Sixty-one percent of Americans don’t have a last will and testament and over seventy-seven percent of African Americans say they don’t have a will or completed any estate planning tasks.  According to Consumer Reports, the most popular reason is the assumption that they don’t have enough assets (25%), they’re not sure how to create one (20%), they want their next of kin to automatically receive everything (9%), they think they’re too young (23%), or they just don’t want to think about death (12%).  Regardless of their reasons, it’s important that everyone over age 25 has a will, particularly if they have children. That way they can make sure everything they own gets to the people they choose, without adding the burden of legal challenges to an already emotional life event.            

On October 1^st, 2022, the Community Resource and Development Office with the College of Agriculture, Communities and the Sciences hosted an Estate Planning-101 workshop for the community at large.  The main objective was to discuss the importance of creating your will and living will.  A local attorney who specializes in estate planning presented information regarding wills, trusts, living wills, and power of attorney options. At the end of the presentation, he gave away certificates for five (5) free wills and offered everyone else a will and living will package for $99. Eighteen participants made appointments that morning. 

Twenty-two people attended the workshop ranging in age from twenty-four (24) to eighty-one (81) years old. At the beginning of the meeting, each participant was asked:       

1. why they hadn’t completed their will before,
2. if they had ever been named as a beneficiary in anyone’s will, 
3. if they acted as an executrix or administrator of anyone’s estate,
4. if they knew how long probate takes before an estate can be settled or 
5. if they knew how much it cost to go through probate. 

Eighteen participants hadn’t completed their will because they didn’t think they had enough to bequeath and four of them were uncomfortable discussing their death and final wishes.   One participant had been named as a beneficiary and two people had acted as an executrix of an estate and knew that it costs anywhere from $150-$2000 to pay the fees associated with settling an estate. Nineteen people at the workshop had never dealt with probate or been named as a beneficiary to anyone’s will.  This workshop was a success and eighteen out of the twenty-four participants scheduled appointments to have their wills created before November 1^st, 2022.  

A second Estate Planning workshop is scheduled for November 12, 2022 at the Cooperative Extension office from 10:00-12:00 noon.