Often written to accompany a Will is a letter of wishes, which is an informal document used to guide your executors and trustees.
What is a ‘letter of wishes’ and why are they used?
A letter of wishes is a memorandum written by you which effectively says, “if I was alive, this is what I would have done”
This memorandum does not legally bind your executors or trustees but can only be guidance. The phrase we use is that it is “morally persuasive”. In other words, your executors / trustees will hopefully follow your wishes, but they do not have to.
The big advantage of the letter of wishes is its flexibility. A Will has to be properly executed and witnessed by two people, a letter of wishes does not.
Examples of a letter of wishes in use.
The first is in relation to chattels and precious artefacts. If you are giving to say “I leave all my jewellery to my daughter” then that is probably fine in the Will.
Some people want to leave items to various people e.g. Ring A to person A, Ring B to person B and so on. In this case it is better to put in your Will “I leave my chattels / jewellery to my executors to distribute how they see fit but I would ask them to take notice of any letter of wishes they find amongst my possessions”. The letter of wishes can then list in detail what the testator wants to happen to them.
There are two advantages of this route. Firstly, it stops the Will looking like a shopping list. Also, the testator can change their mind and add or delete items without the need to formally re-write the Will and have it witnessed again.
The second reason is where there is a discretionary trust. A pure discretionary trust gives the trustees power to do what they want with assets left to them usually subject to a list of beneficiaries e.g. children / grandchildren. It is important to leave your trustees with as much flexibility as possible so they can assess beneficiary needs “at the time” rather than when you write your Will. In this case you could write that you “would like my assets to be split to my grandchildren equally unless there are specific reasons not to”. This guides your trustees but does not bind them. For example, if one of your grandchildren had problems, or say was going through a messy divorce your trustees might want to treat that grandchild differently. They can, but if everything is “normal” they would, it is assumed, follow your wishes.
Whilst your Will is therefore very important an accompanying letter of wishes can also play a crucial part.
George Hay provides a Will service via GH Wills Ltd.
Please contact either Carol George or Barry Jefferd on 01480 426500 to discuss your requirements.
