How to write a legacy letter

You know the importance of writing a will to take care of the distribution of your assets and belongings after you die, but how do you pass on the intangibles of who you were in life? Your personal values, your dearest memories, or even your secret recipe for pizza might be much more important than your physical belongings.

A legacy letter might be the tool you're looking for.

What is a legacy letter?
A legacy is something we pass on to the next generation; a legacy letter is simply the written presentation of that legacy.

When should I write a legacy letter?
Legacy letters can be written at any point in life, but are often written at pivotal points of grief and loss; sometimes at the end stages of life or after the diagnosis of a debilitating illness like dementia. Preparing a legacy letter can be an important step in getting your personal and private life in order.

End-of-life legacy letters can serve three functions:
-to explain the division of property
-to share memories, and;
-to tell loved ones the things you want them to know. Something like a family secret, perhaps.

A legacy letter gives you an opportunity to explain situations and feelings that might provide your loved ones with an inside track into what's important to you. But these letters shouldn't necessarily be reserved for difficult times; other pivotal life points can serve as springboards for inspirational legacy letters. You can write legacy letters for happy transition points (a wedding, the birthday of a child, a graduation) in your life, too.

"A legacy letter helps provide you with clarity in your own life," says Kerry Woodcock, a certified life coach. You might use a child's wedding as an opportunity to write a legacy letter, telling that child about your own wedding. That letter would make a meaningful and unique wedding day gift.

Why should I write a legacy letter?
"Until we're aware of what we're thinking, saying and doing, we repeat the same patterns continually," says Marilyn Barnicke Belleghem, a marriage and family therapist. Recording the parts of your life that are most important to you gives you an opportunity to re-evaluate aspects of your life and make changes, so the legacy letter may be just as important to you as it is to the person who receives it.

Click to continue for tips on how to start your legacy letter...

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