From Genealogy to Estate Planning: How to Preserve Your Family Legacy

For Tyechia White, founder of Trusted Legal Warrior, PLLC and a member of the Greater Washington Community Foundation's Professional Advisor Council, the term “family legacy” holds deep, personal meaning.

“I’ve always been fascinated with my family’s legacy; getting to know my ancestors, where they came from, and what their lives were like,” Tyechia shared. “It helped give me a better understanding of who I was and what was possible for me.”

Tyechia grew up near her great grandparents, who not only passed on countless memories, but also albums full of black-and-white family photos – each with a unique story of endurance, legacy, and love.

William Henry Richardson and his family

She learned about her great-great-grandfather William Henry Richardson who was born before the Emancipation Proclamation and worked hard so he could pass on an inheritance – an impressive 34 acres of land -- to his wife and children before he died.

She also learned about her great-great-grandmother, Sarah Skipper, who was left to raise three small children alone after her husband died without a will, forcing her to navigate probate in the court system while pregnant and grieving.

Many of these details, Tyechia discovered for herself when, as a pre-law student, she began to explore her genealogy on ancestry.com – uncovering precious documents tied to her family history, including William Richardson’s Will and the Court Records of Sarah Skipper’s probate case.

“I think the biggest thing for me was seeing that as a Black family in America, my family had access to wealth,” Tyechia reflected. “We just didn’t always have access to the tools to protect that wealth and pass it on to future generations.”

Now as an attorney, estate planner, and founder of her own law firm, Trusted Legal Warrior, Tyechia says her goal is to make these resources more accessible more people.

“Estate planning is so much deeper than the individual person,” Tyechia shares. “Whether you have one dollar or a million dollars, every person has the potential to leave a legacy that could impact future generations. You just have to plan for it.”

Common Obstacles – and Why Estate Planning Matters

William Henry Richardson’s Will

Tyechia shares that there are three common obstacles that keep people from creating an estate plan: the belief that they don't have enough to justify a plan, a lingering mistrust of the legal system, and the assumption that wills are something you handle on your deathbed rather than something you put in place while you're living fully.

“Lawyers are often only called when something's already gone wrong," she says. "But we can be a preventative measure.”

Estate planning has long been a field that studies show few Americans give proper attention to. A 2021 poll by Gallup found that less than half of adults in US have a will.

However, the gap is even wider for Black families – where less than 1 in 3 adults have a current estate plan.

Tyechia points out that what often causes Black families to lose what they've built isn’t necessarily a lack of assets so much as a lack of legal guidance to navigate the system.

Even those who have a will may try and draft documents on their own that aren’t properly notarized, remarry without considering children from a prior relationship in their estate plans, or simply never address who should take responsibility for a property's upkeep after they’re gone.

“Often, what unravels an estate isn't the courts or the taxes,” Tyechia explains. “It's the family conflict that fills the space where a clear plan should have been.”

Tyechia says that being proactive and transparent with family members about estate planning is often one of the best ways for families to build and preserve their legacies.

“In many cases, your estate plan will be the last memory and the last act of love that you leave your loved ones,” Tyechia adds, pointing back to her own ancestors. “Having a plan in place ensures that your legacy goes where you need it and continues to live on for those who matter most.”

Tyechia White is the founder of Trusted Legal Warrior, PLLC and a member of the Greater Washington Community Foundation's Professional Advisor Council.