Traditions

By Taylor Kenck

One of my family traditions is attending the Ellensburg Rodeo every Labor Day. Proper estate planning can help preserve and protect important traditions for your family.

Introduction

This past week, I was reminded of the power of traditions. For many, many years, every Labor Day you have been able to find members of my Smith family gathering together at the Ellensburg Rodeo. Because of my busy schedule, I had been away from the rodeo for about nine years. This past week, however, I finally got back to the rodeo, which also happened to be the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the Ellensburg Rodeo.

For me, the Ellensburg Rodeo has always felt like magic. As a small child, there was nothing I wanted more than to be a cowboy. There was a significant hitch to this plan though: I am extremely allergic to horses. But even when the dream of being a cowboy died, there was something special about the Ellensburg Rodeo. I felt that again on Monday, and I’m still basking in that feeling a few days later.

Traditions

Family traditions lasting many years are very rare. When I think of my own family history, there aren’t many traditions that I do now that my great-grandparents were doing. People change; interests and circumstances also change drastically over time. That’s especially true when you have generations moving across the country or even the world. But when families preserve traditions, they provide a link between generations–a connection that continues even after a generation passes from this life to the next.

My family’s tradition of attending the Ellensburg Rodeo might not be that long in the grand scheme of things, but that doesn’t make it any less important for those that have experienced it. Now, it seems even more important to me precisely because our family’s attendance keeps shrinking smaller and smaller as one generation slowly passes on.

Because of this, I can understand why some people turn to estate planning in order to protect and preserve their own family traditions.

Estate Planning to Enshrine Traditions and Legacies

Proper estate planning can be an effective means of preserving family traditions and legacies. This sort of planning empowers future generations to enjoy property or events that might otherwise be forgotten. However, proper planning takes into consideration the idea that people and needs change.

One common method of preserving traditions is through family cabin trusts. A common circumstance is that a family may own a vacation property (like a cabin in the mountains), and the family patriarch or matriarch wants to ensure that future generations will have access to it. The property can be placed in trust, with terms that allow family members to continue to use it over multiple generations.

Another method is to create a trust that provides funds for family members to attend things like a family reunion or special event (maybe like my family’s rodeo, for example). As families grow and people naturally spread out over the world, gathering together can become prohibitively expensive for some. So the idea is that these trusts help provide the means to make reunions and family unity a possibility.

Limitations and Considerations

Estate planning helps preserve traditions and enshrine your family’s legacy. That being said, there are statutory limitations and considerations that need to be discussed.

Legally speaking, trusts cannot last forever in Washington State. One “tradition” that we inherited from the British common law is called the Rule Against Perpetuities. The Rule Against Perpetuities is basically an inside joke among lawyers and law students because of how complicated it is, but the policy reasons behind the rule are simple: It does not benefit society to allow estates that last forever. Under British common law, the Rule Against Perpetuities did this by requiring trusts to distribute property at a certain point to be considered valid.

In Washington State, under RCW 11.98.130, it basically states that trusts have a limit of 150 years. A trust lasting 150 years is more than enough to preserve and protect a family tradition. In fact, it might honestly be too much for some families.

At the end of the day, it is important to remember that family traditions do change over time. While the Ellensburg Rodeo remains a tradition in my Smith family, the next generation may not feel the same way. Families also relocate, especially as technological advances cause our world to grow ever smaller.

For these reasons, I always encourage my clients to provide the maximum amount of flexibility in their plans. Ultimately, the client makes these decisions; however, properly planned trusts can also meet a family’s changing needs to continue to support future generations in their own traditions.

Conclusion

Traditions can be wonderful ties that bind and unite many generations. I am not entirely sure why my family started attending the Ellensburg Rodeo, but I am grateful for this decision and tradition. I will forever remember the sights, sounds, and occasional allergic reactions from Labor Day rodeos over the years.

Proper estate planning can help you preserve traditions like this one for your own family. Proper planning should include flexibility to recognize that people and families change. Many families can benefit from this type of planning.

Please contact Crestview Law to schedule a free initial consultation to find out more.

Crestview Law has physical offices in Wenatchee, but we can serve clients throughout Washington with our many virtual tools.