My Will Be Done

Some events force you to think about what really matters: a personal tragedy like a house fire that consumes all your possessions; a large scale disaster like Hurricane Sandy or wildfires in the West; the death of a relative or close friend; these can narrow your vision to the truly important things in life. Considering our mortality or the impermanence of things should make us introspective.

An event that is less traumatic but equally effective in making one think is drafting a will. My wife and I have just completed the process of updating a woefully outdated will. In the years that have passed since we wrote our first will, several things have taken place which made the process of rewriting more meaningful. Both of us lost our parents in the interim. In my wife’s case, the settlement of the estate was amicable – almost pleasant, if that does not sound too cheery for such a solemn affair. My mother’s passing, on the other hand, wreaked havoc on our family. We want our will to prevent that kind of result if at all possible.

When I have shared the sad outcome of my mother’s passing with a few people, I have been shocked to learn that such family disasters are not that uncommon. A close friend is currently experiencing the meaning of “no good deed goes unpunished” with his family. Another friend narrowly escaped a tragic outcome a couple years ago. Almost everyone has a tale of the family squabbles that erupted after the passing of a loved one. A well written will won’t necessarily stop all the possible creepiness that oozes from the woodwork at such times, but it certainly can set down ground rules that may help avoid some.

Solomon wrote repeatedly about the vanity of collecting things that would eventually be passed on to others. He is right to warn against clinging to things that have no eternal value. However, on the other side of the coin is the wise distribution of whatever things may remain after one’s passing. Warren Buffett has resolved to leave nothing to his heirs, wishing that they make their own fortunes (or not). Some parents bequeath all their estate to charitable causes because they agree with Buffett or they realize that inherited wealth would ruin children who are irresponsible. We have three equally mature and dependable children, so we are dividing everything equally between them. Each person must determine what is best in the given circumstances.

A will is a virtual necessity for everyone. Dying intestate (with no will) leaves the distribution up to the state; that is unlikely to be the wisest choice in any situation. There are online services that promise legal wills for very low rates. I suppose they would be better than nothing, but my wife and I chose to hire an attorney because this is a situation where what you don’t know really can hurt you, or more accurately, hurt the ones you love and leave behind. A young lawyer at our church has a home based practice which allows her to charge substantially less than a typical law firm. This put personal legal assistance within our financial reach and gave us a degree of confidence an Internet document could never match.

The over-arching lesson the Bible teaches about money is that believers must give due consideration to its use. Creating a spending plan (budget), limiting debt, saving for emergencies and giving generously to the work of the kingdom are all good behaviors at any stage of life. Executing a will is just as important because it will assure the wise continuation of your wishes after you leave everything behind. You can’t take it with you, but you can dictate where it goes when you leave.