Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

At will.

subject to one's discretion; as one wishes or chooses; esp. (of a legal relationship), able to be terminated or discharged by either party without cause <employment at will>.

At-will employment.

see employment at will under employment. At-will tenancy. See tenancy at will under ten. Ancy.

New asset. Wills & estates.

In the administration of a decedent's estate, property that the administrator or executor receives after the time has expired to file claims against the estate.

Will

n. 1. Wish; desire; choice <employment at will>. 2. A document by which a person directs his or her estate to be distributed upon death <there was no mention of his estranged brother in the will>. - Also termed testament; will and testament. - will, ub.

Willful

adj. Voluntary and intentional, but not necessarily malicious. - Sometimes 'spelled wilful. - willfulness, n. Cf. WANTON. "The word 'wilful' or 'wilfully' when used in the definition of a crime, it has been said time and again, means only intentionally or purposely as distinguished from accidentally or negligently and does not require any actual impropriety; while on the other hand it has been stated with equal repetition and insistence that the requirement added by such a word is not satisfied unless there is a bad purpose or evil intent." Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 875-76 (3d ed. 1982). "Almost all of the cases under [Bankruptcy Code § 523(a)(6)] deal with the definition of the two words 'willful' and 'malicious.' Initially one might think that willful and malicious mean the same thing. If they did, Congress should have used one word and not both. Most courts feel compelled to find some different meaning for each of them." David G. Epstein et al., Bankruptcy § 7-30, at 531 (1993).

Willfulness

A condition shown by the intentional disregard of a known duty necessary to another's safety of person or property, and the complete lack of care for another's life, person, or property. - Also termed legal willfulness.

Williams Act

A federal statute, enacted in 1968, that amended the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by requiring investors who own more than 510 of a company's stock to furnish certain information to the SEC and to comply with certain requirements when making a tender offer.

Wills Act

1. STATUTE OF WILLS (1). 2. An 1837 English statute that allowed people to dispose of every type of property interest by will and that required every will to be attested by two witnesses. - Also termed (in sense 2) Lord Langdale's Act.

administration with the will annexed.

See administration cum testamento annexo under ADMINISTRATION.

administrator with the will annexed.

See administrator cum testamento annexo.

against the will

contrary to a person's wishes. ( indictments use this phrase to indicate that the defendant's conduct was without the victim's consent.

ambulatory will

A will that can be altered during the testator's lifetime.

antenuptial will

See prenuptial will

at-will tenancy

See tenancy at will.

closed will

See mystic will.

conditional will

A will that depends on the occurrence of an uncertain event for the will to take effect.

conjoint will

See joint will.

contingent will

A will that takes effect only if a specified event occurs.

counter will

See mutual will.

double will

See mutual will under WILL.

duplicate will

A will executed in duplicate by a testator who retains one copy and gives the second copy to another person. ( The rules applicable to wills apply to both wills, and upon application for probate, both copies must be tendered into the registry of the probate court.

employment at will

See EMPLOYMENT

employment at will.

Employment that is usu. undertaken without a contract and that may be terminated at any time, by either the employer or the employee, without cause. -Also termed at-will employment; hiring at will. "Surprisingly, the employment at will doctrine is not an ancient one. On the contrary, it dates only from the period in the mid-nineteenth century that saw the transformation of the employment relation from one of status to one of contract. The relentlesat will' had no legal interest in continuing job security. Whereas early American masters had some responsibility to the public as well as to their servants when they turned dependent servants out on the world, under [this] formulation, masters could simp

estate at will

See tenancy at will under TENAN. CY.

goodwill.

A business's reputation, patronage, and other intangible assets that are considered when appraising the business, esp. for purchase; the ability to earn income in excess of the income that would be expected from the business viewed as a mere collection of assets. - Also written good will. Cf. going-concern value under VALUE.

hiring at will

See employment at will under EMPLOYMENT.

holographic will

A will that is entirely handwritten by the testator. ( In many states, a holographic will is valid even if not witnessed. - Also termed olographic will.

inofficious will

See inofficious testament under TESTAMENT.

insinuation of a will

Civil law. The first production of a will for probate.

international will

A will that is executed according to formalities provided in an international treaty or convention, and that will be valid although it may be written in a foreign language by a testator domiciled in another country.

international will.

See WILL.

invalid will

A will that fails to make an effective disposition of property.

joint and mutual will

A will executed by two or more people - to dispose of property they own separately, in common, or jointly -requiring the surviving testator to dispose of the property in accordance with the terms of the will, and showing that the devises are made in consideration of one another. ( The word "joint" indicates the form of the will. The word "mutual" describes the substantive provisions. - Also termed joint and reciprocal will.

joint and reciprocal will

See joint and mutual will under WILL.

joint will

A single will executed by two or more testators, usu. disposing of their common property by transferring their separate titles to one devisee. - Also termed conjoint will.

last will

See WILL.

last will and testament

A person's final will. See WILL.

legal willfulness

See WILLFULNESS.

lence." 4 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 267 (1769).

letters. Wills & estates

Letters of administration, letters of conservatorship, letters of guardianship, and letters testamentary, collectively. Uniform Probate Code § 1-201(23). See LETTER (2).

living will

See LIVING WILL.

lost will

Am executed will that cannot be found at the testator's death. ( Its contents can be proved by parol evidence in many jurisdictions, but in some states a lost will creates a rebuttable presumption that it has been revoked.

mariner's will

See soldier's will.

mutual will

See WILL

mystic will

Civil law. A secret will signed by the testator, sealed and delivered to a notary in the presence of three to seven witnesses, accompanied by the testator's declaration that it is a valid will. ( The notary is then required to indorse on the envelope containing the will a statement. of all the facts surrounding the transaction, and this is signed by the notary and all the witnesses. -Also termed mystic testament; secret will; secret testament; closed will; closed testament; sealed will; sealed testament.

nonintervention will.

A will that authorizes the executor to settle and distribute the estate without court supervision.

notarial will

See WILL.

notarial will.

A will executed by a testator in the presence of two witnesses and a notary public.

nuncupative will

. An oral will made in contemplation of imminent death from an injury recently incurred. ( Nuncupative wills are invalid in most states, but in those states allowing them, the amount that may be conveyed is usu. limited by statute, and they traditionally apply only to personal property. - Also termed oral will; unwritten will; verbal will. "Nuncupative (i.e., oral) wills are by statute in almost all States required to be proved by two (sometimes three) witnesses, who were present and heard the testamentary words." John H. Wigmore, A Students' Textbook of the Law of Evidence 299 (1935)

olograpshic will.

See holographic will.