Learn how to create a Will and turn Items into Heirloom Objects in The Sims 4 Life & Death Expansion Pack.
Wills in The Sims 4
Heirloom Objects
Want your Sim to leave behind a legacy when they die? With The Sims 4 Life & Death Expansion Pack your Sims can now plan what happens when they pass on to the afterlife. They can choose what happens to their remains, their dependents, Simoleons, and specific Items.
Wills are a way for your Sim to leave instructions for when they die. There are lots of options your Sim can include in their Will—some only come into effect if the entire Sim Household is gone, and some only if the Will author dies.
If the author of the Will dies:
- Funeral: Sims can pre-select what happens to their remains, like if they’ll have an Urn or a Tombstone. They can also select the preferred activities for their funeral, which will appear when planning the deceased Sim’s funeral.
- Heirloom Objects: Decide which Household will inherit the Heirloom Objects. These will be sent to the Household Inventory, found in Build Mode.
- Simoleons: Decide which Household their Simoleons will go to. This can be split between multiple Households. Your Sim can also leave their Simoleons to charity.
- You select this by percentage, not by the amount of Simoleons. For example, if your Sim had §20,000 and wanted to leave another Household §5,000, select 25%.
If the entire Household is gone after the death of the author of the Will:
- Children: Decide which Household Child Sims will live in. You can send different Child Sims to live in different Households.
- Pets: Decide which Household Pets will live in. You can send different Pets to live in different Households. This only includes Cats, Dogs, and Horses.
How to write a Will in The Sims 4
Once your Sim is a Teen, or older, they can write a Will. To write a Will, first you’ll need the Will Object in your Sim’s Personal Inventory.
There are five ways to start a Will:
- Create your own Will: Select Start Will from the phone or computer, or by self-selecting your Sim.
- Hire a lawyer over the phone: Using the phone, select Hire a Service > Inheritance Lawyer. This costs §225.
- Go to City Hall: Travel to Ravenwood, then select Start Will at City Hall in Crow's Crossing.
- Use a lawyer in person: Go to the Ravenwood Family Day Festival and talk to the Inheritance Lawyer.
- Use the Mysterious Merchant's services: You can find the Mysterious Merchant Waylon Warez near the Crypt at the Old Specter Graveyard. If you use him, he'll automatically set your Sim's Will with these rules:
- Simoleons: 60% goes to the Mysterious Merchant and 40% goes to the Household the Sim has the highest relationship with.
- Children and Pets: They'll be assigned to the Household the Sim has the highest relationship with.
- Funeral: He'll randomly choose a burial type and the three activities for the Sim’s funeral.
Your Sim can find the Will Object in their Personal Inventory. Selecting it will bring up the following options:
- Read Will
- Destroy Will
- Clear Choices
- Update Will
As well as letting their friends and family know what they’d like to happen to their belongings, Sims can also leave custom notes in their Wills. Leaving a custom note is optional, but players will see this when editing the Will, and when the Will is read after the Sim has passed.
You can also add an emotion to this custom note, which might influence how a Sim feels when they read the Will.
What happens to the Will when my Sim dies?
When your Sim dies, their resting place will turn into an urn or tombstone depending on what they requested in their Will. If your Sim becomes a Ghost when they die, they’ll no longer be able to create or edit their Will.
A copy of their Will is delivered to all each Household’s mailbox who’ve been left something. The next time those Households receive mail, the Will is added to their Personal Inventory.
Select the Read Will out Loud interaction to execute the Will. This is when inherited Heirlooms go to the Household Inventory, Child Sim and Pets will appear in the Household, and Simoleons are deposited.
Once Sims read the Will they can have varying reactions like happy, resentful, or jealous, based on what the deceased Sim left them!
What happens if a Sim’s Will can’t be fulfilled?
Sometimes not all of a Sim’s wishes in their Will can be fulfilled.
For example:
- Children and Pets: If adding a Child or Pet would bring the chosen Household over the limit of 8 Sims, they’ll instead be added to the My Households Bin. From here you can either edit the chosen Household so they can be added to it, or choose another Household for them to move to.
- Simoleons: If the Household the Simoleons were being left to no longer exists the Simoleons would either go to the Ghost of the dead Sim (if there is one) or it’s gone.
- Heirloom Objects: If the Household the Heirloom Object was being left to no longer exists the Heirloom Object would either go to the Ghost of the dead Sim (if there is one) or it’s gone.
With The Sims 4 Life & Death Expansion Pack, you can set specific Items as Heirloom Objects. This specializes the Item for future generations, so it can be passed down through a Will.
When you set an Item as an Heirloom Object:
- It can be passed down through a Will.
- The Item will be worth more Simoleons. Sims can also use the Claim Higher Value on an Heirloom Object to boost its worth.
- Your Sim can Engrave Message when setting an Item as an Heirloom Object.
- It will be memorialized, with the previous Sim’s name, picture, and a message attached to it if you hover over the Item.
- When Sims perform the Think About Original Owner interaction with an Heirloom Object they’ll think fondly or negatively of the Sim who previously owned it (depending on what their relationship was like with that Sim).
- Performing the Call upon Sim interaction has the chance of spawning the Ghost of the Sim who previously owned it.
- If your Sim chooses to Pawn a High Value Heirloom there’s a chance their family members will have a negative Sentiment with them for doing so.
How to set an Item as an Heirloom Object?
To create an Heirloom Object:
- Select the Item you want to set as an Heirloom Object.
- Choose Make Heirloom.
These can be created by Child, Teen, Young Adult, Adult, and Elder Sims. There’s a limit to how many Items one Sim can set as Heirloom Objects.
- All Sims can set five Items as Heirloom Objects.
- Through the Soul’s Journey rewards system Sims can earn three more Heirloom Objects.
- Sims with the Materialistic Trait can set ten Items as Heirloom Objects. They won’t be able to earn any more through the Soul’s Journey rewards system.
If your Sim has already reached the max amount of Heirloom Objects and wants to create another, they can remove Heirloom Object status from an Item and then create one. Deleting or selling an Heirloom Object will also reset how many your Sim has.
What Items can be set as an Heirloom Object?
Item descriptions in Build Mode will include Heirloom Eligible if it can be made into an Heirloom Object.
The Sims 4 Life & Death Expansion Pack includes new Items that make ideal Heirloom Objects, like The Inexorable Grandfather Clock by Tell-Tale Arts, or the Quilted Memories quilt.
Other Items can be made into Heirloom Objects from the following categories:
- Living and Dining Chairs
- Wall Décor
- Table Décor
- Floor Décor
- Indoor Plants
- Lamps and Lighting
- Kids Toys
- Crafted or Gathered Objects like Paintings, Woodworks, and Jewelcrafts.
This isn’t an exhaustive list, there are many other Items that can be made into Heirloom Objects.
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