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- WILL (LAW)
- In law, a will is a written document that directs how a
- person's property shall be distributed at death. Anyone who is
- legally an adult, of sound mind, and not under the undue
- influence of an interested party can make a valid will. It
- must be signed by the person who makes it, and in most U.S.
- states two or three other persons must also sign the will as
- witnesses. Within limits, persons may dispose of their
- property as they choose. State statutes, however, usually
- stipulate that a surviving spouse cannot be disinherited.
-
- The person who makes a will is called a testator, if a man, and
- a testatrix, if a woman. In the will the maker appoints a
- person to take care of his or her estate after death. That
- person is called an executor (male) or an executrix (female).
-
- When the maker dies, the will is taken to the appropriate
- county office (called a PROBATE court, orphan's court, or
- surrogate's court) to establish that it is a valid will,
- properly executed. If the will does not specify an executor,
- the court will appoint an administrator, who will perform the
- same functions as an executor.
-
- The assets of the deceased person must then be gathered
- together by the executor, who is responsible for paying debts
- and distributing what is left to the heirs in accordance with
- the directions contained in the will. The executor usually
- employs a lawyer to take care of the legal details and may be
- required to make a formal accounting to the court before
- carrying out the final distribution. A person who dies without
- a valid will is said to die intestate. The person's property is then
- distributed in accordance with a state statute for intestate
- succession. If the decedent was single, the statute usually
- provides for the property to go to the next of kin, in the following
- order: parents or surviving parent, brothers and sisters, nephews and
- nieces, grandparents, uncles and aunts, and cousins. If the
- decedent has no relatives within the statutory limit, the
- estate goes to the state itself, by a process called ESCHEAT.
- If the intestate person was married, the surviving spouse
- usually receives at least one-third of the entire estate, but
- statutes differ and offspring always have rights.
-
- Sometimes married persons who have all their assets in both
- names think that they do not need a will because the survivor
- will retain possession. However, if they should die
- simultaneously, their property might go to relatives they did
- not intend to include. A carefully drawn will may also reduce
- the tax burden of an estate and avoid delays and expenses in
- probate.