One very rewarding part of working with clients is helping people identify opportunities and plan for sharing family wealth and values. While the estate planning piece of our work together addresses how an individual’s assets will be distributed to heirs or other organizations upon death, an equally important goal for many clients is passing on family values.
The perfect tool for accomplishing this is often a written document or audio recording, frequently referred to as “The Family Letter,” a “Letter of Wishes” or a “Living Values” document or recording. Regardless of name or format, this communication serves as a means for individuals to share with loved ones, executors or trustees the values and wishes that are most important to them in their own words.
This document/recording might express values through events or experiences which had a significant influence in shaping the person’s life. It might emphasize the importance of sharing with others and volunteering your time and skills. It might highlight attributes needed for successfully managing money. Or it might address beliefs that one feels are important to fully share their legacy with family members.
It might be brief, primarily comprised of bullet-point items or short statements. Or it might be a more detailed narrative, discussing specific milestones and experiences that have shaped the creator and led to successful outcomes.
A Family Letter might also explain decisions, such as why an individual was selected to serve as the estate’s executor or why he or she chose to place assets inside a trust, with expectations for accompanying milestone achievements required for future distributions. It might address the reasoning behind distribution of unequal shares or different types of assets. It might also emphasize the hope and importance for family harmony following the creator’s death.
There may even be more than one version of The Family Letter. A simple version, which serves as a guiding document, may be appropriate for sharing with family members. A more detailed version, which spells out specifics of the individual’s wishes in greater depth, would be more useful for a trustee or executor.
In sum, The Family Letter is a valuable tool that serves as a framework for conveying not only what money means to the family and the creator’s hope for the next generation, but also the values that are cornerstones for maintaining the family legacy.
What important values, experiences and hopes do you want to convey to your family? There’s no better time for addressing these than now. Your Family Letter need not be perfect. It can be updated from time to time. Your most important message is your shared legacy. Just get started.
Need help in addressing estate planning issues or in crafting a Family Letter? Let’s schedule a time to talk. We’re always here to help.
Image Credit: Arek Olek