Letter of wishes how to go about it

[Sassy31]

Hi all, elderly parents want to do a letter of wishes for a non verbal autistic adult child. When they pass. What are the pros & cons & are there any legal pitsfuls or considerations? They also have other children .
what happens if there wishes are not followed ?

A letter of wishes is not legally binding. It simply tells people what they want to happen. It shouldn't duplicate or contradict anything in their will. As it is not legally binding, there are no consequences if it isn't followed. However, if there is a dispute, it can be used as evidence of their wishes.

Thank you. So it doesn’t have to be followed .
So ideally they should clarify what they want in regards to their disabled child and put in the will and have a trustee or trusted person to ensure it happens

It depends entirely on what they want to happen as to whether it will happen.

They can use their will to appoint a guardian. However, the person they appoint is not compelled to act. Anything else they put in their will regarding their child is not legally binding (apart, of course, from any money or assets they choose to leave). The guardian is able to make whatever decisions they believe are best for the child.

Thank you all

@Sassy31 I believe Mencap can provide some guidance on wills in this situation. https://www.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/wills-and-trusts-service

I would also recommend using a STEP solicitor https://www.step.org/about-step/what-we-do

Our wills left everything to a discretionary trust so that our disabled DD could benefit from our money if we died, but the state would not get hold of our estate. Our DS could also benefit from the trust for certain things. The conditions were all specified in a Letter of Wishes for the Trustees (2 relatives and a close friend) to follow. As others have said the LoW isn't legally binding but good trustees who understand your wishes would probably carry them out.

Thank you all