Depending on just how seriously you take your legacy, there can be a lot more to estate planning than just preparing your assets for eventual transfer to your heirs. When you sit back and ruminate with regard to your life’s path you may find it to be relatively easy to come to terms with your own mortality. The thing that bothers a lot of people more than anything else is the fact that they will no longer be around to counsel their loved ones.
Without question, financial resources can provide your family members with a certain level of security. But if you’re like most people you can remember countless times when loved ones have come to you for guidance and advice. The experience and wisdom that you are able to accumulate throughout your life is something that money cannot buy, and this is why the influence of elders is so very important and useful to younger members of any family.
The way that you may feel about no longer being around to lend an ear to your family members can be amplified by concerns you may have about how they will handle an influx of money once they receive their inheritances. There is a right a wrong way to go about things and how you handle your financial influence is important to yourself, your family, and the community as a whole.
People have had these concerns for hundreds of years, and one response that has traditionally been utilized is the creation of an ethical will. This document is not legally binding in any way; it is simply a “love letter” of sorts to your loved ones with which you share knowledge, insight, and guidance as a final act of giving.
In addition to being a valuable resource for your loved ones, writing out an ethical will can also be cathartic for the author as you get things off your chest and examine your formative experiences. Providing financial resources is important, but if you include an ethical will in your estate your family will be able to draw from your wisdom into perpetuity and this may be the greatest inheritance of all.
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