Glossary of Technical Terms

Note that legal processes and definitions may be different in Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

Administrator : Someone who is appointed by law to settle your affairs if you die without a will (intestate).

Beneficiary : Anyone who receives a gift from a will.

Bequest : In the UK it generally refers to a specific legacy of a particular object (eg a specified painting rather than £500). Overseas it describes any type of legacy.

Chattels : Personal belongings, including jewellery, furniture, wine, pictures, books and cars, but not money, investments, property or business assets.

Child : In will or intestacy matters, includes the adopted and illegitimate children of the person who has died, but not their stepchildren - unless they are specifically mentioned. Legacies are often left in trust for children until they are 18 or 21 or 25, rather than the legal limit of 16.

Civil Partners : Registered civil partners have the same legal rights as a spouse should their partner die intestate after December 2005.

Common-law spouse : A common-law spouse has no automatic legal rights to be an executor or beneficiary in English law, although a dependent partner who lived with the person who died for two years before their death may be able to claim a share of the estate. 

Codicil : A further document making a change, or adding to, an existing will. It must comply with the same formalities as the will. It should be filed with the original will but not attached to it.

The Crown : Where the money goes (your estate) if you have no next of kin and did not make a will - in reality it means HM Treasury.

Devise : A gift of a house or land.

Estate : The total value of everything you own at your death - including all houses, cars, investments, money and belongings - less any outstanding debts or commitments.

Executor : The person(s) you choose to make your will happen. Usually you will have one or two (in England the maximum is four). Often this will be a younger relative or friend, and your solicitor or bank. Female form is Executrix.

Funeral arrangements : Directions you can give in your will (or a non-binding side-letter to your executors) regarding your wishes such as details of your burial, funeral service, In memoriam gifts to charity in lieu of flowers, etc.

Inheritance Tax : A 40% tax payable on estates over a certain threshold, currently £285,000 in 2006-07. Gifts to churches and charities reduce the value of an estate for inheritance tax purposes.

Intestacy : The legal term for the situation that arises when someone dies without making a legal will. The estate is then distributed according to a fixed legal formula.

Issue : All the direct descendants of a person - children, grandchildren and so on.

Legacy : A gift in a will. It can be:
- Specific legacy A definite object or property (eg a specific car, property or painting)
- Pecuniary legacy A gift of a specific sum of money
- Residual legacy A gift of (a share of) the money or assets left when other specific and pecuniary legacies and expenses have been paid - i.e. the remainder of the estate
- Life interest For example, 'to my wife for her use in her lifetime, then to charity'.
- Reversionary interest What happens when the life interest expires.
- Conditional interest A legacy which is dependent upon an event or specified criteria being met. 

Letters of administration : The document issued to the administrators by the Probate Registry to authorise them to deal with the estate.

Life interest : The right to receive the income or benefit from a property or capital sum (but not the capital sum itself) for life. See also under Legacy above.

Minor : A person under 18.

Next of kin : In will or intestacy matters, the person entitled to the estate when someone dies intestate (without a will).

Pecuniary : See Legacy

Personal estate (personalty) : All the investments and belongings of a person apart from land and buildings.

Personal representative : A general term for an administrator or executor.

Probate : The legal process to establish your will is valid. If it is, the Probate Registry will give a Grant of Probate to the executors to authorise them to carry out the terms of the will. If it is not valid or the person died intestate, an administrator is appointed.

Probate Registry : A court within the Family Division of the High Court which deals with probate and administration matters. The Principal Registry is in London and there are district registries in other cities and some large towns. It checks the validity of all wills and registers them in a central database. See www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/wills

Proving the will : Making the application for probate to the Probate Registry.

Real estate (realty) : Land and buildings owned by a person.

Residue : What is left to share out after all the debts, taxes, expenses, specific bequests and pecuniary legacies have been paid. See legacy.

Specific : Particular tangible items left as gifts in a will. See Legacy.

Testator : The person making the will. Female form is Testatrix.

Trust : An arrangement you can make in your will to administer part of your assets after your death. For
more complicated Trust provisions, you should contact a local solicitor who specialises in trusts and probate.

Will : The document in which you say what will happen to your money and possessions after your death.

Witness : Two witnesses must see you sign your will and you must also watch both of them sign it. They must also watch each other sign the will. No beneficiary (or their spouse) should sign the Will; if they do, any gift to them or their spouse will be invalid and will fail.