COVID-19: Is There Some Good to Come Out of This?

We’ve lived through some tough times. Many of us remember the way the Vietnam War, and Watergate tore our country apart. The 2008 recession eliminated many small businesses, and it took a few years for the rest of us to get back on our feet and begin to prosper. And now we find ourselves completely kneecapped by COVID-19. Within just weeks, our lives have radically changed, and we face another long month of sheltering in place. But we find ourselves asking if there is some good to come out of this.

A global phenomenon, we have no idea when this will end

COVID-19 is a virus, and scientists tell us that it’s mutating, which will make it more difficult to develop a treatment or vaccine. Yet we’re tired of being cooped up. We want haircuts and spa days. We’re annoyed that we have to cancel our vacation plans. How selfish we are. The burden of this will fall disproportionately and tragically on the old, the weak and the poor in ways that are too awful to contemplate.

But take heart; some good things may come from this pandemic

1. Innovation: That fundamentally American ethic

Business owners who want to remain successful have had to be nimble. I know one small business owner who closed one office, furloughed part of his team and began offering his services virtually. All within one week. He is now planning to expand what is now his new, leaner business model.

2. There can be no doubt that we are part of a global community

Oblivious to borders, there’s no passport control for this guy. The only way of stopping the virus’ spread would be to shut borders completely. No coming in or going out. Cooperation among nations is essential to combating the epidemic. Sharing knowledge and tools is critical because this airborne disease roams the globe.

3. Getting to know your family and your neighborhood

As we’re all locked up in our local quarantines, we might get better acquainted with our neighbors and our families. We might be more present to the people around us, the people we love. Families with extra time together may go back to enjoying just being together, doing simple things—card games and board games, playing catch, cooking, going for walks or bike rides.

4. It may make future epidemics less likely

If we’re smart, we can take the lessons from this pandemic and learn from them. Public health needs to become a specialty, and our public officials need to be paying attention to the first signs of trouble and begin preparing. We lost precious time and we’re paying the price in lost lives and a plummeting economy. Much has been learned about the containment and mitigation of infectious disease. Vaccines against future viral challenges are likely to be developed faster as a result.

5. The miracles of modern medicine have let us down

No popping a pill for this one. There is no cure. This is going to be harder than what we’re used to, and it’s going to be around for a while. COVID promises to change the way we travel, work and recreate. Recognizing our own vulnerability might slap us around and make us humbler.

6. Our environment may benefit

• India’s 1.3 billion people have created one the world’s worst smog problems. The Himalayan mountain range is now isvisible from a distance for the first time in years. People now can see the stars. All of this proves that better air quality can be achieved.
• China’s emissions have been reduced by 25%; coal use cut by 40% and good air quality days are up by 11%.
• Without traffic and air travel, greenhouse gas emissions have fallen dramatically. Pollution in New York has reduced by nearly 50% because of measures to contain the virus.

A global pandemic claiming people’s lives shouldn’t be seen as a way of bringing about environmental and social change, but we may be able to take some of these bitter lessons and apply them to other parts of our lives. At the very least, we can hope that our government officials are learning that we need our allies, our global relationships. We are, indeed, in this together.

During this health crisis, many are feeling an urgency to create a Living Trust 

Our Trust package includes a Will, Power of Attorney, an Advance Healthcare Directive and Incapacity Planning. We guide you through the process and prepare the legal documents. At California Document Preparers, we charge one flat fee for most of our services. We’re helpful, compassionate and affordable. Schedule an appointment today at one of our three Bay Area offices in Dublin, Walnut Creek or Oakland.

Note that our offices are open and we’ve instituted stringent sanitation procedures. We can also provide our services virtually.

We service the entire East Bay and North Bay areas

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy, Hayward and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.

Single, No Kids, No Sibs. Who Gets Their Assets?

Shelly and Doris were retired flight attendants who lived in Lafayette. They’d never met during their careers, but now that they were retired, they’d become great friends and loved to laugh and share stories over a glass of wine.

When Shelly went into the hospital for routine surgery and died from complications, it left Doris shocked and lost without her best friend. Shelly was only 64, and she’d left a handwritten Will but no Living Trust. Shelly had lost her sister and brother-in-law in a terrible skiing accident 15 years ago, but she was very close to their four children, especially her niece, Karen, and she’d named Karen the Executor in her Will. But without a Trust, the family would have to go through Probate.

Doris was shocked to learn that Shelley had more than $320,000 in a Fidelity account

Over the years, Shelly had made smart investments in Apple, Wells Fargo and Microsoft. The Fidelity account had no named beneficiaries, so it would have to go through Probate. As Executor, Karen would oversee the estate’s distribution among her designated family members.

Karen was a teacher who knew nothing about Probate, so she contacted a Probate attorney to help manage her aunt’s estate. After 18 months, when the court finally awarded the money to the family, the attorney charged nearly $10K for managing the Probate.

After this experience, Doris felt some urgency to create estate planning documents

Doris didn’t have kids or siblings. She had Social Security and a great pension, but she didn’t have family or close friends she could ask for help if she became incapacitated. Shelly’s niece Karen and her husband Kevin had moved in to Shelly’s condominium, and they’d become close, so she asked Karen for advice. Karen said she would be glad to be there for Doris, and Kevin agreed to be her backup.

Doris created a Living Trust with California Document Preparers

Doris came in to the Walnut Creek office to create her Living Trust. As part of her Living Trust package, she also created a Financial Power of Attorney, an Advance Healthcare Directive and a Will. Notary is included in the fee. Doris is leaving Karen and Kevin 20% of her estate; the balance will go to the church she has been attending for more than 20 years, Lafayette’s St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church.

During this health crisis, many are feeling an urgency to create Living Trusts 

Our Trust package includes a Will, Power of Attorney and an Advance Healthcare Directive and Incapacity Planning. We guide you through the process and prepare the legal documents. At California Document Preparers, for most of our services, we charge one flat fee. We’re helpful, compassionate and affordable. Schedule an appointment today at one of our three Bay Area offices in Dublin, Walnut Creek or Oakland. 

We service the entire East Bay and North Bay areas

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy, Hayward and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.

Carl and Mary: A Blended Family Creates Separate Living Trusts

With the coronavirus has come a new urgency to create estate planning documents. Those who are scheduling appointments don’t fit a stereotype. There are seniors, of course, but also those thinking about retirement, single adults and young families who want to provide a safety net for their children.

Many of the couples we see are blended families. For these couples, estate planning gets a little more complicated. By the time people get to their second or third marriages, there are several homes and other assets, two sets of children and grandchildren. Each partner wants to make sure their respective families receive their share of the estates.

Carl and Mary: A blended family who met over an afternoon of bridge

Carl and Mary are a good example of one of these blended families. They’re both in their 70s and met over a Rossmoor bridge table. They’ve been married for five years and continue to live at Carl’s Rossmoor home in Walnut Creek. Both of their spouses died. Carl has two adult sons and Mary has two adult daughters, and there are assorted grandchildren.

Carl and Mary are financially comfortable, healthy and thoroughly enjoying retirement

Carl and Mary are part of a generation that worked for one company for their entire careers and were rewarded with healthy pensions. Mary was an RN and Carl worked for Diablo Community College. Both also inherited their deceased spouse’s pensions. Mary owned a home in Hayward that she rented out and both received social security. Carl sold his Pleasant Hill home and downsized when he moved into Rossmoor.

They saw no reason to commingle their estates

Carl and Mary really didn’t see anything to be gained from commingling their estates. Each was comfortable financially, and both Carl and Mary wanted to leave their children their estates. California Document Preparers worked with Mary and Carl to identify a solution: Each would create a separate Living Trust for his/her own estate.

• Carl’s Rossmoor home, in which they lived, would go into his Trust.
• Mary’s Hayward home, that she rented out, would go into her Trust.
• Carl and Mary would be each other’s Power of Attorney, with their sons and daughters as respective backups.

The couple’s adult children were relieved that their parents had finally completed their Trust. They’d been putting this off, but the coronavirus health crisis brought it back into focus.

During this health crisis, many are feeling an urgency to create a Living Trust 

Our Trust package includes a Will, Power of Attorney and an Advance Healthcare Directive and Incapacity Planning. We guide you through the process and prepare the legal documents. At California Document Preparers, for most of our services, we charge one flat fee. We’re helpful, compassionate and affordable. Schedule an appointment today at one of our three Bay Area offices in Dublin, Walnut Creek or Oakland. 

We service the entire East Bay and North Bay areas

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley, Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy, Hayward and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.