Law Commons^™

Wills Speak, Katheleen Guzman

Brooklyn Law Review

Legal maxims calcify. It is often unclear whether a given saying – particularly a catchy one that seems to make perfect sense – was always and remains actual law, or whether at some point its iteration and confident reiteration alchemized a useful shortcut into something much more. Such is the case for the aphorism that “no will speaks until the death of its maker,” which is pervasive but incomplete. Wills speak upon execution all the time. They simply don’t speak as conveyance. Candidly recognizing the determinism of the maxim invites fresh inquiry over the nature of the expectancy. If wills …