TESTAMENTUM

Lat. In the civil law. A testament; a will, or last will. In old English lair. A testament or will; a disposition of property made in contemplation of death. Bract, fol. 60. A general name for any instrument of conveyance, including deeds and charters, and so called either because it furnished written testimony of the conveyance, or because it was authenticated by witnesses, (testes.) Spelman. Testamentum inofficiosum. Lat. In the civil law. An inofficious testament, (q. v.) Testamentum est voluntatis nostras justa sententia, de eo quod quia post mortem suam fieri velit. A testament is the just expression of our will concerning that which any one wishes done after his death, [or, as Blackstone translates, “the legal declaration of a man’s intentions which he wills to be performed after his death.”] Dig. 28, 1, 1; 2 Bl. Comm. 499. Testamentum, i.e., testatio mentis, facta nullo praesente metu periculi, sed cogitatione mortalitatis. Co. Litt. 322. A testament, i.e., the witnessing of one’s intention, made under no present fear of danger, but in expectancy of death. Testamentum Omne morte consumma tur. Every will is perfected by death. A will speaks from the time of death only. Co. Litt. 232.