Estate Planning in the Age of COVID-19
With the signing of Governor Brown’s Executive Order No. 20-12, our daily lives changed drastically in a heartbeat, with no determined end date in sight. We were told to stay at home and only venture out for essential services, such as grocery shopping and medical supplies. We must come up with creative ways to remain connected with friends and families, including those just down the street. And we must make some significant changes in how we go about “regular” business, so that the world does not come to a screeching halt.
Law firms were not specifically mentioned as either an essential service or a business that must close (although court services have been severely curtailed), and so we must exercise our own good judgment in determining what we should and should not do.
In the spirit of keeping ourselves, and our community, safe, Drescher Elson Sperber, PC, has converted completely to web-based video-conference meetings. There are several applications available, allowing us to easily connect with our clients in a personal way, and still aggressively maintain social distancing and comply with Executive Order No. 20-12. We are able to conduct our normal services, from our initial consultations to reviewing and executing the plan. Through our secure client portal, we can safely send and receive documents (if the portal is confusing, email and fax work great, too!). We are here and open for business!
In this time where we will see the national (and likely local) death toll rise to unprecedented numbers, many are thinking about their estate plan and realizing that it may need to be updated. Know that you have a partner and ally in all of this to help you. COVID-19 is a game-changing pandemic and things will not be the same as they were before. However, we will get through this together, finding our new “normal”, and we will come out stronger and more resilient than ever.
