14 Aug
Have you been meaning to plan your estate but have never gotten around to it? If so, you are not alone. Statistics show that less than 40 percent of Americans currently have an estate plan. But that may soon be changing due to the Coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc here in Texas and across the United States.
Some News Reports Overblown
To be sure, this is not our attempt at a scare tactic or a doom-and-gloom scenario. Some news outlets have been guilty of sensationalizing the panic among certain demographics. For instance, Newsweek recently ran a headline that said, “Texas teachers writing their wills as state promises to reopen schools in fall.” According to some digging by a Texas news station, that story was based on a single tweet from someone who self-identifies as a teacher.
Although this story may have been overblown or based on too few facts, there is likely some truth to the idea that workers who are or soon will be “on the front lines” are thinking ahead to worst-case scenarios. That certainly seems to be the case with health care professionals who are working directly with Covid patients in hospitals. Other high-risk occupations include anyone who must work in close physical proximity to others in order to do their jobs.
Should You Be Getting Started On An Estate Plan?
If you work from home and are otherwise following all CDC guidelines for protecting yourself and others, your chances of contracting Coronavirus are probably comparatively low. But even in times when we aren’t facing a dangerous and deadly disease, the simple truth is that none of us knows what the future has in store for us. Therefore, there is no time like the present to create an estate plan with the help of an experienced estate law attorney.