Does a testament testamentar include the names of all the deceased’s children?

Not necessarily. If the deceased owned heritable property, that is, land, buildings, minerals in the ground and mining rights, this would be inherited by his eldest son, in accordance with the Scottish rules of succession. Therefore, unless he was also to receive a legacy under the terms of his father’s will (a copy of which will appear in the testament) do not expect to find any reference to him. Even if the deceased did not own any ‘heritage’, you may not be furnished with the names of all his offspring. This is because his children were, by right, entitled to a third part of his estate if their mother was still alive, or a half if she had pre-deceased her husband, and there was no need to make mention of this share (termed the ‘legitim’) in the testament. The father only had a third or a half part of his estate to dispose of as he pleased under the terms of his will, (termed the ‘dead’s part’) and he may well have decided to include other relatives or friends in this distribution as his children were already catered for. The beneficiaries of the ‘dead’s part’ will be named in the will, however, so if any children were to benefit over and above their ‘legitim’ share you will find them here.