Three Months and Counting: What We’ve Learned During the COVID Lockdown

It’s been three months since we began sheltering in place. We assumed we’d be back to our happy little routines within a few weeks. How naïve we were. We now know that our happy little routines will be disrupted for a long time to come.

Along the way we’ve learned that:

There’s a deep well of generosity and a strong sense of community among us

• LVMH shut down perfume production and began producing hand sanitizer. Cable companies offered free wifi for homebound students.
• In my own community, volunteers organized grocery runs for those who couldn’t drive or get to the stores.
• Wellness checks included neighbors dropping off care packages and casseroles. For the elderly, this virus quickly could become dangerous and isolating.
• In Ohio, the Cleveland Clinic was struggling to find protective face masks for its 55,000 employees. A call to Abe Troyer, a local Amish community leader, resulted in 60 home seamstresses teaming to sew 12 thousand masks in two days. “If there is a need, people just show up,” said Mr. Troyer.

We really are all in this together

This disease freely roams the globe. It won’t be over until everyone is vaccinated. Our government talks about a vaccine by year’s end, but this virus mutates. Will the virus we develop today work on the virus that evolves tomorrow? No one knows, though the government has committed $1.2B to drug company AstraZeneca to develop a vaccine.

Expertise and government matter

There’s a reason why we have government and policies. It’s important to hire smart, experienced people, to build teams who know how to execute in a crisis. We really can’t underestimate the importance of strong leadership, experience and expertise. We’ve learned an important lesson: Crisis is inevitable, it’s how you deal with it that matters.

We can learn from others

What if we took a page from New Zealand, a tiny country whose population is less than that of the Bay Area? New Zealand is cautiously COVID-free, thanks to smart leadership. They’re all over renewable energy–79% of their electricity comes from renewable, and their goal is to be 90% renewable by 2025. Think about that. An entire country working toward an environmentally conscious goal. What if we did that? What if America’s collective creativity were directed toward renewable energy? We could own this and lead the world.

Some amazing things are emerging from this crisis

We’ve learned about our own resilience, resourcefulness and ingenuity. We’ve:

• Gotten to know our families again and hopelessly spoiled our pets.
• Reduced pollution. We can do this. Venice’s canals are clearer than they’ve been in 20 years.
• Learned new languages. My neighbor can’t stop baking. It’s endless–gardening, knitting, sewing, painting and canning. These close-to-the-earth kinds of activities are somehow life-affirming.
• Rediscovered our creativity and inventiveness. Skype book clubs, Periscope jam sessions, live-streamed yoga classes and worship services. We’ve Zoomed everything imaginable—from art classes, happy hours and dinner parties to weddings and memorial services.
• Gone back to using the internet as it was meant to be used. A way to connect, share information and come up with creative solutions to pressing problems. There’s a kind of pioneer spirt about this—the kind of thing that surfaces when the power goes off for an extended period.

We’ve found inventive new ways to transact business, but something is missing

Many of these activities represent positive change that will transcend COVID. But we all want our lives back. We want to be around people again. To be in a crowded restaurant or bar, to go to movies, concerts and events. To have the freedom to hop on an airplane and travel. To meet new people, to be free to reach out and shake hands. To connect. We want to hug our friends again! Despite our agility and reliance on our online channels, we’ve learned that the need for human connection remains a powerful, driving force.

And that’s one of the good things to emerge from our lockdown. We’ll get through this. Stay safe.

The uncertainty of this disease leaves many people scheduling appointments to create or update their Living Trusts 

Our Trust includes a Power of Attorney, an Advanced Healthcare Directive and a Pour Over Will. For those with children under 18, it provides the opportunity to name a Guardian. 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.

Working with California Document Preparers

The safety and wellbeing of our own team and our clients are important to us. For many of our clients, we are working completely virtually using ZOOM and phones. We’ve instituted stringent sanitation procedures in our offices, so our clients can feel comfortable about meeting with us. Everyone is wearing masks and gloves; hand sanitizers are distributed throughout the space. We limit the number of people in the office so that we can maintain proper social distancing.

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 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.