testator


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Testator

One who makes or has made a will; one who dies leaving a will.

A testator is a person who makes a valid will. A will is the document through which a deceased person disposes of his property. A person who dies without having made a will is said to have died intestate.

A testator must be of sound mind when making a will. In part to ensure that a testator is of sound mind, states require that the signing of a will be witnessed by multiple persons. A testator also should be making the will without duress and free of coercion from other persons. If the testator is not acting of her own free will in consenting to the terms of the will, a court may later void all or part of it.

West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

testator

n. a person who has written a will which is in effect at the time of his/her death. (See: will)

Copyright © 1981-2005 by Gerald N. Hill and Kathleen T. Hill. All Right reserved.

testator

the person who makes a WILL.
Collins Dictionary of Law © W.J. Stewart, 2006

TESTATOR. One who has made a testament or will.
     2. In general, all persons may be testators. But to this rule there are various exceptions. First, persons who are deprived of understanding cannot make wills; idiots, lunatics and infants, are among this class. Secondly, persons who have understanding, but being under the power of others, cannot freely exercise their will; and this the law presumes to be the case with a married woman, and, therefore, she cannot make a will without the express consent of her husband to the particular will. When a woman makes a will under some general agreement on the part of the husband that she shall make a will, the instrument is not properly a will, but a writing in the nature of a will or testament. Thirdly, persons who are deprived of their free will cannot make a testament; as, a person in duress. 2 Bl. Com. 497; 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 2102, et seq. See Devisor; Duress; Feme covert;, Idiot; Influence; Parties to Contracts; Testament; Wife; Will.

A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856.
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