I have written previously about the Letter of Intent; the Ethical Will and codicils but it bears repeating here:
Your Will is a legal document.
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.
Ethical Will (Legacy Letter) - Despite the word Will in the term 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, but may not mention a specific charity.
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 Ethical Wil or a Codicil, now is the time to review those documents alongside your Will.
Update: There is a third option for individuals- instructions to a family member about items Loaned or Borrowed that you deem important.
Specific examples of this would be:
A list of funds that have been borrowed or loaned. This list would include money you loaned without collateral or money lent to you, (and is different from a bank loan.)
Hopefully you have some signed document to back up your claim to funds that you have loaned to someone.
A list of items that you have loaned to someone or items that you have borrowed from someone. Items that are in your possession, but you do not have title to.
Examples would be the RV parked in your garage that actually belongs to cousin Bill; expensive tools that you loaned to your friend for an extended time; library books; that pricey power equipment you have had on loan from a neighbor; camping gear you borrowed and is still sitting in your hall closet; expensive jewelry you loaned to your niece to wear for her wedding...
Basically, the list comprises items that are in your possession that belong to another and items you loaned to someone that you have a legal right to and that should be part of your estate.
By creating such a list, conflicts can be avoided.
For example, in your Will you gave your full set of expensive tools to a nephew, but they were loaned to a friend, the executor of your Will, upon your death, would need to track the tools in order to give them to your nephew as per your Will.
Note: If you have a concern that an expensive item you borrowed might inadvertently be included in your estate, return it.
If you have concern that the item that you loaned to someone is of significant value and should be part of your estate, request in writing for the item to be returned by a specific date and file a copy of the letter.
Again, such a list is not a legal document. However, it is advisable to keep such a list up-to-date, particularly when the item has significant value.
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