How to Pass Down Your Family Wealth Legacy During The Holidays
It may seem obvious that in addition to the money and items you leave to your family and friends, their memories of who you are to them also remain behind. Your experiences, insights, stories, and values are just as important to your legacy, even if you don’t think about it directly very often. And while these are naturally passed on every day just by living and interacting with the people you care about, we know that creating a Family Wealth Legacy requires you to be more deliberate in showing just what you want to be remembered for. That’s why as a Personal Family Lawyer®, our planning process includes a Family Wealth Legacy Interview, your personal recorded legacy.
Over time, we have been amazed at how much you can learn about yourself and your loved ones when we give you and your loved ones time to focus on the right questions.
So, this year, we invite you to ask the people close to you one of the 32 important questions below, highlighting valuable lessons about life, love, and what matters most. Record their answers for your own personal Family Wealth Legacy, or contact us so we can schedule a comprehensive Family Wealth Planning Session this month and we’ll create a Family Wealth Legacy as part of your Will and Trust.
Discover what you do and do not know about your loved ones, using these questions (and adding your own to them!) to begin the dialogue and the fun.
1.) Whenever you think about your hometown, what comes to mind?
2.) What activities did you love to do as a child?
3.) Which parts of your teenage years do you think fondly of?
4.) Which parts of high school do you still have strong feelings about?
5.) What do you remember most about your mom?
6.) What do you remember being important to her?
7.) What do you remember most about your dad?
8.) What do you remember being important to him?
9.) If Grandmother and Grandfather could say anything to their grandchildren, what would they say?
10.) How did you meet your significant other, and how did you know they were the one?
11.) What got you settled on your career path in life? What is your favorite part of it?
12.) What about yourself do you believe paved your way to success?
13.) What parts of your character helped you overcome the hurdles in your life, and what parts helped you excel?
14.) What were the hurdles in your life that tested you, and what did you learn about yourself by dealing (or not dealing) with them?
15.) What are the three most influential moments of your life, that made you who you are?
16.) What do you remember from when I was born?
17.) Were you ever scared or feel unready to be a parent?
18.) When it comes to your approach to parenting, what three words would summarize your philosophy?
19.) How would you describe your brother/sister?
20.) What would you ask your brother/sister to always keep in mind?
21.) When you think about your significant other, what words come to mind?
22.) What would you ask your significant other to always keep in mind?
23.) How would you like to be remembered? What three words would you say that you aspired to be?
24.) What do you think should be the focus of your children and grandchildren in their professional lives?
25.) Drawing from all of your experiences, what would you say you have learned the most about people?
26.) Looking at the world right now, what would you say it needs more of?
27.) In general, what would you say people want from their lives?
28.) What are the three decisions you have made that you are the most thankful for making?
29.) What are you the most proud of?
30.) What 5 moments of your life would you go back and live again without changing a thing?
31.) What message would you like to share with your family?
32.) What in your life are you the most thankful for?
So many of these questions seem simple but can reveal the treasures that have accumulated throughout the generations of your family and give the next generation a place to start the discussion for themselves. However, the conversations are just a place to begin your legacy. To preserve and protect your family assets, creating a comprehensive Will and Trust to protect them is the next step. We include a recorded Family Wealth Legacy Interview so that these memories are preserved along with the rest of what you value, because a true Will and Trust includes everything worth leaving behind, tangible or not.
Because we believe this, as your Personal Family Lawyer® we want to create a comprehensive Will and Trust and guide you through how to use it to safeguard your legacy. Before the session, we’ll send you a Personal Resource Map to complete that eases you into thinking deliberately about what you own, who you are, and how you want that legacy to be left behind. Contact us to schedule your Family Wealth Planning Session.
This article is a service of Levi Alexander, a Personal Family Lawyer®. We don’t just draft documents, we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session™ during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before, and make all the best choices for the people you love. Begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.
