a written document which leaves the estate of the person who signed the will to
named persons or entities (beneficiaries, legatees, divisees) including portions
or percentages of the estate, specific gifts, creation of trusts for management
and future distribution of all or a portion of the estate (a testamentary trust).
A will usually names an executor (and possibly substitute executors) to manage the
estate, states the authority and obligations of the executor in the management and
distribution of the estate, sometimes gives funeral and/or burial instructions,
nominates guardians of minor children and spells out other terms. To be valid the
will must be signed by the person who made it (testator), be dated (but an incorrect
date will not invalidate the will) and witnessed by two people (except in Vermont
which requires three). In some states the witnesses must be disinterested, or in
some states, a gift to a witness is void, but the will is valid. A will totally
in the handwriting of the testator, signed and dated (a "holographic will") but
without witnesses, is valid in many, but not all, states. If the will (also called
a Last Will and Testament) is still in force at the time of the death of the testator
(will writer), and there is a substantial estate and/or real estate, then the will
must be probated (approved by the court, managed and distributed by the executor
under court supervision). If there is no executor named or the executor is dead
or unable or unwilling to serve, an administrator ("with will annexed") will be
appointed by the court. A written amendment or addition to a will is called a "codicil"
and must be signed, dated and witnessed just as is a will, and must refer to the
original will it amends. If there is no estate, including the situation in which
the assets have all been placed in a trust, then the will need not be probated.
See also codicil estate executor guardian holographic will last will and testament
probate testator
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