Glossary (In alphabetic order)

A

Administrator: A person responsible for estate dealing of the deceased person

Asset: Property, item, money and belongings of the deceased

B

Beneficiary: Person benefiting from the will

Bequeath: The act of leaving bequest

Bequest: Any gift mentioned in will

C

Chattel: Item that is not money

Codicil: Document used for will amendments

Conditional or contingent legacy: Gift to beneficiary after fulfilment of certain conditions

D

Death certificate: Certified copy of death register entry

Debts: Monitory values owed by deceased

Disclaimers: refusal of beneficiary to receive gifts

Discretionary trust: a trust providing complete discretion to the trustee for the receptions of benefits by the beneficiary

E

Estate: Possession of significant value owned by deceased

Estate account: Financial transaction record of deceased from the date of death

Expected estate: term used for when value of estate is less than the inheritance tax or the there are no inheritance tax due to charity

Executor: An appointed person to deal with the will

G

General legacy: Gift or money from will which is different from the specific legacy

Grant of letter of administration: the issued document by probate registry

Grant of probate: Document by probate registry to certify executor or administrator

Grant of representation: A courts order to deal with deceased assets

Guardian: An appointed person for child’s parental responsibilities

I

Inheritance tax threshold: The figure above which a tax is payable

Insolvent estate: an estate where total liability is bigger than the total asset

Intestate/intestacy: A situation where no will is left by the deceased person

Interest/beneficial interest: A right over or to the property

L

Legacy: A gift mentioned in the will and often referred to money or gift

Legatee: A person or beneficiary at the reception end of the legacy

Lapse: When beneficiary dies before testator

P

Pecuniary legacy/Gift/bequest: sum of money gifted

Personal effect: Chattels owned by deceased

Personal representation: A term generally used for both the administrator and the executor

Power reserved: When the eligible executor doesn’t wish to carry the act of execution and reserves it for the duties to be carried out later

Probate registry: A court which is the part of family division high court

R

Renouncing probate renunciation: A situation when the eligible executor refused to act as an executor and signs legal documents to exclude the person from the list.

Residuary estate residue: Whatever is left after the clearance of debts, liabilities and the expenses

S

Specific legacy, gift or bequest: A gift specified in different terms of reception by the beneficiary

Survivorship: A situation where a person lives more than another person

T

Testator or Testatrix (Female): The author of a will

Trust: A person who is entitled to divide the legal ownership of the assets. When something is legally owned and benefited by someone which is supposed to be owned and benefited by the beneficiary than that person is called the trustee.

W

Will: A legal document that decided the division and inheritance of the property and belonging after the death of that person.