Elder Law Report
Elder Law Report
Prepare For Storms You Can See And Those You Can’t
Cold mornings, black ice on the north side of the valley, and a clear road just a mile away—mountain weather keeps you humble. That same unpredictability shows up in life events, which is why we sat down with attorney Jane Dearwester to connect winter preparedness with estate planning that actually works when the road disappears. From Hurricane Helene to fast-moving forest fires and sudden evacuations, Jane shares how her Hendersonville team built resilience: checking on staff across elevations, setting remote work protocols, and keeping signings and client support moving even when the power blinked and supplies thinned.
We carry those lessons straight into your home and finances. Jane breaks down the essential documents—durable financial power of attorney, health care power of attorney, HIPAA release, living will, will or trust—and explains how they prevent guardianship, unblock access to accounts, and keep medical decisions in trusted hands. We also dive into property strategies like Lady Bird deeds and how trusts can protect assets and streamline benefits, especially when timing and eligibility matter. The message is clear: planning early gives you options; waiting narrows your choices at the exact moment you need them most.
If you’ve ever wondered whether four-wheel drive equals safety, Jane’s PSA says otherwise: it helps on snow, not on ice. The legal parallel is powerful—good intentions slide, signed authority grips. You’ll hear practical tips for winter kits (boots, blanket, charger), a simple activation sheet for families, and the operational steps that keep a practice serving clients when roads close. Use this conversation as your cue to put both kinds of preparedness in place. Subscribe for more practical guides, share this with someone driving into winter unprepared, and leave a review with the one action you’re taking this week to secure your plan.
Winter storm warning. We're here to discuss with attorney Jane Deerwester winters coming, being prepared for winter storms, the unexpected, and estate planning, and having your emergency documents in place and how those relate. So, Jane, last year in the mountains at the Hendersonville office, which is you're the managing attorney there, we experienced a hurricane in October, then going into winter storm weather not too far after that. And during the year, something we've been working on is putting in place a preparedness plan for your office to deal with winter storms, signings, clients, and our own team members that might live on some winding back roads that get a bit icy or snowed in. Um, so we've been working on that a lot lately. James, yes, indeed. About what happens in the mountains of North Carolina. In the now you you work in the Henderson office, you live in um past Asheville, though, correct? North of Asheville, yeah. North of Ashville.
SPEAKER_01:The other side of the world, the other side of the world from Endo, but not really, not really.
SPEAKER_00:Sure. But you know, so so you've got to travel, and I know there have been mornings where it's been clear, a beautiful day in Hendersonville, and you're showing me at the house there, it's like a winter wonderland where you're yes.
SPEAKER_01:So the mountain, it's interesting how different it can be.
SPEAKER_00:The the weather can vary, and and you know, just depending on from one peak to another, right?
SPEAKER_01:That's right. Yeah, depending on what side of the valley you're on. One side of the valley can be sunny and cold but totally clear, and you're on the north side and you're covered in snow, or depending on elevation, too. I used to live above the fog line. So once you get above like 3,200, 3,500 feet, you're above the fog. But once you go down into the valley and into the holler, completely different weather pattern. So it's it's very interesting here. And we not only dealt with Hurricane Helene last year, but pretty shortly thereafter, we also had some massive forest fires that burnt tens of thousands of acres. Uh, and it was this tender box because of all the downed wood from Helene, and it was all dried out. And a couple of our uh staff members here got evacuated from their homes. And again, we had to deal with that, and we all came together and helped each other. So never know what's gonna happen up here in the mountains. But winter weather definitely gets us, and we have to just be smart and learn how to navigate that.
SPEAKER_00:I have found that the Hendersonville office has a great culture, patient and resilient folks up there that uh that I guess over time learn to just deal with those weather events and those fires and the fog and the snow and the winter storms and all of it, um, and still go about your lives, right? Yeah, and to do that though, I imagine you want to be prepared. You always talk about being prepared um for the weather and those things, and you're always really on top of that. I'm more of I'm going about the day, like, okay, whatever happens, I'm just gonna continue on with whatever. But you know, is it cold outside this morning, Siri? That's what I say. And to see if I need to put on a jacket or not, right? But you know, really that's not the best approach because you can get caught in bad situations if you don't prepare. So as a planner and somebody who prepares for the coming winter conditions, tell me a little bit about that and what your what you deal with, what your routines are, and how that relates to estate planning.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think it's just uh being aware and watching. For me here in Hendersonville, I check in with our staff because we live in all different places scattered around Western North Carolina. So just checking in with people to make sure they're prepared. If it's bad enough that they can't get out at all, that they're prepared to work remotely or do whatever needs to be done. If we have signings, if we have clients who are coming in, we need to make sure we're proactive about reaching out to people if nobody can get into the office, which is would be very uncommon because or you know, very unusual, because we have a few people who live pretty close by, which is great. And that uh helped when we were dealing with Celine. We had people that were boots on the ground here handing out supplies, including you, Greg. So thank you for doing that. You were shuttling stuff in here from Charlotte, which I'm sure was just such a godsend to people who are struggling here, where our supplies were very limited and everything was limited. So um, yeah, all those kinds of things, I think. And I was just talking before we got on the meeting. This is very simple, but I need to put some boots in the back of my car because I'm walking around in heels and you know, dressed up for work. And if I get stuck in the weather, uh, I'm not gonna be able to do much in some three and a half inch uh high heels if I get stuck in the snow. Uh, so usually I put a pair of boots in the back of my truck and maybe uh extra blanket or something like that. Like those kind of things go a long way. And I think for estate planning, it's that same uh mindset of preparedness to what's the storm of life that's gonna hit. You don't know that. Unfortunately, you know, for weather, we've got a forecast. It's not always 100% reliable, but at least you have an idea of what's coming. And a lot of times the storms of life hit us with no warning. And if we're not prepared, then we just have to struggle and figure it out. But the difference between being prepared and not being prepared, huge difference, huge difference as far as estate planning goes. If you've got your documents in place, you've got kind of this soft, warm place to land, and you've already made a plan, you've got your emergency contacts, you've got your agents set up. And uh, if you don't, then it's this uh, you know, maybe a state of panic or just the unknown, or you don't know what to do because you haven't sat down to make a plan.
SPEAKER_00:Or you get stuck. Yes, or you get stuck because you know, and having to go to court for guardianships because you don't have your powers of attorney in place, or or really being stuck trying to activate a benefit and needing to shift some assets, but not giving someone the power to do that. Maybe not having planned ahead and put a ladybird deed on your house or place certain financial assets in trust to shield and protect them. Those are things that planning ahead allow you to do. It gives you options.
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:We've been working on an implement weather policy, tuning up laptops, making sure people have them, that they're set up correctly, so that if people can't make it in certain days, then the band plays on. We still get to to keep working, keep doing things, right? We're not we're not stuck. You don't want to get stuck. I mean, the storms, the winter, god, the weather is such a great metaphor for life. It just is because life happens, water happens, life happens, health issues happen, and sometimes you get a forecast that those things are coming. Sometimes you don't.
SPEAKER_01:Um, and sometimes sometimes our clients have a diagnosis of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, dementia, cancer, these kind of very serious diagnoses. So they have time sometimes to plan ahead, and other times it just hits them quickly like a stroke. They have no health issues, boom, it's just there.
SPEAKER_00:One of the big ones that I see with clients all the time are falls and strokes. Yes, falls, yes, falls and strokes, and and those things hit and you crack your hip or or head or or have a stroke, and you you aren't prepared, you haven't taken these steps. Those are tough situations to be in. We still help families navigate those situations, and I'm very proud of the work we do there. And also, I implore people to plan ahead, to be prepared, to to you know, understand that that the unexpected is going to happen from time to time. And and and being prepared can save you from getting your high heels stuck in the snow. That's right. And not having a blanket in case you get stuck on the side of a mountain somewhere on the road and you need to be warm, right? So you need to get that blanket, Jane. Get that blanket. Right.
SPEAKER_01:Well, not the blanket, not the boots. I need to get the boots in there.
SPEAKER_00:Jane does drive a four-wheel drive vehicle.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, yes. Always have up here in the mountains. Yes, I'm at least prepared that way. But four-wheel drive, just PSA, four-wheel drive does nothing on ice. It might help you on snow or you know, rugged terrain. It doesn't help you on ice. You've got to be a good thing.
SPEAKER_00:But I will say, one of the best cars I've ever driven in the snow, my father used to talk about this all the time. It's just like a front-wheel drive, like a Honda cord or a Toyota Corolla or something like that. Those things back in the day, especially a straight drive, like a manual, like that. Dude, you can just drive um in about anything. But yeah, sometimes when you get that four-wheel drive turning on ice or something, it just gets squirrely, you know.
SPEAKER_01:And around here, you don't just like slide off onto the side of the road, you fly off the side of a mountain like into a ravine. No good.
SPEAKER_00:No, no, bueno, yeah. So we want to avoid those ravines and life's ravines. And the way you do that is simply by being as prepared as possible. We can help you do that. Um, and we'd be glad, glad to do so. Um, so come on out and see us, come out of the holler.
SPEAKER_01:That's right. It is the season. Now's the time. This is a good time to plan. Um, you know, get get that checked off your list at the end of the year here.
SPEAKER_00:Agreed, agreed. We are we are um offering some special deals around the holidays here. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, that's right.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we we are running uh Christmas coupons. Uh to uh, you know, nothing. What's better than ties in a sweater, Jane? For Christmas.
SPEAKER_01:Free money?
SPEAKER_00:Estate planning.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, at a discount at that.
SPEAKER_00:That's right. Thank you, Jane, for the conversation. I appreciate that. And stay safe up there, stay warm.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you.