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Article: Leaving a legacy: some values-based advisors are facilitating "ethical wills" for their clients.(FocusOnFinancialPlanning)
- Article from:
- Research
- Article date:
- September 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Adams Business Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A new area of discussion among a vanguard of financial life planners involves ethical wills, which are non-legal documents that bequeath life's lessons and values. Known by a variety of names such as "heritage wills" or "legacy wills," ethical wills have a long history.
The concept was most vividly portrayed in the first book of the Bible where, as Jacob prepares to die, he takes time to share with his family his explicit burial instructions and dispense his wisdom. In the Middle Ages, it became customary for scholars to write testamentary dispositions of ethical advice to their children.
The idea of transmitting principles from one generation to the ...