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.
Reference: Minneapolis Star Tribune (October 5, 2013) “Man provides for his heirs, but there’s a condition: They have to reunite every 2 years”
