So much of what is written about estate planning has to do with tax law, financial statements and figuring out who's going to get what. More likely than not, however, when financial assets are "dumped onto future generations" without the understanding of the human values, the life's experiences and skill sets that created them, financial assets are dissipated.

How can families avoid the disturbing statistics that lend credibility to the expression: "shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations?" What does this mean in terms of estate planning? Given the future unknowns of Congressional actions, the dynamics of family health and economic contingencies, what can families do to perpetuate the legacy they have worked so hard to preserve?

Many of us can be dazed by the estate planning process that involves such complex issues as what legal entities to create, prioritizing your action plan, and concerns over loss of control. It's impossible to plan without first understanding ourselves in order to design our blueprint to move us to action.

We all possess an abundance of "Human Assets." These are those credos that have made us who we are. They are our sense-of-wellbeing, our values and morals, our heritage, skills relationships, strategic alliances, our interpretation of health and happiness - life experiences. While most of us can prepare a financial statement and see if our financial wealth has risen or fallen, it becomes much more challenging to assess our "Human Values Statement."

Once when I was recovering from an operation, my three adult sons were home visiting. As I watched them care for me, I was struck by how little I really knew about them. I wrote down six questions and asked them to write their answers and share them at dinner. Initially they protested, but, after my plea for them to humor me, they put their ideas on paper.

At dinner, an amazing thing happened. The first question: "What have you done over the past that you are most proud of," brought a sense of amazement, pride and learning. Each brother (as well as mom and dad) was enlightened by the sharing of family Human CAPITAL. They had transformed their past year's individual experiences into shared family resources.

Sharing family experiences is the beginning of understanding a family's true wealth. Only then can meaningful bequests, legacy, and estate planning be envisioned. The "Human Assets" we each possess remain dormant until shared as "Human Capital."

Financial assets without human assets are merely numbers, things, and stuff. With the addition of human capital, financial assets will exponentially flourish. The marriage of financial and human assets leads to comprehensive, satisfying and fulfilling estate planning.