Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson
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Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson
Estate Planning with Sharon Boykin: Protecting Your Legacy Beyond the Grave
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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
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Welcome to Ready Set Collaborate
Speaker 1Welcome to Ready Set. Collaborate with Wanda Pearson. This is where ideas spark, connections grow and collaborations fuse success. Tune in for inspiring stories, expert insights and game-changing conversations. Let's build, connect and thrive together. Remember collaboration is the key to success.
Speaker 2Welcome back to the Ready Set Collaborate podcast, a podcast where powerful connections lead to purpose-driven transformation. I'm your host, wanda Pierce, and today I am honored to welcome Sharon I'm sorry, welcome the phenomenal attorney, sharon Borkin. 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. 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. I call it. They don't have the legal love letter done, right, yes, but yeah. 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. Get ready for a conversation that blends legal wisdom, personal resilience and purpose-driven power.
Speaker 3All 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. I am looking forward to sharing this information and just expanding and growing.
Speaker 2Absolutely, absolutely. Thank you for being on here. I really appreciate it. So let me talk a little bit about Sharon's bio here. 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. She's a legal life coach and her business is Power of One Decision LLC. 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. I do have your book, which is great. 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? Adjudication association director, probate court administrator and child advocacy center attorney. Wow, girl, I got me a star on this. Really, I can't say nothing else. I'm always a judge, district attorney.
Speaker 3Yes, 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. I hope I don't look like what I'm getting through.
Attorney Sharon Borkin's Impressive Career
Speaker 2No, we don't, I'm from Chicago. I go home from Chicago. I say, why do you still look the same? I say that's great, because some people you don't know who they are. But no, it's amazing. 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. I graduated when I Let me finish up your hair. Who are you married to? She's married to Raymond Bork and he is a stepmom. I am, I'm the stepmom and the stepgrandma.
Speaker 2That's right. She is married to Raymond Bork. She's a stepmom and stepgrandmother. She's a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. That's always been one of my sorority that I wanted to join. My girlfriend is AKA. Okay, it's not too late, I don't know about that girl. Since February 1980, she is an active member of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, georgia. That's awesome. Sharon, welcome this bio. Just, you got a lot of accolades under your ear, so welcome to Ready Set Collaborate podcast. Now would you like to say a little something before I dive into some of the questions I want to ask you?
Speaker 3Sure Again, just happy to be here and let me just clear up a couple of things that you mentioned. I've been with Ebenezer for at least three years. My husband and his family are members, have been members of Ebenezer since he was a child Wow. And very active at Ebenezer. I'm on the Deaconess Board, teach Sunday school, the salt ministry, the women's you name it. 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. 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.
Speaker 2Absolutely, Absolutely. You said it right there knowing the rules to play the game. So that is so true and I really appreciate you sharing that. So let's talk about how Aspargey to become an attorney and focus on trust and legacy planning. What made you get into doing that?
Speaker 3Are you a daddy's girl? Yes, I am too. Ok, I'm the oldest of four siblings, me too and but my father passed away the Friday before Father's Day in 2018. Wow, every time Father's Day come around, we have to relive that event, but that was in June of 2018. My family suffered a family member passing in July, august, september, october, november, december, january.
Speaker 2Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 3And it was my great aunt that passed away in January of 2019. And it's just. I just hated when the phone rang. Oh my goodness, probate court administrator in DeKalb County and probate court is the court that handles when people pass away. We also issue gun licenses and marriage licenses. So I used to tease people in line. I said I told the woman get both the marriage license and the gun license. This is Tim Depp's part. My husband always laughs when I say that.
Speaker 3But 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. And now here I am working for the court to see what's on the books in the state of Georgia. So my sister was the one that encouraged me to write a book about helping people to get their plans in place. 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. Keep it simple. 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. Put up this outline. You have clothes, you have a car, you have bank accounts, you have whatever it is, furniture, whatever you have. Who do you want to leave those things to? Because, as we know, when we make that transition, we can't take this stuff with us.
Speaker 3That was my, and even though I've done other things since being a public court administrator. Every time I meet someone I have that conversation. I said, do you have your stuff in order? And when the person says okay, that means no. So here you are with children or you have things. I said, what you have on right now, somebody wants it. So shouldn't you decide who gets it versus the state where you live? 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. 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.
Estate Planning: The Legal Love Letter
Speaker 2Absolutely. That's funny because my father died in 2018 as well. It never happened to me, but when I started networking, I was getting out there and I made this poster. Well, there's a world that's 500 relatives. Uncle Sam, you know who your relatives are. They come out of nowhere. Yes, that got the conversation started, but no, I love what you do and I actually have your book. And that's so true Because it's funny how, years ago, I had actually said leave a love letter. What's leave a love letter? 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?
Speaker 3And 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. 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. And I especially encourage people to have minor children, or even you have a special needs child. Encourage people to have minor children. Or even if you have a special needs child, you know who you trust. 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?
Speaker 3But 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. 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.
Speaker 2If something were to happen to you and mom and dad before that child was able to take care of things on their own? Thank you for saying that, because we do have my grandson. 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.
Speaker 3The love of it.
Speaker 2Right, yes, the love of all money. Remember what was it? The OJs? Money, money, money money.
Speaker 3The love of money we're tearing our age, just to wonder.
Speaker 2I know, but it just came in my head so I had to say that. So you've known for making legal topics approachable and empowering. What's the number one misconception people have about estate planning or trust?
Speaker 3There are several that are kind of at the top of this line. One is people will say if I do a will, I'm telling God I'm ready to die. That, as we know, is not true. 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. It's just that we don't know when that second date is going to occur. It's just that we don't know when that second date is going to occur. It's not controlled by whether you have your plan in place or not. That second date is going to occur, we just don't know when. But, as I said, we can't take any of this stuff with us. And then someone said Sharon, it costs too much money to do a will. 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. 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. Wow, let the world know that you died without a plan in place. Now, if you are a private person, knowing people are in your business, you just open the door for people to come. They can be in the courtroom, they can listen, they can look at your documents, so shouldn't you protect your stuff? And then some people say I don't really have anything, I'm not a rich, wealthy person. Why do I need a plan? It's not about that you're wealthy or how much your stuff costs. It's still your stuff. And one day I'll say this one thing and then I'll be quiet. We get paid by the word.
Speaker 3When I was a younger attorney, I had a lady come and see me. She was 85 years old, a black female. She brought me 10 sheets of notebook paper where she wrote out everything she owned and who she wanted to leave it to. Now, sister wonder when I say everything. She listed dishes, towels, sheets, hats, pocketbooks, jewelry everything she had. She listed it, she described the color, what it looked like and who she wanted to leave it to. And her comment to me was now please don't laugh at me. I just have been through so many ugly fights when other family members died without having their plan in place. I don't want it to happen when it's my turn. So when we prepared her will, she came back to sign it. 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.
Speaker 3There are rich people who die without a will. There are poor people who die without a will. It's just that we all have something that we have worked for or acquired that we cannot take with us. That shouldn't you decide who now gets it when you make your transition?
Speaker 2That's awesome. I love it that she did that because she knew, by seeing what was happening in the family, what can happen now. 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. 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.
Speaker 3No, and what you think is on the books in your state, you're going to be surprised.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 3There are some crazy laws in the States and again, I'm licensed here in Georgia. I was just amazed when I was finding this information out. I'm constantly asking people. Can I give you a quick little scenario, sister Wanda? Yes, yes. So suppose this husband and wife had been married a couple of times before they got married to each other. They have children from these different relationships. But now husband and wife in Georgia buy a house. Their names are on the deed, their names are on the mortgage, the taxes, what have you? But if dad dies first, who now owns the house?
Misconceptions About Estate Planning
Speaker 3And when I would be at church and I would ask some women. 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? It's my house, I'm on the mortgage, I'm on the taxes. And I said are you sure? And then they look back and say, why are you asking that question? 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? 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. If that tagline is not there, each person just owns 50% of the house. But if the husband dies first, who are his heirs? The wife hopefully it's the legal wife and all the children. So now George is going to slice up his 50 percent of the house among his heirs and his children.
Speaker 3It 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. So again, you think you know and you don't know. Don't assume anything. 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. And if it doesn't protect you, make sure you put your plan in place. 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.
Speaker 2here 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. Who's it go to?
Speaker 3It goes to the first wife.
Speaker 2So I said make sure you update that information if you don't want it to go to the first wife.
Speaker 3Yeah, it's not a one and done, because you may leave your car to a child. The child dies before you do so. Yeah, you make the wheel, but you need to review it on a regular basis and update and make changes. 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.
Speaker 2Exactly, and I'm glad you said that, because actually our daughters, we just redid ours. We can do it every year. Both our daughters have a copy of it. One is in North Carolina, one's here. So when my husband was in the hospital, about a month ago they asked for his advance director.
Speaker 2I'm like what? I didn't ask for it, but we didn't know it was that serious Right. Luckily I had our daughter in Marietta. I said, tori, bring the copy of your will. 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. It's very important. Thank you, that was you know. It's very important. No, thank you for that. That's very insightful information, yes, and updating it continuously, because things change in your life. You just never know. You know what's going to happen.
Speaker 3Absolutely.
Speaker 2So I'm going to have to have you back on my show here. 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. So let's talk about re-innovation and resilience. So you've also walked a powerful journey, personal journey. 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?
Speaker 3Absolutely. 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. And then I was a magistrate court judge and that was interesting. 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. It treats us differently.
Speaker 3I was an assistant district attorney in cases where I had a lot of discretion. 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. None of them showed up. But then when court date happens and I walk in and take my seat at the table, then they see it. Oh, it's a system. Let me holler at you now about my case, and I'm looking. I said it's too late to holler at me about your case. Why didn't you come to my office a couple of weeks ago, we could have talked about your case.
Speaker 3Now I have a job to do. I can't be your defense attorney and prosecute you at the same time. The judge does not look like us, the court personnel does not look like us, and so I'm under the microscope, just like you are. Am I going to do my job and represent the state of Georgia? And that's what I had to do. But, as I said, when I go through these different jobs and I've learned things, especially now you peel back the curtain, you see what's going on behind the scenes and how we have been treated in the legal field, from slavery even up to 2025 today. We things that people don't understand. So that's when I started writing books, and, in fact, the very first book. Now you're going to laugh at the title. Denzel and Sharon create their perfect life.
Speaker 2I love it because I listen.
Speaker 3I didn't say Denzel Washington, but I want people to smile and they always laugh. I haven't met Denzel Washington, but I want people to smile and they always laugh. I have met the real woman. That's a whole other story. The things that I've, all those different legal things that I've gone through and the different aspects of people's lives that I've done touch. I use a story of this couple and the things that they go through and then talk about the legal issue behind what happened.
Speaker 2That's awesome.
Speaker 3Even in the situation with the wheel. Emily was at mom's house for Christmas dinner and all the siblings were there and they were talking behind mom and dad's back. One brother said I called dad and the phone was cut off because he forgot to pay the phone bill. Then they start wondering okay, does dad have some kind of mental issue that we need to maybe get him a guardian or a conservative to handle the money? So again, these different topics that come up because you're recognizing something just isn't adding up. But now you need to know what legal issues and what things can I do to handle that scenario. Can I do to handle that scenario?
Speaker 3But that's why I talk about it in the storybook of this couple, with all the different things that I've done, so that they people now understand from a legal standpoint. Oh, now I understand why this happened or why the prosecutor's coming after me or why I need a defense attorney or whatever it is, because now they're understanding it from a story standpoint versus me lecturing from a legal standpoint. You're using all those legal words. We don't know what you just said.
Speaker 3We don't know how to ask a question, so keep it simple so we understand the process.
Speaker 2Yes, I love that. I love that you do that because you're educating people in the sense that, especially with the storytelling, towards that. But yeah, but I loved Denzel. Denzel has always been my favorite actor.
Speaker 3I can tell you how I met him, but it was through my job when I was tax commissioner, one of my supervisors, her brother, was the athletic director at Morehouse when Denzel's son played football at Morehouse.
Speaker 3So, she would come to work on Monday bragging about who all they had weekend dinner with. And I said, look, you got one more time to come and talk about meeting Denzel, having dinner with him and his wife and the family. And then she asked me the dumbest question Do you want to meet Denzel? Yeah? So yeah, I did get a chance to meet him and wow, and post pictures on my Facebook page. But yeah, but that's what I said when I used that name Denzel and Sharon created a perfect like. Even my husband laughed at that again. It's more to get people to drop the their anxiety of talking to me, let's just have conversation. Let's use this couple as the example, and I'm not, especially when I'm speaking to a group. I'm not asking you for your personal information. I am using a couple and giving kind of their scenario, and then that leads people to say let me talk to you about my personal stuff. And then we do that privately.
Speaker 2I love that. I love how you do that. You really get people to trust you and start talking about it. So let's talk about how does your faith of life experience fuel your mission to protect families and communities legally and spiritually.
Rights of Survivorship in Property
Speaker 3And I give God all of the credit and you just go through life and you see how, where you are in life and the things that you need to call a blessing and not complain about that 5, 10, 15, 20, 25% of your life. That's not what you want it to be. And I had to catch myself too. I said we put fertilizer on the negative instead of putting thank yous and appreciation and blessings on that positive side of our life. That is going well and sometimes when I'm riding through Atlanta, I would not get on some of the interstates, I'll just ride through what I call the scenic route and when you see people that are homeless or people who are on the corner, the sign asking for help, it just number one. It encourages me number one to be.
Speaker 3I'm blessed, to be a blessing, and I even have my look. I create and put together everything. I get paid. I put together some little bags in my car and inside the bag I may have some snacks, I may have a mask that people can wear or some. Now I'm putting a little bible in the bag and I also put an envelope with some money in it and just say God loves you.
Speaker 3And if I meet somebody and I'm trying. I'm not second guessing if there's somebody trying to scam me or whatever that's between them and God, but I'm going to be a blessing to somebody else. And again I use again my legal experience and the things that I've been in again to just share what I've learned and helping people, because again we get in trouble because we don't even know the rules, even how to be successful or when I fall down, how to get back up and keep moving forward, because nobody's life is perfect. We've all had some down moments, we've had some up moments, and just be thankful. Each and every moment you turn on the news and you're like wow, and look what happened to somebody last night. So I try to say these things out loud because I'm encouraging myself, with the words as well, to, like I said, god has blessed me. Let me be a blessing to others.
Speaker 2I love that. I love what you did. That's a great idea as far as putting stuff in a little brown paper bag. And I say the same thing I grew up in Chicago. I grew up in some of the rough areas. Thank God for my father who brought me out of that. But just to be thankful for what God brought us and what we're doing, because I said I didn't think I would ever be doing what I'm doing now as the situation that I went to, so I love that. So why do you believe collaboration is essential in both legal, in the legal world and personal world? Can you give an example from your work or life?
Speaker 3We got to be more in a collaborative mode instead of a competition mode. Yes, being in the minority, the majority wants us to be competing with each other for that one little spot that they've allowed one person to get to. That's not true. The world is big enough for all of us to keep moving forward and to be successful. But I don't know everything, so I need to collaborate with somebody who knows something that I don't know. So we put our two, what we know together, we enlarge who we can have an impact on. It's not about competing against trying to get that one little spot, which really is not a spot, but let's collaborate because, again, what you know and what I know, we don't know the same things, but we can combine what we know together and, like I said, expand who we can help.
Speaker 3So, and in fact I've done, I've been in some collaboration books and I encourage people.
Speaker 3I said I try to encourage people to write a book and some people would talk themselves out of doing it because, again, the enemy is spreading your ear.
Speaker 3You're not educated enough to write a book. Pick the enemy's butt out your life and just because we've all gone through things whether it's health wise or just family issues or even on your job that you have learned to share with somebody who's looking for that light at the end of their tunnel. So what if a family came together and wrote a family book and each person did a chapter of what you learned in the family as you were growing up? That helps those younger generations understand the importance of your family, the grandparents, the great grandparents, and what you've learned on your job. It can help someone who wants to follow in your footsteps. So when you've done that collaboration book, then now you're not afraid to do multiple books of your own and keep the story going. But then you're increasing wealth because if somebody is buying your book, you're earning money from the sale of that book, which is another multiple stream of income.
Speaker 2Yes, yes, I love it because I actually. I said I would never write a book. One of the ladies she's a minister too she said, wanda, god told me to call you. I said, okay, I just told my girlfriend I'm never writing a book. What would be my story? I said I'm never writing a book. I want to read my story. I said I'm never writing a book. She next thing, I know she called me. She said why didn't God told me to call you? I said, okay, what'd he say? I'm just a big guy. She'd be part of the collaboration book. I said I don't know. I don't know why she'd do that.
Speaker 2And I did stuff together. It was nine of us, 10 of us all together, ladies. Wow, I had it. I had it again. I love the title, audacity to Shine. And what I love about it? Just the title of it Audacity to Shine.
Speaker 2So I did that one and then the next one I got into. I said another lady came from California, why don't you be part? No, no more collaboration. But no, I'm done. And I did, and that actually impacted my voice. That was one of the books that I wrote and I said, okay, what can I name this title? And it is actually Never Sitting there, but God has a Plan for you. Wow, that was powerful.
Speaker 2So, after that sharing, just like you said, the collaboration you don't know who you're going to do. So he asked me to be part two. I said, no, no more collaboration, I'm writing my own book, and that's when I wrote my own book. No, no more collaboration, I'm writing my own book, and that's when I wrote my own book. God Stays with the Buyer from Struggle to Triumph. So I hear you, because that collaboration actually gets you started to be able to work with other people to bring your expertise out. You just never know, never know. Well, we got it. Oh, my God. Okay, we got it. I'm going to run through these questions here because it's like, okay, we're going to have you on here again. What advice do you have for women, especially business owners, when it comes to protecting their legal legacy?
Speaker 3Well, let me say this I have a free ebook at wwwhelpmegetmystuffinordercom and I pass those cards out. I'm encouraging people. And again, we have things that we have acquired. Number one we're in business to increase our assets and our income and things that we acquire. But you've got to have this part too, which is the plan of what.
Speaker 3Who am I going to leave this stuff to? Is it to protect my children, my grandchildren, great-grandchildren? Maybe? I need a trust that continues to live on as I transition so that money is available for great-grandchildren. So that's the thing it's like having that conversation with someone to really put that plan in place. So again, that lady that was smiling when she left my office, she can still go and enjoy the rest of her life knowing that when that second transition date happens, things are in place.
Speaker 3You got a business. Who are you going to leave the business to? Who's going to run it? If you have a house, car, bank accounts, clothes, jewelry, whatever it is that you have who are you going to leave that to and bless other people with? Does the family have a family Bible? Grandmother passed it down to your mom and your mom gave it to you. Again, those things are things that you want to protect and leave to the right person for them to take care of and keep it going and keeping it in the family. So it's very important that we all, no matter what your income level is, think about how you're going to put something in place and don't let the state make that decision for you. You've got the stuff. You need to decide who gets it, and again, especially women who are very successful in business. So again, you got a lot more questions to answer about who's going to handle certain things when your second date occurs.
Speaker 2Yes, I love that. That is so true. And I tell people yeah, you need to make sure you're a business owner. You need to make sure that's in your will as well.
Storytelling in Legal Education
Speaker 3Yes, what's going to happen to your business? Yes, exactly, but there's no hiding. Oh my god like mama said, auntie said, grandmama said nobody heard that conversation. What did they put in writing?
Speaker 2I had a lot of my clients and I'll tell you, I was hearing I when I saw a lot of stuff like this happening when they signed up for our service and I was like, oh my god, this really happens. And then it happened to me when my brother died. I I was like, oh my God, I didn't know. So then that was like an example of what was happening.
Speaker 2That makes a big difference. So tell us about any current programs, workshop or resources you offer that help people secure their future. I know you have something coming up. Tell us about that.
Speaker 3And what I do is that and it's constantly wound up I mean, this is the month of August and August is known as the national get your last will and testament done month.
Speaker 3LegalLifeCoachSharonBakercom and I have a blog. So every day in this month of August I am writing and answering questions about why you should have your will and get it done. And again, people have all these misconceptions or they think they know and don't really know. But what I end up doing is I do what I call a free discovery kind of interview so we can talk about what the situation is. And because everybody's situation is different, then we start putting together what plans of what documents you need and, as I said, I call them the legacy love letters maybe a will a trust, and you mentioned about when your husband was in the hospital, that medical directive and people are like what are all these things?
Speaker 3Okay, I can explain it in common language, but we need to have again, if you have children, naming some guardians and just things that we put in place so that, if something happens, you can still focus on getting well versus oh, I didn't do A, b, c and D and who can go handle A, b, c and D. We want to put those things in place before, or hopefully that event doesn't happen when we just don't know. So that's why I encourage people to get in contact with me Again and I will say go to my website LegalLifeCoachSharonBakercom.
Speaker 2Send everything that you have there, because I'm going to put it in the show notes.
Faith, Blessings, and Giving Back
Speaker 3It's your website, the free e-book, all of that and the blog and everything. So all of that is under that one website. You can see all that information. But I will get it back, send it in to you. And again, and I am in Georgia, but I'm a member of several bar associations. So if you're in another state and you're like Sharon I heard I was watching this podcast I'm in Texas or I'm in Florida, I'm in California Can you help me find a lawyer who can handle this for me? Yes, I can make some requests to some of my bar members in the different bar associations that I am in and generally when people ask me that question, I send them a list of maybe five attorneys and I said talk to all five of them. Which one do you connect with?
Speaker 3But you need to be clear before you start talking to the lawyer, look at your stuff and have your own plan. When the dust is finished and the dust settles, what do you want your plan to look like in the future? Then the lawyer knows which documents they need to put in place. But don't let the legalese start getting in your way. Just keep it common, keep it simple and just say I have five kids, one has special needs and I know who I want to trust to handle take care of that child. The other ones I want to pay for college or whatever you want to do.
Speaker 3You write out what you want it to look like in the future and then the lawyer now can put the legal plan in place so that those things happen, or those things are documented, what you want to have happen. But again, you can get in contact with me, no matter where you are, and I can send you some referrals of where you are. But again, start with documenting what you want and you can also get the book at that website too, or go to Amazon and get the book. Start writing out and answering these questions who do you want to leave stuff to?
Speaker 2I love it. I love it. And also the last thing we have to say you're doing all this, make sure you get it notarized, because it means nothing but a piece of paper, because you got to get it notarized, people.
Speaker 3Yeah, there are some touching those, because sometimes you may. Let's say in a situation here in Georgia. Again, as I said, each state has something. Let's say you had a will done in Georgia. You signed the will, you had two disinterested witnesses who also signed the will, but the signatures were not notarized. Yes, when you pass, the court wants to talk to one or both of those witnesses to question them. Did Sharon know what she was doing? Was she in her right mind? You saw her sign. We want to get testimony from those witnesses.
Speaker 3But if the signatures yours and the two witnesses were all notarized in Georgia, it's called a self-proving will and the court does not need evidence and testimony from any of your witnesses because if we see that notary seal, we okay, it was done, we're making it, we're saying that it is a self-proving will. It is legal because if it's not notarized, what happens if your witnesses die before you did? Now there's nobody to come and testify about the signing of the will. It's not a requirement but it's strongly recommended so that you don't have any kind of hiccups in the future. Now again, different states have different things on the books. I'm just telling you what's going on here in Georgia, but again, I can get you some referrals in your state so that you can find out what does my state require. I will be notarized, or is it OK if it's not notarized? So just be careful, don't, do not assume. You know what assumption means.
Speaker 2My father told me that Don't assume.
Speaker 3You know what assume means right You're making a good point, but get the legal answers to your questions before you need them. Yes, thank you, before you need them.
Speaker 2Before you need them and before it goes to probate. So you want to get it. Yes, All of that. So thank you so much. Oh my God, this is so inspiring. What a powerful episode with attorney Sharon Boykin. Right From protecting legacies to redefining resilience, Sharon reminded us that true empowerment starts with both preparation and purpose. If you've been putting off your estate planning or thinking about how to leave a legacy of love, now's the time to act, and Sharon is an expert you need in your corner. Be sure to connect with her, and don't forget to share and subscribe so you never miss another episode of Conversation About your Change of Life. So until next time, keep growing, keep glowing and remember collaboration is the key to success. Thanks again, Sharon, for being on my podcast. I really enjoyed this and we are going to have another one. You got a lot of stuff to share, girl. I tell you this is just like the tip of the iceberg here, but thank you so much.
Speaker 3Yes, thank you so much for inviting me, and I really did have a lot of fun chatting with you about this issue.
Speaker 2Yes, thank you, and make sure you subscribe. We've got a lot of great episodes that we're going to be putting out. Every Wednesday we have a new episode, so thank you, until next time. Bye.
Speaker 1Bye-bye. That wraps up another episode of Ready Set. Collaborate with Wanda Pearson. I hope you found inspiration and valuable insights to help you build meaningful connections and successful collaborations. If you enjoyed today's conversation, be sure to subscribe, share and stay tuned for more great discussions. Until next time, keep collaborating and making an impact.
