Legacy planning refers to planning for leaving behind not only assets and inheritances but also life lessons, personal values and memories. Legacy planning is unique because it involves much more than what you’ve earned and the legal matters that have to be attended to at your death.
Legacy planning lets you do a few things for the people you love. Some of the benefits include that you can use legacy planning to:
- Set priorities in your life now, so you can leave behind specific information or guidance in the future
- Help you develop a more meaningful estate plan
- Remind you of the things you’re grateful for and want to tell your loved ones
- Help you determine which resources are most valuable to you and to align your needs, wants and wishes moving forward
Legacy planning does help the people you love in the future.
How does legacy planning help your loved ones?
With legacy planning, you’re able to leave behind your wisdom and knowledge. You may pass on family traditions that might otherwise be lost or plan to give practical information about how to care for someone you’ve left behind. Perhaps most importantly, legacy planning can help prevent disputes amount your family members, because you will leave your wishes in a way that makes your intentions clear.
Legacy planning is more than just financial planning
While legacy planning does include some elements of estate planning and allows you to set up a specific financial strategy to use for your estate, it is also more focused on who you are and what your intentions are in the future.
While an estate plan is necessary, adding on more detailed information, such as a letter disclosing your wishes or even a video with more information about caring for a pet or loved one, can go a distance in helping resolve any issues that occur following your death. Your attorney can talk to you about the importance of estate planning and added legacy planning, so that you can better understand what its overall purpose is and if it is something that you would like to work on.