Administrator/Administration.
The person who will oversee the distribution of your estate and deal with payment of any debts outstanding on the death of the deceased.
Adoption.
A legally adopted child has rights of inheritance in the estate of his/her adoptive parent(s) but not in the estate of his or her natural parent.
Assets.
All possessions of yours.
Beneficiary.
A person who will inherit part of your assets or estate under a Will or on intestacy.
Bequest.
A gift of part of your estate, other than immovable property such as your house.
Children.
The term extends to legitimate, illegitimate and adopted children. Stepchildren are excluded from the meaning of this term, and must be expressly mentioned in your Will should you wish them to benefit.
Codicil.
A Codicil acts to make an amendment to your Will and is legally binding once all legal formalities have been complied with.
Deceased.
The person who has died.
Devise.
This generally means to give.
Discretionary trust.
This gives full power to your trustees to administer the trust assets of your estate at their own discretion. This can be useful for tax planning purposes where assets can be passed to children in order to reduce the tax liability of the deceased person.
Domicile.
Your domicile is where you believe that your home is and, if you are not there now, where you intend, eventually, to return. You might live temporarily - or even for extended periods of years - away from your domicile but if your intention is to return you retain that domicile. Once you have decided to settle permanently in another country your domicile changes.
Estate.
The term "estate" refers to all the assets you own at the time of your death.
Executor.
This is the person nominated or appointed by you in your Will to deal with the administration and distribution of your estate.
Guardian .
A guardian is someone whom you name with a view to that person assuming parental responsibilities and rights in the upbringing of your child/children after your death.
Parental rights are automatically granted to married parents by law but can be acquired by others, such as the father of illegitimate children by court application or by an agreement between mother and father on a special form which is formally recorded in the official Register.
If you have children under 16 when you die and your children do not have anyone else with parental rights then the guardian will be entitled to take charge of the children. Normally, unless your choice of guardian is questionable and/or the child is in danger, the courts and/or Local Authority will not interfere.
Of course, if someone else, other than the person you name, wishes to have the children it is open to them to take court action and the matter would then be decided by the Judge. Your wishes would be a significant factor in the Judge's mind.
It is sensible to make sure that the person you name is willing!
Legacy.
A gift made in a Will.
Legatee.
A person who receives a Legacy.
Parental responsibilities and rights.
These are the rights that you might expect a parent to have. e.g. the right to decide where the child lives, goes to school, receives medical attention, etc.
Fathers not married to the mother do not have any automatic rights of this sort. They must be acquired by court application or by an agreement between mother and father on a special form which is formally recorded in the official Register.
Per stirpes.
When you leave everything to your children you will not want to have to change your Will if any die before you. One option is to arrange that the legacy will go to your grandchildren. A "per stripes" arrangement means that grandchildren receive what their parents would have received, in equal shares.
Residue/Remainder.
This refers to "the rest of your estate". The clause dealing with this comes at the end of the Will and covers everything else that you own and that you haven't already given away in earlier parts of the Will.
Residuary Beneficiary.
One of the people who will share in the residue.
Spouse.
The person to whom you are married - not a cohabitee.
Survivorship.
If you bought any heritable property in joint names then it is possible that you have entered into a contract with the person concerned that you will hold the property "jointly and to the survivor". This means that when one of you dies the other receives the property irrespective of what any Will may say.
Testator/Testatrix.
This means the man/woman who makes a Will.
Trust.
If you leave any property 'in trust' for one of your beneficiaries then that property will be looked after for them. They will get it one day (often when they reach a certain age) but until then they cannot get access to it without the approval of the Trustees.
Trustee.
The person or person who look after the property that is held in trust. The trustee is not allowed to do anything with the property unless the Will allows it and the Trustee owes duties to the beneficiary concerned.
Will.
A document setting out a person's wishes regarding the disposal of his or her property after death.
