A testator () is a
person
A person ( : people) is a being that 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 such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
who has written and executed a
last will and testament
A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person ( executor) is to manage the property until its final distributi ...
that is in effect at the time of their
death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
.
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 Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...
, 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 ...
, a
trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another
* Trust (bus ...
that is created in a will.
* A
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 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
** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
, 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.
United States
In the United States, attestation clauses were introduced ...
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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