Legal Terms in a Will

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

You’ve probably watched this scene in a movie - a family sits in an office while an attorney reads a last will and testament from their wealthy grandfather.  And then it reads “Being of sound body and mind, I, Reginald V. Gotrocks, hereby bequeath all my fortune and possessions to one person who’s been there for me rain or shine, day in or day out…..my mailman Jim.”

The next thing that would happen is that the family may vow to contest the crazy will of the old man.  Unfortunately, if the will has been properly drafted, it’s one of the iron-clad documents in law.

The truth is that everyone of legal age should have a will.  If not, the court will never know how you intend to dispose your possessions - be it land, money, computer, or your pet cat.

It’s also important to know the legal terms in a will:

• Testator - person who owns the will
• Executor - person who’ll carry it out
• Beneficiary - recipient of the  assets
• Probate - court that will prove the will’s validity
• Bequest - gift of personal property coming from testator to beneficiary
• Codicil - written amendment to the will
• Intestate - a person have died without a will (opposite of “testate”)
• Trust - entity holding assets until later, which also allows the beneficiary to bypass probate.
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Tags: attorney, beneficiary, bequest, codicil, court, executor, intestate, probate, testator, trust, will, will and testament
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