A personal letter of direction contains detailed instructions for distributing your personal property upon your death.
A personal letter of direction is a letter that you write to the successor trustee that can list specific pieces of tangible personal property (such as jewelry, items of furniture, family keepsakes, etc.) and the name of the person(s) you want to leave those item(s) so. It can also contain burial instructions and other personal wishes, as desired. A personal letter of direction should not include specific customized instructions to the trustee as to how to act in that capacity or specific authorities you may want to give him/her. Those types of instructions need to be included in your actual revocable trust (or Last Will and Testament) document.
We provide a blank personal letter of direction for you in your estate planning binder. After writing out your wishes/instructions in the personal letter of direction, you should sign and date it. Then keep it with your estate planning documents.