Administrator - a court appointed person or corporation in charge of managing the estate of a person who died without a WILL.
Beneficiary - the recipient of proceeds from a WILL.
Bequest - gift of personal property made by a valid WILL.
Capacity - the ability of a legal adult to execute a WILL because of sound mind and no outside influence.
Clause - a defined section within a document.
Codicil - an amendment to the original WILL that changes the provisions of the original WILL.
Contest - question the validity of a WILL.
Contingent Beneficiary - a person who would be a beneficiary if certain conditions were met.
Dependent - a person who must rely on someone else for support and or supervision, often but not always a child.
Devise - a gift of real estate made by a WILL.
Escheat - when there are no surviving beneficiaries or heirs and the state takes over the estate property. The scheme for escheatment is in the Administration Act.
Estate - all assets and liabilities left by a person who has died.
Execute - to complete and sign creating a valid document.
Executor/Executrix - male or female respectively, named by the person making the WILL to administer their estate upon their death.
Guardian - a person who has the legal responsibility for care of a minor child or adult who lacks capacity.
A Testamentary Guardian is one appointed by a WILL.
Heir/Heiress - a male or female respectively, who may inherit or who may receive property through a family succession without a WILL.
Intestate - to die without a WILL.
Irrevocable - cannot be changed or revoked.
Liabilities - what is owed to others, all debts and mortgages etc.
Liquid assets - cash, and anything that can be quickly and easily converted to cash.
Personal property/Chattels - all property other than real property which is real estate or land.
Power of Attorney - a written document authorising someone to act on your behalf.
Pre-nuptual agreement - an agreement specifying ownership rights of assets prior to marriage.
Probate - court process of proving the validity of a WILL.
Real property - all real estate or land.
Residuary Estate/Residue - what is left in an estate after all bequests have been made.
Revocable - capable of being changed or revoked.
Right of survivorship - bypassing probate, this right of a joint property owner provides that in the event of death, the surviving joint owner receives ownership in full.
Testament - for most purposes a WILL, a document that deals with the disposition of one's property upon death.
Testamentary Disposition - a gift, bequest or devise in something such as a WILL or a Codicil
Testator/Testatrix - a male or female respectively, who makes a valid WILL.
Trust - an arrangement where a person known as a trustee holds and manages property of another person known as the trust beneficiary.
WILL - a testament, a document that deals with the disposition of one's property upon death.
Witness - for a WILL, a person who is present at the time the other witness and testator/testatrix are also present and in their company, signs the WILL and watches the others sign at the same time.
