**Disposition** (noun) — The transfer, distribution, or allocation of property or assets from one person to another, either during life or after death through a will or trust.
Disposition means giving away or transferring property to someone else. When you make a disposition, you're deciding who gets what. This can happen while you're alive (like making a gift) or after you die (through your will).
In estate planning, disposition refers to how you allocate your assets. Your will contains dispositions—instructions about who should receive your property when you die. For example, "I leave my house to my daughter" is a testamentary disposition, meaning a transfer that takes effect at death.
You'll also see this term used more generally in legal documents. A "power of disposition" means the legal authority to transfer or sell property. If you have full power of disposition over an asset, you can give it away or sell it as you choose.
⏱ When you'll encounter this term
Understanding disposition is important when reading wills and trusts. The entire purpose of these documents is to make dispositions of property—to say who gets what and when.
Courts sometimes examine whether a disposition was valid. For a testamentary disposition (one made through a will) to be effective, the will itself must be valid, the person making it must have had capacity, and the property being disposed of must have actually belonged to the deceased. You can't make a valid disposition of property you don't own.
Dispositions can also be challenged if they were made under undue influence or fraud. If someone pressured you into making a disposition in their favor, a court might set it aside. Similarly, if you made a large disposition shortly before death when you lacked capacity, beneficiaries might challenge whether that disposition should stand.
**Related terms:** [Bequest](/dictionary/bequest), [Distribution](/dictionary/distribution), [Transfer](/dictionary/transfer-on-death), [Gift](/dictionary/gift)
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