Can a Letter Of Wishes Turn Wishful Thinking Into Reality?

In the course of making your estate plan, you will probably have conversations with your estate planning lawyer about the messages you wish to communicate to your family at the end of your life or after you are gone. The provisions of your will are an appropriate place to do this only insofar as money talks. Your estate plan can communicate powerful messages, but only through the medium of “show don’t tell.” The fact that you made an estate plan, and you did so with enough attention to detail that it complies with the law and does not contain glitches that make it unenforceable or self-contradictory speaks volumes; it shows your family that you care, in ways that words could never express. Your estate plan is not the place to talk at length about your feelings about your family and their future, though, even though you might frequently discuss these subjects with your estate planning lawyer. There must be a place in your estate plan to speak the language of wishes, instead of just legal formalities. One of the best ways to do this is to write a letter of wishes. For help turning your wishes into a legally enforceable plan, contact an Orlando estate planning lawyer.

What Good Is a Letter of Wishes If It Is Not Legally Binding?

Estate planning documents like wills, transfer on death (TOD) and payable on death (POD) accounts, and trust instruments only say where you want your money to go. They do not say why. These documents are written in formulaic language to ensure that they conform to formal legal requirements, so that technicalities do not stop the courts or other relevant authorities from implementing them. They do not have room for you to explain your reasons, even though the heirs and beneficiaries would probably love to know the motivations behind your estate planning decisions, and you would probably love for them to know.

A letter of wishes is simply a letter that you write to one or more people connected to your estate plan. The addressee or addressees can be the personal representative of your estate, the trustee of your trust, or the beneficiaries of your will or non-probate assets. You can even write a letter of wishes to relatives who did not receive anything from your estate, explaining why you chose to disinherit them. The letter of wishes is the place to state your preferences about what the beneficiaries will do with the money they receive from you. Since it is not legally binding or legally enforceable, its purpose is to bring peace of mind to you and to its recipients. Best of all, you can revise your letter of wishes an unlimited number of times.

Contact Gierach and Gierach About the Non-Quantitative Aspects of Estate Planning

An estate planning lawyer can help you communicate your rationale about your estate plan to your family.  Contact Gierach and Gierach, P.A. in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

kiplinger.com/retirement/letter-of-wishes-no-legal-power-but-still-powerful