By Darlynn Morgan, Wills Lawyer in Orange County

When you finally make the decision to plan your estate, you’ll hear the same words over and over again…

Wills…

Trusts…

Revocable Trusts…

Power of Attorney…

Those words are the stock and trade of Orange County estate planning specialists.

You take your material possessions and compartmentalize who should receive what and how much.  And you’ll use those wills, trusts and powers of attorney to take care of the legalities of passing on what you’ve accumulated over the span of your life.

But what about the intangible things you accumulate during your lifetime?

What documents or words do you use to pass those on?

Here are a few words I as a wills lawyer in Orange County would like to challenge you to think about when you sit down to plan your “intangible” estate:

1. Values

Most of us have values and principles that we hold dear and want to pass on to our children.  If something happened to you and you were not around to see your children reach adulthood, what values would you want to ensure were passed on to your children, or even your grandchildren?  For instance, which is more important to you – money or health?  Who do you consider to be your hero or role model? Of all the things you accomplished in your lifetime, which gave you the deepest satisfaction?  These are all things that should be written down or recorded and preserved for your loved ones.

2. Personality

Who are your children? Yes, they’re your offspring, but who are they as individuals? What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses?  What type of person would be best suited to help raise them if you weren’t around?  We challenge you to think about the personalities and emotional needs of your children when deciding who would be best suited to raise them in your place.