Ethical Wills (Legacy letters)

An ethical will, also known as a legacy letter, is a document through which an individual passes ethical values, wisdom, and personal messages on to his or her heirs. Unlike traditional wills or living wills, ethical wills are not legally binding documents and are not considered enforceable. However, they are increasingly viewed as a valuable tool in the estate-planning process, as they both encourage one to consider one’s personal legacy and enable one to transmit important information that is not included in traditional wills. The concept of the ethical will originated in ancient Jewish culture and evolved from an oral tradition to a written one over thousands of years. In the twenty-first-century United States, ethical wills have been used by individuals from numerous cultures and have evolved to include, at times, multimedia components such as video clips, photographs, voice recordings, and music. Whether shared during one’s lifetime or posthumously, ethical wills provide a valuable opportunity to convey one’s hopes, memories, and love to later generations.

Brief History

The ethical will or legacy letter originated in the ancient Middle East as an oral tradition. Popular among the Jewish peoples of the region, the concept of the ethical will is thought to have primarily taken the form of deathbed conversations in which patriarchs and matriarchs gave ethical, moral, spiritual, and practical advice to their heirs. Such conversations are documented in the Hebrew Bible, much of which was later incorporated into the Old Testament, as well as in other writings originating during that time period. Over the following centuries, the practice became part of Christian and Muslim cultures as well.

By the late Middle Ages, the oral tradition of the ethical will had become a written one, again thriving particularly within Jewish culture but utilized by medieval Christians and Muslims as well. Such ethical wills were sometimes delivered before death, in keeping with the tradition’s origins, but were increasingly transmitted after death in conjunction with traditional wills. Ethical wills of the Middle Ages occasionally included burial instructions and other directives as well as the advice and lessons for which they were originally known. During the subsequent centuries, ethical wills decreased in popularity, but numerous examples of such documents survived and would later capture the interest of scholars.

In the late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century United States, ethical wills experienced a resurgence as an optional but useful element of estate planning. Unlike traditional wills and living wills, which distribute property and detail directives for end-of-life care, ethical wills are not considered legally binding documents and cannot be enforced in a court of law. However, they often convey personal messages, which may include ethical or spiritual lessons, personal anecdotes or philosophies, and advice that are important to the will’s writer but cannot typically be included in a traditional will. An ethical will may be delivered to an individual’s heirs before or after his or her death, but some estate-planning experts encourage the writer to read the document to his or her children or other heirs prior to death, as doing so could spark meaningful conversations and family bonding. This advice hearkens back to the ancient oral tradition from which the modern ethical will arose.

Ethical Wills Today

While traditional wills typically take a set form and include specific provisions, in keeping with their status as a legal document, modern ethical wills feature significant variation. Proponents of ethical wills note that there is no right or wrong way to compose such a document, as an ethical will is an intensely personal document that reflects the personality and values of its creator.

Modern ethical wills may take on any number of forms and structures, but some are more common than others. Many ethical wills take the form of letters written to specific individuals or to one’s family or friends as a whole. Others take the form of short memoirs, journals, essays, or even full-length books. The length of an ethical will depends solely on the length of the message the writer wishes to convey. Although written ethical wills remain common, some individuals choose to take advantage of advanced technology and create multimedia ethical wills or pair their written documents with multimedia elements. Some decide to create digital scrapbooks, which may include photographs, video clips, and voice recordings. Other individuals may opt to record an extended video message to their families and friends. While multimedia ethical wills have become increasingly popular, it is important to consider the effects of future technological advancements, which could potentially render certain files inaccessible. Because of such concerns, individuals interested in creating multimedia ethical wills may wish to save their files in multiple formats and keep adequate backup files.

The content of an ethical will depends entirely on the wishes of its creator. For some individuals, a brief letter expressing one or two points may be adequate; others may wish to document large swaths of personal or family history that they have never told their children. In general, ethical wills may include advice; memories and anecdotes; ethical, moral, or spiritual messages; or even recipes and other practical information. In some cases, the creator of an ethical will may use the document as a means to explain his or her decisions regarding the distribution of property or medical care that are outlined in his or her traditional and living wills. Although an ethical will’s content is the creator’s prerogative, experts caution against expressing disappointment or chastising one’s heirs for their life choices. Rather, many ethical wills provided as examples express messages of love and pride in their creators’ families.

Bibliography

Abrahams, Israel, ed. Hebrew Ethical Wills. 1926. Philadelphia: Jewish Pub. Soc. of America, 2006. Print.

Baines, Barry K. Ethical Wills: Putting Your Values on Paper. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2006. Print.

Cussen, Mark P. "Ethical Wills Share Final Thoughts with Heirs." Investopedia. Investopedia, n.d. Web. 7 July 2015.

Flashman, Robert, et al. "Ethical Wills: Passing on Treasures of the Heart." Forum for Family and Consumer Issues. North Carolina State U, Fall/Winter 1998. Web. 7 July 2015.

Freed, Rachael. Your Legacy Matters: Harvesting the Love and Lessons of Your Life; A Multi-Generational Guide for Writing Your Ethical Will. Minneapolis: Minerva, 2013. Print.

Gustke, Constance. "The Ethical Will, an Ancient Concept, Is Revamped for the Tech Age." New York Times. New York Times, 31 Oct. 2014. Web. 7 July 2015.

Riemer, Jack, and Nathaniel Stampfer, eds. Ethical Wills and How to Prepare Them: A Guide to Sharing Your Values from Generation to Generation. Woodstock: Jewish Lights, 2015. Print.

Weber, Ann I. "Ethical Wills: Sending a Personal Message from the Deceased to Those Left Behind." BusinessWest 33.3 (2015): 21+. Print.