It Was Written -- National Make A Will Month

August is National Make-A-Will Month, and in this episode of Philanthropy N The Black, Celly Cel explores one of the most overlooked aspects of philanthropy and financial planning: your legacy.

Learn the differences between a will, living trust, beneficiary designations, powers of attorney, and advance health care directives, and discover why estate planning isn't just for the wealthy. Whether you're a nonprofit donor, parent, veteran, business owner, or simply want to protect your family, this episode explains how a thoughtful estate plan can preserve wealth, reduce family conflict, and support the causes you care about.

You'll also learn how planned giving and charitable bequests help nonprofits build lasting impact for future generations.

This episode is for educational purposes only and is not legal or financial advice. Consult a qualified estate planning attorney or financial advisor for guidance specific to your situation.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to another episode of the Philanthropy in the Black Show podcast. If you've been rocking with us all this time, I appreciate it. It's gonna be a hot month, and I'm not just talking about outside, people. It's hot as hell. But this month is National Black Philanthropy Month, National Make a Will Month. I'm having the ladies from Cause in the City stop by. It's about to go down like four flat ties. It's gonna be a hot, hot August for the show and for you. So thank y'all for rocking with us. I appreciate it. If nobody told you today, you'll appreciate it. Now let me ask you a question because we mess with each other, right? You remember this song? If I ruled the world, imagine that. I rude my son. All right, I messed it up. But it was Nas, it was written. Now there's a Curtis Blue original version, OG stuff. But Nas dropped this, it was written C D in 1996. Drop a bomb for that. It was written. Is has your story been written? Listen, not your memoir, not your Facebook post, not your Instagram post. I'm talking about do you have documents that say what happens in the event of your demise? Right? To this this episode, we are talking about death. Uncomfortable, right? More importantly, we're talking about love. We're not even talking about death. We're talking about love because it's your loved ones who have to clean up your mess should you not have a plan in place in the event of your demise. And this is the perfect month to get busy. It is national make a will month, people. Make a trust, look at your beneficiaries. Here we are. Here we are. Let me tell you what National Make a Will Month is. It is an annual reminder to create or update your estate plan, appoint an executor, review beneficiaries, and think intentionally about the legacy you want to leave behind. That's what this month is all about. And this is what we're about to get into because I'm gonna break down some things and share what I think about it. All right, let's do it, let's get into it. So everybody wants to leave a legacy, right? Word to Jay-Z, legacy, legacy, yo see, Mary, my C, Mary he see, whatever he said. Go check out 444. But the point is, what I find fascinating is everybody talks about legacy, and he was trying to scoop us on some big game. So shout out to Jay-Z. That was some dope stuff. But folks spend years building wealth, right? You buy, they buy homes, they start businesses, they're entrepreneurs, uh, they collect sneakers, they they collect guns, they collect classic cars, build investment portfolios, but won't spend a simple 200 damn dollars making sure any of that ends up where they intended in the event of their demise. Listen, uh that's like spending two years on an album worth of Tupac and never hitting sin on the master. So this title of this episode is called It Is Written because if it isn't written, the state is gonna write it for you ass. All right? And trust me, you don't want the state writing it for you, dog. You don't want dad. Because you're gonna end up in this situation.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

How we can pay for mama's bills is by selling the big house. What? We are not selling the house. Mama and daddy saved their whole life for that house, Terry. We can't even agree on anything as small as Sunday dinners. Nobody's paying for the taxes or the utilities except me. And now we can finally put Uncle Pete in a home like we've been talking about for years. We are not putting Uncle Pete in a home. Mama would kill us. You are tripping. I'm selling the house. You're not selling the house. I am the guardian of her estate. That means I make the decisions. Come on.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

You see that? That that's a real conversation. Shout out to the show Soul Food, the movie, and that whole scene. It gets a lot grimier from there, but please believe that's a real conversation many of us have when you don't have your paperwork written, your story isn't written. So shout out to that movie because they absolutely nailed the conversation that takes place. It gets ugly. We're not gonna go there. Listen. So we're gonna let's talk about what is National Make a Will Month, a little bit more specificity for you. Um, every August, every August, nonprofits, estate planning attorneys, financial advisors, charitable organizations, they encourage Americans to finally complete one of the most important documents they'll ever sign. Because you know what? Millions of damn Americans don't even have one. What is we doing? And a will or trust or whatever isn't just for millionaires, right? It's for parents, huh? It's for homeowners, it's for grandparents, military families, entrepreneurs, anyone who owns any damn thing, anyone who wants their wishes to be respected, that's what a will is for. And if you fall in any of those categories, what is you doing? That's national make a will month. I'm gonna break it down. Because without one, the state in Louisiana gets tricky with it. The state will determine who receives your property, regardless of what you may have wanted. If you told Ray Ray and Skillet and Earl you want A, B, C, and D, the state gonna say, I don't hear none of that ish. This was about to happen. A will allows you to name an executor and important, more importantly, nominate somebody, a guardian, over your or over your children, should you have young children. That's a critical component of a will. All right, so I'm gonna simplify as best I can. I'm no lawyer, uh, some of the terms. All right. So let's start with a will. Think of a will as your final written instructions. Remember, this is called it was written. Think of a will as your final written instructions. It answers the questions like who gets my ish, who takes care of my children, who settles my affairs, who receives my charitable gifts in the event you donate to a nonprofit. A will generally takes effect after death and usually goes through probate. Probate, you ask the court supervised process of administrating an estate. You don't want that, you don't want that paper. Oh a trust. Now, a trust is different. You might have trust issues, but a trust is different from that too. Listen, a trust can manage assets during your lifetime and after your death. See? While you're here and when you're gone, a trust can help help that. A properly funded, revocable uh living trust can help avoid probate. Probate is a sticky thing, uh, for assets placed into the trust and can allow a successor trustee to manage those assets if you become incapacitated. That's so important. And we're gonna get a little bit more into should you have an accident and can't talk, walk, think, whatever. But think of it like this: a will says, here's what happens after I die. A trust says, Here's who's in charge when I can't be. Two different things, right? A will says, here's what happens after I die. A trust says, Here's who's in charge when I can't be. It's ugly. Another term, beneficiary designations. We you you all if you got a job or insurance or whatever, you know. Um, you gotta be, you gotta know that your life insurance, your 401, your IRA, many pensions and retirement counts, those don't necessarily fire follow your will, right? They usually go directly to whoever you listed as beneficiary. That's clear. Even if your will says something different, your beneficiary designations are important. And that's why reviewing your beneficiary forms regularly, regularly is important. All right. Here's another term. This is just a breaking down some of the terms, right? Power of attorney. This one works while you're alive, right? If you're unconscious, it says who pays your bills, who signs documents, who handles your finances. That's where a financial power of attorney comes in. So that's a financial power of attorney, all right. Now, here's another one. And it and I recently did this, I didn't even know this was a thing. So we're learning together, right? A health care directive, different from a power of attorney, sometimes it's called the living will. If you can't speak, you know, you're in a hospital, something's messed up. A healthcare directive says who makes the medical decisions? Who plugs, unplugs the machine? Who has the power to do that? What treatments do you want, and what treatments don't you want? That's what the health care directive does. And it's very important because you we all know people to be in accidents in certain situations. And listen, I tell my kids, hey, listen, if something happened to me and I'm I'm a vegetable, you let me go home. You let me go home. Let me go home. You let me go home. And so the health care directive should never be left to a family argument in ICU, where grandma, big mama fussing with Auntie Cheryl and Cousin Ray Ray. Like the health care directive should identify the person who makes that decision. And now let's bring this back to the philanthropy in the black part because that's why this show exists, and that's why you've been rocking with me, right? So most people think about estate planning and plan giving for is something for billionaires, and really it is not, it's for everybody, right? The the one of the largest gifts many nonprofits ever receive comes from ordinary people, it ain't coming from Bezos, wife, or whoever McKenzie, it ain't coming from Elon, it's coming from teachers, veterans, nurses, postal workers, people who simply included a nonprofit in their will. That is called a charitable bequest. And it could be something small, like 5% of it, it could be 10% of it, it could be an actual dollar amount you wrote in to say give this to this organization, or maybe it is whatever remains after the family is taken care of. Many organizations rely on these legacy gifts from you in the event of your demise. It helps them to build their endowments, fund scholarships, support research, sustain programs for future generations. And I hate to say this, but listen, nonprofits, you don't have to wait to somebody 70, 80 years old in your database to start talking about estate planning. This new generation, these younger folks, it didn't take them 50 years to acquire wealth. They came out of college acquiring it because of their degree or because of technology or because of what they're doing. It they're 30 and 40 years old and they're financially intelligent and astute, and you can talk or plant the seeds about estate planning now if your relationship is ripe. On the other side, to all my frat brothers and sorority sisters, and you like to get your hands dirty with volunteering. Did you ever consider leaving a nonprofit in your will or estate planning? Because that car, that that expensive art piece, that land in Mississippi, nobody goes to, you can literally leave that to a nonprofit who can flip it into something that is appropriate for their organization, cash, right? So I want to just be clear that you know normally in a nonprofit sector, we think there's an age group that we need to talk to. And and to some point that is true, but really you can talk to your database now about that. And I hate to use the term database, your constituents now, your supporters now, about the opportunity to put your organization in their estate plans. That is it. That is all for that. Think about it. Don't wait. Do you have a team? Do you have the software? There's third-party fundraising software that allows you to put the word out there about fundraising. I forget all the names, but Google it. Third-party estate planning uh things that attach to your website that help you. If you don't have a team, some people have a lawyer do it, some people have a very experienced 20, 30 year deep in the game person that is doing many organizations. Can't afford that. We don't have that. So that's where the third-party vendor who handles all the documents and the going through, and it looks just like your website. They attach to your website. It's a lot, and I'll get I'll maybe drop some information in the link on those places. Okay. Let me add this. And listen, this show is called Philanthropy in the Black. Not because I'm black, all right? And not because I'm black in the work world. If you think that you're racist, you probably got a problem. This show is called Philanthropy in the Black because we want to help nonprofits stay in the black, right? But I'm got I gotta have a black conversation because this is real, you know. I played that little clip from Soul Food earlier, but here's the reality: in the black community, sometimes we talk about the wealth gap, the income gap, the home ownership gap, business ownership gap. So, but we never talk about the inheritance gap. Too many families lose wealth because no plan exists. Property gets tied up in court because no plan exists. I could name about five families right now who have families that were in rural Louisiana and Mississippi that lost land because no paperwork existed. Families fight, homes get sold, land has disappeared in those communities. Generational wealth isn't just about earning money, it's about transferring it intentionally. That's what this show is telling you. That you can close that inheritance gap by making sure it is written. Okay, in closing, here's three things I need you to do this month. Three things. Um we're gonna get out of here, people. First, make a list, okay? That list should have everything on. Everything that list should include bank accounts, retirement accounts, insurance, real estate, digital assets, business interests, even passwords. You got you can't be the only one with your passwords, people. I mean, I know you if you're doing dirty out there, I get it. But really, if something happens to you, who can go into your account and make things happen? So, first thing I need you to do is make a list. You got that? That's number one. Number two, go check your beneficiaries on all that paperwork you signed years ago, months ago, and you forgot who the hell is your beneficiary? Because you listen, maybe maybe you got married, maybe you got divorced, maybe there was a birth, maybe there was a death. Major life changes you should cause should cause you to go and check your beneficiaries to make sure you still want cousin Lucy as your damn beneficiary. You know she on that stuff, you know she on that stuff. She shouldn't, she wasn't on the stuff when you made a beneficiary, but she on the stuff. You gonna leave all that money now? You know what? I'm gonna move on. That's number two. Check your beneficiaries. Here's the third thing you should do this month. Talk to an estate planning attorney. Every state has different laws, first of all. Okay, in Louisiana, you can get jacked up. All right, they will get your stuff. All right. This episode is really educational. It is not legal advice, it is not legal advice, it is not legal advice. An attorney can help you determine whether you need a will, whether you need a trust, or maybe a combination of things based on your specific situation. Those are the three things you need to do. Make a list, check your beneficiaries, and please, please talk to an estate planning attorney. Some of them do free cons consultation. Do that, okay. As we get ready to close, people, here we go. Here's the takeaway your greatest gift may not be the money you leave behind, it may be the clarity that you leave behind. But you don't want your family fighting over nonsense. The greatest thing you may leave behind is peace because your paperwork, because it was written, it gets rid of the conflict before it can even start. The ability to have your family grieve instead of spending years fighting in court is a beautiful thing you want to leave behind. That's the story you want told after you're gone. Legacy isn't what people say about you. Let's not get it twisted. Legacy is what you've prepared for them.

unknown 19:05

Woo!

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Legacy, legacy, legacy. Jay-Z. It's not about what people say about you. They're gonna say that stuff. But when you prepare your family right, they're gonna say they left right. Aside from you, the life you live, my brother was 24 when he was taken from us. And when I say he had his paperwork right, I've never seen it since in my family, aside from me. And I've lost many people. But he taught me the importance of making sure your legacy is left in a way that secures him. I ain't trying to make you rich, I'm just trying to make you comfortable. Alright? That's what he taught me in his demise. Love him and I miss him. And I hope that this message has landed for you, people. I hope that you got something from it. That's it, folks. Listen, Nas called this album It was written. And that's the question I have for you. When your final chapter comes, will your wish wishes be written? Or will someone else write them for you? This August, don't just think about your legacy. I need you to go ahead and write that thing down.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

So let it be written. So let it be done.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

Listen, that's the show, people. This is Philanthropy in the Black, the podcast, where our goal, prayer, wish is to help nonprofits stay in the black, not only financially, but morally and socially. Keep watching, keep showing love, share, like, subscribe. I rock with you, you rock with me. Till next time, peace.