Testator, Testatrix & 2,000 Years of Legal Vocabulary

Why Estate Planning Lawyers Still Usea Words That Sound Like They Belong in Ancient Rome

If you have ever read a Will and wondered why lawyers insist on using words like testator and testatrix when “the person making the Will” would seem to work perfectly well, there is actually a reason.

And, as with a surprising amount of American law, the trail leads all the way back to ancient Rome.

Traditionally, a testator is a man who makes a valid Last Will and Testament.

A testatrix is a woman who makes a valid Last Will and Testament.

The plural forms are testators and testatrices—the latter being an excellent word to save for your next Scrabble game, assuming your opponents are willing to tolerate legal Latin.

Today, lawyers frequently use testator as a gender-neutral term, and many modern legal documents simply refer to the person as the “Will-maker.” But testatrix still appears in statutes, court decisions, older Wills, and legal practice.

So where did these peculiar words come from?

Pack Your Toga. We’re Going to Rome.

The word testator comes from Latin.

Its history is tied to the Latin verb testari, meaning roughly to bear witness, testify, or make a testament. That connection makes sense when you remember that a Will is not merely a list of someone’s wishes—it is a formal declaration intended to have legal effect after that person’s death.

The English word testament comes from the same linguistic family.

That is why we still call the document a Last Will and Testament.

And it is also why seemingly unrelated English words such as testify, testimony, and attest sound suspiciously familiar. They all developed around the concept of witnessing, declaring, or establishing something as true.

In other words, when an estate-planning attorney calls someone a “testator,” we are using vocabulary with roots stretching back roughly two thousand years.

This linguistic relic became embedded in English common-law practice and eventually traveled across the Atlantic into American law.

Which means a word originating in the legal traditions of antiquity can still appear in an Idaho estate-planning document today.

Interestingly, the word “Will” followed a different linguistic path.

Rather than coming directly from the Latin terminology surrounding a testament, the English word reflects the idea of a person’s will, wish, or intention.

Put the two concepts together, and the phrase “Last Will and Testament” essentially emphasizes the same fundamental idea from two linguistic traditions:

These are my final legally declared wishes.

Like many traditional legal phrases, it is somewhat redundant.

Also like many traditional legal phrases, lawyers have kept using it for centuries anyway.

Modern legal drafting increasingly favors gender-neutral terminology. Depending on the document and jurisdiction, you may see testator used for everyone, or you may simply see phrases such as “the person making this Will.”

But understanding testator and testatrix is still useful because estate planning is full of terminology inherited from centuries of legal history.

And occasionally, knowing where those words came from makes an intimidating legal document feel a little less mysterious.

So, the next time your attorney calls you a testator or testatrix, don’t be alarmed.

You haven’t accidentally joined the Roman Senate.

You’re simply making a Will, and participating in a legal tradition that has been developing for a very, very long time.