Many of us have more time on our hands during this novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. One silver lining is this gives us a chance to tackle some of those items on our To-Do lists. Tasks like organizing the garage, learning to cut hair, and yes, estate planning. Now is a great opportunity to take advantage of this extra time by creating an estate plan or updating existing estate planning documents.

Proper estate planning ensures that directions are in place to safeguard your health and manage your assets in the event of incapacity or death. If you answer “yes” to any of the following questions, it is probably time to consider getting your estate planning completed or updated.

• Do you have minor children and wish to direct how they will be taken care of in the event of your incapacity or death?
• Do you wish to ensure your family has the legal authority to take part in your medical care and act on your behalf if you become ill?
• Do you wish to confirm your spouse is able to maintain his or her standard of living?
• Do you care how your assets will pass to your spouse, children, charities, or others upon your death?
• Do you wish to avoid a court proceeding and the associated costs in the event you or your spouse become incapacitated?
• Is family privacy important to you?
• Have life circumstances changed since you last did your estate planning?

Once your estate plan has been completed, it is essential to make sure your family knows where you keep these important documents.

We are here to help. Our attorneys are offering creative solutions to create or update your estate planning documents and have them signed in a timely manner. Our office remains open to servicing clients with most of our staff working from home. With the health of our clients always top of mind, we perform meetings over the phone or by video conference. We are also easily available by email. When your documents are ready to be finalized, we have “parking lot” appointments where you stay in your vehicle, and we provide sterilized documents to sign.

Chances are you now have time to think through important estate planning issues. Take advantage of this time to address your estate plan while these issues are foremost in your mind.

The information above has been provided by Nay & Friedenberg Attorney Aaron Cilek. Aaron would be happy to assist in customizing an estate plan to fit your specific needs. Please feel free to contact us at (503) 245-0894 to schedule your online or phone appointment. We would be happy to help!

COVID-19 Note: We are conducting all client interviews by phone or video.  Options for document signings will be discussed with our clients on a case by case basis.