Editing Will and testament (section)

==Types of wills==
Types of wills generally include:
* [[nuncupative will|nuncupative (non-culpatory)]] – oral or dictated; often limited to sailors or military personnel.
* [[holographic will]] – written in the hand of the testator; in many jurisdictions, the signature and the material terms of the holographic will must be in the handwriting of the testator.
* self-proved – in solemn form with affidavits of subscribing witnesses to avoid probate.
* notarial – will in public form and prepared by a [[Civil law notary|civil-law notary]] (civil-law jurisdictions and Louisiana, United States).
* mystic – sealed until death.<ref>{{Cite web |title=mystic will |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/mystic_will |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=LII / Legal Information Institute |language=en}}</ref>
* serviceman's will – will of person in [[Active duty|active-duty military service]] and usually lacking certain formalities, particularly under English law.
* reciprocal/mirror/mutual/husband and wife wills – wills made by two or more parties (typically spouses) that make similar or identical provisions in favor of each other.
* [[joint will]] – similar to reciprocal wills but one instrument; has a binding effect on the surviving testator(s). First documented in [[English law]] in 1769.<ref>Repository Citation:  ''[https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol15/iss1/7 Contracts Not to Revoke Joint or Mutual Wills]'', 15 William & Mary Law Review 144 (1973).</ref>
* unsolemn will – will in which the executor is unnamed.
* will in solemn form – signed by testator and witnesses.

Some jurisdictions recognize a [[holographic will]], made out entirely in the testator's own hand, or in some modern formulations, with material provisions in the testator's hand. The distinctive feature of a holographic will is less that it is handwritten by the testator, and often that it need not be witnessed. In Louisiana this type of testament is called an olographic testament.<ref>Louisiana Civil Code Article 1575 http://legis.la.gov/lss/lss.asp?doc=108900/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624142019/http://legis.la.gov/lss/lss.asp?doc=108900%2F |date=2013-06-24 }}</ref> It must be entirely written, dated, and signed in the handwriting of the testator. Although the date may appear anywhere in the testament, the testator must sign the testament at the end of the testament. Any additions or corrections must also be entirely hand written to have effect.

In England, the formalities of wills are relaxed for soldiers who express their wishes on active service; any such will is known as a serviceman's will. A minority of jurisdictions even recognize the validity of nuncupative wills (oral wills), particularly for military personnel or merchant sailors. However, there are often constraints on the disposition of property if such an oral will is used.