5 Ways to Protect Clients' Families Against Disappearance Risk

The story of Ralph Hendry and his wife, Kathy Brandel, is a grim reminder of the possibility that some clients simply vanish.

Hendry was the founder of Potomac Wealth Management in Washington. He and his wife disappeared while yachting near Grenada last week and are presumed dead. Officials in Grenada have suggested that three escaped prisoners might have killed the couple and thrown them overboard.

In the past, other people with the resources to develop and fund comprehensive financial plans have disappeared as a result of crimes, earthquakes, hurricanes and other personal and natural disasters.

Some of the clients might be missing temporarily, due to concerns such as communications disruptions, and those clients need to be able to get back to normal quickly once they surface.

In other cases, the clients are dead. Getting the courts to declare that the clients are dead and have access to life insurance benefits may take years.

The sons of Hendry and Brandel have started a GoFundMe fundraising campaign to handle the urgent expenses associated with the sudden disappearance of their parents.

You may have helped clients plan for premature death, disability, retirement income needs and long-term care needs. Your clients might even have kidnapping benefits hidden somewhere in a travel insurance policy. How can you help clients and their families plan for disappearance risk?

Holly Geerdes, the founding attorney at Estate Law Center USA, has addressed that topic in response to hurricanes. For five planning ideas, based on Geerdes’ advice, see the gallery above.

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