ORLANDO, Fla. – This week on “Black Men Sundays,” host Corie Murray interviews Certified Executor Advisor David Edey.
Executor advisors specialize in guiding clients through the oft-complicated world of wills and estate plans. So, if you’re keen on making sure the generational wealth you’ve accrued in life goes where you want it to after you pass away, it’s folks in Edey’s profession who you’d better speak with.
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“If we break it down even more in our community, the Black community, you know, it’s anywhere between 65 to 70% of Black Americans, Canadians as well, don’t have a will. They don’t have an estate. So, you know, when we get to the point of, we want to make sure our wishes are taken care of, it’s important that we do the first step in terms of making sure we have a will. The will is the only way that’s going to make sure that your will, your wishes, are going to be carried out,” he said. “In the community, we hear a lot about people talking about generational wealth, yeah. That’s fine to talk about generational wealth, but it stops if you don’t make sure that you’re passing on the wealth to the next generation.”
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Not only do you have to choose who gets what, but there’s also got to be a person in charge of making sure your wishes are carried out. This role, the executor, can be seen as a great honor and a burden all at once, but that’s where Edey steps in to make things easier.
“On average, it takes anywhere between 18 to 24 months to settle an estate. You’re spending over 100 hours and you’re going to have to take time off from work, because this is a tough job. In 75%, 80% of the time, an executor has no idea what to do and how to get started. That’s how I ended up writing my book and how I ended up talking on the subject, because in my case, I lost my parents to cancer within a year of each other and it took me seven years, 10 court appearances and $50,000 to settle my parents’ estate, and they have a will,” he said. “My parents didn’t have the conversation with us, and even though I’ve been a financial advisor for almost gonna be close to 40 years in April, they never had the conversation of, ‘Yes, the three of you are the executors and we want you to look after things and we don’t want any problems.’”
Hear the full interview and more in Season 5, Episode 14 of “Black Men Sundays.”
Black Men Sundays talks about building generational wealth. Check out every episode in the media player below.