The importance of regularly updating your will cannot be understated. A prudent individual should review their will upon significant life changes. An article on Forbes suggests that one’s estate plan should be reassessed at least every five years. A change in finances, the law or personal circumstances, such as marriage, divorce or a change in relationships, should prompt a review even sooner.

Covid-19 sparked a change in many people’s daily lives and personal attitudes. While death is not something pleasant to consider, Covid-19 has made many people more conscious of their own vulnerability and mortality. There is a psychological theory that describes this notion – Terror Management Theory. This phenomenon examines how people respond when death is made salient to them. In their book, The Worm at the Core, Sheldon Solomon and his colleagues explain how the Terror Management Theory begins with the notion that human beings have an innate need to survive, like other living organisms. However, while other organisms lack the intellectual ability to understand their impermanence, human beings do not.  Perhaps as a result of heightened death awareness spurred by Covid-19, estate planners were flooded by clients rushing to update (or create) their estate plans at the beginning of the pandemic.

As students in the GTA return to school, we are again seeing a steady and concerning increase in Covid-19 cases. Ontario Education Minister, Stephen Lecce, expressed concerns of a possible second wave of the virus in conjunction with flu season. It is important for individuals to again reconsider whether their personal circumstances have changed in a significant way and to review their estate plans to ensure they are sufficient and up to date. It is crucial that Canadians do not succumb to “pandemic fatigue.”

Thanks for reading!

Ian Hull & Tori Joseph