Letter of instruction template

Why this one is different

Most letter of instruction templates open with "to my family" and assume the reader already knows your home, your bank and your dog. This letter of instruction template is written for someone who may not: a friend, the executor you named, or a professional you pay. So it spells out what a relative would know, in your words, and puts the urgent things first.

How to use your letter

What a letter of instruction is

It's a plain letter that sits next to your will. It tells the person who will act where your papers are, who to call, and what you'd like done first. It's informal and isn't legally binding. It adds to your will and other signed documents and doesn't change them.

Answering the questions

Every question is optional. Skip one and that part is left out of your letter. At the end you get the whole letter as text you can edit, copy, or print as a PDF. There's also a blank copy with lines to fill in by pen.

What goes in it

• Who the letter is for, and who else has a copy.
• The first things to do: pets, your home, and who to call.
• Where your will and other papers are kept.
• People to tell.
• Where you bank and which bills come in: names and where the statements are.
• Things you'd like someone to have.
• Where your digital accounts and final wishes are written down.
• A note in your own words.

What never goes in it

Passwords, PINs, your phone passcode, safe combinations, full account and card numbers, and your Social Security or social insurance number. A paper letter can be lost or read by the wrong person. Say where things are kept, and let the statements carry the numbers.

Who gets what is a wish

You can say who you'd like to have your books or your mother's ring. In this letter that's a wish, not a gift. A letter of instruction can't leave anything to anyone and can't change what your will says. Some places allow a separate signed list of personal things that works with a will. That's a different document with its own rules, so ask the lawyer who wrote your will.

Sign it, date it, and say where it is

Print the letter, then sign and date it by hand so your person knows it's yours and how current it is. Give them a copy or tell them exactly where it is. Keep yours with your will, somewhere your person can reach without you.

Update it when things change

Read it again when you move, change banks, get a pet, or name a different person. Save your answers as a file on your own device, open it here next time, and print a fresh letter. Throw out the old one.

The fuller file, and the papers that give authority

A letter is short. If you want every account, policy and key written down, make a next of kin organizer and point to it in your letter.

• Our guide to a letter of instruction for executor and friend: what belongs in it, and how it differs from a will.
• Put your funeral and burial choices on a final wishes planner sheet.
• A funeral agent is the person with the legal say over your funeral.
• Power of attorney ends at death, and then your executor takes over.
• No friend to ask? How to find a professional fiduciary.
• List your things room by room on a home inventory checklist.

Other free tools

• Digital legacy contact: name who can get into your Apple, Google and Facebook accounts.
• Pet planning sheet: a handoff sheet for whoever takes your pets.
• Estate planning checklist: a ranked to-do list for someone with no spouse or kids.
• Emergency contact card: a wallet card and fridge sheet that say who to call.
• Obituary template: fill in the blank and write your own.

Sources: Fidelity, "Why writing a letter of instruction can be beneficial" (2025). AARP, "Letter of Instruction: Preparing Your Intentions for Your Estate."

This letter is general information, not legal advice. It prints what you type and doesn't check it. It isn't a will and doesn't give anyone legal authority.