How a Natural Disaster Affects Estate Planning

When a natural disaster strikes, it can have a direct effect on an estate plan and may need to have it re-evaluated. In order to understand why, you need to understand how a natural disaster affects estate planning.

Where Documents are Located

When you have conducted estate planning before, then you know that the location of documents is important to know. When you want the forms to get executed, they need to arrive in good condition and not weathered.

This means you need to ensure that their storage is up to par. A lot of times a copy of the estate plan will be in a secondary location within a safety deposit box or with their attorney. Plus, your immediate family should have some access to it and know how to get it executed.

Asset Changes

When you have gone through a disaster, then you have likely experienced an alteration to the estate plan. This alteration will commonly be due to property damage and the fact that its value has decreased. Besides that, an insurance company may have paid you for the claim you made surrounding the property damage. When this takes place, your entire estate value may increase.

Regardless, the best thing to do is to go over how your plans may be altered with your attorney and any type of change could be caused by the natural disaster.

Increasing Insurance Amounts

Having an estate will mean having insurance as part of it. This will be especially true for those who are looking to have their amount increased. This increase in insurance will likely surround a life insurance policy or property insurance that ensures the property does not sustain a great amount of property value loss. When the coverages are increased, the estate portfolio will be maximized so that any heirs can receive the remaining amount.

There Could Be Motivation Involved

When you have no estate plan in place, then you may feel motivated to create one when you experience a natural disaster. To get the ball rolling, you should be in touch with an attorney specializing in estate planning.  They will sit down with you and discuss your options. With a natural disaster being unpredictable, you do not want to be caught off guard when one strikes.

Conclusion

When a natural disaster occurs, you need to be ready for any and everything. This means you need to be aware of how important an estate plan is and how the estate plan can be affected. Having an experienced attorney specializing in estate planning is always a good idea. When you are ready, give us a call today.

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