Wills, trusts and estates
Part of the common law series
Wills
Legal history of wills Joint wills and mutual wills Will contract Codicil Holographic will Oral will Sections Attestation clause Residuary clause Incorporation by reference Contest Testamentary capacity Undue influence Insane delusion Fraud No-contest clause Property disposition Lapse and anti-lapse Ademption Abatement Satisfaction of legacies Acts of independent significance Elective share Pretermitted heir
Trusts
Express Resulting Constructive Common types Bare Discretionary Accumulation and maintenance Interest in possession Charitable Purpose Incentive Other types Protective Spendthrift Life insurance Remainder Life interest Reversionary interest Testamentary Honorary Asset-protection Special needs Supplemental needs Governing doctrines Pour-over will Cy-près doctrine Hague Convention (conflict law) Application in civil law Dishonest assistance
Estate administration
Intestacy Testator Probate Power of appointment Simultaneous death Slayer rule Laughing heir Advancement Disclaimer of interest Inheritance tax
Related topics
Advance directive (Living will) Blind trust Forced heirship Totten trust
Other common law areas
Contract Tort Property Criminal law Evidence
v t e

A testator (/tɛsˈteɪtɔːr/) is a person who has written and executed a last will and testament that is in effect at the time of their death.^[1] It is any "person who makes a will."^[2]

Related terms

• A female testator is sometimes referred to as a testatrix (/tɛsˈteɪtrɪks/), plural testatrices (/tɛstəˈtraɪsiːs/), particularly in older cases.^[2]
• In Ahmadiyya Islam, a testator is referred to as a moosi,^[3] 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:

1. Testamentary capacity, or mental capacity or ability to execute a will and
2. Testamentary disposition, or gift made in a will (see that article for types).
3. Testamentary trust, a trust 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, rather than probate.
• The attestation clause 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.