A testator () is a
person
A person (: people or persons, depending on context) is a being who has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations suc ...
who has written and executed a
last will and testament
A will and testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property (estate (law), estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its fi ...
that is in effect at the time of their
death
Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...
.
It is any "person who makes a will."
[Gordon Brown, ''Administration of Wills, Trusts, and Estates'', 3d ed. (2003), p. 556. .]
Related terms
* A female testator is sometimes referred to as a testatrix (), plural testatrices (), particularly in older cases.
*In
Ahmadiyya Islam
Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ), is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed a ...
, a testator is referred to as a moosi,
who is someone that has signed up for Wasiyyat or a will, under the plan initiated by the
Promised Messiah, thus committing a portion, not less than one-tenth, of his lifetime earnings and any property to a cause.
* The
adjectival form of the word is testamentary, as in:
#
Testamentary capacity
In the common law tradition, testamentary capacity is the legal term of art used to describe a person's legal and mental ability to make or alter a valid will. This concept has also been called sound mind and memory or disposing mind and memory ...
, or mental capacity or ability to execute a will and
#
Testamentary disposition
A testamentary disposition is any gift of any property by a testator under the terms of a will.
Types
Types of testamentary dispositions include:
* Gift (law), assets that have been legally transferred from one person to another
* Legacy, te ...
, or gift made in a will (see that article for types).
#
Testamentary trust
A testamentary trust (sometimes referred to as a will trust or trust under will) is a trust which arises upon the death of the testator, and which is specified in their will. A will may contain more than one testamentary trust, and may address ...
, a
trust that is created in a will.
* A
will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
is also known as a last will and testament.
* Testacy means the status of being testate, that is, having executed a will. The property of such a person goes through the
probate
In common law jurisdictions, probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased; or whereby, in the absence of a legal will, the e ...
process.
* Intestacy means the status of ''not'' having made a will, or to have died ''without'' a valid will. The estate of a person who dies intestate, undergoes
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people.
** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...
, rather than probate.
* The
attestation clause
In the statutory law of wills and trusts, an attestation clause is a clause that is typically appended to a will, often just below the place of the testator's signature. It is often of the form ''signed, sealed, published, and declared'', a leg ...
of a will is where the witnesses to a will attest to certain facts concerning the making of the will by the testator, and where they sign their names as witnesses.
See also
*
Witnessing of a testator's will
References
Wills and trusts
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