Including A Heritage Statement In An Estate Plan

It is a common theme in human behavior for wealth to disappear within three generations. The first generation often creates the wealth through hard work and thrift. Then the second and third generations in a family will often spend everything until there is nothing left. Having a good estate plan is often not enough to preserve family wealth through the generations. Along with a monetary inheritance senior generations need to put more time and effort into providing their heirs with an educational inheritance as well. Heirs need to be taught the money management skills and the work ethic that allowed the first generation to build and keep the wealth in the first place. A heritage statement is a formal document that can sharpen a families’ vision about the priorities that they need to have. This column provides resources on how people can learn more about heritage statements.

See Why Should I Consider Including a “Heritage Statement” as Part of My Estate Planning?, The Law Offices of Kyle E. Krull P.A., November 19, 2015.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.