It is the estate-planning term that gets mentioned in passing and never explained. The plain version: a letter of instruction is an informal letter to your executor and your family setting out where things are and what you would want, and it is not legally binding.
Because it has no legal force, it needs no filing, no witnessing and no revision fee. You can update it whenever the facts change, which is the only reason this kind of document ever stays true.
Letter against will — the line that matters
A will is the legal document deciding who inherits, and it must be properly executed — signed and witnessed per your state's rules — to hold up.
A letter of instruction has none of that force, which produces one rule: never use it to direct who gets what. That belongs in the will or the trust, done with an attorney. If the two ever disagreed the will controls, and the mismatch simply breeds confusion at the worst possible moment. Use the letter for everything a court does not need but your family does.
What belongs in it
Where your key documents live — the will, trust, deeds, titles, certificates, and which drawer or safe. A financial-accounts overview: institutions and account types, never balances or passwords. Your digital-assets pointer: where the password vault is and how your executor gets in — here is why that pointer beats a password list.
Then funeral and burial preferences including anything prepaid, the who-to-call list roughly in calling order, arrangements for pets and dependants, and personal messages. The messages are optional, and they are the part families keep.
The template, section by section
Five solid sections and a plan to finish beats a blank page every time. Start with 2, 3 and 7 — the first-forty-eight-hours material — and let the rest come over a few evenings.
- 1 · Header — your name, the date written, and a note to re-date each revision.
- 2 · My key documents — each one, originals and copies, exact locations.
- 3 · Financial accounts — institution, type, contact. No credentials.
- 4 · Insurance — carrier, policy number, agent.
- 5 · Digital assets — where the vault is, how to get in, what to close and what to memorialise.
- 6 · Funeral wishes — preference, prepaid details, who already knows.
- 7 · People to contact — in order.
- 8 · Dependants and pets — who steps in, and the care notes.
- 9 · Personal notes — what you would want them to hear from you.
Where to keep it
With your other important documents, in the same safe or vault as the will, and make sure your executor knows it exists. It does not need filing or witnessing; it needs to be findable.
If you keep it digitally, prefer a dedicated on-device tool to a loose document that can be forwarded or printed more widely than you intended.
When to update it
Because it is informal, updating is trivial: new version, new date, done. Once a year, plus after any real change — a new account, a move, a marriage or divorce, a change of heart about the service. Treat it like reviewing a beneficiary designation, with a standing annual reminder.
General education, not legal advice; an estate attorney can confirm how this fits your state. In Case builds your letter section by section as you answer its prompts, then prints it as the emergency sheet — on your phone rather than our cloud.