoom) to meet and discuss with clients about their estate planning needs. We have also implemented social distancing policies at the office to better provide for clients that need to execute documents.
We’re going to beat this virus.  We will get back to normal.  In the meantime, however, everyone should take the appropriate and prudent steps to ensure their estate plans are in order.  Please give us a call to discuss how we can help you plan for your future.

-Charles Austinson, Attorney @ Smith Jadin Johnson, PLLC