Will (law)
Will, in law, a written document in which a person (called the testator) tells what he wants done with his property after his death. A will may also cover guardianship of minor children and the administration of an estate. A will must meet certain legal requirements and should be phrased in such a way that the testator's intentions are clear.
The person who makes a valid will must be mentally competent at the time it is drawn up, and must fully understand the effect of what he does. In most states, the testator must sign and acknowledge his will in the presence of at least two witnesses. A testator may revoke a will at any time or may change it with a document called a codicil, which must be executed in the same manner as the original will.
Normally an executor is named in the will to carry out, or execute, the testator's intentions after his death. The executor's first duty after the testator's death is to have the will probated, or proved valid. This is done by a probate, or surrogate, court, in which all interested parties have a chance to be heard. After the will has been probated, the court oversees the executor to make certain that the terms of the will are carried out in accordance with the law. (The term probate is sometimes used to refer to this entire process of executing a will, not just to the process of proving it valid.)
A person who dies without a valid will is said to have died intestate. An administrator is appointed by the court to dispose of the intestate person's property. Laws governing the distribution of the property of intestate persons vary from state to state, but generally provide that property be divided among the surviving spouse and children.