Wills, Trusts, and More The Ethical Will

In our culture, it is customary for a person to execute a Last Will and Testament or Revocable Trust that sets forth the distribution of material things. But there is a concept that, although not new, is gaining popularity by those who wish to pass on things that may be more important than assets.

The “Ethical Will” is a statement of personal values. It can set forth life philosophies, wishes or appeals for family harmony, religious testimonials, reasons for arranging one’s estate the way one has— almost any final message that a person wants another (or others) to know after he or she is gone.

An Ethical Will could be defined as any personal message from a parent or grandparent—or anyone —to the survivors who are of the highest significance. A close friend, an attorney, or a trusted family member will know that the Ethical Will exists, its location, and when and to whom it should be delivered or its location made known. Most times such letters are only delivered after a person has passed away, according to specific

by Jeffery J. McKenna

instructions left beforehand by the writer.

It is not easy to write —or to read—an Ethical Will. The writer probes and evaluates personal convictions and biases, and confronts reality. The process compels self-examination of what had been learned over a lifetime, facing up to failures as well as successes, and deciding what really counted in the long run.

Examining one's thoughts and motives for an "Ethical Will" includes whether such a document should really be written.

The "Will" can be taped, if that is easier or more appropriate than writing. If time permits, drafts might be set aside for a few weeks or months, then critically reviewed by the author. Will what was written be meaningful, or even significant, to those who read it? Visualize it being read aloud to the family by a spouse or other member of the family. Will the content uplift and cause improvements in lifestyles, or understanding of certain decisions? Will it express thoughts with kindness and love? Will it offer forgiveness for a longstanding grudge? Will it give grandchildren a sense of what hardships their grandparents endured to make their lives better?

Will it expose an expanded sensitivity that family members thought was not possible?

The Ethical Will can be a forum for expressing deep and philosophical opinions, for leaving a

Future Ex-Mrs.

PANGUITCH OFFICE AT 46 NORTH MAIN STREET TO SERVE CLIENTS IN AND AROUND GARFIELD COUNTY.

Jeffery J. McKenna is a local attorney whose practice has been focused on Estate Planning for over 20 years. He is licensed and serves clients in Utah, Arizona and Nevada. He is a shareholder at the law firm of Barney, McKenna and Olmstead. If you have questions you would like addressed in these articles, please feel free to contact him at 435 628-1711 or jmckenna@barney-mckenna.com or visit the firm’s website at WWW.BARNEYMCKENNA.COM, he would enjoy hearing from you.

piece of oneself that may have been difficult to reveal while alive, or for any reason that is important to the writer. There are some attorneys that will assist in drafting an Ethical Will, if someone has a problem with writing or formulating just the right words on their own. It is yet one more way to leave behind a legacy—a legacy of who you are and what you thought important enough to let your loved ones know—after you are gone.

"B" Careful

One day Max went to see Carl. Carl had a big swollen nose.

Tim decided to tie the knot with his long time girlfriend. One evening, after the honeymoon, he was organizing his golfing equipment. His wife was standing nearby watching him. After a long period of silence she finally speaks: "Tim, I've been thinking, now that we're married maybe it's time you quit golfing. You spend so much time on the course. You could probably get a good price for your clubs."

Tim gets this horrified look on his face.

She says, "Darling, what's wrong?"

"For a minute there you were beginning to sound like my ex-wife."

"Ex-wife!" she screams, "I didn't know you were married before!"

"I wasn't," he replied.

House Painters

My friend once called a few house painters to his house for some work. He wanted them to paint his porch.

After a few hours, the house painters came back for the payment as their work was complete. Before leaving they told my friend that they had enjoyed painting his car, but it is not really a Porsche.

THEME: Cartoon Characters

A Snail's Life

“Whoa, what happened, Carl?”, Max asked.

“I sniffed a brose,” Carl replied.

“What?”, Max said. “There’s no ‘b’ in rose!”

Carl replied, “There was in this one!”

PUNishment

I went out for an expensive Italian meal. It cost a pretty penne.

A guy is sitting at home when he hears a knock at the door. He opens the door and sees a snail on the porch. He picks up the snail and throws it as far as he can. A year later, there’s another knock at the door. He opens it and sees the same snail.

The snail says, “What was that all about?”

Sudoku

To Play: Complete the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9

This week's answers on B6

Stay out of its way! 48. Make a remake 50. Shawm 52. Yoda: "Do or do not. There is no ____"

53. Like hard times 55. Tube in old TV, acr. 57. *Jessica or Peter 60. *Anthropomorphic squirrel's last name 63. Small and elegant 64. Mozart's "L'____ del Cairo" 66. Like a whistle?

68. Optical illusion creation (2 words)

69. "Time," e.g., colloquially 70. Hint of color

71. "The Way We ___" 72. Farm

Line to the audience

27. "It is silent," in sheet music

29. Living space

31. Don Johnson's Bridges

32. Plaudit and pomp

33. Bake an egg

34. *One of the Pickles

36. Like a broken horse

38. *Phineas' stepbrother

42. Be a parasite

45. Just about (2 words)

49. Hula necklace

51. Builds a tower, e.g.

54. Very small particles

56. Opposite of ecbatic

57. Ready for picking

58. A bit cracked

59. Not the life of the party

60. Same as cagey

61. Lotto variant

62. Palm starch

63. Gift topper

65. *Garfield or Tom

67. Butterfly catcher

Spring has finally sprung, and isn’t it wonderful? Though, it probably won’t last. What great weather it was for the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday.

Last year, we couldn’t put up the inflatables because it was so windy. With a record amount of kids attending the hunt, many thought that this was the best one that we have had yet, but they say that every year. But this had to be one of the best, though. Hopefully, every kid got a prize. If not, we have some leftovers.

Give Pat a call, and we will have plenty on hand (676-2418). Pat would like to thank all of those that helped out, including those that put coins in the bottles. Thank you and Panguitch City for your generous help each year and Joe’s Market for much of the candy. This has gotten really big and without your help, it couldn’t go on.

As has been Pat’s and my tradition for many years, we went down to Hurricane’s car show. This was after we took our two hour nap to recover from the Easter Egg Hunt. As usual, we went down through Zion, which was one of our highlights of the year. With all the snow that they have had, it just made the trip in one of God’s greatest achievements even better. There were many waterfalls, and the snow just highlighted the magnificent rock formations even better. Pat and I have traveled much of the world, and nowhere that we have been