Aug. 13, 2025
Estate Planning with Sharon Boykin: Protecting Your Legacy Beyond the Grave
Send us a text When was the last time you thought about who would inherit your possessions if something happened to you tomorrow? Not just the big things like your house or car, but the cherished items that carry sentimental value – the family Bible passed down through generations, your grandmother's recipe book, or even the special jewelry you wear every day? In this eye-opening conversation with attorney Sharon Boykin as we dive deep into the world of estate planning, challenging the misco...
When was the last time you thought about who would inherit your possessions if something happened to you tomorrow? Not just the big things like your house or car, but the cherished items that carry sentimental value – the family Bible passed down through generations, your grandmother's recipe book, or even the special jewelry you wear every day?
In this eye-opening conversation with attorney Sharon Boykin as we dive deep into the world of estate planning, challenging the misconceptions that keep so many from protecting their legacies. With 40 years of legal experience including roles as a judge, prosecutor, and probate court administrator, Sharon brings rare insight into what happens when we fail to create what she calls "legal love letters" – the essential documents that ensure our wishes are honored after we're gone.
Sharon shares powerful stories that illuminate the human side of estate planning, like the 85-year-old woman who meticulously documented who should receive each of her possessions, down to dishes and towels. Not because these items held great monetary value, but because she had witnessed the family devastation that occurs when such decisions are left to chance. The peace this woman felt after completing her will speaks volumes about the emotional benefits of proper planning.
Most striking are the revelations about common property ownership assumptions. Many couples believe joint ownership of a home automatically protects the surviving spouse – but without specific "rights of survivorship" language, your spouse could end up sharing ownership with your children or even stepchildren from previous relationships. These legal nuances vary by state, making professional guidance essential.
Sharon's approach blends legal expertise with compassionate storytelling, making complex concepts accessible to everyone. Her mission extends beyond legal practice into a faith-driven purpose to help others avoid preventable hardships. By sharing what she's learned through decades of legal experience, she empowers listeners to take control of their legacies.
Ready to protect your loved ones and ensure your wishes are respected? Visit LegalLifeCoachSharonBoykin.com for free resources and to schedule a discovery call. Don't leave your legacy to chance – the greatest gift you can give your family is peace of mind during their time of grief.
Connect with Sharon Boykin
Free ebook
http://www.helpmegetmystuffinorder.com/
Email: Sharon@Powerof1Decision.com
Website www.LegalLifeCoachSharonBaker.com
Stay tuned for the next episode of Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson. Subscribe - Follow and Like Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson
00:00 - Welcome to Ready Set Collaborate
03:06 - Attorney Sharon Borkin's Impressive Career
08:28 - Estate Planning: The Legal Love Letter
15:46 - Misconceptions About Estate Planning
24:52 - Rights of Survivorship in Property
33:17 - Storytelling in Legal Education
36:12 - Faith, Blessings, and Giving Back
WEBVTT
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Welcome to Ready Set.
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Collaborate with Wanda Pearson.
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This is where ideas spark, connections grow and collaborations fuse success.
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Tune in for inspiring stories, expert insights and game-changing conversations.
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Let's build, connect and thrive together.
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Remember collaboration is the key to success.
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Welcome back to the Ready Set Collaborate podcast, a podcast where powerful connections lead to purpose-driven transformation.
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I'm your host, wanda Pierce, and today I am honored to welcome Sharon I'm sorry, welcome the phenomenal attorney, sharon Borkin.
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So I am so excited to have you here, sharon, and we both have a passion of what we do, yes, what you're doing.
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I'm just so excited to have met you and, like I said, there's always room, because you know so many people out here in the world that don't have the stuff done.
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I call it.
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They don't have the legal love letter done, right, yes, but yeah.
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But what sets her apart is her passion for helping women rise, pivot and thrive, even in the face of the life's biggest challenges.
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Get ready for a conversation that blends legal wisdom, personal resilience and purpose-driven power.
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All right, sharon, here we go here, say something to the audience Hello, audience, and to my sister, Wanda, thank you so much for inviting me to be with you on your podcast.
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I am looking forward to sharing this information and just expanding and growing.
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Absolutely, absolutely.
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Thank you for being on here.
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I really appreciate it.
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So let me talk a little bit about Sharon's bio here.
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Sharon is an attorney licensed in the state of Georgia for over 40 years, graduated law school at the University of Georgia in June 2024.
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She's a legal life coach and her business is Power of One Decision LLC.
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She's a speaker and an author of 13 books Wow, 13, girl, I got to catch up 13 books and counting yes, yes, I tell you, it really makes a difference.
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I do have your book, which is great.
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Okay, in her career she has been in private practice, a special assistance, attorney general, assistant, district attorney, judge, unemployment insurance tax chief, disability how do you say that?
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Adjudication association director, probate court administrator and child advocacy center attorney.
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Wow, girl, I got me a star on this.
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Really, I can't say nothing else.
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I'm always a judge, district attorney.
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Yes, yes, 40 years have gone by rather quickly and even when I and when our class had our 40th class reunion last year, in June of last year, everybody was so surprised it's been 40 years and I wish we could have been back from crack.
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I hope I don't look like what I'm getting through.
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No, we don't, I'm from Chicago.
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I go home from Chicago.
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I say, why do you still look the same?
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I say that's great, because some people you don't know who they are.
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But no, it's amazing.
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And to have 40 years of what you're doing here, I think I have about probably about 40 years from high school, I don't know.
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I graduated when I Let me finish up your hair.
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Who are you married to?
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She's married to Raymond Bork and he is a stepmom.
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I am, I'm the stepmom and the stepgrandma.
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That's right.
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She is married to Raymond Bork.
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She's a stepmom and stepgrandmother.
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She's a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
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That's always been one of my sorority that I wanted to join.
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My girlfriend is AKA.
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Okay, it's not too late, I don't know about that girl.
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Since February 1980, she is an active member of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, georgia.
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That's awesome.
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Sharon, welcome this bio.
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Just, you got a lot of accolades under your ear, so welcome to Ready Set Collaborate podcast.
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Now would you like to say a little something before I dive into some of the questions I want to ask you?
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Sure Again, just happy to be here and let me just clear up a couple of things that you mentioned.
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I've been with Ebenezer for at least three years.
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My husband and his family are members, have been members of Ebenezer since he was a child Wow.
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And very active at Ebenezer.
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I'm on the Deaconess Board, teach Sunday school, the salt ministry, the women's you name it.
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I'm active, I keep my fingers going and, like I said, when I look back over my legal career, I'm amazed too at all the things that I've done.
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And as we get into the discussion, my passion is, as I learn stuff, I want to share stuff, because part of our problem is that we don't know the rules to play the game to win.
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Absolutely, Absolutely.
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You said it right there knowing the rules to play the game.
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So that is so true and I really appreciate you sharing that.
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So let's talk about how Aspargey to become an attorney and focus on trust and legacy planning.
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What made you get into doing that?
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Are you a daddy's girl?
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Yes, I am too.
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Ok, I'm the oldest of four siblings, me too and but my father passed away the Friday before Father's Day in 2018.
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Wow, every time Father's Day come around, we have to relive that event, but that was in June of 2018.
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My family suffered a family member passing in July, august, september, october, november, december, january.
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Oh, my goodness.
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And it was my great aunt that passed away in January of 2019.
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And it's just.
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I just hated when the phone rang.
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Oh my goodness, probate court administrator in DeKalb County and probate court is the court that handles when people pass away.
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We also issue gun licenses and marriage licenses.
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So I used to tease people in line.
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I said I told the woman get both the marriage license and the gun license.
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This is Tim Depp's part.
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My husband always laughs when I say that.
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But looking at what I went through from my family on the inside, with all the people family members passing some had their estate plan in order and some did not.
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And now here I am working for the court to see what's on the books in the state of Georgia.
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So my sister was the one that encouraged me to write a book about helping people to get their plans in place.
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But her one thing to me, sister Wanda, was don't use those fancy legal words you lawyers like to use, because we don't know what the heck y'all are talking about.
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Keep it simple.
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So the book that I wrote is called Help Me Get my Stuff in Order, and it's just a workbook for you now to look at all of your stuff.
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Put up this outline.
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You have clothes, you have a car, you have bank accounts, you have whatever it is, furniture, whatever you have.
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Who do you want to leave those things to?
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Because, as we know, when we make that transition, we can't take this stuff with us.
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That was my, and even though I've done other things since being a public court administrator.
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Every time I meet someone I have that conversation.
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I said, do you have your stuff in order?
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And when the person says okay, that means no.
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So here you are with children or you have things.
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I said, what you have on right now, somebody wants it.
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So shouldn't you decide who gets it versus the state where you live?
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Make that decision for you, and you may not agree with what's on the books in your state, you may not even know what it is.
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But then there's this surprise that's coming, because now, if you don't put it in place, your state determines who gets what you have.
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Absolutely.
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That's funny because my father died in 2018 as well.
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It never happened to me, but when I started networking, I was getting out there and I made this poster.
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Well, there's a world that's 500 relatives.
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Uncle Sam, you know who your relatives are.
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They come out of nowhere.
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Yes, that got the conversation started, but no, I love what you do and I actually have your book.
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And that's so true Because it's funny how, years ago, I had actually said leave a love letter.
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What's leave a love letter?
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And I talk about that, and I'm glad that you actually wrote a book about what to do and how you know, because I'm telling you, family members you never heard from in years they come out of the woodwork and that's when it goes into probate, because now they're going to fight you for it, right?
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And it's a fight from beginning to end, because if you don't have the plan in place, someone maybe more than one person is coming to the court asking to be named the administrator over your estate because they get paid out of your funds to do this job.
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But sometimes it's more than one person fighting over that job Because, again, some people are attracted to the money and not doing what is right.
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And I especially encourage people to have minor children, or even you have a special needs child.
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Encourage people to have minor children.
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Or even if you have a special needs child, you know who you trust.
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If something were to happen to mom and dad, who would then step in To take care of that child and take care of them the way you would have taken care of that child?
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But if you don't name someone, you'll have multiple people and you'll be mad because everybody has that family member you do not want and I guarantee you that person's going to be one of the ones that's going to step up to be that person, because they want to get their hands on the money of your estate.
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So, it's very important, especially, like I said, if you have children or a special needs child, you have got to think about who you trust Absolutely.
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If something were to happen to you and mom and dad before that child was able to take care of things on their own?
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Thank you for saying that, because we do have my grandson.
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The same thing as far as I tell my daughter we got to make sure you know that he's in order because he's older, but we want to make sure that somebody who loves not about Right Money is the root of all evil.
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The love of it.
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Right, yes, the love of all money.
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Remember what was it?
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The OJs?
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Money, money, money money.
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The love of money we're tearing our age, just to wonder.
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I know, but it just came in my head so I had to say that.
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So you've known for making legal topics approachable and empowering.
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What's the number one misconception people have about estate planning or trust?
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There are several that are kind of at the top of this line.
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One is people will say if I do a will, I'm telling God I'm ready to die.
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That, as we know, is not true.
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Every last person has two days day to a born, the day you're going to transition, and we're living in that dash in between the two days.
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It's just that we don't know when that second date is going to occur.
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It's just that we don't know when that second date is going to occur.
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It's not controlled by whether you have your plan in place or not.
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That second date is going to occur, we just don't know when.
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But, as I said, we can't take any of this stuff with us.
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And then someone said Sharon, it costs too much money to do a will.
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And I said really, I said the thing is it costs more money when you don't have a will or any of your estate plans in place, because again now you have to go through the court system.
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And one of the things we have to do when someone steps up and wants to be the administrator of your estate, we have to post a notice in your local newspaper that in Georgia has to run for four consecutive weeks.
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Wow, let the world know that you died without a plan in place.
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Now, if you are a private person, knowing people are in your business, you just open the door for people to come.
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They can be in the courtroom, they can listen, they can look at your documents, so shouldn't you protect your stuff?
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And then some people say I don't really have anything, I'm not a rich, wealthy person.
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Why do I need a plan?
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It's not about that you're wealthy or how much your stuff costs.
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It's still your stuff.
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And one day I'll say this one thing and then I'll be quiet.
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We get paid by the word.
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When I was a younger attorney, I had a lady come and see me.
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She was 85 years old, a black female.
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She brought me 10 sheets of notebook paper where she wrote out everything she owned and who she wanted to leave it to.
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Now, sister wonder when I say everything.
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She listed dishes, towels, sheets, hats, pocketbooks, jewelry everything she had.
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She listed it, she described the color, what it looked like and who she wanted to leave it to.
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And her comment to me was now please don't laugh at me.
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I just have been through so many ugly fights when other family members died without having their plan in place.
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I don't want it to happen when it's my turn.
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So when we prepared her will, she came back to sign it.
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She left the office with the biggest smile on her face because she said now I can go and enjoy the rest of my life knowing that when the time comes it ain't going to be no mess, because I've already decided who's getting what and it's not about again how much it costs or anything.
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There are rich people who die without a will.
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There are poor people who die without a will.
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It's just that we all have something that we have worked for or acquired that we cannot take with us.
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That shouldn't you decide who now gets it when you make your transition?
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That's awesome.
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I love it that she did that because she knew, by seeing what was happening in the family, what can happen now.
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So that's an 85-year-old woman that still had her way to come in and have you do that and make sure it is prepared.
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And it's funny how she said now I can live the rest of my life because there ain't no peace when you have to fight over stuff.
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No, and what you think is on the books in your state, you're going to be surprised.
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Yeah.
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There are some crazy laws in the States and again, I'm licensed here in Georgia.
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I was just amazed when I was finding this information out.
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I'm constantly asking people.
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Can I give you a quick little scenario, sister Wanda?
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Yes, yes.
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So suppose this husband and wife had been married a couple of times before they got married to each other.
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They have children from these different relationships.
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But now husband and wife in Georgia buy a house.
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Their names are on the deed, their names are on the mortgage, the taxes, what have you?
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But if dad dies first, who now owns the house?
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And when I would be at church and I would ask some women.
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I see the couples walking out and I asked them that question wife put her hand on her hip Sharon, why are you asking me that question?
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It's my house, I'm on the mortgage, I'm on the taxes.
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And I said are you sure?
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And then they look back and say, why are you asking that question?
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I said because in Georgia when you buy a house, is it just husband and two people, let's say husband and wife and their names only, or does the will say, does the deed say husband and wife with rights of survivorship?
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If that tagline rights of survivorship, if that tagline rights of survivorship is there, whichever one dies first, the survivor now owns 100% of the house.
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If that tagline is not there, each person just owns 50% of the house.
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But if the husband dies first, who are his heirs?
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The wife hopefully it's the legal wife and all the children.
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So now George is going to slice up his 50 percent of the house among his heirs and his children.
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It can be a lot of people at the end of the day who now own a percentage of that house that the wife thought it was hers if he died first.
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So again, you think you know and you don't know.
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Don't assume anything.
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If you're in a different state, contact an estate planning attorney who can now tell you what your state says and go check your deed.
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And if it doesn't protect you, make sure you put your plan in place.
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So you say, if I die first, my half of the house goes to, or you revise the mortgage and add that tagline that says rights of survivorship.
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here in Georgia I'm so glad you said that because I remember when I first, when I retired from IBM, I went to a social security class Same thing Social security Now the husband got remarried but he didn't change his will.
00:17:02.582 --> 00:17:04.154
Who's it go to?
00:17:07.250 --> 00:17:08.494
It goes to the first wife.
00:17:08.936 --> 00:17:12.950
So I said make sure you update that information if you don't want it to go to the first wife.
00:17:12.990 --> 00:17:17.461
Yeah, it's not a one and done, because you may leave your car to a child.
00:17:17.461 --> 00:17:19.851
The child dies before you do so.
00:17:19.851 --> 00:17:25.737
Yeah, you make the wheel, but you need to review it on a regular basis and update and make changes.
00:17:25.737 --> 00:17:40.337
And hopefully you're keeping it in a secure place and I would say, if it's at home, in a fireproof container somewhere, it's safe or what have you, but don't just leave it in a shoebox in the closet, that nobody knows where your documents are.
00:17:40.758 --> 00:17:44.321
Exactly, and I'm glad you said that, because actually our daughters, we just redid ours.
00:17:44.321 --> 00:17:45.222
We can do it every year.
00:17:45.222 --> 00:17:47.684
Both our daughters have a copy of it.
00:17:47.684 --> 00:17:49.047
One is in North Carolina, one's here.
00:17:49.047 --> 00:17:56.116
So when my husband was in the hospital, about a month ago they asked for his advance director.
00:17:56.020 --> 00:17:56.449
I'm like what?
00:17:56.449 --> 00:17:58.342
I didn't ask for it, but we didn't know it was that serious Right.
00:17:58.342 --> 00:18:00.938
Luckily I had our daughter in Marietta.
00:18:00.938 --> 00:18:02.516
I said, tori, bring the copy of your will.
00:18:02.516 --> 00:18:10.880
So that's why I always tell people make sure another person that you trust has that will so that if anything happens they have it.
00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:11.801
It's very important.
00:18:11.801 --> 00:18:16.112
Thank you, that was you know.
00:18:16.112 --> 00:18:16.512
It's very important.
00:18:16.512 --> 00:18:17.054
No, thank you for that.
00:18:17.054 --> 00:18:19.381
That's very insightful information, yes, and updating it continuously, because things change in your life.
00:18:19.381 --> 00:18:20.144
You just never know.
00:18:20.144 --> 00:18:21.112
You know what's going to happen.
00:18:21.291 --> 00:18:21.874
Absolutely.
00:18:22.336 --> 00:18:24.121
So I'm going to have to have you back on my show here.
00:18:24.121 --> 00:18:36.191
That's good, I know, but I'm going to have you back on because you just shared so much valuable information about this and it's so important, especially in today's world.
00:18:36.191 --> 00:18:38.403
So let's talk about re-innovation and resilience.
00:18:38.403 --> 00:18:41.036
So you've also walked a powerful journey, personal journey.
00:18:41.036 --> 00:18:47.950
Can you share a moment when your life required, when you had to reinvent yourself, and it seemed like you had to reinvent yourself with all the different positions that you were in?
00:18:48.651 --> 00:18:49.393
Absolutely.
00:18:49.393 --> 00:19:02.811
And when I think back over all of those positions, like I said, I started out as a private attorney and then I was a special assistant attorney general prosecuting cases for the Office of Child Support Enforcement that's a whole nother story.
00:19:02.811 --> 00:19:09.605
And then I was a magistrate court judge and that was interesting.
00:19:09.605 --> 00:19:30.008
And just again, when you're doing different things and sometimes again when you're the first one or first person of color in these roles, that puts enough pressure on you too, because I learned that the law is not blind.
00:19:30.008 --> 00:19:30.950
It treats us differently.
00:19:37.410 --> 00:19:39.255
I was an assistant district attorney in cases where I had a lot of discretion.
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I would sometimes send a letter to the defendants inviting them to my office so we can close the door and talk about their case and see what resolution we could come to or what was their defense and what things we need to put in place on their case.
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None of them showed up.
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But then when court date happens and I walk in and take my seat at the table, then they see it.
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