A will contract is a term used in the

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

wills Wills may refer to: * Will (law) A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the pr ...

describing a

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

to exchange a current performance for a future bequest. In such an agreement, one party (the promisee) will provide some performance in exchange for a promise by the other party (the

testator A testator () is a person who has written and executed a last will and testament that is in effect at the time of their death. It is any "person who makes a will."Gordon Brown, ''Administration of Wills, Trusts, and Estates'', 3d ed. (2003), p. 556 ...

, because they must draft a will) to make a specific bequest to the promisee party in the testator's will. Most jurisdictions recognize such contracts as valid, although a few hold them as void against

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

. Some jurisdictions will not recognize an

oral contract An oral contract is a contract, the terms of which have been agreed by spoken communication. This is in contrast to a written contract, where the contract is a written document. There may be written, or other physical evidence, of an oral contrac ...

for such a purpose, requiring instead that the contract be executed in writing and signed by both parties. Some jurisdictions require full compliance with the

Statute of Wills The Statute of Wills (32 Hen. 8, c. 1 – enacted in 1540) was an Act of the Parliament of England. It made it possible, for the first time in post-Conquest English history, for landholders to determine who would inherit their land upon their dea ...

to be effective, i.e., in writing and signed in the presence of two witnesses. The general rule, where such contracts are recognized, is that the promisee can not specifically enforce the contract if the testator later revokes or supersedes the will making the promised bequest, but can only sue the testator's estate for breach of contract. This protects the testator's very strong freedom to dispose of his property however he sees fit. For example, suppose Joey agrees to execute a will bequeathing his house to Rachel in exchange for services provided by Rachel. If Joey later revokes that will, Rachel can not force Joey's estate to convey the house to her, but can only sue for the value of the house. Typically, will contracts are made between people who have different heirs to whom they wish to leave their property at death, but they may wish for the other person to have the use of until all of their combined assets until the death of the second to die. A married couple with children from an earlier marriage is a good example. The husband may leave his separate estate to his wife at his death, instead of directly to his children from his earlier marriage and in exchange, she may agree to combine his separate estate with her separate estate at her death and split the combined estate up between all of their children. It would work the same if she died first. A will contract only becomes irrevocable only at the first party's death. Because of differences in state laws regarding will contracts, an estate planning attorney should be consulted before use of this planning device. The law behind wills becomes tedious when many parties are not present, typically in cases with limited family members. This mainly occurred after World War Two where many wills had no possible recipients so the assets went to the government. Wills are often confused with trust funds, but wills are only present at death whereas trust funds can be accessed during the time that the creator of the fund is still alive.

References

Wills and trusts {{Law-term-stub