As a Rotarian, you know that the good life is all about learning from experience and making ethical choices. But did you know there’s a tool for ensuring that your values and wisdom are passed on to future generations?

It’s called an ethical will, and it functions much like a last will and testament, except it’s not legally binding, and it concerns gifts that a growing number of people consider just as valuable as money and material assets. “You can share your values, hopes, life’s lessons, loves, and forgiveness with your family and community. You can honor the past, capture the present, and inform the future,” explains Barry K. Baines in his book Ethical Wills: Putting Your Values on Paper.

Baines was inspired to write the book by his father, who outlined his values in a letter shortly before his death from lung cancer in 1990. But a full-fledged ethical will can be more involved than a letter. Some experts recommend working with a financial adviser and attorney who can create a personalized package, making certain that your values are reflected not only in a formal ethical will but also in your legal documents.

Judith A. Wright, of the Rotary Club of Fresno River Park, Calif., USA, is a lawyer whose practice focuses on estate planning. She has written an ethical will for herself and tells her clients to record their values for posterity. Failing to do so “is like a library burning down,” she says. “You can’t go back and ask another question.”

An ethical will can take many forms. Wright uses the SunBridge Legacy Builder System, which involves asking clients a series of questions and recording their answers on a CD.

Another option comes from Steve Boehm, a member of the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise, Calif., and a principal of the Boehm Biography Group, which specializes in preserving the history of organizations and individuals. The company employs writers who interview clients and help them frame meaningful, highly personal messages. It then transfers these messages to audio, video, or a professionally bound book.

Boehm’s wife has created an ethical will, as has his father, Eric, 89, a member of the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara who has been an active Rotarian for nearly half a century. Both father and son believe Rotarians are especially strong candidates for ethical wills – after all, they live by time-honored values, from The Four-Way Test to Service Above Self to the notion of fellowship. When you share these values with others, even long after you’re gone, “you show that you care about them,” says Steve.

If you’re going to write an ethical will, Baines recommends starting with a guided writing exercise, which can involve completing a list of statements such as From my parents, I learned …, From Rotary, I learned …, I am most grateful for … . You could also begin with a blank sheet of paper and write down whatever thoughts, experiences, and feelings come to mind. Eventually, themes will emerge that can help structure a more formal statement.

Creating an ethical will by no means suggests that your life is coming to an end. Rather, it’s a thought-provoking exercise that can help you crystallize the values that will guide you for many years to come. “Work on my ethical will has been a nurturing process of introspection,” says Eric Boehm. “It can be transforming because you focus on what’s important.”

It can also inform your legal will, sparking ideas for how to distribute your material assets. Perhaps you’d like to ask your heirs to use your possessions in a particular way. Or maybe in rediscovering your values, you’ll decide to donate some of your assets to a particular cause or charity.

Most Rotarians will undoubtedly find they have a wealth of values that can preserve their legacy and improve lives for years to come.