WILL

However, testator is often used in reference to both genders. When the testator dies, the executor , who is named in the will, administers the distribution of the estate to the beneficiaries a beneficiary is any person or organization that receives the assets after the testator's death. An executor often receives payment for his or her services, and the payment varies from state to state.

Many people hire an attorney to draw up a will, but many states though not all states also recognize holographic wills, which are simply created in the testator's own handwriting on a regular piece of paper holographic wills are more frequently contested, however. A testator can change a will at any time, for any reason, and should keep the original copy of the will in a safe place.

There is some controversy over whether banks may seal a safe-deposit box after a renter's death, so consult a professional regarding storage of this important document. If one does not have a will before death, the state's intestate succession rules determine how a person's assets are distributed. These rules vary by state.

Normally, a person's spouse and children receive the estate first, then members of extended family. If there are no surviving family members, the estate may pass to the state.

Many people know they need a will, but not everyone knows what a will is or what it does.

A will is central to a person's estate planning. In most cases, people create wills to protect the assets they have worked hard for and to ensure they are passed to appropriate individuals or organizations. However, court procedures, called probate, are often required to legally pass assets from a testator to beneficiaries because the testator is no longer around to sign deeds and other documents necessary to actually transfer the assets.

In probate, a judge must validate the will and then issue a court order to distribute the assets. Everything in a will becomes public record after it is probated. In general, the testator transfers his or her assets to a trust while alive, and the trust -- which is usually controlled by the testator -- in turn designates the beneficiaries. This often avoids the need for probate and can also reduce estate taxes in certain circumstances. There are many kinds of trusts and trust structures, and a professional estate planner should be consulted when considering this option.

It is important to keep a will up-to-date because life events, such as marriages, divorces, deaths, separations, moving, significant changes in assets or the birth of a child often change a testator's needs or wishes. It is also important to note that titles to assets joint tenancy , joint tenancy with right of survivorship, etc. Estate planning is a complex subject, and it is of particular importance to consult an estate-planning specialist when considering how to distribute assets after death.

See the full definition for will in the English Language Learners Dictionary. A properly executed international will is still subject to local probate laws; the validity deriving from adherence to statutory requirements for such wills is purely formal, and a will invalid in respect to such requirements may still be valid under other rules. A joint and mutual will is a joint will, but a joint will need not contain reciprocal provisions.

Pruss , N. The Louisiana Civil Code requires that for a mystic will to be valid, the will document itself or the envelope containing it must be closed and sealed and thus presented to the notary public and witnesses, or closed and sealed in their presence, and the testator must declare that it contains his or her signed will. The envelope or closed document must be subscribed by the testator, witnesses, and notary public.

In England and Wales , marriage will automatically revoke a will, for it is presumed that upon marriage a testator will want to review the will.

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A statement in a will that it is made in contemplation of forthcoming marriage to a named person will override this. Divorce, conversely, will not revoke a will, but in many jurisdictions will have the effect that the former spouse is treated as if they had died before the testator and so will not benefit. Where a will has been accidentally destroyed, on evidence that this is the case, a copy will or draft will may be admitted to probate.

Many jurisdictions exercise an equitable doctrine known as "dependent relative revocation" "DRR". Under this doctrine, courts may disregard a revocation that was based on a mistake of law on the part of the testator as to the effect of the revocation.

For example, if a testator mistakenly believes that an earlier will can be revived by the revocation of a later will, the court will ignore the later revocation if the later will comes closer to fulfilling the testator's intent than not having a will at all. The doctrine also applies when a testator executes a second, or new will and revokes their old will under the mistaken belief that the new will would be valid. However, if for some reason the new will is not valid, a court may apply the doctrine to reinstate and probate the old will, if the court holds that the testator would prefer the old will to intestate succession.

Before applying the doctrine, courts may require with rare exceptions that there have been an alternative plan of disposition of the property.

That is, after revoking the prior will, the testator could have made an alternative plan of disposition. Such a plan would show that the testator intended the revocation to result in the property going elsewhere, rather than just being a revoked disposition. Secondly, courts require either that the testator have recited their mistake in the terms of the revoking instrument, or that the mistake be established by clear and convincing evidence. For example, when the testator made the original revocation, he must have erroneously noted that he was revoking the gift "because the intended recipient has died" or "because I will enact a new will tomorrow".

DRR may be applied to restore a gift erroneously struck from a will if the intent of the testator was to enlarge that gift, but will not apply to restore such a gift if the intent of the testator was to revoke the gift in favor of another person.

Therefore, Alice will get 5, dollars. However, the doctrine of relative revocation will not apply if the interlineation decreases the amount of the gift from the original provision e. In this case, it will not be restored under the doctrine of DRR because even though Tom was mistaken about the effectiveness of the gift to Betty, that mistake does not affect Tom's intent to revoke the gift to Alice. Also referred to as "electing to take against the will".

In the United States, many states have probate statutes which permit the surviving spouse of the decedent to choose to receive a particular share of deceased spouse's estate in lieu of receiving the specified share left to him or her under the deceased spouse's will. As a simple example, under Iowa law see Code of Iowa Section This is called a " life estate " and terminates immediately upon the surviving spouse's death. The historical and social policy purposes of such statutes are to assure that the surviving spouse receives a statutorily set minimum amount of property from the decedent.

Historically, these statutes were enacted to prevent the deceased spouse from leaving the survivor destitute, thereby shifting the burden of care to the social welfare system. In New York, a surviving spouse is entitled to one-third of her deceased spouse's estate. The decedent's debts, administrative expenses and reasonable funeral expenses are paid prior to the calculation of the spousal elective share. The elective share is calculated through the "net estate".

The net estate is inclusive of property that passed by the laws of intestacy, testamentary property, and testamentary substitutes, as enumerated in EPTL New York's classification of testamentary substitutes that are included in the net estate make it challenging for a deceased spouse to disinherit their surviving spouse. In antiquity , Julius Caesar 's will , which named his grand-nephew Octavian as his adopted son and heir, funded and legitimized Octavian's rise to political power in the late Republic ; it provided him the resources necessary to win the civil wars against the " Liberators " and Antony and to establish the Roman Empire under the name Augustus.

Antony's officiating at the public reading of the will led to a riot and moved public opinion against Caesar's assassins. Octavian's illegal publication of Antony's sealed will was an important factor in removing his support within Rome, as it described his wish to be buried in Alexandria beside the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. In the modern era, the Thellusson v Woodford will case led to British legislation against the accumulation of money for later distribution and was fictionalized as Jarndyce and Jarndyce in Charles Dickens 's Bleak House.

The Nobel Prizes were established by Alfred Nobel 's will. Charles Vance Millar 's will provoked the Great Stork Derby , as he successfully bequeathed the bulk of his estate to the Toronto -area woman who had the greatest number of children in the ten years after his death. The prize was divided among four women who had nine, with smaller payments made to women who had borne 10 children but lost some to miscarriage.

Another woman who bore ten children was disqualified, for several were illegitimate. The shortest known legal wills are those of Bimla Rishi of Delhi , India "all to son" and Karl Tausch of Hesse , Germany, "all to wife" both containing only two words in the language they were written in Hindi and Czech, respectively.

After the testator has died, an application for probate may be made in a court with probate jurisdiction to determine the validity of the will or wills that the testator may have created, i.

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In most cases, during probate, at least one witness is called upon to testify or sign a "proof of witness" affidavit. In some jurisdictions, however, statutes may provide requirements for a "self-proving" will must be met during the execution of the will , in which case witness testimony may be forgone during probate. Often there is a time limit, usually 30 days, within which a will must be admitted to probate.

You can also suggest what you and someone else should do by using a sentence that begins with ' Let's You can also use will you or the negative form won't you to make an invitation. Won't you is very formal and polite. You don't normally use 'shall' or 'will' in clauses beginning with words and expressions such as when , before , or as soon as. Instead you use the present simple. Don't say, for example, ' I'll call as soon as I shall get home '. Say 'I'll call as soon as I get home'. Will - definition of will by The Free Dictionary https: The mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action: A desire, purpose, or determination, especially of one in authority: It is the sovereign's will that the prisoner be spared.

Deliberate intention or wish: Let it be known that I took this course of action against my will. Free discretion; inclination or pleasure: Bearing or attitude toward others; disposition: A legal declaration of how a person wishes his or her possessions to be disposed of after death. To decide on or intend: He can finish the race if he wills it. To yearn for; desire: To decree, dictate, or order: To induce or try to induce by sheer force of will: We willed the sun to come out. To grant in a legal will; bequeath: To order to direct in a legal will: She willed that her money be given to charity.

To make a choice; choose: Do as you will. Used to indicate simple futurity: They will appear later. Used to indicate likelihood or certainty: You will regret this. Used to indicate willingness: Will you help me with this package? Used to indicate requirement or command: You will report to me afterward. Used to indicate intention: I will too if I feel like it. Used to indicate customary or habitual action: Used to indicate capacity or ability: This metal will not crack under heavy pressure.