Before
he died in 2010, at the age of 90, Albert made out a will – with a clause.
Which brings us back to the Ravenholt family reunion. To receive their share of
Albert's wealth, his nieces and nephews are required to attend …
Just as in life, the greatest
gift is truly made in values and in lessons that keep on teaching. For the
creative and the forward-thinkers, this can be the goal of an estate plan.
Consider a real-life example in
the Ravenholt family of Minnesota. The Minneapolis
Star Tribune tells the family story in a recent article titled “Man provides for his heirs, but there's a condition: They have to
reunite every 2 years.”
While the title should contain a
“spoiler alert,” the Ravenholt family is still receiving from the largesse of
the recently passed paterfamilias, Albert. Nevertheless, ongoing goodies are
conditional. The entire clan of some 25 nieces and nephews only receive this
largesse if they meet the right conditions.
Here is the catch – every two
years each family member is required to settle back in at the family hometown
of Luck, MN for a family reunion. Consequently, only those who attend receive
distributions from the family trust
You see, Albert was a man of
contradictions. While he had a wanderlust soul, he grew to have a firm
appreciation for family. Albert believed that the many branches of a family can
learn to wander and seek their own, but that these branches should never forget
to come together. The individual annual distributions are not large (a thousand
or so each time), but it is enough to bring most of the family back together
just as Albert had hoped.
So, take a look at Albert’s
decisions and the story of the Ravenholt clan. It just might spawn a few ideas
of your own. It is, if nothing else, one more testimonial to the power of
creative planning and planning with the right tools.
Albert knew what he wanted and
found the right balance of incentive and security in the form of a trust, with
some special rules to make it all work.
You might not be throwing a
family reunion in Luck every few years, or anywhere for that matter, but maybe
you do have goals for your family and a way to incentivize their fulfillment.
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Reference: Minneapolis Star
Tribune (October 5, 2013) “Man provides for his heirs, but there's a condition: They have to
reunite every 2 years”