| Writing an
ethical will may seem difficult. However, it can
be viewed as the writing of a love letter to your
family. Ethical Wills can include personal and
spiritual values, hopes, experiences, love, and
forgiveness. It may well be one of the most
cherished gifts you can give to your family.
Here are three
basic approaches for creating your ethical
will.
Approach #1
Using an
outline structure and a list of items to choose
from. This is by far the easiest way to get
started and it can build your confidence
quickly. You can create a rough draft to work
from in less than an hour. The Ethical Will
Writing Guide Workbook and The Ethical Will Writing
Guide software were developed for this
approach. This approach is also covered in Ethical Wills: Putting
your values on paper.
Approach #2
Using guided
writing exercises to help you create content for
your ethical will. The
Ethical Will Resource Kit contains several
guided exercises to help you. Ethical Wills: Putting
your values on paper contains
even more exercises.
Here are some
ideas to help you get started.
- Over time,
write down ideas --a few words or a sentence
or two about things like:
- My
beliefs and opinions
- Things I
did to act on my values
- Something
I learned from grandparents / parents /
siblings / spouse / children
- Something
I learned from experience
- Something
I am grateful for
- My hopes
for the future
- Write
about important events in your life
- Imagine
that you only had a limited time left to live.
What would you regret not having done?
- Save items
that articulate your feelings, e.g., quotes,
cartoons, etc
- Review
what you've collected after a few weeks or
months
- Clump
related items together -- patterns will emerge
- Revise and
expand the related categories into paragraphs
- Arrange
the paragraphs in an order that makes sense to
you
- Add an
introduction and conclusion
- Put this
aside for a few weeks and then review and
revise
Approach #3
Starting with a
blank sheet of paper.
This is the
most open-ended approach. Keeping a
journal or diary is an excellent way to write
about your thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
Over time, review what you've written.
Themes will emerge from which you can create a
comfortable structure for your ethical will.
All of these
approaches are covered comprehensively in the
book, Ethical
Wills:
Putting Your Values on Paper. In
addition, you can benefit from any of the
readings listed in "the
bookstore".
Want to start right away? Click
here for a special combination package offer
of The
Ethical Will Writing Guide Software and a signed
copy of Ethical Wills: Putting Your Values on
Paper.
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