In my last post, I introduced the idea of an ethical will. Here is what may be included in this type of document and what purpose you may have for creating one:
Content of an Ethical Will:
Values: It’s important to leave your house and financial assets to the next generation, but an ethical will can give you the opportunity to share the values you lived by that made it possible for you to acquire those assets as well as what made them important to you. An ethical will provides a way to communicate your principles, beliefs, and lessons learned through your life.
Strengthening Family Connections: Family coming together to share your ethical will can be a truly powerful experience for them. This document that contains your stories, anecdotes, and successes and failures in life can help your family members to feel connected to your story and to one another both during your life and long after you have passed.
Clarifying Intentions: Decisions and bequests made in a traditional will or trust can easily be misunderstood, and this can potentially lead to fighting between family members. An ethical will gives you the chance to explain why you made the choices you did in creating your legal estate planning documents, hopefully mitigating potential misunderstandings or hurt feelings.
Providing Comfort and Guidance: An ethical will can be written as a letter of love to your family and give you the chance to share words of encouragement, to write about the joy you felt with them, and to share the wisdom you have acquired that they may also learn from. Those with religious beliefs may also share how your faith was foundational to you and guided your life and decisions. Ethical wills can provide immense comfort and strength to family members who are grieving.
In the next post, I’ll share how to get started on writing an ethical will.
For help with your estate plan, contact us at Wilson and Wilson Estate Planning and Elder Law, LLC at 708-482-7090.
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/ethical-wills-the-heart-of-your-estate-4480905/
