Wills and Estate Planning Jargon Buster

Furley Page lawyers and tax specialists will advise and guide you through the drafting of your Will, simplifying the whole process.  But sometimes it can be helpful to have something to refer to and we hope you find our jargon buster on Wills and Estate Planning useful. Below is list of terms you may come across when making a Will.  For advice on drafting a Will and Estate Planning, contact our legals team - go to contact button on right of page.

Beneficial Joint Tenancy  :  Joint owners are entitled to property equally. If one owner dies, their interest in the property passes to remaining owners.  See Joint Tenancy below and see our pages on Joint Ownership in Residential Property section of our website.
Bona Vacantia  :  Goods or property without an apparent owner. If not claimed by a finder, the government usually automatically becomes its owner. Latin for, ‘ownerless goods’.
Chattels  :  Personal property such as household and personal goods, furniture, jewellery, clothes etc...
Codicil  :  A document supplementary to a Will, which adds to, varies or revokes provisions in the Will.  It must be approved with the Will.  If numerous changes are required to a Will it is usually better to execute a new Will.
Contingent legacy  :  A legacy that transfers no interest at all unless a specified but uncertain event happens.
Contingent Will  :  A Will that is to come into operation only if a specified but uncertain event happens.
Crown or Treasury  :  The government of the UK.  If you do not have a Will and have no next of kin, the Crown receives your estate, see Bona Vacantia.
Cum div  :  A quotation relating to stocks and shares indicating that the price includes all dividends or interest accrued to date.
Cum testamento annexo  :  A grant of administration, with the Will attached, which is made where the testator does not nominate an executor in his Will, or when the executor nominated will not or cannot obtain a grant of probate.
Deed of Variation  :  If you are a Beneficiary under a Will and you do not want to receive that benefit but pass it on to someone else eg your children, you may take out a Deed of Variation to pass on that benefit in the way you choose.  A Deed of Variation must be executed within two years of the date of the death of the deceased person for it to be valid. See Variation below.
Domicile  :  A person's domicile is where they have their fixed and permanent home.
Equitable apportionment  :  A rule of equity deemed to carry out the unexpressed intention of the testator in order to give effect to and protect the respective rights of the life tenant and the remainderman. See People Involved in Making a Will.
Grant  :  The term used to describe whatever type of grant of representation is taken out.
Grant of representation  :  The proof of legal authority required by the person who is entrusted with dealing with a deceased person's estate.
Grant of letters of administration  :  The proof of legal authority required by the person who is entrusted with dealing with a deceased person's estate where there is no will, or any will made is invalid.
Grant of letters of administration with will annexed  :  The proof of legal authority required by the person who is entrusted with dealing with a deceased person's estate where there is a will but there is no executor named, or when the executors are unable or unwilling to apply for the grant.
Grant of probate  :  The proof of legal authority required by the person who is entrusted with dealing with a deceased person's estate where there is a will.
Holograph Will  :  A Will drafted entirely in the handwriting of the testator.  See People Involved in Making a Will.
Immovable property  :  A person's possessions in the form interests in land and the permanent buildings on the land.
Intestate  :  If a person dies intestate, they died without making a will, or without fully disposing of their property by will. The administration of the estate is then governed by the provisions of the Administration of Estates Act 1925.
Intestacy  :  An estate where the person died intestate.
In loco parentis - In the position of a parent.
Joint property  :  Something which is jointly owned by two or more people either as a joint tenancy or as tenants in common. See Buying a Property with Someone Else.
Joint tenancy  :  A form of joint ownership where all the joint owners have an identical interest in the property. On the death of one owner, their interest passes to the remaining owner(s) by survivorship. See Buying a Property with Someone Else.
Lease for life  :  A type of settled property where a lease has been granted on a property for which full consideration has not been paid by the lessee.
Legacy  :  a gift in a Will. A Legacy can be:

• Specific legacy : a definite object or property eg jewellery or painting
• Pecuniary legacy : a gift of a specific sum of money
• Residual legacy  (the residue): a gift of the money or asset left when other legacies and expenses have been paid - i.e. the remainder.
• Life Interest : eg 'to my wife for her use in her lifetime, then to charity'
• Conditional Interest : a legacy which is dependent upon an event or specified criteria being met.
• Life interest  :  A common form of interest in possession in settled property where a person has an interest for the duration of their lifetime.

Movable Property  :  Goods, furniture and other items which can be moved from place to place.
Noncupative Will  :  A Will made orally before witnesses.
Pecuniary Legacy  :  A gift of a sum of money under a will.
Per stirpes  :  If a property is to be divided ‘per stirpes’ among the children of a deceased person, then each child takes an equal share. If a child has predeceased the deceased that child’s children will take equally between them the share that the predeceased child would have taken.
Personalty  :  All movable property, i.e. furniture, trade stocks, money, private business and share in partnership and securities and leasehold interests; all property except real property.
Probate  :  Strictly, the exhibiting and proving of a will by the executors. In common usage as a general term describe the process of obtaining a grant of representation.
Property  :  The word 'property' for inheritance tax purposes includes all types of asset, cash, stocks and shares etc as well as land and buildings, including all rights and interests of any description that are legally enforceable.
Public Guardianship Office (PGO)  :  The Government office that deals with the affairs of people who are unable to deal with their own affairs.  Where such people have made an enduring Powers of Attorney, the duty of the PGO is to register those Powers of Attorney once incapacity has taken place.  This enables the Attorney to continue to operate the enduring Power of Attorney. See Powers of Attorney for more information.
Residue  :  The part of an estate which is left after the payment of specific and pecuniary legacies, debts, funeral expenses and Inheritance Tax [IHT].
Specific gifts  :  A gift other than a gift of residue.  Typical specific gifts are pecuniary legacies, gifts of particular assets such as the deceased's residence, furniture, jewellery and other household and personal goods and effects or shares in companies and business assets.
Survivorship  :  Where property is owned jointly under a joint tenancy, on the death of one of the joint tenants, the deceased's share of the joint property passes automatically to the surviving joint tenant(s). The property cannot be passed to anyone else under a will or intestacy.  See Joint Ownership in our Residential Property section.
Tenants in common  :  Joint ownership of property where each joint tenant owns a separate share in the property. On the death of one of the joint owners, their share passes to their beneficiaries by their will or intestacy. See Buying a Property with Somone Else.
Variation  :  If all of the original beneficiaries agree, an inheritance under a will or under an intestacy can be changed after death.
Will  :  The legal document by which a person declares their intention as to what should happen to their estate after their death.
 

• © Furley Page LLP 2009
• | LLP
• | Terms and Conditions
• | Privacy Policy
• | Site Map
• | Accessibility