The Power of a Love Letter
When Shannon sat down to write her love letters to her children, she didn’t expect just how meaningful the process would be.
What began as a simple act of putting words on paper quickly became one of the most profound steps in her family’s legacy journey. The letters reflected a lifetime of love, intention, and values that now had a permanent home.
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For Shannon and her husband, legacy planning for families wasn’t about cold documents or rigid legal structures. It was about love, clarity, and making sure their kids were taken care of—not just financially but emotionally and relationally.
Not because of the words alone—though they were beautiful and heartfelt—but because those words captured something far deeper: a lifetime of intention, care, and values that now had a permanent home. For Shannon and her husband, legacy planning for families wasn’t about cold documents or rigid legal structures. It was about love, clarity, and making sure their kids were taken care of—not just financially but emotionally and relationally.
This is the heart of legacy planning for families: making sure the people you love feel your guidance, presence, and blessing long after you’re gone. It’s not just about transferring assets—it’s about transferring identity, vision, and faith. And when done well, legacy planning becomes a source of peace, not pressure.
Their journey through the Seven Generations Legacy process turned what they feared would be an overwhelming task into one of the most empowering experiences of their life.
And they didn’t do it alone.
They did it with guidance, structure, support—and a shared commitment to doing legacy differently.
The Power of a Love LetterLegacy Planning for Families is More Than PaperworkStarting the Journey: A Shared Dream, Two Different PrioritiesBringing the Kids Into the ConversationWriting Love Letters: The Emotional Heart of the LegacyCreating a Structure That Feels Like Coming HomeWhy This Matters for Your FamilyLearn More in the Podcast EpisodeBook A Strategy Call
Legacy Planning for Families is More Than Paperwork
When most people hear "legacy planning for families," their minds jump straight to legal documents, trusts, and spreadsheets. But the truth is, your legacy isn’t built by lawyers alone. It’s not just about asset protection or tax strategy. As we learned from our client Shannon on the Money Advantage Podcast, the real work of legacy planning is deeply human.
It’s about putting into words what matters most. It’s about facing the hard questions that too often get avoided. And it’s about making decisions now that reflect not just your net worth, but your heart.
In this blog, we’re sharing the real-life story of Shannon and her family. You’ll walk through their experience of legacy planning with the Seven Generations Legacy coaching program, and come away with:
A clear definition of what legacy planning for families actually involves
A step-by-step account of how to design a plan that aligns money with mission
A framework for engaging adult children in meaningful, productive ways
Insight into why emotional clarity is just as important as financial clarity
And encouragement to start your own journey before it’s too late
Because this kind of work doesn’t just benefit your kids when you’re gone. It changes the way your family lives together today.
Starting the Journey: A Shared Dream, Two Different Priorities
When Shannon and David began this journey, they were on the same team but holding different blueprints. David’s background, having grown up with limited financial resources, made it important for him to build a financial legacy. For him, the goal was protection and provision. He wanted to pass along what he had worked so hard to build.
Shannon’s focus was more relational. She wanted to ensure their kids had emotional security and that nothing about the financial setup would fracture their relationships.
"It was really, really important that whatever trust we built would be something that would bring them closer together."
That one statement set the tone for everything that followed. Because when you’re doing legacy planning for families, you can’t just ask, "How do we avoid taxes?" You have to ask, "What will this money do to the people we love most?" And then build a system that answers that with intention.
Legacy planning for families isn’t about sacrificing one priority for another. It’s about integration. It’s about holding provision and protection, love and logic, faith and strategy in the same hands.
Bringing the Kids Into the Conversation
Perhaps the most powerful decision Shannon and David made was to include their children in the legacy planning for families process.
Their three adult children, all in their 20s, were thriving professionally and personally. But they were more than beneficiaries. They were als