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.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:18):
Winter storm warning.
We're here to discuss withattorney Jane Deerwester winters
coming, being prepared forwinter storms, the unexpected,
and estate planning, and havingyour emergency documents in
place and how those relate.

(00:39):
So, Jane, last year in themountains at the Hendersonville
office, which is you're themanaging attorney there, we
experienced a hurricane inOctober, then going into winter
storm weather not too far afterthat.
And during the year, somethingwe've been working on is putting

(01:01):
in place a preparedness plan foryour office to deal with winter
storms, signings, clients, andour own team members that might
live on some winding back roadsthat get a bit icy or snowed in.
Um, so we've been working onthat a lot lately.
James, yes, indeed.
About what happens in themountains of North Carolina.

(01:23):
In the now you you work in theHenderson office, you live in um
past Asheville, though, correct?
North of Asheville, yeah.
North of Ashville.

SPEAKER_01 (01:33):
The other side of the world, the other side of the
world from Endo, but not really,not really.

SPEAKER_00 (01:38):
Sure.
But you know, so so you've gotto travel, and I know there have
been mornings where it's beenclear, a beautiful day in
Hendersonville, and you'reshowing me at the house there,
it's like a winter wonderlandwhere you're yes.

SPEAKER_01 (01:55):
So the mountain, it's interesting how different
it can be.

SPEAKER_00 (01:59):
The the weather can vary, and and you know, just
depending on from one peak toanother, right?

SPEAKER_01 (02:05):
That's right.
Yeah, depending on what side ofthe valley you're on.
One side of the valley can besunny and cold but totally
clear, and you're on the northside and you're covered in snow,
or depending on elevation, too.
I used to live above the fogline.
So once you get above like3,200, 3,500 feet, you're above

(02:28):
the fog.
But once you go down into thevalley and into the holler,
completely different weatherpattern.
So it's it's very interestinghere.
And we not only dealt withHurricane Helene last year, but
pretty shortly thereafter, wealso had some massive forest
fires that burnt tens ofthousands of acres.

(02:50):
Uh, and it was this tender boxbecause of all the downed wood
from Helene, and it was alldried out.
And a couple of our uh staffmembers here got evacuated from
their homes.
And again, we had to deal withthat, and we all came together
and helped each other.
So never know what's gonnahappen up here in the mountains.

(03:10):
But winter weather definitelygets us, and we have to just be
smart and learn how to navigatethat.

SPEAKER_00 (03:16):
I have found that the Hendersonville office has a
great culture, patient andresilient folks up there that uh
that I guess over time learn tojust deal with those weather
events and those fires and thefog and the snow and the winter

(03:38):
storms and all of it, um, andstill go about your lives,
right?
Yeah, and to do that though, Iimagine you want to be prepared.
You always talk about beingprepared um for the weather and
those things, and you're alwaysreally on top of that.
I'm more of I'm going about theday, like, okay, whatever

(04:01):
happens, I'm just gonna continueon with whatever.
But you know, is it cold outsidethis morning, Siri?
That's what I say.
And to see if I need to put on ajacket or not, right?
But you know, really that's notthe best approach because you
can get caught in bad situationsif you don't prepare.

(04:22):
So as a planner and somebody whoprepares for the coming winter
conditions, tell me a little bitabout that and what your what
you deal with, what yourroutines are, and how that
relates to estate planning.

SPEAKER_01 (04:34):
Yeah, I think it's just uh being aware and
watching.
For me here in Hendersonville, Icheck in with our staff because
we live in all different placesscattered around Western North
Carolina.
So just checking in with peopleto make sure they're prepared.
If it's bad enough that theycan't get out at all, that

(04:54):
they're prepared to workremotely or do whatever needs to
be done.
If we have signings, if we haveclients who are coming in, we
need to make sure we'reproactive about reaching out to
people if nobody can get intothe office, which is would be
very uncommon because or youknow, very unusual, because we
have a few people who livepretty close by, which is great.

(05:17):
And that uh helped when we weredealing with Celine.
We had people that were boots onthe ground here handing out
supplies, including you, Greg.
So thank you for doing that.
You were shuttling stuff in herefrom Charlotte, which I'm sure
was just such a godsend topeople who are struggling here,
where our supplies were verylimited and everything was
limited.
So um, yeah, all those kinds ofthings, I think.

(05:40):
And I was just talking before wegot on the meeting.
This is very simple, but I needto put some boots in the back of
my car because I'm walkingaround in heels and you know,
dressed up for work.
And if I get stuck in theweather, uh, I'm not gonna be
able to do much in some threeand a half inch uh high heels if
I get stuck in the snow.
Uh, so usually I put a pair ofboots in the back of my truck

(06:02):
and maybe uh extra blanket orsomething like that.
Like those kind of things go along way.
And I think for estate planning,it's that same uh mindset of
preparedness to what's the stormof life that's gonna hit.
You don't know that.
Unfortunately, you know, forweather, we've got a forecast.
It's not always 100% reliable,but at least you have an idea of

(06:26):
what's coming.
And a lot of times the storms oflife hit us with no warning.
And if we're not prepared, thenwe just have to struggle and
figure it out.
But the difference between beingprepared and not being prepared,
huge difference, huge differenceas far as estate planning goes.
If you've got your documents inplace, you've got kind of this

(06:48):
soft, warm place to land, andyou've already made a plan,
you've got your emergencycontacts, you've got your agents
set up.
And uh, if you don't, then it'sthis uh, you know, maybe a state
of panic or just the unknown, oryou don't know what to do
because you haven't sat down tomake a plan.

SPEAKER_00 (07:08):
Or you get stuck.
Yes, or you get stuck becauseyou know, and having to go to
court for guardianships becauseyou don't have your powers of
attorney in place, or or reallybeing stuck trying to activate a
benefit and needing to shiftsome assets, but not giving
someone the power to do that.

(07:28):
Maybe not having planned aheadand put a ladybird deed on your
house or place certain financialassets in trust to shield and
protect them.
Those are things that planningahead allow you to do.
It gives you options.

SPEAKER_01 (07:41):
Yes.

SPEAKER_00 (07:42):
We've been working on an implement weather policy,
tuning up laptops, making surepeople have them, that they're
set up correctly, so that ifpeople 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

(08:05):
metaphor for life.
It just is because life happens,water happens, life happens,
health issues happen, andsometimes you get a forecast
that those things are coming.
Sometimes you don't.

SPEAKER_01 (08:18):
Um, and sometimes sometimes our clients have a
diagnosis of Alzheimer's,Parkinson's, dementia, cancer,
these kind of very seriousdiagnoses.
So they have time sometimes toplan ahead, and other times it
just hits them quickly like astroke.
They have no health issues,boom, it's just there.

SPEAKER_00 (08:39):
One of the big ones that I see with clients all the
time are falls and strokes.
Yes, falls, yes, falls andstrokes, and and those things
hit and you crack your hip or orhead or or have a stroke, and
you you aren't prepared, youhaven't taken these steps.
Those are tough situations to bein.
We still help families navigatethose situations, and I'm very

(09:01):
proud of the work we do there.
And also, I implore people toplan ahead, to be prepared, to
to you know, understand thatthat the unexpected is going to
happen from time to time.
And and and being prepared cansave you from getting your high

(09:24):
heels stuck in the snow.
That's right.
And not having a blanket in caseyou get stuck on the side of a
mountain somewhere on the roadand you need to be warm, right?
So you need to get that blanket,Jane.
Get that blanket.
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (09:37):
Well, not the blanket, not the boots.
I need to get the boots inthere.

SPEAKER_00 (09:41):
Jane does drive a four-wheel drive vehicle.

SPEAKER_01 (09:44):
Yes, yes.
Always have up here in themountains.
Yes, I'm at least prepared thatway.
But four-wheel drive, just PSA,four-wheel drive does nothing on
ice.
It might help you on snow or youknow, rugged terrain.
It doesn't help you on ice.
You've got to be a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 (10:11):
But I will say, one of the best cars I've ever
driven in the snow, my fatherused to talk about this all the
time.
It's just like a front-wheeldrive, like a Honda cord or a
Toyota Corolla or something likethat.
Those things back in the day,especially a straight drive,
like a manual, like that.
Dude, you can just drive um inabout anything.
But yeah, sometimes when you getthat four-wheel drive turning on

(10:33):
ice or something, it just getssquirrely, you know.

SPEAKER_01 (10:36):
And around here, you don't just like slide off onto
the side of the road, you flyoff the side of a mountain like
into a ravine.
No good.

SPEAKER_00 (10:46):
No, no, bueno, yeah.
So we want to avoid thoseravines and life's ravines.
And the way you do that issimply by being as prepared as
possible.
We can help you do that.
Um, and we'd be glad, glad to doso.
Um, so come on out and see us,come out of the holler.

SPEAKER_01 (11:04):
That's right.
It is the season.
Now's the time.
This is a good time to plan.
Um, you know, get get thatchecked off your list at the end
of the year here.

SPEAKER_00 (11:14):
Agreed, agreed.
We are we are um offering somespecial deals around the
holidays here.
Um yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (11:23):
Oh, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 (11:24):
Yeah, we we are running uh Christmas coupons.
Uh to uh, you know, nothing.
What's better than ties in asweater, Jane?
For Christmas.

SPEAKER_01 (11:37):
Free money?

SPEAKER_00 (11:38):
Estate planning.

SPEAKER_01 (11:42):
Yes, at a discount at that.

SPEAKER_00 (11:44):
That's right.
Thank you, Jane, for theconversation.
I appreciate that.
And stay safe up there, staywarm.

SPEAKER_01 (11:51):
Thank you.