Your Will may have codicils, which are addendums or revisions of specific items within the Will.
There are two other documents that are often discussed when creating a Will.
One is the Letter of Instruction (sometimes called a Letter of Intent)
The other document is referred to as an Ethical Will or a Legacy Letter.
I have written previously about these types of documents, but it bears repeating
Ethical Will - Despite the word Will in the name Ethical Will, an ethical will is not a legal document. It will not bind anyone to take specific action on your behalf.
The ethical will can communicate your values, beliefs, life lessons and stories. Often the ethical will is referred to as a legacy letter. The purpose of the ethical will is to share information about things that have been important in your life. An ethical will does not usually discuss the distribution of property. An ethical will may discuss the importance that charitable giving played in your life or why you chose a particular career path. It may express your desires that family members continue to act benevolently.
Letter of Instruction or Letter of Intent - A Letter of Instruction (sometimes referred to as a Letter of Intent) often provides specific information that is of importance to family and executor. But again the Letter of Intent (sometimes noted as LOI) is not a legally binding document. The LOI can include your medical instructions (care should be taken that this does not conflict with your medical power of attorney); your thoughts about funeral arrangement preferences, and sometimes can refer to the distribution of a particular piece of specific property, usually a small item of jewelry or a collectible (again making certain that this does not conflict with what is stated in your Will).
The critical issue with the LOI is that it should not conflict with the details in your Will.
As a very simple example, if your Will states that all items of jewelry are to be disposed of and the money shared by your beneficiaries...but your LOI states that certain pieces of family jewelry are to be given to a family member, that is conflict. (This a very simplified example.)
Neither an LOI nor an ethical will can be a legal amendment to a Will.
The legal term for an alteration/change/revision to a Will is a Codicil.
I have written a specific article about Codicils (and how to use them) and the article can be found on my website (www.attorneybarbaradalvano.weebly.com)
In conclusion, care should be taken when drafting either an LOI or ethical will, so that it does not conflict with the wishes stated in your Will or any codicil to your Will.
If you have written a Letter of Intent or an Ethical Will or have a Codicil to your Will, now is the time to review those documents alongside your Will.
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