Letter of Instruction
Also called: personal instruction letter, side letter, letter to executor
Updated June 7, 2026
What a letter of instruction typically includes
- Funeral and burial or cremation preferences.
- A list of bank, investment, insurance, and online accounts.
- The location of important documents — will, trust, deeds, birth certificates.
- Contact information for your attorney, accountant, and financial advisor.
- Instructions for pets, plants, or other ongoing responsibilities.
- Personal messages or explanations you want your family to have.
Not a will, but just as important to keep findable
A letter of instruction has no legal force — it cannot override your will — but it can be the most immediately useful document your executor receives. It turns a mass of unknowns into a map. Store it with your will, or somewhere your executor knows to look, and update it whenever things change.
Related terms
- Executor — An executor is the person named in a will to carry out its instructions — gathering the deceased's assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing what remains to the beneficiaries. The executor is accountable to the probate court and must act in the interest of the estate, not their own.
- Digital Assets — Digital assets are electronic records owned or controlled by a person — including online accounts, email, social media profiles, digital photos, cloud storage, domain names, cryptocurrency, and digital purchases such as ebooks or music libraries. After death, access to these assets depends on each platform's terms of service, any legacy contact designations, and, in some states, laws governing digital asset access by fiduciaries.
- Advance Healthcare Directive — An advance healthcare directive is a legal document that records a person's wishes about medical treatment in the event they become unable to communicate those wishes themselves. It typically covers decisions about life-sustaining treatment, resuscitation, artificial nutrition, and similar interventions. Many states combine this document with a healthcare proxy designation.
- Codicil — A codicil is a formal written amendment to an existing will. It modifies, adds to, or revokes specific provisions without replacing the entire will. A codicil must meet the same signing and witness requirements as a will to be legally valid.
Legatus Vault keeps your wills, trusts, and estate documents in one secure place and releases them — only when the time comes, and only after careful verification — to the people you choose.