Wills, Trust and Probate

• Absolute InterestThe entitlement to the item of property which is not limited by any other person’s...
• AdministratorA person appointed by the Court to manage the estate of a deceased...
• Ambulatory WillA will which can still be changed because the settlor is...
• AssentA formal document which is required when transferring ownership to a person who is entitled to the property following the death of the...
• BeneficiaryA beneficiary is someone who stands to gain as a result of a bequest made in a will or who receives something from an...
• BequestA gift of Chattels or Assets by...
• CodicilA codicil is an addition or amendment to an existing...
• Common Law PartnerA partner who you live with but to whom you are not...
• Contingent WillA will which will only become effective if some condition is...
• Declaration of TrustSee...
• Discretionary TrustThis is a trust where the beneficiaries and/or their entitlements to the trust fund are not fixed, but are instead determined by the criteria set out in the trust instrument by the...
• EstateThe assets of a person at the time of their death, less any outstanding...
• ExecutorAn executor (or executrix in the case of a female) is the person (or people) who have been appointed in a will to deal with the testator's affairs after their...
• Grant of ProbateThis is a legal document which allows the person or persons named in it to collect in and distribute the...
• Grant of RepresentationA legal document which confirms that the executor has the authority to deal with a deceased person's...
• GuardianA person appointed to safeguard,protect and manage the interests of a child or mentally disabled...
• Inheritance Tax (IHT)This is a tax imposed on the privilege of receiving property by inheritance or legal...
• IntestacyThis refers to the situation where a person who has died has not made a valid...
• Intestacy Rules What are the intestacy rules? The intestacy rules take effect when a person has not made a will or the will is not legally valid. The deceased’s property and other assets are then distributed between their family in accordance with these rules, which...
• LegacySee...
• Letter of AdministrationThis is the authority given by the Probate Registry to deal with the affairs of a deceased person who has not left a valid...
• Living WillThis is a document setting out in advance what types of medical treatment the maker of the will does or does not wish to receive in specific circumstances should he or she be incapable of giving or refusing...
• Mental IncapacityThe state of being deemed not able to make...
• Next of KinThis term is used to describe a person's closest living...
• Nil Rate BandThe amount of Inhertitance Tax for which you are not...
• Power of AttorneyThis is a deed which gives power to a person to act on someone else's behalf in a legal or business...
• ProbateThis is the official verification of a will by the Probate...
• Proprietary Estoppel Proprietary estoppel is a fair, or equitable, remedy to stop the legal owner of a property from asserting their strict legal positon when it would be unfair or inequitable for him to do so. For a successful claim of proprietary estoppel, the claimant must...
• Residual BeneficiaryThe Beneficiary of the Residual...
• Residuary EstateThe remainder of the estate after payment of all debts, legacies, taxes and...
• RevokeCancellation of a...
• SettlementSee...
• SettlorThe creator of a...
• TestatorThe testator (or testatrix in the case of a female) refers to the person who makes a...
• TrustProperty legally entrusted to someone with instructions to use it on behalf of another...
• Trust InstrumentLegal document which creates a...
• TrusteeA person who holds or administers property in a trust for someone...
• Vested InterestA right to immediate or future...
• WillA disposition or declaration through which someone provides for the distribution of their estate upon their...
• WitnessThe people who witnessed a will being signed by the...