Every estate planner on the market will talk all day about your legacy. The wealth you’ve built, the property you’ve accumulated, the stuff we can see.
What if I told you that that’s not your legacy?
It’s strange to hear that from an estate lawyer but I don’t know that any estate lawyer worth their fees should be content to call your legacy the things you can put your hands on or liquidate. After all, the purpose of an estate planner should be to minimize the amount of things in your estate plan (or, at the very least, to put anything in there to work within a reasonable strategy). My focus is to ensure that your memory stays with your loved ones - one of the most important things you can leave behind.
Having come from a family without huge bank accounts, runs of land, property holdings, or a lot to pass on, really, I can tell you that your legacy is intangible. It’s the stories of your youth – how you got that scar, your first heartbreak, or why holding the flashlight just right can save you from learning several new swear words. It’s the family recipe book that gets lost and causes the family to spend hours in the kitchen desperately trying to re-create grandma’s recipes without getting it right. It’s allocating money to donate a bench to your local church.
That’s why a cornerstone of my estates practice is your remembrance packet. I don’t want to tell the world simply what you owned and what you bought, I want your family to know your story, your values, and your lessons. In essence, I want you to passing family values and legacy, not just property.
To those of you who haven’t put any thought into it, I encourage you to start. The more personal the better. We live in a world of accessible video – whether it’s your phone, a company like Legacy Box, or any other medium, tell your story. If you want something more intimately personal, journals are a fantastic way to leave behind not only your memories but your writing and personal effort. Write those recipes down and have the intent to hand them on to your children.
We often overlook sentimentality and, worse yet, we often overlook or eschew older people in our families with invaluable life experience. Historically, families used to stay together and pass generational wisdom down. Since we’ve lost that as a society, I think it only makes perfect sense to encourage it and integrate it into your estate plan.
Sure, you can get documents from a variety of estate planners and online sources. What you won’t always get is the attention to detail about your life’s story and purpose – your things are finite, your life and memory should be enduring.
If you're ready to combine treasured memories with a lifetime of work, savings, and heirlooms, contact me today.