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{{Short description|Person who makes a will}}
{{Wills, trusts, estates}}
A '''testator''' ({{IPAc-en|t|ɛ|s|'|t|eɪ|t|ɔr}}) is a [[person]] who has written and executed a [[Will (law)|last will and testament]] that is in effect at the time of their [[death]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.law.com/default2.asp?typed=testator&type=1&submit1.x=72&submit1.y=6 |title=Law dictionary on line |publisher=Dictionary.law.com |date=2010-12-09 |access-date=2012-03-26}}</ref> It is any "person who makes a will."<ref name="Gordon">Gordon Brown, ''Administration of Wills, Trusts, and Estates'', 3d ed. (2003), p. 556. {{ISBN|0-7668-5281-4}}.</ref>

==Related terms==
* A female testator is sometimes referred to as a '''testatrix''' ({{IPAc-en|t|ɛ|s|'|t|eɪ|t|r|ɪ|k|s}}), plural '''testatrices''' ({{IPAc-en|t|ɛ|s|t|ə|'|t|r|aɪ|s|iː|s}}), particularly in older cases.<ref name=Gordon />
*In [[Ahmadiyya Islam]], a testator is referred to as a '''moosi''',<ref Name="Khairallah">{{cite book 
|title= The law of inheritance in the Republics of Syria and Lebanon
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=T5TGAAAAMAAJ&q=Moosi
|last= Khairallah
|first= Ibrahim A. 
|author-link= Ibrahim A. Khairallah
|year= 1941
|publisher= American Press
|location= Original from the University of Michigan
|pages= 228–258}}</ref> who is someone that has signed up for Wasiyyat or a will, under the plan initiated by the [[Mirza Ghulam Ahmad|Promised Messiah]], thus committing a portion, not less than one-tenth, of his lifetime earnings and any property to a cause.

* The [[adjective|adjectival]] form of the word is '''testamentary''', as in:
# [[Testamentary capacity]], or mental capacity or ability to execute a will and
# [[Testamentary disposition]], or gift made in a will (see that article for types).
# [[Testamentary trust]], a [[trust (law)|trust]] that is created in a will.
* A [[will (law)|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 of an estate on death|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.

==See also==
*[[Honora Jenkins' will|Witnessing of a testator's will]]
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Wills and trusts]]


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