A Will is a legal document which enables you to determine how your property is to be distributed upon your demise. It is neither a contract nor an agreement and will only take effect upon the demise of the testator.

One of the best definitions of a Will is taken from Mellows: The Law of Succession which states that ‘A Will is a declaration in prescribed form of the intention of the person making it of the matters which he wishes to take effect on or after his death, until which time it is revocable’.

In Wills Act 1959, a Will is defined as follows : ‘A Will is a document where a person states his intentions as to how his estate is to be administered and distributed after his death and who is to administer it. A Will may include provisions for guardianship, custody and tuition of a child ’. Furthermore, in respect of Muslim Wills, Muslim Wills Enactment (Selangor) 1999 defines Will as an ‘Iqrar of a person made during his life time with respect to his property or benefit thereof, to be carried out for the purposes of charity or for any other purpose permissible by the Islamic Law, after his death ’.