Heirs Estate Program
August 19, 2024
A big part of Durham Habitat’s homeownership program is setting up our new homeowners for success. This includes helping them plan for their future.
As part of Durham Habitat’s homeowner services education, we offer an Heirs Estate program. Funded through a sponsorship from Truist Bank, this program allows our homeowners to learn about the importance of estate planning.
The Heirs Program includes an educational component about the importance of will and estate preparation. Homeowners learn about estate planning, including how their assets will be managed after they pass away. It also allows individuals to plan for who will manage their property and finances should they become incapacitated. Once homeowners complete the educational component, we offer them the will preparation at no cost. Will preparation can be a long and expensive process, so Durham Habitat aids new homeowners by providing a lawyer.
Many of our homeowners do not have access to estate preparation tools or may not understand the importance of this process. The Heirs Program provides the education and tools to protect the home equity wealth they have worked hard to achieve. It has been highly successful this past year in helping more Habitat partner families create their estate plans.
We held eleven estate planning workshops over this past year. Vincent Boone, from State Farm, and Steven Drake, from The Drake Firm educated our homeowners on the importance of proper insurance and securing assets. Topics of conversation during these workshops include planning for life after death, the financial power of attorney, and living wills. As a result of the program over thirty homeowners were able to complete estate plans.
We do not know the time we will transition, so preparation is especially important. This program educates our homeowners on the “wall of protection” proper insurance can provide. Durham Habitat will continue to have different events for homeowners to connect them with resources and learn valuable tips.