Legacy and Heritage: Essential Parts of Estate Planning?

Estate planning is a process often filled with big decisions and hard-to-answer questions—but fortunately, there can be lighter moments, too. When you choose to incorporate your family’s legacy and heritage into your estate plan, you will be learning more about your family’s meaningful history—all while preserving that information for your children and future generations.

In today’s blog, we will be looking at a few ways you can involve your family’s heritage and legacy in your estate plan.

Share your stories

One of the best things to include alongside your estate plan is a collection of family stories and memories you want to pass down. You’ve probably already shared dozens of them through word of mouth—but your family members and future generations will appreciate having something tangible and physical to serve as a record of all your best moments as a family. This is also a good way to include those stories you’ve been waiting to tell until your kids got older.

Take advantage of research resources

Family research resources are more plentiful today than ever before—so take advantage of them while preparing your estate plan! You can research your family’s genealogy and condense that information into a scrapbook or document for your family to keep. You can also talk to relatives who might have valuable information about who you are and where your family comes from—you might be surprised at just how varied and interesting the stories are!  

Revel in th­­e sentimental

Finally, don’t forget to revel in the sentimental side of “legacy planning.” Include those things that you can’t imagine leaving your family without—anything from precious family recipes to letters you’ve written and just about anything else you can think of. Your loved ones will truly appreciate the meaningful touch, and you will be able to relax with a clear mind, knowing the comfort these items will bring to your family in the future.

It may not be traditional estate planning—but to many families, answers about family heritage and legacy are just as important as those about wills and trusts. Consider taking the time to include this kind of information with your estate planning documents.