Wills Key Terms

Will
A strictly personal legal act by which a testator disposes of their property after death, revocable at any time during their lifetime (Art. 857, 859).

Strictly Personal Nature
The principle that a will must be made by the testator alone, prohibiting delegation of its creation, modification, or revocation to another person (Art. 857).

Joint Wills
A single instrument made by multiple persons to serve as their wills, deemed invalid and of no effect (Art. 858).

Undertaking Relating to Wills
Any binding agreement to make, modify, or revoke a will, which is unenforceable, preserving the testator’s freedom to alter their will (Art. 859).

Capacity to Make a Will
The legal ability to create a will, with specific conditions for minors and judicially interdicted persons outlined in the “Capacity of Persons” title (Art. 860, 861).

Judicially Interdicted Person
An individual under legal restriction whose will’s provisions may be upheld by a court if unaffected by their health, limited to legacies of 10,000 Ethiopian dollars, with heirs-at-law guaranteed three-fourths of the estate (Art. 862).

Insanity
A condition that invalidates a will only if the testator was notoriously insane at the time of making it (Art. 863).

Legally Interdicted Person
An individual under legal sanction who retains full capacity to make a will without disability (Art. 864).

Execution Impossible
A testamentary provision voided if it lacks sufficient clarity regarding its beneficiary or object (Art. 865).

Illicit Provisions
Will provisions that are unenforceable if their purpose violates law or morality (Art. 866).

Violence
Influence exerted on the testator that voids a will provision, governed by contract annulment rules on violence (Art. 867).

Undue Influence
Excessive influence on the testator, which cannot invalidate a will unless specific exceptions apply (e.g., guardians, physicians) (Art. 868).

Guardian or Tutor Provisions
Testamentary gifts to a guardian or tutor that a court may reduce or invalidate if the testator dies before age 20, unless the beneficiary is an ascendant (Art. 869).

Physicians and Clergymen Provisions
Gifts to professionals providing bodily or spiritual care within six months of death, reducible or invalidatable by a court unless the beneficiary is a relative or spouse (Art. 870).

Notary or Witness Provisions
Testamentary gifts to those involved in making the will (notary, witness, etc.), which a court may reduce or invalidate (Art. 871).

Spouse Provisions
Gifts to a spouse that a court may reduce or invalidate if the testator has descendants not shared with the spouse (Art. 872).

Intermediaries
Persons related to those in Art. 869–871 (e.g., descendants, ascendants, spouses) whose testamentary gifts may be reduced or invalidated (Art. 873).

Reduction or Invalidation Request
A legal challenge to a will provision, limited to specific heirs (descendants, ascendants, spouse) and barred if not filed within three months of execution demand (Art. 874).

Fraud
Unfair maneuvers by a beneficiary to gain favor, which cannot invalidate a will (Art. 876).

Error
A mistake by the testator that invalidates a provision only if decisive and evident from the will or referenced documents, per contract error rules (Art. 877).

Nullity of a Provision
The invalidation of one will provision, which does not affect others unless clearly interconnected in the testator’s intent (Art. 878).

Nullity of Conditions or Burdens
Impossible or illegal conditions/burdens attached to a legacy, deemed unattached, leaving the legacy valid (Art. 879).

Public Will
A will written by the testator or under dictation, valid only if read before four witnesses (or two with a notary/registrar) and signed by all (Art. 880(a), 881–883).

Holograph Will
A will entirely handwritten, dated, and signed by the testator, invalid if typewritten without handwritten confirmation or if the testator cannot understand it (Art. 880(b), 884–886).

Oral Will
A verbal declaration of last wishes made to two witnesses when death is imminent, limited to funeral directives, small legacies (up to 500 Ethiopian dollars), and guardianship provisions (Art. 880(c), 892–894).

Witness Capacity
The requirement that public will witnesses can read/hear and understand the will’s language, or the will is void (Art. 883).

Deposit of Wills
The storage of public or holograph wills with a notary or court registry, recorded in a register (Art. 891).

Proof of Will
The burden on claimants to prove a will’s existence and contents, typically via the original or certified copy for execution (Art. 896–897).

Revocation
The testator’s act of canceling a will, either expressly (via a new will), by destruction/cancellation, or by alienating bequeathed property (Art. 898–900).

Lapse of Will
The expiration of a will’s validity, e.g., oral wills after three months if the testator survives, holograph wills after seven years without deposit, or legacies due to a child’s birth, marriage dissolution, or legatee’s death/refusal (Art. 902–907).

Representation in Legacy
The substitution of a legatee’s descendants if the legatee predeceases the testator, applicable to universal title legacies or singular title legacies devolving to the state (Art. 908).