More Than Money: The Legacy Only You Can Leave
August is National Make-a-Will Month
It is an ideal time to consider whether you’re passing on what’s most important to you and what your heirs truly need.
Ask most people what estate planning is for, and they’ll tell you it’s about money. Who gets the house? How are the accounts divided? Will the family cabin stay in the family?
Those questions matter. But they aren’t the ones that keep us up at night.
What we truly hope to pass on is harder to itemize on a balance sheet. We want our children and grandchildren to know that generosity is a joy, not an obligation. That integrity costs something and is worth every penny. That faith is not a family tradition to be inherited but a living relationship to be received. We hold values we would love to see our heirs embrace – and yet many of us are not entirely sure how to ensure that what we hold dear will abide for generations to come.
The Silence We Leave Behind
Here is the uncomfortable truth: If we don’t say what we believe, our silence says something else.
Two-thirds of American adults have no will at all. When someone dies without one, the state supplies a plan — a purely mechanical division of property with no room for a story, a blessing, or a reason. Assets get distributed. Meaning does not.
Even a well-drafted will can fall short in this way. A document that transfers property flawlessly but says nothing about why leaves your family with resources and no context. They receive what you had without ever hearing what you loved.
But that gap is entirely avoidable.
Where Values and Documents Meet
Scripture speaks often of inheritance, and rarely only in terms of property. “A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children,” Proverbs 13:22 tells us — and the wisdom literature is just as concerned with what a parent teaches as with what a parent leaves. Moses instructed Israel to bind God’s commands on their hands and speak of them at home, on the road, at bedtime, and at dawn. The point was continuity: that a way of life would outlast the people who lived it.
Your estate plan is one of the last and clearest ways you will speak to your family. Consider making it say something worth hearing.
Choose the right instrument. A will directs how your assets are distributed, names guardians for minor children, and appoints someone you trust to carry out your wishes. It’s the foundation, and for many families it’s sufficient. A revocable living trust can go further — avoiding probate, keeping your affairs private, and allowing you to shape how and when assets reach your heirs. If you want a grandchild’s inheritance released alongside a college degree, or set aside for a mission trip or a first home, a trust gives you that flexibility. Which one fits depends on the size and complexity of your estate; an attorney can help you decide.
Let your giving speak. Naming a ministry, church, or charitable cause in your plan is one of the most articulate things you can do. It tells your family, in a way no lecture ever could, that your resources were never really yours — that you held them as a steward and released them accordingly. Charitable bequests, donor-advised funds, and charitable trusts each accomplish this differently, and several offer meaningful tax advantages to your heirs.
Write the letter. Alongside the legal documents, consider an “ethical will” — sometimes called a legacy letter. It carries no legal weight and requires no attorney. It’s simply a written account of what you believe, what you’ve learned, what you regret, and what you hope for the people reading it. Families consistently report treasuring these pages far more than anything else they inherit. It may be the single most valuable item in your estate.
Say it out loud. Don’t let the reading of the will be the first time your family hears any of this. Gather them. Explain your reasoning. Tell them why the ministry is in there, why the timing is structured as it is, and what you were thinking. Conversations prevent the resentments that documents alone can breed — and they let you witness your legacy being received rather than merely leaving it behind.
Why This Month?
National Make-a-Will Month exists because good intentions rarely survive an open-ended timeline. Nearly everyone means to get around to this. Far fewer actually do.
August offers a deadline, and a modest one. Many families are gathered before school resumes. The calendar is briefly quiet. Setting aside a few hours now — to draft or update your documents, to write a letter to your children, to sit down and talk — is a small investment against a very long horizon.
You cannot control what your heirs will do with what you leave them. But you can make certain they know what you stood for, and that your plan reflects it faithfully. That is a legacy that endures long after the accounts are settled.
Already have a will? Maybe it’s time to update it.
Estate attorneys recommend that your will be updated every 3 to 5 years, or whenever there are significant changes in your assets, your heirs, and their needs, or other factors that could impact how you manage your estate plan. I updated my estate plan last year after my two granddaughters were born.
We’re here to help!
Orchard Alliance offers an easy, no-cost way to create or update a will or trust online. If you’re ready to get started, click here to begin the process. If you need additional guidance on wills, trusts, charitable giving, or weaving your values into your plan, our team welcomes the conversation. Just call us toll-free at (866) 802-1490 or email willplanning@orchardalliance.org.
Those who are righteous will be long remembered . . . They share freely and give generously to those in need. Their good deeds will be remembered forever. They will have influence and honor. —Psalm 112:6, 9, NLT
