When writing a will it’s important that you get
your wishes down for who should be appointed
as executors, trustees or guardians and how
your estate should be distributed in a binding
fashion. But what about your more general
wishes for your estate, or for your children? the main beneficiary for the rest of their life.
What you write in a letter of wishes isn’t legally
binding, it is just guidance. The trustees should
consider it when managing the trust though,
and professional trustees will certainly try to
stick to your wishes wherever possible.
There are so many uses for a letter of wishes
that we can’t list them all in one article, so we’ll
focus on the most common uses for them: 4. Distribute small personal items
1. Give your guardians some guidance
You’ve probably considered who you would
want to care for your children if you died while
they were still minors, and you’ve probably
appointed these people as guardians in your
will. In your letter of wishes you can express
exactly how you would prefer your children to
be raised and how you wish the guardians to
support them.
2. Make your funeral wishes clear
A letter of wishes could include your preferences
for burial or cremation, for what kind of
ceremony you want. You could even include
everything down to what music should be
played, what readings should be read, and what
kind of flowers displayed.
It is important that you make your funeral wishes
known to your family as well as including them
in a letter of wishes though. This avoids the
funeral being carried out before your wishes are
found.
3. Give instructions to trustees
If you have included any trusts in your will that
give your trustees wide powers over how the
trust is distributed, known as ‘discretionary
trusts’, a letter of wishes is recommended.
Under these types of trust it is totally up to
the trustees how they manage the funds and
which of the named potential beneficiaries they
benefit. In a letter of wishes you can include
your wishes for how you want the trustees to
use their powers, for example if the trust could
benefit your spouse and children you could
request that the trustees treat your spouse as
You likely have lots of personal chattels. These
are defined as ‘tangible movable property’
except money, and items held as an investment
or mainly for business purposes. It’s quite
a broad definition that could include your
household ornaments, jewellery, furniture and
cars. If you have a lot of personal items that you
want to gift to specific people the easiest way
to do this can be by including a clause in your
will that gifts all items fitting that definition to
your executors with a wish that they distribute
them following your letter of wishes.
Once this clause is included you can then write
a separate letter of wishes to list the items you
want to gift and who you want to gift them to.
This is a very flexible way of dealing with your
personal items as if you change your mind you
can simply write a new letter without having to
make a new will.
5. Exclude someone
If you have chosen to exclude someone from
benefitting from your will your will writer will
have advised you on what to include in your
will and what the consequences the exclusion
could have for your estate. They should also
advise you to write a letter of wishes to detail
your reasons for the exclusion, as this may be
considered by the court if the excluded person
did try to bring a claim against your estate. In
these circumstances the letter is sometimes
referred to as an ‘exclusion letter’ instead.
Letters of wishes aren’t legally binding, but
they’re useful for making sure you have got your
less formal wishes for your estate across. If you
need further advice on how a letter of wishes
can support your will contact your will writer
or find a member through our Find a Member
page.
The Society of Will Writers
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