Legacy letter: what it is, how it differs from a will, and how to write one

What is a legacy letter, and what is it not?

A legacy letter is a letter you write to the people you will leave behind: your children, a grandchild, a partner, a friend. It says who you are, what has mattered to you, what you have learned and what you hope for them. It can be read now or later; you decide.

No source read for this guide gives an official definition of the phrase, and none lays down a length, a format or a rule for it. So everything on this page about the letter itself is our editorial suggestion, not a requirement. What the official sources do cover is the legal paperwork that sits near it, and that is where this page is careful.

If you want a longer piece of writing than a letter, see our guide to writing your life story or how to write a memoir. A legacy letter is the short form: a page or two, to a named person.

How is it different from a will or a letter of wishes?

Three documents get mixed up. A will is the legal document. A letter of wishes is a personal note that goes with a will. A legacy letter, as we use the term, is a personal letter with no job to do in law.

Start with the will. GOV.UK says it lets you decide what happens to your money, property and possessions after your death.¹ For a will to be legal in England and Wales it has to be in writing, made voluntarily by someone aged 18 or over who is of sound mind, and signed in the presence of two witnesses who are both over 18.³ The page also says there are different rules for Scotland and for Northern Ireland.¹

GOV.UK says a will should set out who benefits, who will look after any children under 18 and who the executor is, meaning the person who sorts out your estate and carries out your wishes.² Once a will has been signed and witnessed you cannot amend it directly; changes are made with a new will or a codicil.⁴ GOV.UK suggests reviewing a will every 5 years and after any major life change such as divorce, a birth or a move.⁴

A letter of wishes is different. An article by a firm of solicitors, published in The Gazette in February 2020, describes it as a document that goes with a will. It says the letter is not legally binding but gives guidance to the people dealing with the estate.⁶ It also says the will can become public once a grant of representation is obtained, while the letter stays confidential to the executors, trustees or family members.⁶ The article is professional commentary, not official guidance, so treat it as one informed view.

The same article says a letter of wishes should be in plain language, signed and dated, with no witness needed, and should not contain anything that conflicts with the will.⁶ It gives examples of content: who to tell of a death, funeral wishes, and who should have items such as jewellery, furniture or photographs.⁶ It says you do not need a solicitor to write one.⁶

A legacy letter is not any of these, and it should not try to behave like one. If your letter says who should get the house, the will is what counts, and, in our view, a letter that contradicts it can cause the very confusion you meant to avoid.

What goes in a legacy letter?

There is no official list, so here is a simple one of our own. Most letters that work well do four things: they say who is writing, say what mattered, pass on one or two things learned, and finish with a word for each reader.

• Who you are: where you grew up, the people who shaped you, what you did with your days.
• What matters to you: values, rituals, people, places and small things you want remembered.
• What you have learned: advice you would give, mistakes you would not repeat, things you would do again.
• What you hope for them: not instructions, just hopes.
• A personal word for each reader: a memory only the two of you share.

Practical wishes are a separate matter. Citizens Advice in Scotland says information can go in a will, but for more detail, such as the type of funeral you want, it might be better to use a simple letter kept with the will.⁷ That advice is for Scotland, and the page read for England does not mention a letter kept with a will, so do not assume the same applies south of the border.⁸ If you have practical wishes, ask a solicitor where they belong.

Citizens Advice Scotland also says that if you change your mind you can write a new letter without a new will.⁷ Again, that is a Scottish rule. It does show why a personal letter is the easier place for feelings that may change.

A simple format, with a fill-in outline

One to two pages is plenty. That is our suggestion; no official body sets a length. Write by hand or on a computer, whichever feels like you. Sign and date it, and put the name of the reader at the top. Five short paragraphs are enough.

Dear ____,

Name the reader and say why you are writing: “I wanted you to have something in my own words.”

Who I am

“I grew up in ____. My first job was ____. The people who shaped me were ____.”

What matters

“The things I care about most are ____. If you want to know me, look at ____.”

What I learned

“One thing I would tell my younger self is ____. One thing I got right was ____.”

What I hope

“I hope you ____. I hope you never feel you have to ____.”

A word for you

“I will always remember the time we ____. It made me proud because ____.”

Eleven prompts to start, in five themes

If the blank page is the problem, pick one prompt and write for ten minutes. Come back to it another day. Eleven prompts cover the five themes; use as few or as many as you like.

Who I am

• What is the first home you remember, and what did it smell like?
• What did you want to be when you were ten?

What matters

• Which three people shaped how you live, and what did each give you?
• What is a small ritual you would like someone to keep going?
• Which place feels most like home, and why?

What I learned

• What is the best advice you were ever given, and who gave it?
• What did you worry about that never happened?
• What would you do differently?

What I hope

• What do you hope the reader will do with the time they have?
• Is there anything you would like them to forgive, or not to carry?

A word for each reader

• What is a memory only you and this person share?

Three short examples, written for this guide

These are original and deliberately brief. Take the shape, not the words; yours should sound like you.

Notice what is missing: no list of possessions, no instructions about the estate. That is deliberate. Those belong in a will or a letter of wishes, prepared with a solicitor if your affairs are not straightforward.²

Who should receive it, and where should it be kept?

Decide who the letter is for before you write it. One letter to one person reads better than a general letter to everyone. You can write a letter to each child or grandchild and keep them in separate envelopes.

Where you keep it matters more than most people think. For the will, GOV.UK says you can keep it at home or store it with a solicitor, a bank, a storage company or the Probate Service, and it recommends telling the executor, a close friend or a relative where it is.² Age UK says something similar: you must let your executors know where the will is kept.⁹ A legacy letter has no such rule, but the logic carries over. A letter nobody can find helps nobody.

The Gazette article on letters of wishes advises keeping the letter and the will together, and reviewing the letter about every two years.⁶ That is that author’s advice, not an official rule, and it is about a letter of wishes. If you keep a legacy letter with your will, treat that as our suggestion, and do not put anything in it that conflicts with the will.⁶

If your letter mentions online accounts or photographs stored online, Citizens Advice Scotland says digital assets such as social media accounts and online photographs need a list of how to access them, and sometimes specialist legal help.⁷ Do not put passwords in a letter that several people may read; ask a solicitor how to record them.

Looking after a paper letter and photographs

Photographs you enclose are best stored somewhere cool and dry; keeping a paper letter in the same place is our suggestion. A National Archives leaflet on caring for photographs recommends a cool, dry, well-ventilated storage environment and says to avoid the attic and the basement.¹³ It also says that, if you must mark the back of a photograph, you should write lightly in HB pencil rather than ink.¹³ The leaflet dates from 2004 to 2005 according to the file details, so treat it as general good practice, not current guidance. For anything valuable, ask an archivist or conservator.

Writing it with a relative who finds it hard

Not everyone finds writing easy. If you are helping a parent or grandparent, you can be the listener and the one who writes it down. Our guide to questions to ask grandparents has questions to get the conversation going.

There are free and practical routes. Age UK Oldham ran a free Life Story service when read in October 2026: volunteers visit or phone each week to talk through memories, and volunteer typists compile a printed book.¹¹ The same branch says a book is not the only format, with memory boxes, picture collages and music collections as alternatives, and that large print and audio versions are available for people with sight loss.¹¹ It also offers a template and hints for people writing their own story for family.¹¹ This is one branch, and the page does not say other branches offer it.

Age UK’s LifeBook is a different tool. It is a document with sections for personal details, contacts, finances, documents, possessions and final wishes, so that family have useful information to hand.¹⁰ It is practical, not reflective, and works well beside a personal letter.

Age UK Sheffield’s advice on life story work, which we read only as a page summary, is to keep it simple with photos and clear, easy to read text.¹² In our view, the same idea suits a letter: a few lines a day, with breaks, beats an hour of pressure.

We read no source on recording voice notes, so this page does not advise on it. If a recording feels easier than a page, a solicitor will tell you what, if anything, it can do in law.

Where Memory fits

Chutex offers Memory, a service in preparation in which Aria, an AI, helps a person tell their life story, keeps the memories they choose to share and can prepare a book they review together. The service has its own page on this site: Chutex Memory. Memory gives no diagnosis. It is not a health professional and does not replace one.

Whichever route you choose, the plan on this page still applies: a named reader, a few honest paragraphs and a place where the letter will be found. If you are weighing up AI help, our guide to writing a life story with AI explains what to check first. If you would like to seal a few pages away for a future date, see our time capsule ideas.

Frequently asked questions