Wills can turn worry into positive action with elderly clients
With COVID-19 knocking at the door and the stock market on a wild roller coaster ride, making sure Wills are up to date is one of the most sensible things to do, and a conversation about legacy can help address this in a sensitive way.
At Horlock Holdcroft we are striving to keep things as ‘normal’ as possible, for as long as possible. We have a basic plan in place, should a lockdown come into effect. All our advisers are remotely enabled, due to the nature of their jobs, but the majority of the admin team are tied to the office. In our opinion, an office presence remains important, but how can we retain that, while still adhering to isolation or lockdown? One of our administrators lives locally, within a five-minute walk from the company. As such she doesn’t need to take public transport to get to work and can in fact encounter no one within close range to get to the office.
This ensures at least one staff member is in the office to answer phone calls, deal with post, take deliveries and deal with any drop ins. The office is spread over two floors, and there is the capacity for another administrator to work on the second floor, which has its own facilities, therefore enabling complete separation from each other. This can enable us to carry on as ‘normally’ as possible for as long as possible.
Prior to a lockdown coming into effect, we have a hand washing policy in place and we are staggering our working hours, so less people are in the office at any one time. For clients, we offer contact by phone and email, but also by Zoom and Skype. This means we can still carry out ‘face-to-face’ meetings, albeit virtually.
Control the controllable
Talking of clients, what can they possibly do to better their financial position at this time? I had a great conversation with my sister, Claire Grylls, who is a solicitor and Notary Public based in Kent, while we were participating at Malling parkrun on Saturday. We always use this time to catch up and put the world to rights. Our conclusion — if there is one area you should really focus on right now, it’s your will.
You can’t stop the ebb and flow of the FTSE, there are limited things you can do to help prevent getting the virus itself, but when all is said and done, if you contract it and the worst happens, I know I would be happier knowing my wishes were being adhered to and those closest to me were looked after. But how do you bring this sensitive conversation up with clients, or even your own family members?
Generally, people are worried for their elderly parents and it is likely that many of your own clients will be on the older side too. They may well fall into the ‘over-70’ category that is facing imminent isolation. There is a need to act fast in this case, unless they are particularly tech savvy and are comfortable with Skype interaction and video calling.
I find the most sensitive way to address this is by asking about their legacy plans — their children and grandchildren. Do they have plans to help these generations out, and if so, how? Is this recorded anywhere? If not, why not, and if so, how long ago was it reviewed? This can be a great opener to get clients to think, not about their passing, but about how they will be able to help their children and grandchildren.
As far as concerned clients go, we have had a few of them get in touch with us, concerned by the recent direction of the stock markets, but generally concerns have been few and far between, which we take as validation of our client education. Our general consensus is to stay the course and we continue to educate our clients by way of social media and general interaction to reassure them and keep them calm.
The content of this blog is for information only and does not constitute advice or a recommendation to act. If you wish to take action based on what you have read in this blog then please seek independent financial advice first. The aim of this blog is to provide you with factual information only.
Originally published on 20th March 2020 at https://citywire.co.uk/new-model-adviser/news/wills-can-turn-worry-into-positive-action-with-elderly-clients/a1336584
