Letter of Instruction Template: Key Fields

A letter of instruction is the document your family will actually reach for first. Not the will, which sits with a lawyer or in a drawer, but the plain-language note that tells them where the will is, which bank holds the mortgage, how to log in to your email, and what you wanted for the funeral. It carries no legal weight, and that is exactly why it matters: it fills every gap a will leaves open.

This guide covers what a letter of instruction is, how it differs from your will, what to put in it, and the mistakes that leave grieving families guessing.

What Is a Letter of Instruction?

A letter of instruction is an informal document that gives your executor and loved ones practical guidance for settling your affairs after you die. It sits alongside your will but does something the will cannot: it explains the day-to-day logistics of your financial and personal life.

Think about what an executor has to do in the first month. Find your accounts. Cancel your subscriptions. Pay the utility bills so the house does not go dark. Notify Social Security. Figure out whether you wanted to be buried or cremated. A will says almost nothing about any of that. A good letter of instruction answers all of it in one place.

The document goes by a few names. Some people call it a letter of intent, an estate planning letter, or a side letter. In business and banking, "letter of instruction" can also mean a signed directive telling an institution to move money or change an account, which is a different thing entirely. Here we mean the estate-planning version: a personal roadmap for the people who will be sorting out your life.

Letter of Instruction vs. a Will

This is the distinction that trips people up, so it is worth being blunt about it.

Your will is a legal instrument. It is signed, usually witnessed, and enforceable in probate court. It names your executor and directs who inherits your property. If you have a trust, that document does similar legal work for the assets it holds. These are the binding pieces of your estate plan, and they follow strict rules about how they are written and executed. For a fuller picture of how the pieces fit together, see our overview of the types of estate planning documents.

A letter of instruction is not binding. No court enforces it. If the letter says one thing and the will says another, the will wins every time. That is the trade-off: the letter gives up legal authority in exchange for flexibility. You can update it any afternoon without a lawyer, a witness, or a notary.

So the two are not competitors. They are partners. The will handles the legal transfer of assets. The letter handles the thousand small practical questions that the will never touches. Skipping the letter because "I already have a will" is one of the most common estate-planning gaps, and it is the family left behind who pays for it.

What to Include in a Letter of Instruction

There is no fixed form, but the strongest letters cover the same core areas. Work through each of these.

Financial Accounts

List every account with enough detail to find it, but be careful about how much sensitive data you write down. For each account, include:

• The institution name and account type (checking, savings, brokerage, retirement)
• The last four digits of the account number, not the full number
• Whether the account has a named beneficiary or is set up as payable-on-death
• Any automatic payments or deposits tied to it

Note any accounts that transfer outside your will, such as retirement accounts with named beneficiaries or a bank account with a payable-on-death designation. These pass directly to the beneficiary and never enter probate. If you own property that transfers this way, point your executor to it; our guide to transfer on death deeds explains how that mechanism works for real estate.

Digital Assets and Passwords

This is the section families most often wish existed. Your executor may need into your email to catch statements, your password manager to reach everything else, and your phone to receive two-factor codes. Cover:

• Email accounts and how to access them
• A password manager and its master password, or where the master password is kept
• Phone and computer PINs
• Social media accounts and what you want done with them (memorialized, deleted, left alone)
• Cloud storage, photo libraries, and any cryptocurrency wallets

Be thoughtful about writing passwords on paper. A common approach is to store the credentials in a password manager and record only the master password in the letter, so a single secret unlocks the rest.

Insurance and Benefits

Life insurance is money your family may not know exists. List every policy, the insurer, the policy number, and the named beneficiary. Do the same for:

• Employer benefits, including any group life coverage or unpaid wages
• Pension or annuity payments
• Veterans' benefits, if applicable
• Social Security, which your executor will need to notify

Funeral and Final Wishes

Write down what you want so your family is not forced to guess during the worst week of their year. Cover burial or cremation, any prepaid arrangements and the funeral home holding them, the kind of service you would like, and any religious or cultural requirements. Small preferences matter too: readings, music, who you would like to speak.

This section is guidance, not law. If you want funeral wishes to carry more weight, some states let you name a person to control the disposition of your remains, but the letter is still where you spell out the details.

Location of Key Documents

Tell your executor where to find everything they will need to produce:

• The original will and any trust documents
• Deeds, titles, and vehicle registrations
• Birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce decrees, military discharge papers
• Tax returns from recent years
• The deed or lease for your home

Contacts and Advisors

List the people your executor should call: your attorney, accountant, financial advisor, insurance agent, and employer. Include names, phone numbers, and a line on what each person handles.

Care Instructions for Dependents and Pets

If you have minor children, your will names their guardian, but the letter is where you leave the human detail: routines, medical needs, schools, the things a guardian would only learn by living it. For pets, name who should take them and note food, vets, and medications.

Personal Messages

Many people close the letter with something personal: a few words to each family member, an explanation of a decision in the will, or simply thanks. This part carries no legal function and no rules. It is often the part your family reads more than once.

How to Write a Letter of Instruction: Step by Step

Step 1: Start with a document inventory. Before you write anything, gather your account statements, insurance policies, and property records in one place. You cannot describe what you cannot find.

Step 2: Work section by section. Use the categories above as headings. Do not try to write it all in one sitting; the financial section alone can take an evening to get right.

Step 3: Name your executor and address them directly. Open the letter to the person who will use it. "Dear [executor's name], this letter is meant to help you settle my affairs." It reads more clearly than a document written to no one.

Step 4: Be specific but protect sensitive numbers. Give enough to locate each account without turning the letter into a theft target. Partial account numbers and institution names are usually enough for an executor to work with.

Step 5: Explain, don't just list. Where a decision might surprise someone, say why. If one child is executor and another is not, a sentence of context can prevent a family rift.

Step 6: Sign and date it. A signature is not legally required, but signing and dating shows the letter reflects your wishes and tells your family which version is current.

Step 7: Store it where it will be found. More on this below, because it is where good letters go to waste.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Treating it as a substitute for a will. The letter has no legal authority. If you try to leave property through it, that instruction fails. Keep gifts and inheritance in the will or trust, where they belong. If your estate involves a trust, the mechanics matter; our guide to using a pour-over will with a living trust walks through how those documents coordinate.

Contradicting your will. If the letter says your daughter gets the car but the will says your son does, you have handed your family a fight. Read the two side by side and make sure they agree.

Letting it go stale. A letter that lists accounts you closed and passwords you changed sends your executor in circles. Old contact numbers and a funeral home you no longer use are worse than no information at all.

Overloading it with full account numbers and live passwords. A letter this sensitive left in an unlocked drawer is a gift to anyone who finds it. Lean on partial numbers and a password manager instead.

Never telling anyone it exists. A perfect letter no one can find does nothing. Your executor needs to know it exists and where it is.

Where to Store It and How to Keep It Current

Keep the letter somewhere secure but reachable. A home safe or fireproof box is a common choice, provided a trusted person knows how to open it. Avoid a bank safe deposit box, which can be sealed at death and difficult to open without a court order, defeating the purpose of a document meant to help in the first days.

Store the letter with your will so the two travel together, and give a copy to one person you trust. Tell your executor plainly where the original is.

Then revisit it. Once a year is a reasonable rhythm, plus any time your life changes in a way that touches the letter: a move, a new account, a divorce, a birth, a death. The value of a letter of instruction rises and falls on how current it is. A living document helps your family; a forgotten one from five years ago can send them down dead ends.

Because your executor is the one person who will lean on this letter hardest, it is worth understanding what you are asking of them. Our guide to executor and trustee duties covers the job in detail, and reading it will sharpen what your letter needs to make easier.

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Generate Your Letter of Instruction with Contractable

A letter of instruction is one of the kindest documents you can leave behind, and one of the easiest to put off because a blank page is intimidating. Contractable can help you draft a clear, well-organized letter of instruction that covers your accounts, wishes, and key contacts, so your family has a roadmap instead of a puzzle. Start with a structure that works and fill in the details that are yours.