The word legacy means different things to different people.  Oftentimes, clients talk about a legacy in a financial sense.  In fact, legacy is a synonym for inheritance.  How about other forms of legacy?   

Legacy could include an opportunity to pass on your spiritual and ethical values and beliefs to your family and friends.  I experienced this type of legacy in a very powerful sense this week when I attended a funeral for a client’s father.  The stories told about this man were quite remarkable, as he understood that his mission in life included teaching his children about his faith, as well as, witnessing to others about his beliefs.  During his funeral, no less than ten people spoke about the profound impact he made on their lives.  What a wonderful way to be remembered!

The second type of legacy that comes to mind involves clients who tell me that their parents and grandparents are still living, many of whom are in their 80s, 90s and older.  This generation is often thought of as the greatest generation, having lived through the Great Depression and protecting our freedom in at least one World War.  One of my clients told me about her grandmother, who was in her 90s.  I had asked her how she thought the greatest generation, in particular women of that generation, expressed themselves and their love for their families.  She instantly agreed with me that it was through their wonderful cooking. 

Perhaps then legacy should include family traditions and recipes that are can be passed on from one generation to the next.  Of course, women of the greatest generation did not write down their recipes, as many things were a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  However, if you spent a few minutes with them, I bet you could come up with something that resembles a recipe that you can pass on as a part of your family’s traditions. My wife before her mother died spent time with her mother and grandmother learning about some of the wonderful family recipes that would have been lost had they not been memorialized in writing. 

You might be asking, “what does this have to do with estate planning?”  Planning your estate can be much more that how much money you leave your family.  It can include passing on traditions, many of which may be more valuable to your family then your stock portfolio.  My advice then is to do two things: first, spend time with your family and enjoy it.  If you are fortunate enough to have older family members who are still living, take advantage of their wisdom and experiences.  Second, take time to memorialize anything and everything about your family.  Make a family tree, take pictures, compose your family history and write out your recipes!