Colorado’s wildfire season has been active and dangerous this year, with large fires burning across the western part of the state. For families along the Front Range, that is a reminder that an estate plan only helps if it exists and can be found when it matters. A will you have been meaning to write, or one locked inside a house you had to evacuate, does little for the people you leave behind.
Why a Hard Fire Season Changes the Math
Most people treat writing a will as something to get to eventually. A dangerous fire season has a way of shortening that timeline. When evacuation orders come, they often come fast, and the documents that record your wishes, your property, and your plans for your children are easy to overlook in the rush. Having a valid will already in place takes one urgent task off the list at a moment when you will have little time to think.
What Belongs in Your Plan
A will is the central document, but it rarely stands alone. A complete plan usually pulls together a few pieces that work as a set:
- A will that names who inherits and who serves as executor
- A guardian nomination for any minor children
- A financial power of attorney for someone to act if you cannot
- A medical power of attorney and advance directive
- Current beneficiary designations on accounts and insurance policies
Each of these speaks for you in a different situation. Together they cover far more ground than a will does on its own.
Keeping Documents Safe and Findable
Drafting the documents is only half the job. They also have to survive a disaster and be reachable afterward. Keep originals in a fireproof and waterproof safe, or in a bank box, and store secure digital copies you can reach from anywhere. Just as important, tell your executor and close family where everything is kept, because a will no one can locate creates much the same problem as having no will at all. Federal guidance on safeguarding documents before wildfires is a useful starting point, and it pairs naturally with having those documents drafted correctly in the first place.
Where an Attorney Fits
You can find will templates online, and for very simple estates they sometimes work. The risk is that a small error in signing or witnessing can void the whole document, and families rarely discover the problem until it is too late to fix. Colorado has specific rules about how a will must be executed to be valid. A Severance, CO will lawyer can confirm your documents meet those rules and actually fit your family, so the plan holds up whether it is needed next year or next week.
The team at W.B. Moore Law helps Severance families get these documents in place and keep them current, so a hard fire season is not the thing that finally forces the issue. If your plan is unfinished or years out of date, talking it through with a Severance will lawyer is a straightforward way to be ready well before you need to be.