In addition to handling Las Vegas car crash cases, Rise Legal – Steve Dixon Law assists a variety of clients with estate planning. This includes Trusts, Wills, Healthcare Powers of Attorney, and other important estate documents. As an affordable estate planning lawyer in Las Vegas, we can help. With offices in Las Vegas, Logandale, and Mesquite, the Las Vegas Estate Planning Lawyers at Steve Dixon law can help you with whatever estate planning issues you may have.
One of the less explored options of estate planning is leaving what is called an “ethical will.” A will or trust is a document that allows an individual to leave personal and real property to heirs. This includes money, houses, family heirlooms, and other items. However, we should also consider leaving a statement to our posterity of our moral and ethical beliefs. An ethical will can also provide information about you to future generations for genealogy purposes. It can also pass on treasured insights of things you have learned so that your posterity can learn from the mountains you had to climb, whether physically or emotionally.
One of my favorite stories is about a patient in an old Chicago poorhouse, formerly an attorney, who left an ethical will that touched more hearts than if he left millions of dollars. You can read it here: Charles Lounsberry Ethical Will.
In any event, as one of the top Las Vegas Estate Plan Lawyers in southern Nevada, we would like to help you with a template of how you can create your own ethical will:
Start by stating why you are creating an ethical will. Next, state who you would like to share it with. This can include family members, friends, children, grand-children and so on.
After you’ve stated the purpose of the ethical will and with whom you would like it to be shared, begin by listing a few things about yourself to grab interest. You can start by listing a few of your favorite things. This could include:
Favorite Things:
- Places to visit.
- People you enjoy spending time with.
- Food to eat.
- Vacation spots.
- Movies and/or books you’ve seen and read.
- Inspirational quotes.
- Activities you participated in.
My Family:
- Explain who your parents were.
- Describe lessons learned from your family.
- Provide information about where your parents came from and where you lived or grew up.
- Include in this section traditions that were handed down by your family, or that you created.
- You can also leave some of your favorite stories about your mother or another relative in this section.
- Be creative!
Professional Life:
- Provide information about your career goals.
- Talk about your job and why it helped you become who you were.
- Did you want another job, explain why.
- Do you have advice for your children about which career path they should choose, explain why.
- Explain why a former job may have been difficult, but how it helped you decide what you really wanted to become.
- If you had to do it over again, would you choose the same career path, why or why not.
Personal Experiences:
- In this section include some of your fondest memories.
- You should also explain events that had the greatest impact on your life.
- Include things you were grateful for, including experiences.
- If you have a regret or two, explain why in the hopes that your children won’t make the same mistake.
Beliefs and Values:
- Explain in this section your belief system.
- This includes your religious preferences if any.
- You can include statements that affirm who you believe God is, and why.
- Also, share experiences that were faith promoting.
Hopes for the Future:
- In this section, make sure and leave your final desires for when you are gone.
- This includes wishes and hopes for your spouse, children, or grandchildren.
- You can also tie up any loose ends as it pertains to desires you have for your family not expressed previously.
- In addition, you can include statements and encouragement about not quitting or giving up or seeing things through to the end.
Ultimately, remember that this is your ethical will. The above guidelines are simply an example of what you can write. If you want to include additional sections, feel free to do so. Feel free to include or exclude certain information that is your right. In addition, if you need help with any other estate planning needs, don’t hesitate to contact Rise Legal – Steve Dixon Law, an affordable estate planning lawyer in Las Vegas, at (702) 329-4911 to schedule a consultation today.