Your Legal Sherpa® team understands the importance of making the non-financial dimensions of your wealth tangible for you and your loved ones. We are inspired by the iconic photographs that Sherpa Tenzing took of Sir Edward Hillary at the top of Mount Everest.
We don’t use a camera but, instead, a digital voice recorder to capture the sound of your voice, your stories, your wisdom, and advice. We make it easy and enjoyable for you. Don’t worry, there is no homework, no research, no writing, and no cameras.
The Importance of Your Story
Every life is a story. As human beings, we’re natural storytellers, and we’re also great consumers of stories. Our popular culture is based around this central conceit: all of our popular media is, at its base, storytelling media. One of the cruel truths of life is that when we die, our stories are lost. Your life’s narrative is gone and can never again be told by you.
We understand how important it can be, both to you and to the loved ones you leave behind, to preserve some of your story. To capture some small part of your completely unique journey through life. Your stories contain the crossroads you faced in life, and the decisions you made at those crossroads. With minimal effort, and with the help of your Legal Sherpa®, your stories don’t have to be lost. Your tales can survive you to inform and entertain the loved ones you leave behind.
Priceless Conversations™ – Creating Another Legacy
You choose from a wide range of Priceless Conversations™ topics. Depending on your subject you may recall adventures from your childhood, talk about family traditions, give advice about managing money, or pass along secrets for a happy and successful life.
You can give your loved ones the gift of the Priceless Conversations™ program which allows you to leave a lasting expression of your care and love.
Aristotle said that “knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” One way to come to know ourselves is to explore our roots. Dr. Marshall Duke and Dr. Robyn Fivush of Emory University were fascinated by the possible connection between children’s knowledge of their family’s narratives, and their happiness and resilience. They developed a measure called the “Do You Know?” scale that asked children to answer 20 questions. Examples included: Do you know where your grandparents grew up? Do you know where your mom and dad went to high school? Do you know where your parents met? Do you know an illness or something really terrible that happened in your family? Do you know the story of your birth?
Dr. Duke and Dr. Fivush’s research led them to an overwhelming conclusion. The more children know about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem, and the more successfully they believe their families function. The “Do You Know?” scale turns out to be the best single predictor of children’s emotional health and happiness. See more in a New York Times article by Bruce Feiler at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/fashion/the-family-stories-that-bind-us-this-life.html
Both Dr. Gate’s PBS program and Dr. Duke and Dr. Fivush’s findings confirm what most of us know intuitively: Having a sense of belonging to a larger family is one of the best ways for us to understand ourselves. It’s reassuring and soul-satisfying to know the identities and stories of “our people.” Knowing about their life journeys helps us navigate our own more successfully.
We want you to think about Will and estate planning as a process rather than a single task to be completed. It also encompasses far more than just your estate. For this reason, at Yeti Law, we refer to estate planning as Forward Planning, which more aptly describes the process. It should be a very personal and continuing process, and we treat it as such. From the initial interview, through the drafting of the forward plan documents such as trusts and Wills, to the periodic reviews, forward planning is about you making the best possible plans for your future and the future of your loved ones. Ultimately we want to foster a relationship rather than simply providing a service.
Administering an estate without experience or guidance, and carrying out your duties as an executor can be a herculean task. The role of the estate trustee or executor can actually be summed up in four words: funeral, taxation, debt, and beneficiaries. These four responsibilities are the foundation of your role. Of course, as with all things, it’s never quite that simple.
