A-Z Glossary of terms

Administration:  involves establishing, collecting and distributing the assets of the estate as laid out in the Will or, where there is no Will, according to the rules of intestacy.

Administration period: the time taken from the date of death of the deceased to the completion of the administration of the estate.

Administrator: the person who deals with the estate of a person who has died intestate.

Assets: Property, money and the other belongings of the deceased person.

Attorney: A person who is typically a lawyer, but not always, who is appointed to act for another person in business or legal matters on their behalf.

Beneficiary: A person or organisation designated as the recipient of funds or other property under a Will.

Bequest: A gift left in a Will that is not land or buildings (e.g. furniture, antiques).

Chattels: An item of property other than freehold land, including tangible goods and leasehold interests. Personal chattels would include clothes, furniture and jewellery

Codicil: An addition or change made to a Will. The codicil has to be signed and witnessed in the same way as a Will.

Contingent Legacy: A gift that has a condition attached to it. An example of this is where a gift of money is conditional on a beneficiary reaching a certain age.

Discretionary Trust: A trust in which the number of shares of each beneficiary are not fixed by the settlor in the trust deed, but at the discretion of the trustees.

Estate: All the possessions of the deceased, including houses, property, cars, investments, money and other belongings.

Executor: The person or organisation appointed in a Will to administer an estate.

Gift: A transfer from one person to another without fair compensation in return. A legacy left to others in a Will.

Grant of Probate: This the document issued by the Probate Registry to the executors to authorise them to deal with the estate. It is necessary to obtain a grant of probate before the executors can distribute the assets as set out in the deceased’s will.

Guardian: The person appointed by a parent or a court to have parental responsibility for a child who is aged under the age of 18 years.

Heir: A person who is legally entitled to the property of another upon that person’s death.

Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975: An Act that empowers the court to make orders for provision for the spouse, former spouse, child of the family or dependant(s) of a deceased person.

Inheritance Tax: The tax that is to be paid when the total value of the estate of the deceased is more than the current Inheritance Tax threshold.

Inheritance Tax Threshold: The tax free amount allowed before any Inheritance Tax is payable, currently £325,000.

Intestacy: the condition of the estate of a person who dies without having made a valid Will. Their estate is then distributed according to rules laid down in law governing intestacy.

Intestate: A person who has died without having made a valid Will.

Last Will and Testament: The legal document that states the way a person wishes to have their estate distributed upon their death.

Lasting Power of Attorney: a legal document that lets a person appoint one or more people to help make decisions or to make decisions on the person’s behalf. There are two types of LPA: health and welfare; property and financial affairs.

Legacy: A gift of money (usually a specific amount) that is left to a person or an organisation, such as a charity, in a person’s will.

Letter Of Intent or Letter of Wishes: An appendix to a Will which details specific wishes not covered by law. This typically includes preferred funeral arrangements.

Letters of Administration: the document issued by the Probate Registry to the Administrators authorising them to deal with the estate. Letters of Administration are issued to the next of kin of an individual who dies without a Will.

Liabilities: The debts that need to be settled following the death of the deceased.

Life Interest: The right to enjoy for life or for a specified time period either money or property which will eventually revert to the original estate in some way on death.

Memorandum of Wishes: is a document used in conjunction with Trusts. It can also refer to a non-binding document used to direct executors on how to distribute low value personal chattels distributed.

Next of Kin: The nearest blood relative of the deceased.

Nil Rate Band Allowance: The amount that can be passed to beneficiaries without having to pay any Inheritance Tax.

Pecuniary Legacy: A gift of a fixed sum of money in a Will.

Personal Chattels: Any personal items such as books, cars, furniture, jewellery, pictures, wine; but not money, investments, property or business assets.

Power of Attorney: is a written authorisation to act on another’s behalf.

Predeceased: Someone who dies before the person who has made the Will.

Probate: the process whereby a Will is “proved” in a court and accepted as a valid public document as being the true last testament of the deceased. Probate is the official process that gives the executors of a Will the right to deal with the deceased’s assets and property. It acts as proof that the executors have the authority they need to handle the estate of the deceased person. Note that not all Wills need to go through probate.

Probate Registry: offices that issue grants of probate and grants of letters of administration are known as Probate Registries, and there are twelve such offices in England and Wales. The probate registry is responsible for making sure that the Will is valid and the applicant is entitled to handle the estate of the deceased.

Registrar: Every death must be registered by a Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Most towns throughout England and Wales have a registry office. Incidentally, all certificates of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales since 1837 are kept at the General Register Office.

Renouncing Probate: Where a named Executor in a will signs a legal document cancelling their appointment from the start of the administration period. This is allowed because there is no legal obligation to be an executor.

Residuary Beneficiary:  receives the “residue” of an estate in a will; that is, all of the estate that is left after specific gifts have been distributed.

Residue or Residuary Estate: what remains in a deceased person’s estate after all specific gifts are accounted for, and all liabilities and expenses have been paid.

Rules of Intestacy: When a person dies without leaving a valid will, their estate is shared out according to the rules of intestacy. Only married or civil partners and some other close relatives can inherit under the rules of intestacy.

Specific Legacy: is a gift of a precisely identifiable object, distinguished from all other things of the same kind, such as a gift of a particular piece of furniture.

Spouse: A person’s husband or wife.

Testamentary Expenses: The costs of obtaining the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration, collecting in the assets of the estate and of administering the estate in general.

Title: The legal right to something. In a property context, title refers to ownership of a property.

Transferrable Nil Rate Band: For married couples or civil partners. Provided there were no other assets chargeable to IHT or Capital Transfer Tax on the deceased’s death, the whole of the nil rate band is unused and can be transferred to the surviving spouse or civil partner’s estate. The personal representatives can make a claim to transfer the unused nil rate band. By applying for the unused proportion of the Nil Rate Band upon the first death of a couple it in effect creates a Nil Rate Tax Band of £650,000 on the second death.