“When my dad died, he left a college fund for the grandkids,” Jay Gendron recalls. “But one thing wasn’t in his estate: “I didn’t have my father’s story – in his own words – to cherish as my inheritance…”
At Geyer Law, we see life as a journey that starts and ends with family. Although some estate plans can be simple, family relationships are complex and emotionally laden. Financially, the documents we help create may direct how clients’ assets will be preserved, managed, and distributed after death. From a medical perspective, advance directives set forth instructions about their health care wishes if they become incapable of deciding, or even describing, how they wish their bodies to be cared for during illness and after they have died.
But there’s a third element to every legacy as important as those arrangements for dispensing monetary assets and outlining funeral arrangements. That often forgotten element, Gendron reminds us, is your “story.” What do you know? What lessons have you culled from your own unique struggles and triumphs? Your memoir is a “slice” of your life based on your unique experiences, not a lengthy autobiography. That “slice” is a precious gift you can offer those who live on as an enduring message after your departure.
As is true of all aspects of estate planning, it’s important not to put off creating that memoir. In every life, there may come a time when a disabling injury or illness takes away the ability to manage assets or make medical choices. There may also come a time when we are no longer of the “sound mind” needed to tell our very special “story.”
As part of estate planning, consider offering your heirs the precious and enduring legacy of a “slice of your life.”
Jay Gendron is the CEO and Founder of SpeakStory Memoirs ([email protected]). A ghostwriter specializing in the captivating art of memoir, Gendron makes his home in Gulfport, Florida.
– by Ronnie of the Rebecca W. Geyer & Associates blog team
