| administrator | A judicially appointed person who administers an estate of a person who died without a will. |
| administratrix | |
| ancestor | A person preceding others in lineage, such as parents, grandparents, etc. |
| appointment of a guardian | In case of minor children, the testator gives a directive as to the guardianship of the minor children. |
| appointment of executor | The person to handle the administration of the estate is called the executor. Property passes to the executor upon death and needs to be managed and distributed. |
| appointment of the trustee | If the person to handle the financial elements of a gift to the minor is different from the guardian, a trustee is required. |
| ascending line | The line of relationship backward in time from the person in question, including all ancestors. |
| attestation clause | The testator states, in a last will and testament, his/her sound mind and definite intentions regarding all dispositional matters. |
| attestation to a will | |
| beneficiary | A person named in a will to receive some portion of the decedent’s estate. In a trust, a person who is to receive benefits from the trust. |
| bequest | Gifts made in a will. |
| branch inheritance | |
| Certificate of Deathsynonym | |
| charge | |
| codicil | A legal document prepared by the testator, changing, modifying or adding to an existing testamentary document. |
| common ancestor | |
| contestant | |
| contract for annuity and to make a will | A contract concluded between the caretaker and the person to be cared for, whereby the caretaker will provide care and maintenance in exchange for a testamentary provision in the will of the person cared for. |
| contract for care and maintenance and to make a will | A contract under which one party must pay a certain amount of money or monies worth in exchange for the other party to provide in testamentary instrument a devise or bequest of a certain value or in a certain amount.
A contract under which one party must pay a certain amount of money or monies worth in exchange for the other party to provide in testamentary instrument a devise or bequest of a certain value or in a certain amount.
A contract under which one party must pay a certain amount of money or monies worth in exchange for the other party to provide in testamentary instrument a devise or bequest of a certain value or in a certain amount.
certain amount of money or monies worth in
exchange for the other party to provide in testamentary
instrument a devise or bequest of a
certain value or in a certain amount. |
| contract regarding inheritance | A contract under which one must provide something of value to another person in exchange for the promise of the other person to pass his/her properties upon such person's death. |
| contract to make a will | |
| death | |
| death noticesynonym | |
| decedentsynonym | A person who has died. The same is called deceased in UK English. |
| deed of donation inter vivosantonym | |
| deed of donation mortis causa | A gift though made during the lifetime of the donor, it is made with a view to the donor's illness, in anticipation his/her imminent death. |
| degree of kinship | |
| descendant | One who follows a person in lineage, such as children and grandchildren |
| descending line | The line of relationship in downward direction in time from the subject person, including all progenies. |
| devise | Real property transferred to the beneficiary by will. |
| devise | |
| devisee | A person to whom real property is passed by a will through a testamentary process. |
| direct ascending line | |
| direct descendant | |
| direct descending line | |
| disinheritance | The provision in the testamentary disposition that deprives a potential heir of the expectancy to inherit, provided, however, that it does not extend to the statutory share. |
| disposition as to remainder | After the distribution of all specific bequests and devices, the remainder of the estate is disposed of at the direction of the testator. |
| disqualification from inheritance | The exclusion of a person from inheriting, for example by virtue of perpetrating a felony against the decedent. |
| domiciliary estateantonym | |
| donation inter vivos | |
| dower | An archaic term for the provision of a widow out of the wealth of her deceased husband for her support and the nurture of her children given by law to his widow during her life. |
| escheat | The power of a state to acquire title to property for which there is no owner |
| estate | The total of the assets and the liabilities of a person at the time of his/her death. |
| exclusion | A generic phrase meaning that certain person swill not get a share of the inheritance for various reasons specifically set forth in the relevant laws. |
| executor | The person named in a will to probate the will and administer the estate according to testator’s wishes. It is the male form of the word, the female is executrix. |
| executrix | The person named in a will to probate the will and administer the estate according to testator’s wishes. It is the female form of the word, the male is executor. |
| exoneration | |
| fatal | Stresses the inevitability of what has in fact resulted in death or destruction. e.g.: fatal consequences |
| fiduciary duty | An obligation to act in the best interest of another party, preserving the other party's property and money. |
| final disposition | |
| final judgement of distribution | |
| forced share | |
| funeral expenses | An optional element of a will. Normally, funeral expenses must be paid out of the estate, so no specific provision is necessary in the will. |
| granddaughter | |
| grandson | |
| grant of probate | |
| gratuitous transfer of property | |
| handwritten willantonym synonym | |
| heir | A person entitled under the law of intestate succession to the property of a descendent. |
| heir apparent | |
| heiress | |
| holographic will | A will written by the hand of the person establishing the will. It has no witnesses. |
| inheritable property | |
| inheritance | A general term signifying the process whereby the decedent passes on property to the inheritor upon his/her death. |
| inheritance taxsynonym | Tax levied on property and money acquired typically by inheritance. It is paid by the personal representatives of a deceased person (or by the beneficiary of the estate). |
| inheritor | A generic term indicating a person benefiting from the death of another through receiving the property of the deceased person. |
| insane delusion | |
| interlocutory probate order | In the event of a claim against the estate, only an interlocutory probate order is made. In this case, the estate will be transferred to a beneficiary designated by the inheritor or named in a will, in this order, or, in case of intestate succession, to an heir. |
| intestacy | A general description of the situation when someone dies without leaving a last will and testament |
| intestate decedent | |
| intestate successionsynonym | |
| introduction of the will | Sets forth the name and residence of the testator and states that the will supersedes all other testamentary devices. |
| issue | |
| joint willsynonym | The legal document of two persons, often married couples or partners, each leaving all of their property and assets to the other. It also regulates how the estate should be distributed when the second person dies. |
| just debts | Normally, creditors are notified of the proceedings and have a certain limited time within which to submit claims. |
| lack of right of representation | The failure of a bequest or legacy, because the intended recipient dies before the testator. The legal question is whether the issues of the pretermitted heir will inherit in his/her place. |
| last will and testament | A testamentary disposition of a person contemplating or anticipating death conforming to the rules of succession. |
| lateral | |
| lateral line | Persons related in a sideway connection to the person in question, generally being those who live contemporaneously with the subject person. |
| legacy | Leaving personal property owned by the testator to a named person. It is also called bequest. |
| legal heir | |
| legal relative | Relationship created not by blood but by marriage. The relatives of the spouse will become so called "-in laws" of the subject person. |
| life necessities | |
| lifetime gift | |
| lineal | |
| lineal heir | |
| lineal relative | |
| living will | A document that allows a living person to state what type of medical treatment is or is not required in case such person is unable to communicate his/her wishes. |
| miscellaneous | Any special instructions that the testator may wish to convey to be performed by his personal representative are contained in this section. |
| mortal | Implies that death has occurred or is inevitable. e.g.: a mortal wound |
| mortis causa donation | A gift made by a person (the donor) in contemplation of impending death, also known as a deathbed gift. |
| mutual willsynonym | |
| next of kin | People belonging to a group of persons descended from a common ancestor or constituting a family. |
| non-cupative will | The document executed by a person, often during military service, facing imminent death. It is also called deathbed declaration. |
| notarial will | A will prepared by a notary or eventually a court in civil law jurisdictions. For authenticity, it is signed before the notary and generally one witness. |
| offspring | The immediate descendants of a person. |
| oral will | |
| other things of value | |
| passing of property | |
| paternal inheritance | |
| personal representative | |
| pooling | |
| post mortem | |
| probate | The process of passing property of the decedent to the inheritor. Although the process may vary significantly, the probate proceeding is strictly regulated in every jurisdiction. |
| probate order | A document prepared by the relevant authority or notary public, where the transfer of the estate is not disputed by anyone. |
| probate process | |
| provisions regarding disinheritance | Should there be individuals who would normally be entitled to a portion of the estate, but for various reasons are not recipients thereof, they may be disinherited by the testator. |
| relative | A non-specific term denoting some relationship between the decedent and another based on blood or marriage. |
| renouncement | A declaration made during the lifetime of the testator that the inheritor does not wish to inherit the estate or any part of it. |
| renouncement of an estate | |
| repudiation | A declaration in the course of the probate proceeding that the inheritor does not wish to receive their designated share. |
| repudiation of an estate | A declaration in the course of the probate proceeding that the inheritor does not wish to receive their designated share. |
| request the distribution of community property | |
| residuary estate | |
| residuary legacy | |
| revocation of a will | |
| rules of inheritance | |
| sound mind | |
| specific devise | |
| specific devises and bequests | Specific items of personal or real property may be designated to be distributed to certain recipients. |
| specific legacyantonym | |
| statutory share | |
| substitute beneficiary | |
| succession | A general term signifying the passing of property to persons in a particular order of priority. It is not restricted to inheritance, but can be used in other fields. |
| succession order | |
| successorantonym | |
| surviving spouse | |
| terminal | Leading ultimately to death. |
| testamentary disposition | The instructions of a deceased person to transfer of property that takes effect upon his/her death. |
| testamentary inheritance | |
| testamentary share | |
| testamentary succession | |
| testamentary trust | The trust established in expectation of the imminent death of a person, for the purpose of ultimately transferring the trust property to the future beneficiaries. |
| testator | Person who makes a testamentary disposition of some form. |
| trust | A concept where the trustee holds property to the benefit of a third person. It is also used as an alternative to probate for passing property to the inheritors. |
| Trust Agreement | A legal agreement by which one party holds physical possession of a piece of property for another person and finally returns the same. |
| trust documentantonym | A legal document in which a trustor turns over property to the trustee to be held by him to the benefit of a third party, called beneficiary. It may be an alternative to a will. |
| trustee | A person who holds property in trust for the benefit of another under a trust document. |
| trustor | A person who sets up a trust to the benefit of another. Also called settlor of a trust. |
| typewritten willantonym | A will attested by two witnesses who jointly attest the making of a will. Witnesses must be present at the same place when attesting to the will. |
| willsynonym | A will is a document by which the testator appoints executors to administer his estate after his death, and directs the manner in which it is to be distributed to possible beneficiaries he specifies. Most importantly a testator must have testamentary capacity when the will is made and he must make it of his own free wishes without any undue influence. |
| will contest | |
| witness to a will | One who sees the testator sign his name on his will or hears the testator declare it to be his will and at the request of the testator signs his name and address at the end of the will. |
