Legal Disposition Of Wills
From the time a will is written until, after the writer's death, all of his or he property is distributed among the heirs, the process of dividing the property of the deceased goes through several stages in the legal disposition of wills.
Promise To Make A Will
The earliest stage in the legal disposition of a will comes before the will has ever been written; it is a promise to make a will. This happens most often with spouses, who each leave their property to the other spouse based on a promise that the other spouse will do likewise. On other occasions, a promise to make a will takes place in the context of a credit transaction. A person who borrows money agrees, as a condition of the loan, to make a will leaving sufficient money to the lender to repay the loan.
Making Of A Will
The next stage in the legal disposition of a will is the actual making of a will. A will must meet certain technical legal requirements. The person who makes the will must be over the age of 18 years and must be "of sound mind" - that is, have an idea of what their property includes, who their blood relatives are, how they want to dispose of their property, and in what manner the legal disposition of the will will be made.
After The Will Is Made
The legal disposition of a will where the testator (the person who wrote the will) is still alive is that the will has no legal effect. The will only has a significant legal effect after the person who made the will has died.
Revoking A Will
The legal disposition of a revoked will is the same as if the will had never been made. The rules for revoking a will can vary depending on the location where the testator resides. In some places, a testator can merely state "I revoke this will." In others, the testator must tear up the will or destroy it in addition to stating the intention to revoke the will.
Changing A Will
A testator can change his or her will at any time until death. The testator can either write a Codicil, or a document amending an existing will, or tear the old will up and start over from scratch. Any new will should contain a provision stating that the testator revokes all prior wills, just to be sure no old wills pop up unexpectedly.
