| 释义 |
will
n. A document by which a person (called the testator) appoints executors to administer his estate after his death, and directs the manner in which it is to be distributed to the beneficiaries he specifies. To be valid, the will must comply with the formal requirements of the Wills Act 1837 (see execution of will), the testator must have testamentary capacity when the will is made, and he must make it of his own free wishes without any undue influence. A will can be amended by the execution of a codicil or a duly executed alteration. It can be revoked by the testator destroying it with that intention, or making another will. It may be revoked in part through partial destruction (with the necessary intent), obliteration of words (rendering them indecipherable) or through signed and attested alterations (such as scoring out words). It is automatically revoked if the testator marries or enters into a civil partnership, except where at the time it was made the testator was expecting to marry a particular person or enter into a civil partnership with a particular person and he intended his will to survive the act of marriage or civil partnership. Following death, the validity of the will is confirmed by the court issuing a grant of probate. See also interpretation of wills; joint will; mutual wills; nuncupative will; privileged will; revocation of will. |