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The phenomenon of sudden wealth also is driving some to consider what Michael J.A. Smith, a managing director of Deutsche Bank in New York, calls “social capital.” In the wake of huge success, says Smith, his clients “feel the need to come to some agreement about who they are and how they want their descendants to interact with society. The patriarch or matriarch often wants to come up with a family mission statement,” tantamount to an ethical will.

''Most people in this will-writing process are already thinking in this direction. You can't be making your will without thinking about where you started, how you got where you are, and why would anybody care if they got your silver, beyond its monetary value,'' said Stein, who writes an occasional column for the Boston Globe, USA.

A growing number of estate planners find that clients want their wills to have a more soulful component. Timothy Mininger, a certified senior adviser and vice president at Univest Corp. in Souderton, recalls one client who finished her will but felt a desire to express her deeply held religious beliefs to her children and grandchildren.

Andrew McDonald in this great work gives a clear picture of how important our purpose is, not only to our lives, but also the life of those who come after us. His focus on the role of the “Emotional Will” is a master stroke of literary genius that motivates us to live life to its fullest. Dr. Myles E. Munroe...BFM International, Nassau Bahamas.

Barry Baines, a hospice director in Minneapolis and author of the book Ethical Wills, cites the memoir of Gluckel of Hameln, written in the 1690s and born out of Gluckel’s lack of power as a woman, as a prototype of the modern ethical will. “Women couldn’t bequeath valuables, so they bequeathed values,” says Baines.

Marc H. Benson, president of Hamlet Village (Hospice), said ethical wills go a "quantum leap" beyond legal wills. The patients are able to share - in a lasting, tangible way - the wisdom and experience they have gained over eight, nine, sometimes 10 decades," he said.

In one of Pennebaker's experiments (Pennebaker 1997), people who wrote about their deep feelings showed strikingly improved immune functions based on blood tests. It is logical to assume that the preparation of an Emotional or Ethical will may also offer similar benefits.
James W. Pennebaker, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas, Pennebaker, 1997, as reported in "Ethical Wills: Passing on Treasures of the Heart," The Forum for Family & Consumer Issues, North Carolina State University, vol. 3, no. 3, Fall/Winter 1998.

Elaine Tiller, Executive Director of Community Ministries, Baptist Senior Adult Ministries, Washington, DC says that: "Ethical wills are windows into the souls of those who write them. It is this that makes them so cherished by family members from generation to generation."

The experience of working on the ethical will has, in our experience, has been a universally positive emotional experience for our clients, providing an often unexpected sense of clarity - Reintroducing The Ethical Will: Expanding the Lawyer’s Toolbox By Scott E. Friedman and Dr. Alan G. Weinstein. Ph.D, who holds a professorship in management and entrepreneurship at the Wehle School of Business, Canisius College, Buffalo, N.Y

The only way to truly share your values and life experiences will be to find a sustainable product to carry them far into the future. The Emotional Will is that product. Andrew McDonald, author of “Record your Past – Lead the Future”.

A parent’s insight, knowledge and wisdom are the most important assets they can transfer to a child. The ethical will is a wonderful tool that all lawyers should become aware of and use in their professional practice to help their clients share insight and wisdom with children, friends and favorite organizations. Scott E. Friedman, a managing partner at Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman LLP, a law firm in Buffalo, N.Y., has written several books and numerous articles on family business. Alan G. Weinstein, Ph.D., holds a professorship in management and entrepreneurship at the Wehle School of Business, Canisius College, Buffalo, N.Y.

Giving More Than Money Ethical Wills Gain Favor, Published on Thursday, July 5, 2001 in the Boston Globe, , by Michael Paulson. LONDONDERRY, N.H.

Ethical wills can be helpful in establishing estate plans, too, said Tim Mininger, senior financial adviser with Univest Trust & Wealth Management in Souderton, For many, creating an ethical will helps bring the sense that their values won't pass away when they do.

Khalid Siddiqi, director of the Islamic Education and Information Center in Newark, California, has letters from his grandfather and father, also Islamic scholars, who detail how their immediate descendants should read the Quran and follow its precepts.

''What we've seen in the recent technology boom and then bust is that people tend to reflect quite a bit more on the meaning of life, what their real values are, and what they want to pass along to their kids,'' Said business lawyer, Stephen L. Palmer of Boston.

"I have learned that ethical wills have the power to make people confront the ultimate choices that they must make in their lives. They can make people who are usually too preoccupied with earning a living stop and consider what they are living for." Rabbi Jack Riemer of the 1991 book “So That Your Values Live On”

According to Nathaniel Stampfer, dean emeritus at Spertus College in Chicago and co-author with Rabbi Jack Riemer of the 1991 book “So That Your Values Live On”, the fifth-century rabbis who codified Jewish biblical teachings in the Talmud enjoined Jews to make ethical wills.

Hank Mattimore, a former Oblate of Mary Immaculate, is the author of "The Priest Who Couldn't Cheat", conducts seminars and teaches community college courses on "Writing Your Own Spiritual Will." An Associate member of the Legacy Center in Minnesota, Hank feels strongly that the very act of writing a spiritual will is taking a stand against the culture of consumerism/materialism in which we live. The most valuable gift we leave our loved ones is the gift of ourselves.

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