Probate Terms

Legal dictionary for Wills and Probate

Confused by long winded jargon and legalese? Here’s a list of words and phrases used that are translated into plain English. Note that there are different terms in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Administrator: The legal representative of the deceased who has died without a Will.

Beneficiary: A person who inherits from a Will or under intestacy laws.

Bona Vacantia: Property without an apparent owner or claimant.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT):  A tax on the profit made from the sale of an asset

Cause of Death Certificate: A death certificate, sometimes called a medical certificate of the cause of death, is a document issued by a registrar that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death.

Caveat: A method of stopping someone being issued probate without allowing the issuer of the caveat being able to liaise with the person or to get the Court involved.

Chargeable Gain: Chargeable gain is when an asset is sold, disposed, given away or exchanged and its value has increased since it was acquired

Certifier of Death: The physician who completes the medical certificate of Cause of Death.

Coroner: An independent judicial who investigates deaths that is suspicious or unexplained.

Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA): An enduring power of attorney (EPA) is the legal authorization to act on someone else's behalf in a legal or business matter. Unlike a power of attorney, an enduring power of attorney will not come to an end if the donor becomes mentally incapable of managing his or her own affairs.

Executor: A person named in a decedent's will to carry out the provisions of that will.

Grant of Administration: A Grant of Representation is an order of the High Court which confirms that a grant of Probate or a Grant of Letter of Administration has been obtained, and that the Personal Representative is free to administer and distribute the estate

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRT): A department of the British Government primarily responsible for the collection of taxes and the payment of some forms of state support.

Inheritance Tax (IHT): An inheritance tax (also known as an estate tax or death duty) is a tax which arises on the death of an individual. It is a tax on the estate, or total value of the money and property, of a person who has died

Intestacy: Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies owning property greater than the sum of his enforceable debts and funeral expenses without having made a valid will or other binding declaration

Lasting Power of Attorney:  An authorization to act on someone else's behalf in a legal or business matter.

Legacy: A gift given by someone after death through a will.

Personal Representative (P.R): A personal representative is the generic term for an executor for the estate of a deceased person who left a will or the administrator of an intestate estate.

Probate Court: A probate court (also called a surrogate court) is a specialized court that deals with matters of probate and the administration of estates.

Probate: Probate is the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person by resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person's property under the valid will. A probate interprets the instructions of the deceased, decides the executor as the personal representative of the estate, and adjudicates the interests of heirs and other parties who may have claims against the estate.

Registrar: A registrar employed by local authorities to deal with information on deaths and death certificates.