Legal Definitions - legatory

A legatory is a term used in history to describe the one-third portion of a freeman's estate in land that he could dispose of by will. This means that when a freeman died, he could leave one-third of his land to whoever he wanted. The other two-thirds of the estate were subject to claims of the wife and children.

• John, a freeman, had a large estate of land. When he died, he left one-third of his land to his son, one-third to his wife, and the remaining one-third to his friend. This one-third portion that he left to his friend is called the legatory.
• When Mary's father died, he left one-third of his land to her, one-third to her mother, and the remaining one-third to her brother. This one-third portion that Mary's father left to her is called the legatory.

These examples illustrate how a freeman could dispose of one-third of his estate in land by will, which was known as the legatory.