last will and testament

Final inheritance instructions

A last will and testament is a legal document specifying how a person's property and affairs should be handled after death.

The phrase is redundant—will and testament meant the same thing in different legal traditions—but the doubling became standard legal language.

Usually shortened to simply will: Have you updated your will?

Related
  • executorAppointed estate manager
  • heirOne who receives legacy
  • willFaculty of deliberate choice
  • estateProperty and grounds
  • codicilWill modification document

seal · widow · bequest · probate · beneficiary · next of kin · inheritance tax · disinheritance · posthumous · lawyer · witness · legal document · sound mind · undue influence · wax · decedent · quill · legacy

Opposites
estate planning mechanism

last will and testamentliving trust

Modifiable estate planning document

irrevocable trust · life estate · gift

temporal orientation

last will and testamentbirth certificate

Official record of arrival

articles of incorporation · founding charter · bucket list · constitution · genesis

formality of succession

last will and testamentintestacy

Estateless death condition

escheat · dying wish

Family

testament, wills, willed, willing, willingly, unwilling, willingness, testaments, testamentary

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Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Negative · Rated G