MEANS & MEANING
The Elephant in the Room:
COVID-19 and WILLS NOW
WILLS NOW, The Conference’s new COVID-19 initiative, is providing quick connection with Adventist lawyers and no-cost wills BY LYNN McDOWELL
I
n my lifetime, there has never been a socially accepted time to bring up — do we dare say it — death. Funerals are occasions where we face it, but we really don’t want to talk or think about it, and the focus is on other things, like the life and good deeds of the loved one, the hope we have of meeting again. But in March, the unspoken agreement to not talk about possible imminent death changed. Suddenly politicians were citing alarming statistics and Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Deena Hinshaw, became a fashion icon as she delivered dire news of a lethal virus. Even young people — especially young people — began making will appointments in droves (see DID YOU KNOW box for poll statistics). Given my personal experience in 2018 with family passing away in rapid succession
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(some without wills), I realized that one of the most practical things the Conference could do to prevent more stress and future pain for families facing COVID-19 was to help families by making well-drafted wills possible for any member who needs one. And so at the end of March in the face of COVID-19, the Conference announced WILLS NOW — a joint effort with Adventist lawyers Shelley Smith (Edmonton) and Loney Ziakris (Lacombe) to ensure every member has a proper will. At no cost. No joke. Especially not a lawyer joke.
How WILLS NOW Works There has never been a requirement that members include the Conference as a
