Testamentary

Relating to wills.

An individual is said to have testamentary capacity to make a will when that person has sufficient mental ability to comprehend what he or she is doing, the nature and extent of his or her property, the natural objects (which means appropriate persons or recipients) of his or her bounty, and the interrelationships among these three concepts.

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testamentary adj. pertaining to a will.

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HEIR, TESTAMENTARY, civil law. A testamentary heir is one who is constituted heir by testament executed in the form prescribed by law. He is so called to distinguish him from the legal heirs, who are called to the succession by the law; and from conventional heirs, who are so constituted by a contract inter vivos. See Haeres factus; Devisee.

TESTAMENTARY. Belonging to a testament; as a testamentary gift; a testamentary guardian, or one appointed by will or testament; letters testamentary, or a writing under seal given by an officer lawfully authorized, granting power to one named as executor to execute a last will or testament.