QandAs: Legal

What Is A Will?

Answer:
A will is also known as a testament, and it is a legal

declaration in which a person, known as a testator, names one or more persons to manage his estate and plans for the transfer of his property to a new owner upon his death.

In the strictest sense of the law, a will is limited to real property, whereas a testament applies to the disposition of personal property. This distinction is generally not observed today. A will may also create a trust which is not active until after the death of the testator.

Any person that is over the age of majority and is of sound mind can draft a will without the aid of an attorney. Depending on the jurisdiction, there may be additional requirements to making a will, but the general requirements are as follows: the testator must clearly identify themselves as the maker of the will, and it is satisfied by the words “last will and testament” on the face of the document; the testator must also declare that they revoke all previous wills, or else previous wills will only be overridden by the areas of the new will where they are in conflict; the testator must demonstrate that they have the capacity to dispose of their property, and they are doing so freely and willingly; the testator must sign and date the will in the presence of two or more disinterested witnesses (who are not beneficiaries); the testator’s signature must be at the end of the will, or any text after the signature will be ignored or the extra text will invalidate the entire will; and an heir or multiple heirs must be clearly stated in the text of the will.

After the testator dies, a probate proceeding will initiate the court to validate the wills that were created, and to appoint and executor to execute the wishes of the will.