Legacy has been an ongoing word that has come up throughout the year multiple times, it’s odd that that wasn’t my word for the year. However, we are celebrating our legacy by working to build and preserve it.
Kason and I have been working through Nancy Ray Shop’s Year Guide to Organizing Your Legacy because we want to preserve what matters most. We pray that we will get the opportunity to sit in rocking chairs together when we are 80, watching our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren run around, but that dream is a prayer, and not guaranteed. So we feel it is important to start now.
One of the month’s tasks is to create a will. Kason and I began to look at various website’s where we could do ours through, and after some researching we felt the most comfortable with Dave Ramsey’s Will, Power of Attorney, and Living WIll for Couples kit that is through US Legal Forms. We are huge fans of Dave Ramsey ever since we first went through Financial Peace University!
We bought it, and received our state specific kit within a couple days, and began working to fill it out.
If you are like us, then you might think, I’m only 30(ish!) Why do I need a will? We only have a couple cars and a house. There’s no trust funds set up from our parents or grandparents to ensure a large amount of wealth, there’s no safe deposit box at a bank full of family jewels, nor do we currently have any large ROTH IRA’s earmarked for the “future”…yet. We will Lord Willing we will have the latter though!
BUT, we do have a child. Did you know (I’m not sure if in all states, but some) that if you and your spouse die at the same time or atleast both pass away prior to your child being an adult, it could be up to the state to dictate who gains guardianship for them? That was a wake up call that we needed to do this.
Your will communicates your wishes for guardianship over your child or children in the event you and your spouse depart far too soon. None of us are guaranteed any length of time here on this earth. It’s a sobering thought, but even more sobering is the thought that the state could choose where she would go.
Today, Kason and I both are sharing our top 3 reasons to prepare a Will!
- Guardianship. Resting assured knowing that your child or children will be taken care of in the event both you and your spouse pass away before your children are legally adults. You appoint a guardian who you both agree on. This was hard for us, we procrastinated for quite a while because it’s hard to think there’s a chance you may not get to see them grow up. But it’s important.
- Alleviate burdens. By having your final wishes in print, you are able to allow your family members to mourn your loss without having the burden of choosing what you may have wanted.
- Bless special people. We can’t take materialistic things to Heaven. We all know that. However, there are often times items that hold a high sentimental value and memories for you. There is a space to document specific items and the special people you want them to go to. For me, Kason gets my wedding ring, and letters that I am working on writing to him. Kerrington will get my wedding pearls that were purchased by my mom for me for our wedding, and my Bible. The Bible I pray she grows up watching me read and fill to the brim with notes (some pages are already full with notes in the margins!)
Do you and your spouse have wills set up? I would love to know your thoughts!
xoxo, Tamara
We have recently been blessed by a local attorney who approached us (and encouraged us) to create our will. Therefore, ours is almost complete, and was free. Super grateful for that peace of mind.
That’s wonderful! Ours was not free, ha! But, we are still grateful for it as well!