Black’s Law Dictionary definition of Will: “A document by which a person directs his or her estate to be distributed upon death. Also termed testament, or will and testament.”

A Last Will and Testament (“Will”) is over a thousand years old in English law. The common law of England was adopted by the early United States, and is the law in most cases and places now in the U.S., including California. It is based on the concept of private property, and also on the premise that an individual has the right to control the disposition of his or her property both during life and after death.