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EXECUTOR Definition & Legal Meaning

Definition & Citations:

A person appointed by a testator to carry out the directions and requests in his will, and to dispose of the property according to his testamentary provisions after his decease. Scott v. Guernsey, 60 Barb. (N. Y.) 175; In re Lamb’s Estate, 122 Mich. 239, SO N. W. 1081; Compton v. McMahan, 19 Mo. App. 505. One to whom another man commits by his last will the execution of that will and testament. 2 Bl. Comm. 503.A person to whom a testator by his will commits the execution, or putting in force,of that instrument and its codicils. Fonbl. 307.Executors are classified according to the following several methods:They are either general or special. The former term denotes an executor who is to have charge of the whole estate, wherever found, and administer it to a final settlement; while a special executor is only empowered by the will to take charge of a limited portion of the estate, or such part as may lie in one place, or to carry on the administration only to a prescribed point.They are either instituted or substituted. An instituted executor is one who isappointed by the testator without any condition; while a substituted executor is onenamed to fill the office in case the person first nominated should refuse to act.In the phraseology of ecclesiastical law, they are of the following kinds:Executor d. lege constitutus, an executor appointed by law; the ordinary of the diocese.Executor ab episcopo constitutus, or executor dativus, an executor appointed by the bishop; an administrator to an intestate. Executor & testatore constitutus, an executor appointed by a testator. Otherwise termed “executor tcstamentarius;” a testamentary executor.An executor to the tenor is one who, though not directly constituted executor by the will, is therein charged with duties in relation to the estate which can only be performed by tbe executor.

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