Glossary of legal terms

Administrator
Someone who is appointed to arrange your affairs if you do not leave a will.

Beneficiary
An individual or organisation who will receive a gift in your will.

Codicil
A document which alters the content of a will

Chattels and moveables
Your possessions, including your furniture and car

Estate
All your possessions at the time of your death, including money and property.

Executor
The person who is appointed by you to make sure the instructions in your will are carried out.

Inheritance Tax
Tax payable on your estate

Intestate and intestacy
You are said to be intestate if you die without making a will.  Intestacy is the name for this situation.

Legacy
A gift left to a person or organisation in your will.

Life interest
A two-stage form of legacy in which the first beneficiary is given, for example, the use of your house or the interest on your bank or building society account during their lifetime.

After their death, the house or capital passes to a second beneficiary named by you in your will.  Quite often a charity is the second beneficiary.

Pecuniary legacy
A gift of a fixed amount of money.

Power of attorney
A legal document which authorises one or more people to handle another person's financial affairs (including property, shares, money, etc), either generally or in relation to specific items.

Probate
The legal procedure to decide whether you left a valid will.

Residual legacy
A legacy made up of what is left after payments of all debts, taxes, administration expenses, Pecuniary legacies and other bequests made under the will.

Residuary legacy
A gift consisting of the residue or part of the residue of your estate.  This is a particularly popular way to leave a gift to a charity.

Specific legacy
A gift of a particular item, e.g. a piece of jewellery or furniture.

Testator or testatrix
The person who is making the will.

Will
A document that instructs how someone wishes to dispose of their assets on death.

Witness
A person who signs your will in your presence, who must not be a beneficiary.