The person who makes a will. If you write a handwritten will and sign it yourself then you are the testator of a holographic will which is not accepted in certain states. Even when you hire an attorney to draft a will for you, you are the testator or the person whose estate has a will.
Who is a testator of a will?
A testator is the person who makes and executes a last will and testament. Example of a Testator: Jane Doe has an attorney draft a will and then Jane Doe executes said will, Jane Doe is referred to as the Testator. When Tiffany subsequently passes away, she is said to have died “testate”, or with a will.
Testate is different from intestate
Intestate or intestacy describes a person’s estate where the decedent passed away without a last will and testament. This is known as dying intestate. Instestate is different from testate or testacy because testate refers to a person’s estate where the decedent passed away with a last will and testament. When someone dies with a will and testament then their estate would be testate.
When is the word testatrix used?
The word “testatrix” used to be regularly applied as the female equivalent of “testator”. Usage of the suffix “-trix” as applied to any word to indicate the female version is becoming increasingly outdated.
The testator must sign the will
Any mark made by the testator on the document validates the will, provided that they intended it to be their signature, and that this signature is meant to execute the will.
Testator Vs Executor
The testator is the person named in the Will who is signing it which is different from the executor who is the person appointed to look after and settle the estate upon death of the Testator during probate.
Requirements To be A Testator
A person who is of sound mind and requisite age at the time that he makes the will, not at the date of his death when it takes effect can be a testator. Anyone over a minimum age, usually 18, is legally capable of making a will as long as he or she is competent.
Examples of testator used in a sentence
Here are some examples of newspapers that used testator in a sentence to help provide context to the term.
“For example, Texas homestead protections for spouses may prevent a testator (the person making the will) from distributing a home to others as initially desired.”— Dallas News, 1 Mar. 2021
“But all people don’t think the same way, so occasionally the testator wants to depart from a traditional method of asset disposition, for various reasons.”— Wesley E. Wright, Houston Chronicle, 16 Aug. 2019
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