MOST people do not like talking about what will happen when they die. They avoid the conversations, postpone writing wills, and assume there will be time later to figure it out. Natasha Rickards Baugh spends her days in the middle of these important conversations, helping families make decisions that will determine what happens to their homes, their businesses and everything they have built.

As a partner in the Property and Estate Department at Myers, Fletcher & Gordon (MFG), there is a delicate weight to the work Rickards Baugh does every day. But in many ways, she was always meant for this area of law.

From the moment she decided to become a lawyer, Rickards Baugh knew exactly where she belonged. Though she began her career at MFG in 2012, navigating employment disputes in litigation, she soon transitioned to her true passion: property and estate law.

This calling was shaped long before she entered a law firm. Growing up, her family wasn’t made up of real estate moguls, but they believed in acquiring property as a vital way to create stability and build a foundation for the next generation. She saw this in action through her mother, who felt very passionate about acquiring real estate to secure future income and legacy, as well as her grandmother, who sold her house and gave the proceeds directly to her children, an intuitive act of legacy preservation long before she knew the legal term.

Added to this, as the eldest sibling, she instinctively embraced a leadership position in her family, earning the nickname “shepherd” as she mediated disagreements, advised on important decisions, and ensured everyone felt supported. One day, she realised that estate law was the perfect marriage of her professional expertise and her innate protective instincts. Shepherding families through the world of estate management is, in many ways, a natural extension of the responsibility she has carried since childhood.

“I’m drawn to this area because it deals with people. Estate planning is very personal, and it requires trust, openness and a non-judgmental approach. You have to understand where people are coming from, what they are trying to achieve and how their decisions will affect the people they care about,” shares Rickards Baugh. Those decisions are rarely straightforward. Many families arrive at the table carrying years of history, unspoken expectations and, at times, unresolved tension.

When Rickards Baugh assessed estate planning in Jamaica, she saw too many families and business owners leaving their life’s work to chance. Determined to change that, she revived and expanded the firm’s private client trust services, offering a tailored suite of solutions to safeguard both personal and business continuity. Knowing how emotions can derail even the best intentions, she strongly advocates for corporate trustees through the firm’s subsidiary, MFG AML, providing families with a transparent, structured process free from personal bias.

Away from the office, Rickards Baugh’s life carries a similar sense of responsibility. Navigating the demands of a high-powered legal career while raising a two-year-old and a four-year-old is no small feat. Even so, Rickards Baugh embraces the beautifully chaotic realities of modern wifehood and motherhood. She bristles at the word balance, recognising it as an impossible standard.

“Nothing is ever really balanced; it’s a constant struggle because you don’t want to neglect your job and you certainly don’t want to neglect your family,” she admits.

Instead of seeking perfect equilibrium, she relies heavily on her village, a well-oiled support system comprising her family, lifelong friends, and a highly capable and supportive team at work. She advises other ambitious women to remember that self-preservation is not selfish, but necessary, and that success is rarely achieved alone.

“You don’t have to completely neglect something to achieve everything, but the most important thing is you cannot do it on your own; you need a village, both at work and at home,” she emphasises.

As she charts her future at the firm, Rickards Baugh’s ambitions focus squarely on stewardship. She plans to spend the coming years training the next generation of lawyers, teaching them to manage the delicate human elements of property and estate law. It is demanding work, but she manages the weight of it by staying anchored to her core values.

“You need to be very true to who you are as a person,” she notes, emphasising the importance of having “integrity as a foundation and just being fair and reasonable to everyone”.

For a woman who has spent her life acting as the shepherd, first for her family, and now for her clients and community, her ultimate measure of a successful life is grounded in keeping the flock moving forward, even through uncertain terrain.

Natasha Rickards Baugh with her family. Instead of seeking perfect equilibrium, she relies heavily on her village, a well-oiled support system comprising her family, lifelong friends, and a highly capable and supportive team at work.