Your Letter of Final Instruction – 3 Questions

Question 1: What is a letter of final instructions?
Many people choose to leave a letter of final instruction as part of their overall estate plan. The letters are designed to assist your personal representative or executor in the performance of his or her duties. They serve as a roadmap of sorts, designed to accompany your will and to give your executor practical steps to take as he or she settled your estate.

Question 2: What are the legal requirements for a letter of final instruction?
Quite simply, there are none. Letters of final instructions are not required under the probate laws of any state. Though a probate courts will not uphold a letter of instruction, for example, as a substitute for your will, they are still incredibly useful. They give you considerable leeway and flexibility in the types of instructions you leave to your executor.

Question 3: What should I put in my letter of final instruction?
Most people use letters of instruction to provide executors with all the practical information that may not be appropriate to include in your last will and testament. For example, if you have several different bank accounts with different banks you can use the letter of final instruction to identify each account, list the account numbers, include access information such as passwords or PINs, as well as identify the name of account representatives and the bank’s physical addresses

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