Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Probate and Property
Publication Date
2026
Volume
40
First Page
38
Abstract
(Excerpt)
When disaster strikes, communities rally to meet urgent, short-term needs—food, shelter, and medical care that keep people alive and safe in the immediate aftermath. For days, we see images of flooded streets, emergency shelters, and calls to support fundraising campaigns in the media cycle. Long-term recovery after a disaster often depends on something less visible: the ability of people, especially those experiencing economic insecurity, to rebuild or return to stable, functional homes.
The outcome of this largely depends on whether families can navigate and access assistance programs like those offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Can you prove you own your home if your deed was washed away in the flood, or if the deed was never recorded, leaving your title unclear? What happens if your insurance payout is insufficient to cover the damage to your home? Can you appeal FEMA’s denial when an inspector determines there was insufficient damage to the house? Disaster law often lives in these questions—and without answers, long-term recovery can grind to a halt.
Comments
©2025. Published in Probate and Property, Volume 40, Issue 1, January/February 2026, by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association or the copyright holder.
The document in the repository is a text-only document. Published article appears in Probate and Property.