What Is Your Family Legacy?

What is your legacy?  Is it fame, business success, acclaim in the community, volunteer hours or political success?  Is it fortune, cars, boats, houses or 401K’s?  Or, is it family?  The greatest legacy we can leave is what we have done for our children and for our God.

In my 30-year legal career, I have seen good, great and bad legacies.  A good legacy is a when I person’s friends and family talk about what a great person he or she was and how much they loved them.  A great legacy is leaving a caring family that love each other, love God and support each other.  The bad is when kids and grandkids greedily fight over money and possessions when their folks pass.

No one is perfect, but we can all improve our legacies.  Be kind and open the door for someone.  Leave your waitress a big tip. Call or text a friend and tell them how much they mean to you.  If someone you know is in the newspaper, text them a congratulations. If you have wronged a friend, call, ask for forgiveness and mend the relationship.

Remember your family is the most important!  Today, call, text or send a card to tell them that you love them.  Spend time with them.  Ask them to lunch or schedule a visit.  If you have done something wrong, ask them to forgive you. Recently, I heard a sermon and wrote an apology note to my kids.  Our good relationship got even better.  Above all else, have the courage to ask your family members if they have a relationship with God and if they are going to heaven when they die.  Tell them that you want to spend all eternity with them.

The reality is that we are all going to die.  No one really wants to think about it.  Most people who die do not leave a written plan and oral instructions.  Make sure you have a Will that accurately describes how you want your property distributed.  Have a power of attorney in case you become incapacitated and can’t manage your finances.  Fill out an Advance Directive for Health Care that gives your family instructions on how long you want to be kept alive artificially and when it is ok to turn off the machines. These great steps really relieve their minds and lessen their many burdens. Once you have these documents prepared, hold a family meeting!  I suggest that you open your meeting with prayer, tell them how much you love them, give them your instructions on splitting up your “stuff” and how you want your medical decisions made.  Tell them not to tarnish your legacy by fighting and being greedy when you pass.  After you are gone, your kids need their family for the rest of their lives.  A great way to end your meeting would be to go around the room and ask for everyone to tell their best family memory and how they love one another.

Everyone dies and those who are left behind will grieve. Make sure your family knows your plans ahead of time so that they will not be overwhelmed when that time comes. The best way to lessen their burden is to be prepared in advance so that they don’t have to make the difficult decisions on their own. Please let me know if I can ever help, and may God bless you all!