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The FindLaw Legal Dictionary -- free access to over 8260 definitions of legal terms. Search for a definition or browse our legal glossaries.

term:

Testament

testament n

[Latin testamentum, from testari to call as a witness, make a will, from testis witness]
1 : an act by which a person determines the disposition of his or her property after death [a of property]
2 : will NOTE: A testament was formerly concerned specifically with personal property, as in the phrase last will and testament. Now a will covers both personal and real property and the terms will and testament are generally synonymous, but the phrase lives on.
tes·ta·men·ta·ry [tes-tə-men-tə-rē]
adj



Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law ©1996. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

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