When you are evaluating your legacy there are a great many things to take into consideration. Of course you must make sure that you provide financial resources to your family members that they can draw from after you pass away. The best way of doing this is going to vary depending on the size and scope of your assets and the specific nature of your wishes. You would also do well to consider the personalities of the people who will be receiving inheritances, because there are things that you can do to place controls on assets that you leave to some of your loved ones if you have certain concerns.

Once you have devised an inheritance plan and feel comfortable with the financial aspect of your legacy you may do some soul-searching regarding how things will be once you are gone. After having spent a lifetime being available to your loved ones to lend an ear and provide guidance and advice it can be difficult to let go and recognize the fact that you simply won’t be around for those that you love at some point in time.

This is a feeling that people have experienced forever, and one way that it has been addressed is through the practice of leaving behind an ethical will. This tradition goes back to biblical times with ethical wills serving as a way to pass along your spiritual and moral values to the people that you love. This instructive quality is typically part of an ethical will, but you could share whatever you would like to and in fact the act of composing the ethical will can be as cathartic for the author as it is valuable to its readers.

Elders learn a great deal over the years, and this wisdom is an invaluable resource. If you take the time to create an ethical will your family members may well find that this inherited wisdom is the thing that they value more than anything.