What is an Ethical Will?

An ethical will reflects the "voice of the heart."  Think of it as a love letter to your family.  Every ethical will is as unique as the person writing it.

There are common themes that run through many ethical wills.  Older ethical wills contained burial instructions, blessings, and personal and spiritual values.

Here is a partial list of common themes seen in more
 modern ethical wills:

• Important personal values and beliefs
• Important spiritual values
• Hopes and blessings for future generations
• Life's lessons
• Love
• Forgiving others and asking for forgiveness

Why Write an Ethical Will?

There are many personal reasons for writing an ethical will.  Here are some of them:

• We all want to be remembered, and we all will leave something behind
• If we don't tell our stories and the stories from whom we come, no one else will and they will be lost forever
• It helps identify what we value most and for what we stand
• By articulating what we value now, we can take steps to insure the continuation of those values for future generations
• We learn a lot about ourselves in the process of writing an ethical will
• It helps us come to terms with our mortality by creating something of meaning that will live on after we are gone
• It provides a sense of completion in our lives

How Do You Write an Ethical Will?

Writing an ethical will may seem difficult.  However, there are a number of approaches you can take to create an ethical will, and a number of resources which can assist you in this process.  Click here to find some suggestions that will help you get started. 

The Ethical Will Writing Guide is an excellent tool for creating an ethical will draft.  To further develop your ethical will, the additional resources listed here are complementary to the use of this Writing Guide and may give you some good ideas. 

There is also a computer program that will guide you through the process or just give you some ideas to get you started.  Click here to download the free program.