Last Will And Testament Virginia: Fill & Download for Free

That’s a very interesting question.And I have an answer. Maybe not THE answer, but AN answer.This involves people personally known, to me.In the Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, Union forces occupied a dwelling overlooking the Potomac River from its eastern shore, across from what is now Shepherdstown, West Virginia.The occupiers looted the residence, and one of the treasures they stole was a sterling silver tea set, which eventually graced the home of a descendant, in Maine.As fortune would have it, the descendant of the thief, and the descendant of the Confederate officer who owned the plundered home, were roommates at college, together, 65 years later. Even though their antecedents were mortal enemies in the Civil War, the two roommates had become fast friends.So it was that the “Union man” invited his friend (the “Confederate man”) to his home in Maine, over spring break.The hospitality at the Maine residence included the after-dinner serving of coffee from the exact same tea set that had been taken from the home overlooking the Potomac. And with that serving came the story of its acquisition, told by the father of the Maine roommate, who produced a letter from his father, documenting the theft of the set.Meanwhile, the Confederate roommate was stimulated to recall what he had been told about the theft, from his father and his grandfather. He wondered if the tea service before him was, in fact, the property of his ancestors! And the way to prove this was locating certain marks in the silver, indicating provenance and ownership.Thus he arose from the table and asked if the set might be inspected to locate those marks. Everyone agreed. And no one thought there would be a match.But there WAS a match. An EXACT match!Everyone was stunned.Finally, the Maine roommate’s father in possession of the set said that the set properly belonged to the Confederate descendant, and that he could take it with him.But the proper and legal owner said, “No.” As he put it, “I know where this family treasure now is, and it is in the hands of a friend. In your last will and testament specify that it shall be returned to my children.”And so, it was done.Hope that helps.

Because people don’t know their history. One answer reads “because Jefferson never came out against it” . . . . That’s a lie. In short: Both Washington and Jefferson were Virginians. Like Jefferson, Washington had inherited slaves at 11 years old. Washington was able to circumvent State laws by freeing his slaves in his will at his death in 1799; by the time of Jefferson’s death in 1826, State laws had so stiffened that it had become virtually impossible for Jefferson to use the same means.In 1723, a law was passed which forbid the emancipation of slaves under any circumstance-even by a last will and testament. In 1782, Virginia began to move in a new direction (for a short time) by passing a very liberal manumission law. As a result, “this restraint on the power of the master to emancipate his slave was removed, and since that time the master may emancipate by his last will or deed.”(It was because of this law that George Washington was able to free his slaves in his last will and testament in 1799.) In 1806, unfortunately, the Virginia Legislature repealed much of that law, and it became more difficult to emancipate slaves in a last will and testament:It shall be lawful for any person, by his or her last will and testament, or by any other instrument in writing under his or her hand and seal . . . to emancipate and set free his or her slaves . . . Provided, also, that all slaves so emancipated, not being . . . of sound mind and body, or being above the age of 45 years, or being males under the age of 21, or females under the age of 18 years, shall respectively be supported and maintained by the person so liberating them, or by his or her estate. (emphasis added).Furthermore, recall that Virginia law did not recognize slave families. Therefore, if a slave was freed, the law made it almost impossible for him to remain near his spouse, children, or his family members who had not been freed, for the law required that a freed slave promptly depart the State or else reenter slavery: “If any slave hereafter emancipated shall remain within this Commonwealth more than 12 months after his or her right to freedom shall have accrued, he or she shall forfeit all such right and may be apprehended and sold.”It was under difficult laws like these—under laws even more restrictive than those Washington had faced-that Jefferson was required to operate. Jefferson maintained a consistent public opposition to slavery and assiduously labored to end slavery both in his State and in the nation. Jefferson’s efforts to end slavery were manifested years before the American Revolution.Significantly, Thomas Jefferson helped end slavery in several States by his leadership on the Declaration of Independence, and he was also behind the first attempt to ban slavery in new territories. Unfortunately, that proposal fell one vote short of passage. 3 years prior to that proposal, Jefferson had made known his feelings against slavery in his book, Notes on the State of Virginia (1781). That work, circulated widely across the nation.Just weeks before his death, Jefferson reiterated: “On the question of the lawfulness of slavery, that is of the right of one man to appropriate to himself the faculties of another without his consent, I certainly retain my early opinions.”Since the State laws on slavery had significantly stiffened between the death of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson 27 years later, as Jefferson had observed in 1814, “the laws do not permit us to turn them loose” Jefferson was unable to do what Washington had done in freeing his slaves. However, Jefferson had gone well above and beyond other slave owners in that era in that he actually paid his slaves for their work. Additionally, he paid them for extra tasks they performed outside their normal working hours and even offered a revolutionary profit sharing plan for products they helped produce.Significantly it was the efforts of both Washington and Jefferson, and especially the documents which Jefferson had written, that were so heavily relied on by later abolitionists such as John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, and Abraham Lincoln in their efforts to end slavery. For example, Abraham Lincoln specifically invoked the words and efforts of Thomas Jefferson to justify his own crusade to end slavery and achieve civil rights and equality for blacks.It is undebatable that the early efforts and words both of George Washington and of Thomas Jefferson provided one of the strongest platforms on which later generations of abolitionists, and some of their most notable orators, erected their arguments. While it is difficult for today’s critics of Washington and Jefferson to understand the culture of America 2 centuries ago, it is nevertheless true that both Washington and Jefferson were influential in slowly turning that culture in a direction which-generations later-eventually secured equal civil rights for all Americans, regardless of their color.

The last will is essential and relevant confidential document as it clears the matters related to the beneficiaries, distribution of property and income-generating sources after the death of will-maker. In the absence of such will, the court finds it difficult to validate the distribution of assets or may distribute assets in an undesirable way as per law. Family is the most vulnerable party during such time.It is wise to create will within due time as life is uncertain. An ideal will rightly addresses guardianship issue for minor kids, distribution of property among kids and spouse with names, and conditional inheritance of property. Forms Legal helps you create your last will and testament in Virginia as per state law by signing up on its site.