Black Heirlooms: A Short Film On The Impact Of Estate Planning On The African-American Community

Let's admit it, just about every family has experienced some form or manifestation of strife when a loved one dies.  Often, families disintegrate and become disjointed over finances and who's going to get what heirloom(s) which belonged to the deceased relative.  No family, and I mean no family, is detached from these sorts of issues.  Have you had these sorts of issues in your own family when someone died?  I can admit that my extended family has gone through these challenges, and other families of friends and associates of mine. 

With all this said, it is so important to have an estate plan in place to act as a relief valve to guide and direct your family in their time of need to make your wishes crystal clear.  The statistics range widely, in fact its hard to estimate, but I've come across statistics to suggest that somewhere between 60-75% of all Americans who die each year, regardless of race, die without a will or any meaningful sort of estate plan in place.  This is a huge problem for a variety of reasons-which I won't go into in this post. 

Several months ago, I came across a great short film (about 18-19 minutes) that I feel every African-American should watch and digest about issues centering on estate planning in the filmmaker's own family.  The filmmaker is a wonderful young sister, Amanda Brown, who I had the pleasure to meet in June 2016, when my sister Elizabeth (a NYC/Brooklyn based estate planning attorney) served on a panel with Amanda in Brooklyn to discuss the Black wealth gap, in an event hosted by Richard Flateau of Flateau Realty in Brooklyn.  It was a powerful and educational event for all who attended-there were over 300 attendees!  Here's a link to Amanda's movie "Black Heirlooms" which I share with you below:

Black Heirlooms Movie Full Clip

Additionally, here's a link to find Amanda on Twitter @BlackHeirlooms.  She's a thoughtful and insightful young sister bringing knowledge and wisdom to all.  Great work Amanda!  Keep up the great things you are doing to educate our community!