Kenen ääni kuuluu testamentissa?
Avainsanat:
testamentti, oikeusmuotoilu, ennakoiva oikeus, testamenttimuotoilu, informaatiomuotoilu, muotoiluajatteluAbstrakti
Whose voice is heard in a will?
A will is a key instrument in estate planning. It is also one of the most significant and personal legal actions. As family relationships become more complex and wealth increases, the significance of the will is likely to continue to increase. One of the main reasons for making a will is to secure the well-being of the family and surviving spouse after the death of the testator. Despite the aim of facilitating matters related to inheritance, a will can still cause conflicts in family relationships and increase the number of disputes that go to court. There are several uncertainties associated with a will, some of which start already during the will-drafting phase. Will documents are often brief and drawn up in accordance with document templates and do not necessarily reflect the true intentions of the testator. They are short and simplified in wording and provide only little information which would reveal the reasons behind the preparation of the will or the objectives of the testamentary provisions. In this article, we examine the will as a tool for estate planning, as a personal narrative and as a language act. We consider whether the process of planning and preparing the will is driven by identifying the goals, purpose and will of the testator and by establishing a sufficient legal framework for their implementation. We will highlight how legal design offers perspectives and methods for moving from expert-orientation to user- and customer-orientation in the planning and preparation of a will, so that the will can truly reflect the voice and will of the testator. This requires paying attention to the will preparation process as well as to the content, linguistic clarity, comprehensibility and structural consistency of the will document. The aim is to create a will that is both legally valid and genuinely reflects the intent, will and values of the testator and ensures their realisation in practice.
