The ethical will, also called a legacy will, communicates nonmaterial bequests after death. Material possessions are passed on after death through action of laws guided by such legal documents as wills and trusts. Unlike legal wills that transfer worldly possessions, a legacy will addresses nonmaterial bequests: values, wishes, ideas, and personal history to family members and other loved ones. One’s legacy will is a separate document that accompanies other estate planning documents: legal will, trust, powers of attorney, health care directive, etc. The need for a legacy will as a separate document has evolved as a result of increasingly uniform legalistic and nonsentimental language utilized in conventional estate planning documents. While traditional estate plans used terms such as “beloved son,” modern documents increasingly use terms such as “issue number one.”

Historically, wills have served as vehicles for sentimental bequests in addition to money and property. An ancient tradition stemming from Biblical times, wills traditionally served as a tool for communicating last wishes and sentiments concomitant with the passing on of land, wealth and possessions. For example, Aristotle’s will stated: “Nicanor will then take charge of my son Nichomachus, and of my daughter, so that they may want nothing; and he will act towards them as a father and a brother.” In 1912, a text providing a historical analysis of last wills and testaments concluded: “The words a man desires to have read when he lied dumb, the gifts he leaves, the grace with which he gives, all these lay bare the spirit, the heart of disposition, as few others things can” (Harris, Virgil M., Ancient, Curious and Famous Wills, 1912, Stanley Paul & Co.).

Juxtaposed with the personalized and often sentimental will of a hundred years ago, the modern will and/or trust has evolved into an exceptionally uniform and unemotional document. Traditional wills have evolved into various estate planning tools with characteristics that shift with changes in tax and probate laws. During this evolution the documents left behind by even the most carefully planned estates are intentionally devoid of sentimental words and thoughts. Lawyers are taught to construct trusts and wills with careful, unambiguous language to avoid emotionally and financially costly disagreements among beneficiaries. As a result, the modern estate plan is a distinctly unsentimental series of legal documents designed to transfer worldly possessions with a focus on minimizing tax and probate expenses. The legacy will is a separate document which ensures that the most valuable legacy – feelings, values, ideas and family history – are passed on to loved ones and future generations.

Like the messages conveyed, the benefits of a legacy will are both profound and intangible. Legacy wills provide comfort and closure for those left behind. A will reading has become an expected ritual after death. Heirs are invited to gather as an attorney or executor reads the final documents. In the case of the typical will or trust reading, words such as “beloved wife” and “loyal son” have been deliberately left out and replaced by legal terms such as “successor trustee.” The bereaved can be left bewildered by the impersonality and strictly financial tone of this last message. The legacy will, however, reinforces the fact that one’s true legacy is intangible, not the money or possessions left behind. With a legacy will, one has an opportunity to make gifts that live on in the hearts and minds of loved ones and friends. The thoughts and messages conveyed become a treasured legacy. [from Legacy Wills, by Mona Lisa Wallace, Esq., 2005]

In the law, an ethical will is distinct from its legal counterpart in that it is focused on conveying the writers values and principals to the next generation. Many ethical wills are written as last letters to loved ones before going into battle or prior to particularly risky surgeries. Corruption Jurisprudence Philosophy of law Law (principle) List of legal abbreviations Legal code Intent Letter versus Spirit Natural Justice Natural law Religious law Witness intimidation Legal research External links Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Law Look up law in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Law, Legal Definitions... In the law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over his property or family after death. ...

Ethical wills may be viewed as a means of attempting to transmit memes. The term and concept of meme (pronounced in IPA; from the Greek word μνήμη for memory) first appeared in the 1976 book by Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene. ...