Calm in the Storm: Three Lessons from the COVID Pandemic

You and I are being tested. A test of our courage and resolve. Our nation’s leaders are also being tested by a global pandemic and those who seek political gain from it.

Trying times are inevitable. Not all of them involve global pandemics or war. Most are highly personal. These personal pandemics include illness, injury, divorce, unexpected financial setbacks, disability or the loss of a loved one. They may directly attack you or impact someone you love. They all change forever the lives of whole families.

So what do we make of this global crisis? What can we learn from the spread of the coronavirus and the nation’s response to it?

First of all, there is a message I want you to hear loudly and clearly. I am absolutely convinced we will get through this together. My faith in God and my confidence in our nation and our economy is not shaken. Our collective response to this threat has been has been historic in its speed and epic in scope. Industries have retooled. Volunteers have stepped into the breach in the disease’s hot spots, putting their own lives in harm’s way.

When pandemics strike – whether global or personal – it is vital to learn the lessons that need to be learned, change what needs changing, and embrace the rock solid truths that help us weather the storm. After reflecting on the events of the past month, there are at least three lessons I believe we need to learn or be reminded from the current global pandemic.

Lesson #1. Tomorrow Is Not Promised or Certain

Not once in my thirty-plus years as an estate and trust counsel did it occur to me to warn clients that one day, in an obscure Chinese province, contaminated bat soup would give birth to a virus and explode into a global pandemic, threatening their lives and the lives of the ones they love. Yet that is exactly what has happened.

In one form or another, we address the issue of the future in theoretical terms with all of our clients. We look at each other and nod, sagely agreeing to the proposition that none of us knows what the future holds. But the COVID pandemic has transformed that conversation from the theoretical and made it all too real.

Now that this truth about the future has been hammered home 24/7 for the past few weeks, what should our response be? For one, we need to stop making decisions as if we know what tomorrow will bring. And that brings us to lesson number two.

Lesson #2. Preparation Requires Planning

The second lesson to be had from this new reality is that WE MUST BE PREPARED FOR THE NEXT TRIAL. It will come. Life experience tells us that. History is replete with examples. The history of the 2020 coronavirus is playing out in real time, right before our eyes. Those of us who fail to heed the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them. We will never be prepared if we do not plan.

At Breshears Law, I have remained hard at work, building on the technological tools we have been utilizing for years to ensure our work continues uninterrupted, in ways that will protect the health and safety of our clients without interfering with their ability to continue the planning process.

To serve our clients we are:

• Using video conferences to allow clients to meet with us from the comfort and safety of their homes.
• Seeking certification as an Online Notary, so that we can even sign estate plan documents remotely. In the meantime, Gov. Abbott has issued an executive order that expands the ability of normal notaries to verify documents and the identities of parties by video conference.
• Continuing what we have already been doing for years, employing secure electronic communication tools to gather critical information from clients that encrypts their data during transmission to us. This prevents unauthorized persons from intercepting the information and improves the accuracy of the information we collect.

At Breshears Law, you don’t have to choose between protecting your health and planning for your uncertain future. Our clients can now benefit from the entire estate-planning process, from start to finish, all done while everybody stays safe at home. All it takes is a device (tablet or smart phone), a webcam and a good internet connection.

Lesson #3. Advance Planning is the Best Planning

In this trying time, we are seeing dramatic evidence of why we need to plan BEFORE the next crisis comes. If you have set aside your planning needs until after the COVID scare is ended, my advice is simple. Don’t wait. We always have more and better options clients can choose from if we plan before their personal pandemic arrives. Those who wait often find their options limited and far less beneficial than clients who planned for the next crisis in advance.

Now, more than ever, if you have questions about how you can protect your family, please call (817) 500-0155 or email info@breshearslaw.com.

Written by Joe Breshears