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LEGACY PLANNING
We are all defined by our memories and experiences – from moments of triumph to moments of defeat; your first love… your first kiss; the meaning behind your old watch, baseball, treasure map or treasure chest. Your greatest failure is what endowed you with grit. That random act of kindness, it taught you the importance of altruism and generosity. While the only certainty in life is your own mortality (…and taxes), your story – your legacy – does not need to die with you.
The Power of a Legacy Video
Let our team at R. Silverman Law Group help you capture your meaningful legacy by preserving these stories and philosophies for your loved ones. Only with an investment in the preservation of your legacy can you ensure that future generations fully appreciate your sacrifices, because your sacrifices largely afford them the opportunities they enjoy. Your investment in a Legacy Video will help you archive both where you came from and who you are in a meaningful, lasting way.
Why Should You Invest in a Legacy Video?
You should invest in a Legacy Video – the centerpiece of a 21st Century Estate Plan – because it will tell your story; because stories last for generations; because stories transfer wisdom and capture even the most wandering of minds; because us humans, we are wired for story. Because, while Estate Planning documents can help you effectively and efficiently pass on wealth to your loved ones, only with a Legacy Video will you be able to pass on your personal history and philosophies – the essence of who you are. Because your family will be eternally better off having your video legacy merely a click away.
Do You Need Help With Estate Planning?
"If you want a happier family, create, refine and retell the story of your family's positive moments and your ability to bounce back from the difficult ones. That act alone may increase the odds that your family will thrive for many generations to come." [SOURCE]
What is a Legacy Video?
At R. Silverman Law Group, we have tried to utilize modern technology to revamp the traditional Estate Plan. Thus, as a part of your 21st Century Estate Plan, you will work with our professional family legacy storyteller, April Bell, to create a lasting Legacy Video. We have developed this service as a modern, high-tech embodiment of the classic "ethical will". We offer several options to satisfy all wishes and budgets, these including: an Heirloom-ography, a Slice of Life video, a One-on-One Interview, a Couples Interview, and a Legacy Montage.
Testimonial
"April offers an invaluable service for ALL people ー We all have lives filled with great stories, and by recording them we come closer to ourselves, to where we have been, where we are, and where we are going ー [April's] skills of compassion, empathy, and a wide-open heart and ear beautifully facilitate this gift of self-discovery – what could be better than that?"
- Elizabeth Daskarolis
Each Legacy Video interview experience is expertly guided and beautifully filmed. April will prompt you, as the storyteller, to relate the details of your personal past, your family stories and your ancestral history. Along the way, April will also help you to intermix your personal values and philosophies. Not only will your interview leave you with a film to be cherished forever, but you, as the interviewee, will also enjoy every moment spent creating it. Our Legacy Planning services can also serve as meaningful gifts for, or requests from, parents, grandparents and other loved ones who might well have their own enlightening story to tell.
Who is April Bell?
A Durable Power of Attorney is a document in which you appoint a trusted person as your agent (called your "attorney-in-fact") to handle your financial affairs and sign documents on your behalf. This can supplement the powers held by the trustee of your Revocable Living Trust (often the "attorney-in-fact" and successor trustee of your living trust is the same person), as your agent has legal authority to transact business for you as to non-trust assets. You can choose to make these powers effective immediately or make the powers "springing" – springing into effect only if and when you become temporarily or permanently incapacitated.
April is trained in psychology and was born with both acute listening skills and a warm, inviting presence. She is adept at deeply connecting with people to help them share those narratives that matter to them most. April brings the transformative gift of video storytelling to the world at large through family legacy workshops, speaking engagements and online training courses.
In 2013, April co-created a unique storytelling app – StoryCatcher – that helps users create short legacy videos on their own. Featured in the New York Times, The East Bay Times, and The Association of Personal Historians, she has extensive experience doing work that is universally appreciated by her clients.
For fun, she enjoys trail running, sailing on the San Francisco Bay and exploring the mysteries of the human spirit and condition. It is her belief that, ultimately, our stories connect and bind us to one another, both today and into the future.
"Legal and financial professionals can help you arrange and organize how you pass on your material wealth, whereas a Legacy Video will help you capture and preserve for your loved ones the essence of who you are." – April Bell, Personal Historian
The packages we offer include the following:
Please contact us at R. Silverman Law Group to discuss how we may best assist you with all of your Estate Planning, Trust Administration, Probate, Real Estate, Business or related legal needs.
Heirloom-ography – As a perfect complement to your Estate Planning documents, your "Heirloom-ography" will help capture the significance of one or several personal items. You will discuss with April the history of your heirlooms, and your interview will be filmed and presented in an elegant video meant to accompany the discussed belonging(s).No longer must a beneficiary simply receive a cherished item; with your Heirloom-ography, beneficiaries will be able to appreciate why an item was so cherished. Only with the history and knowledge portrayed in your Heirloom-ography will the unique significance of your special possession endure.
Slice of Life (One Story) – As a part of your "Slice of Life" interview experience, you will work with April to create a Legacy Video that captures the essence and emotion of a special story, as told by you. This option can also be used to capture on video the wishes you express in your Living Will, the philosophies you strive to live by, and a wide variety of other dialogue.
One-On-One – Your "One-on-One" Legacy Video experience will create a film to be cherished for generations. As the storyteller, you will enjoy the riveting process of recalling the moments in your life that most shaped who you are today.You will work with April to retell these significant moments. This interview will then be lightly edited and touched up to produce an enjoyable video for the pleasure of family, friends, historians and the like.
Couple's Interview – The process to create your "Couple's Interview" Legacy Video will be quite similar to that of a "One-on-One" Interview. The only difference is that, in a Couples Interview, each subject will be independently interviewed for approximately 60 minutes. After your individual sessions, both subjects will collectively sit with April for a 45-minute joint interview. The interview footage will then be lightly edited and touched up to create your elegant legacy video.
Legacy Montage – As an add-on to your "One-on-One" or "Couple's Interview", this masterfully edited video of approximately ten minutes in length will perfectly complement your touched-up interview footage. April will create for you a beautiful short-film that includes select stories captured during your interview process.Your Legacy Montage will combine historical family photographs, royalty free music, screen text and applicable graphics with footage from your filmed interview(s). It will entice your family and future generations to view the full-length interviews and will furthermore create a lasting, entertaining way for others to emotionally connect with who you are and the values you hold.
Custom – If your dream Legacy Video does not fit neatly into any of the above options, a wide variety of terrific customized videos are available to you depending on what it is that you wish to accomplish with your Legacy Video.
If you are curious about what goes into the making of your Legacy Video, I encourage you to read on.