What is an Ethical will?
In an ethical will or legacy letter, you may express to your family, friends, and descendants your love and gratitude, your personal and spiritual values and beliefs, what you stood for and achieved, the lessons youve learned, the things you regret or are proud of, your hopes and blessings for the future. Your message may be brief (e.g., I want all my children to get along, and get together often, after Im gone) or several pages. Both a vehicle for self-exploration and the gift of a lifetime, an ethical will may also be a chance to forgive and to ask forgiveness. Ethical wills are not legally binding; they are messages from the heart, love notes to the future. But they are often done in association with estate planning (explaining, for example, that you are leaving a large sum to a particular charity because you value what the charity stands for).
