Legacy planning is a rewarding aspect of estate planning. It’s truly a feel good, I love you planning. Legacy planning is about passing on a part of who you are to those you love. Here are 5 ways to leave a legacy. You certainly are free to develop your own legacy. Creativity is encouraged.
- Leave an Ethical Will: An ethical will is like a love letter. You write whatever you want to express to your loved ones. Perhaps, you’d share your love for them and your hopes for their future. Perhaps, you’d encourage a life philosophy, higher education, or extended family vacations.
- Encourage Behavior Financially: You can set up trusts with funds and instructions that encourage the behavior you would have encourage if you were then living. Some people choose to encourage higher education, entrepreneurship, or community service.
- Charitable Planning: You can leave a legacy in your community by incorporating charitable planning into your estate plan. You can create your own private foundation and appoint your granddaughter to run it; you can donate funds to buy books for your local library; or you can set up a charitable remainder trust to provide an income stream to you and then benefit your beloved alma mater at your death.
- Making Memories: You can fund extended-family vacations for your children and grandchildren, ensuring that everyone finds time to spend together. You could include instructions in your trust to pay for gymnastics, music lessons, or summer camp for the grandkids.
- Preserving Memories: You can make video tapes, keep a journal of your thoughts about each child, or make scrap books, or write poems, preserving family memories.
Legacy planning is an integral and fun part of estate planning and a good way to pass down traditions and memoirs through the generations.
Our firm is dedicated to providing you with quality estate planning resources, so you can become familiar with all of the existing options. When you visit or call our office, we want you to feel comfortable discussing such an important issue concerning both you and your family. We want to arm you with the information you need to make an informed decision about your family’s future.
Latest posts by Sinclair Prosser Gasior (see all)
- How Often Should I Meet with an Estate Planning Attorney? - January 18, 2018
- Tax Law Changes for 2018 - December 29, 2017
- Dedicated Gardeners & Creative Spaces in Annapolis, MD - May 30, 2017
