Estate Planning: Wisdom Shared

It is a nice feeling to be able to leave your loved ones the financial resources that they will need to feel as though they have a financial foundation for the future. However, when you think back you’ll invariably find that you have provided much more to your family members over the years than financial assistance. As an elder you have acquired a great deal of knowledge that can only be found through experience, and this can span across many different facets of life. Most people can come to terms with her own mortality when they reach an advanced age, but it is the sense of not being there to provide that guidance and wisdom that can be the most unsettling prospect of all.

This is not a new feeling. People have had this experience for millennia, and it has been addressed traditionally through the composition of ethical wills. An ethical will is used to share your thoughts and feelings with your loved ones, and it can be an extraordinarily useful addition to your estate. When you are inheriting a significant sum of money it is certainly nice to have a written set of instructions for living, as it were, that includes ethical, spiritual and moral guidance. When these ideas are coming from the person who actually left you the money the guidance is all the more profound.

Though the ethical will can be instructional, this is not the only purpose and such a composition need not be viewed as a didactic endeavor. You can use an ethical will to pass along any information you would like to in any way that you choose. Many people find it to be a cathartic experience when they have the opportunity to share some of their innermost thoughts with family members. Sometimes people request forgiveness for things that they feel they have done wrong. An ethical will can also be used to simply explain the reasoning behind some of your actions that may have been misunderstood.

There is no way to put a monetary value on wisdom and experience, making an ethical will a priceless addition to your estate plan.

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Alan Augulis, Estate Planning Attorney

Mr. Augulis founded his Warren, New Jersey law firm so that he could focus his practice in the areas of advanced estate planning and tax law. Mr. Augulis has invested considerable time and energy helping to educate others on the topic of estate planning and has become a sought-after speaker in the tax and estate planning arena because of his informative and entertaining seminars.

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