By Emilie St. John
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County residents are being encouraged to take advantage of a free program offering estate planning services through multiple community-based workshops.
The Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs says the goal of the Leaving Legacy program is to protect county residents, particularly those with an asset such as a single-family home, by developing a will, trust, estate plan or other provisions for the distribution of the resident’s money and property.
“The Leaving a Legacy program aims to provide L.A. County residents with the safeguards to protect their assets and be prepared in advance to provide a seamless transition when loved ones pass away,” said Rafael Carbajal, director of Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs. “We especially want residents to know that estate planning is for everyone and these services are free for those who qualify.”
Due to the sensitive nature of estate planning, the county wants residents to have access to free and trustworthy legal and estate planning services which will assist in avoiding probate while preserving and growing intergenerational wealth.
“The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted economic and social disparities in underserved and marginalized communities, especially how unprepared people were for an unexpected death,” Carbajal said. “Before dying from COVID-19, one out of five Americans did not have an estate plan in place.
Developing health care directives and living trusts early can help ease the burden on families, Carbajal added. The Department of Consumer and Business Affairs created the Leaving a Legacy program in partnership with Bet Tzedek and St. John’s Community Health.
According to a report from Consumer Reporters April 2022, only 23% of Black Americans and 18% of Latinos reported having a will.
Resident Terrence Franklin said a will is what set his ancestors free from slavery in 1846. In a search for the original document, Terrence uncovered the history and the court disputes that resulted from that document.
Franklin has been an estate lawyer for 30 years and is a partner with Sacks Glazier Franklin & Lodise, and is a champion for closing the gap for minority communities to do estate planning.
“I’ve been handling fights about trusts and estates since the early 1990s, which is the practice area that my firm specializes in,” Franklin said. “So, in our firm, we don’t draft wills and trusts, but we often see situations where problems have arisen because no one did proper estate planning.
“Often the situations are complicated, and while the amounts in dispute mean a lot to the people involved, many times our firm can’t help cost effectively because the hourly rates for legal fees are so high,” he added. “So I’ve always wished there were more Black people and other people of color doing estate planning, to normalize estate planning in underserved communities, so there would be less disappointed people in need of legal services to straighten out property ownership issues.”
Franklin has written many articles discussing the need for estate planning services, particularly in the African-American community, which led to him collaborating with a lawyer on a large-scale program.
“When another lawyer in the trust and estate community, Allan Cutrow, read one of my articles, he reached out to me,” Franklin said. “And the two of us started talking about how to get more Black people doing estate planning. We connected with Bet Tzedek Legal Services and UCLA and worked together to create a Fellowship for Equity in Trusts and Estates.
“We raised money to fund the hiring of a UCLA grad to work as a fellow at Bet Tzedek on policy matters, and to help get more training for Black estate planners, and to increase community awareness of this important service.”
The benefits of estate planning include making your own decisions on what will happen with your property, which spares family members from the burdens of making those decisions themselves.
“No one lives forever, so taking steps to plan in advance is just a reasonable way to acknowledge that reality,” Franklin said. “Furthermore, it is surprising how often people have accidents or illnesses and conditions which leave them disabled. Planning for the reality of death, and the possibility of a disabling illness or accident, is just a smart thing to do,”
To qualify for the free services, you must be a Los Angeles County resident, be low to moderate income and live in one of the high need areas.
To see if you qualify and to sign up for the services visit https://dcba.lacounty.gov/leavingalegacy/.
Emilie St. John is a freelance journalist covering the areas of Carson, Compton, Inglewood and Willowbrook. Send tips to her at emiliesaintjohn@gmail.com.