Bonus- Week 1 "Navigating the Challenges: The Importance of Having a Will"

 In this insightful bonus segment of our Week 1 series, Thomas Clark shares his journey of managing his mother's estate without a will. Through his story, listeners will uncover the real-world challenges and emotional hurdles that can arise when estate planning is overlooked. Thomas discusses the three-year ordeal of settling the estate, the impact on family dynamics, and the legal complexities he faced. This episode is a powerful testament to the critical importance of having a well-prepared will and provides listeners with practical advice on avoiding similar issues in their own lives. Join us as Thomas offers valuable lessons learned and tips for ensuring your legacy is secured according to your wishes. 

Transcript

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I'll do this part as just a bonus to this track about what Tom had said. Tom, as you look at those, what were some of the major challenges that you went through without having the will? Well, when you don't have a will, like I said, the rules, you have to go, they call it intestate, and you have to go by the state. So with no will, they're just real, what's the word, they just go through every family member. You have to find out if there's any debt in the family. You have to run ads in the paper. Basically, you really need to get an attorney. You have to handle some of these complicated issues that they ask you to come up with. So, the most challenging thing was, like I said, I wound up just getting an attorney because it was too difficult, and it's so complicated. It was so complicated that even the agent that they assigned me to didn't know some of the steps and criteria. She had to go to her boss. She didn’t understand. So, you know, if my agent who was assigned to me doesn’t know, you know, just imagine how I was. So it was, like I said, these testament laws are just complicated. And then it’s expensive. You have to get bonds for every step of the way. You have to send services. You have to send certified letters every time you communicate with anybody in dealing with this whole process. Like I said, it's time-consuming. The dates that they set for court are usually far off, so something that they say you're required to have, you may be six months before you can get back in to show them that you got it. So, like I said, it's time-consuming. Like I said, it's time-consuming, expensive, when if you had a will, it would have had a direct blueprint on what needs to be done. Now, Tom, how did the absence of the will impact your relationship with your assemblies as you were trying to go through the state settlement process? Oh, that's another issue. But I don't know if you want to call it a greed factor or what. But everybody wants to have something to say. And not only do they want to have something to say, they want to dictate what they think, who needs to get this asset, who needs to get that asset, who needs to get this much money. But nothing's clear. Nothing's been, you know, nothing has been put down in writing in this situation. And so now everybody wants, like I say, I think it's a greed factor that comes into play. And every individual wants what they want, and they're not satisfied. So, yeah, it has. It's strenuous on the relationships with the family members, yeah. So, I mean, and, you know, you talked about the legal hurdles, and then in your case, you had to actually petition the court to become the executor to even start this process without that will. Right. That was a struggle with individuals who wanted that position, but really were in no shape financially or any other way to deal with it, but they just wanted to have that role. So they kind of, and then they didn't, you know, like I say, it might be even a jealousy issue where they're like, well, why is he the representative? Why can't I be the representative? So it's all kind of stuff. Whereas if it's not established, it can be, it can be a problem. Did you learn any valuable lessons from the process? The most valuable lesson I learned is when you encounter with a situation such as this and you don't have a will, no matter how expensive it is, get an attorney. Just get an attorney and they will jump through all of those hoops and that you won't have to go through and getting done and court dates. That part you won't have to go through because the attorney will handle it. Now, once it's decided who's going to be the representative, like I said, you get the attorney and then they handle it. So. The once it's cleared up, who's going to be the executive, just get an attorney. So how did this experience influence your philosophy as it relates to yourself and legacy building going forward? Well, it just showed me how important it is to honestly leave a legacy and not to, not to squander it or lose it so that the next generation will be able to profit off of what you've already gained instead of them starting all over every time. You know, you get generation after generation. Who isn't left anything and everybody's always starting over. So no one gets to profit and benefit off of the success of the last generation. So it showed me how important leaving a will and leaving some kind of legacy to increase the family. And I guess this is my final take from you, Tom. Did you? Uh, have, what was your, what kind of support, uh, did you get? What was most helpful in this process? Any advisors, any, uh, support system that helped you navigate this process? Well, uh, of course I had a great coaching team, which I think you're fully aware of because you so happen to be a part of it. Uh, which I, um, always be grateful for. Um, you're a tool; and guidance, um, helped me get in the right direction. And without that, um, and there were other members on the team that was supporting me in the right direction. And, uh, yeah, I've, if I didn't have that support and guidance, uh, I think I would have never got accomplished what I got accomplished. Hmm. That's so true. True words. So true words. Uh, Mr. Johnson, do you have anything to add to Tom's segment, um, in this conversation? Yeah, I just think it's just a, you know, uh, just an example of what most families and a lot of families go through, um, today by not having things in place to protect them, and the next generation. Um, you know, we can learn valuable lessons from Tom's experience going forward. And, and educating them. And the next generation, um, you know, the directions to, um, avoid some of these pitfalls that, you know, it seems like every, you know, African American family faces. So I think it's just, you know, up to us and our generation to, to provide this knowledge and insight going forward. Uh, we can't keep making the same mistakes. Uh, um, it just puts us in a vicious cycle. And, um. And it doesn't get, get any better, you know, if we don't provide this information to the next generation. So, you know, I think it's just a, you know, wealth of knowledge and experience and wisdom that can be passed on. So, you know, and I think this is all coming from, you know, a biblical, you know, this is coming from the word. You know, this is not something that we made up ourselves. You know, this is, you know, written in the Bible, you know, to leave inheritance. Sleep. To leave. Something for the next generation. So, you know, I think it's very important, um, what Thomas went through. So, I think it's a good thing. Yeah. Definitely, definitely. Mr. Lewis, you have anything to add before we conclude? Uh, just that all of the information that, that we've, uh, touched on, I think would be beneficial and helpful to anyone that's listening, uh, to make sure that you properly prepare. Have a will and, and, and prepare. A lot of times we don't want to think about or just talk about those difficult, um, topics of death and planning, but it's something that has to be done and we have to prepare to, uh, prepare. That's so, so, so true, Mr. Lewis. Again, thank you for tuning in to the Lost Estate Educational Series. And again, for more insight and resources, please visit us at www.lostestate.org. Visit our website, subscribe, take our survey, uh, for the, on www.thelostestate.org. Um, follow us on social media, YouTube channel. Until next time, stay blessed and be wise; steward of the resources God has entrusted you with.