Maya Gwynn
With KVCR Public Media. I'm Maya Gwynn with Black Perspectives IE, a show we learn about the amazing things members of the Black community are doing in the Inland Empire. My guest today is Kizuwanda Walton, Esq., Founder of the Walton Firm. Thank you so much for being here.
Kizuwanda Walton
Thank you for having me.
Maya Gwynn
Of course. We met in early September at a women's summit that was actually here. I immediately wanted to talk to you. I've been looking forward to this conversation for a long time. I appreciate you being here.
Kizuwanda Walton
I'm so happy to be here.
Maya Gwynn
In these times that are scary, there's been a 30% increase of women applying to law school this year. And a side note to that, the luxury brand Prada, that's like very conservative, they've had a spike in people buying their clothes as well, and the Google search for the TV show Scandal up by 163% in the last six months. I don't think that's a coincidence that all this is happening right now, and a lot of women, especially, are looking at law school. So I wanted to start with, was there an injustice you witnessed that drew you towards a career in law?
Kizuwanda Walton
So for me, there was a family member who was arrested, went to juvenile court, so it was a minor, and that sparked an interest for me, and I did wind up going to law school. And so when this happened, I wound up, you know, taking the LSAT, and I ultimately did wind up practicing in juvenile law for about 14 years.
Maya Gwynn
Wow. And at your firm, on your website, you say you specialize in estate planning, something many families delay or misunderstand, which I'm learning about. How do you help people see what estate planning really is and clear up myths around it, and make those tough conversations feel a little easier and maybe empowering?
Kizuwanda Walton
This is actually really important, because one of the major misconceptions is that estate planning is only for the uber wealthy, or just wealthy people in general, and typically, most adults need some level, or should have some level of estate planning in place. So I have conversations with my clients. I try to educate my clients about what estate planning is, because it's this general concept, and they don't have any tangible, specific understanding of what that actually is. It's not about how much money you have, but it's about making sure you have a plan in place to provide for you if you become unable to manage things for yourself, and also a plan for the distribution of your belongings, your personal things, if you were to pass away.
Maya Gwynn
And how do you see estate planning as a part of building generational wealth and stability within marginalized communities, specifically the Black community?
Kizuwanda Walton
So when we're looking at building generational wealth, you want to have a plan in place, because if you do not, there is essentially a government plan in place which is going to be through the probate process. And you may not like the plan that the probate court has set up for you, and it's not as protective as the one you can set up for your beneficiary. So I say, even if you only have retirement life insurance or home, anything like that, you can set up a trust with protective elements for your beneficiaries. The people you want to receive your stuff are your beneficiaries, especially if you have minor children, people with special needs in your life that you want to provide for, you can create trust to kind of protect that wealth for them until they reach designated ages or hit designated milestones, just to make sure that wealth isn't squandered immediately upon distribution. And you can even set up trust to make sure that that wealth is multi-generational to provide for grandkids or great grandkids, so estate planning can definitely help to transfer wealth to the next several generations.
Maya Gwynn
You mentioned this already - what would you say to someone who maybe doesn't own their home or like feels like they don't have anything to pass on?
Kizuwanda Walton
Looking at a person's estate if they don't have any real property, for instance, I would still say it's really important to, at minimum, make sure that your directives are in place, like your Advanced Directive, which is your medical power of attorney, making sure that someone is identified who can make medical decisions for you if you can't make them yourself, and what some of your medical wishes are. And then also having a power of attorney in place, making sure there's someone that you've identified that you trust to make financial decisions for you, once again, if you're not able to make them yourself. At minimum, I think those two things are needed for any adult. Now, even if you don't have great wealth, I'm sure that you have items of sentimental value, personal things that you might have a family member who would really appreciate, even if it's just like a blanket grandma sewed or something like that. So making sure you set up at least a will to make sure you get those things to the right people who should receive them.
Maya Gwynn
Is there a personal story where you've seen estate planning, or maybe not a story from your own life, but like someone that you've helped that's like a success story with estate planning?
Kizuwanda Walton
I do have many success stories with estate planning, particularly in avoiding probate. And I don't want to dodge your question, but I have a tragic story of not estate planning that I would really like to share, if that's okay. I had a family member before I started doing estate planning work who passed away. This family member did not have an estate plan in place and did own real property. This family member also received Medi-Cal during her lifetime, when she passed away, her state went through probate.
Maya Gwynn
What is probate for people who don't know?
Kizuwanda Walton
So probate is a court process when someone passes away without a trust with assets, typically over a certain amount of money, their assets, have to go through probate, where a judge gets involved in deciding where those assets go, who should be in charge of managing those assets. So her estate went through probate court. Got involved as part of that process, all creditors are notified. Medi-Cal is a creditor. So if your estate has to go through probate, Medi-Cal has to get notice. Essentially, Medi-Cal showed up and they took everything. So the family ultimately did not wind up with anything from that estate because the Medi-Cal reimbursement was so high. Now, one thing that people aren't aware of, but here in the state of California, if you have your assets in a trust, currently under state law, Medi-Cal cannot recover. So if you have a home and it's in trust, and you pass away, your assets do not go through probate. And that is a really, really big deal. And I'm going to go back to what you asked about for the Black community, this is one that we're missing, where people are losing their homes because they did receive Medi-Cal, they pass away, they don't have a trust. So sometimes people think I don't have much, I just have my house. But that's a big deal because it's even more important to protect that property to make sure it goes to your children. Sometimes they expect that their kids or grandkids can continue to live there, but they may lose that home through the probate process.
Maya Gwynn
For people who may not be able to afford estate planning services right now, but still want to stay proactive, what are three small pieces of advice you would recommend and starting to protect themselves and their family?
Kizuwanda Walton
Well, one thing, if you have a primary care doctor, you can get an Advanced Directive, typically for free. So that's something getting set up that's very, very simple. There are online options that are available to set up, a simple will or a power of attorney. I don't necessarily recommend that for everyone. Some states are a little bit more complex and probably need the guidance of a professional, but something simple, you just want to get something in place. Definitely get that Advanced Directive, power of attorney, and maybe a basic will online.
Maya Gwynn
We're gonna move to our rapid fire portion. I know it's a change in pace. If your work had a theme song, what would it be?
Kizuwanda Walton
Oh my goodness, Eye of the Tiger.
Maya Gwynn
You're not the first lawyer I've heard say that. If you had to teach a master class or give a TED Talk on a random skill you have besides what you do for a living, what would it be?
Kizuwanda Walton
Probably reading. My major was Comparative Literature, so I don't know, some sort of book club.
Maya Gwynn
And what's your favorite IE restaurant or landmark that reminds you of the Inland Empire?
Kizuwanda Walton
I'm gonna go the R & R Breakfast Spot, amazing food, amazing people own it.
Maya Gwynn
And how can people keep up with you and support the work that you're doing?
Kizuwanda Walton
I do have an Instagram page, which I keep updated with the upcoming events. I handle that, trust and wills.
Maya Gwynn
Thank you so much for being here. Really appreciate this.
Kizuwanda Walton
Thank you for having me. It's been my pleasure.
Maya Gwynn
Kizuwanda Walton, Esq. is Founder of the Walton Firm. Find this segment and others at kvcrnews.org/bpie. Support for this segment comes from the Black Equity Fund at IECF, advancing racial equity and supporting long term investments in Black-led organizations in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Join us again next week for Black Perspectives IE. For KVCR Public Media, I'm Maya Gwynn. Thank you.
