Glossary
There's no doubt that legal language can start to sound like
gobbledegook. Here is a simple glossary to help make things a little bit
clearer.
Administrator
Beneficiary
Charity
Codicil
Domicile
Estate
Executor and trustees
Grant of probate
Guardians
Inheritance Tax (IHT)
Intestacy
Intestate
Issue
Joint property
Legacy
Letters of administration
Mirror will
Power of Attorney (POA)
Property
Substitute Beneficiaries and Section
33 of the Wills Act 1837
Testate
Testator
Trust
Trustee
Will
Wills in expectation of marriage
Worldwide will
Administrator
Has similar duties to those of an
executor for estates where:
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there is no will
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the will does not appoint an executor
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the named executor is unable or unwilling to act.
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There are court rules which govern who may apply to act as administrator.
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Beneficiary
A person, or organisation, who receives benefit from a
will or
trust.
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Charity
To qualify as a charity an organisation must be for the relief
of poverty, or for the advancement of education or religion or for other
purposes beneficial to the community.
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Codicil
A document, usually short, which (when properly executed)
amends the terms of an existing
will.
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Domicile
Domicile is a legal concept that usually determines the legal
system under which your will is to be interpreted and administered. For most
people their residence and domicile are the same as the country in which they
live. However if you or your parents were born outside England and Wales, or
you intend to live permanently outside England and Wales you should consider
taking legal advice. The
wills we prepare are on the basis that you are domiciled in England and
Wales.
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Estate
The assets that you own which can be left under your
will. There are items which may not be left under your will (see joint property). Most pension provisions are not
assets which can be left under the terms of a will or
intestacy.
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Executor and trustees
A person, persons or company named in a
will to be responsible for carrying out the terms of the will and
settling taxes and debts. We would recommend a professional executor such as
Barclays Bank Trust Company Limited. If you want to put money or assets in
trust for children the executors / trustees will be responsible for managing
this sum. You should consider appointing more than one executor and trustee in
these circumstances, especially if a professional executor / trustee is not
acting. Executors must be 18 or over and should be capable of dealing with
complex issues.
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Grant of probate
A document issued by the court confirming both the validity of
a
will and the
executor's right to administer the estate.
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Guardians
These are people who will look after your children (if under 18
years of age) at the time of your death. A surviving parent from a marriage has
certain parental rights over the guardianship of his/her children, so you do
not need to name them. If you are not married to the parent of your child you
are advised to state your wishes with regard to guardianship, but no advice can
be given by us as to the effectiveness of your wishes. Guardians must be 18 or
over.
However, in most cases such an appointment will not take effect
until the death of the surviving parent. The role of guardian differs from the
role of
trustee in that whilst the trustee has the financial responsibility of
managing funds held in trust, the guardian is responsible for the welfare and
upbringing of the child. Liaison between the trustee and the guardian is
required to plan for the child's financial future. The wills we prepare include
wide powers to enable the trustees to release both capital and income to assist
with maintenance, education or benefit of any child in the care of a guardian.
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Inheritance Tax (IHT)
A tax payable, generally on death (sometimes known as "Death
Duty"). It is calculated on the value of your assets when you die, and subject
to certain exemptions and reliefs is charged at 40% above a certain limit
(£300,000 at April 2007).
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Intestacy
An estate where there is no
will and the law therefore directs who inherits.
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Intestate
Not having a valid
will, or a person who has not made a will.
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Issue
This means your children, their children and so on all the way
down the family tree.
Please read carefully the section called Substitute
Beneficiaries forming part of the Will Instruction Form immediately before
Section 5 and Section 33 of the Wills Act 1837.
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Joint property
Under English Law there are two methods of jointly owning
property with another:
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Under a beneficial joint tenancy the entire property passes
to the survivor(s) on a death.
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Under a tenancy-in-common a person's share of the property
can pass under the terms of his will (or on his intestacy).
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Barclays Will Writing cannot advise you on how you hold property jointly with
another.
If you and your spouse or partner have together decided to
include in your wills any specific gifts of houses or land or other property
that you own jointly with each other, as beneficial joint tenants and these
gifts in the wills are not to your co-owner, it is very important that you
retain a copy of your will instructions with your wills. This is because the
agreement that you have come to, about the way that houses or land or other
joint property are bequeathed in your wills, will be relevant after your death.
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Legacy
A gift which you wish to leave a person or organisation upon
death. There are several types of legacy including:
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a money legacy e.g. £1000 to Mr X
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a specific legacy e.g. my gold wedding ring to my daughter
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It is important to describe the item(s) accurately to avoid confusion. Unless
you indicate otherwise the will is prepared so that any beneficiary under the
age of 18, or other age you specify, will receive all interest and appreciation
accruing up to that age.
If you leave a house or flat, in sole ownership, to a
beneficiary you should state whether it should be passed to them with any
outstanding mortgage liability or whether such a liability should be paid by
your estate first (called 'free of mortgage').
Unless you state that the gift of any property is to pass 'free
of mortgage', we will prepare your will on the basis that any outstanding
mortgage/liability will be the responsibility of the beneficiary who receives
the property.
If you ever sell or move from the house/flat you specify as a
gift, it is important that you review your will. You can however state that any
private residence you own on death passes to the named beneficiary or
beneficiaries.
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Letters of administration
As for a grant of probate, but issued to an
administrator.
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Mirror will
A
will which contains almost identical terms to your will. Many
husbands/wives/partners have mirror wills where they have decided upon the same
beneficiaries irrespective of which partner dies first.
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Power of Attorney (POA)
Powers of Attorney allow you to appoint somebody to look after your affairs should you no longer be willing to deal
with them yourself. Some types of power also allow the attorney to continue to deal with your affairs should you become incapable of
dealing with them yourself.
Property
In this connection, property means all assets (not merely
land). See
estate.
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Substitute Beneficiaries and Section 33 of the Wills Act 1837
This section applies to gifts made to your children or their
issue; should they die before you, it operates (unless a contrary intention
appears in the
will) by adding a substitute gift in favour of their surviving issue.
Those issue take, in equal shares if more than one, any gift or share (that is
any
legacy or part of your
estate) which their parent would have taken. Unfortunately the
operation of this section does not always produce a result satisfactory to you
and for this reason the
wills prepared by this service exclude Section 33.
The gift of a specific item of property or of a specific sum of
money (which may be indicated in Section 6 of the Will Instruction Form) will
not take effect if the intended recipient dies before you. If that happens,
that gift will form part of your residuary
estate and be disposed of in accordance with your wishes outlined in
Sections 5 and 8 or 7 and 8. You may find that acceptable, but where it is not,
please tell us your intended substitute beneficiaries.
The instructions, which you give (in sections 5 and 8 or 7 and
8) for the disposal of your residuary
estate, must be more exhaustive because if they fail to take effect the
residuary
estate will be distributed under the
intestacy rules. However, the risk of any such distribution will be
reduced by the naming of substitute
beneficiaries (which could include the children of any deceased
beneficiary) and of course periodic reviews of your will provisions.
Please keep the above comments in mind when completing the Will
Instruction Form.
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Testate
Having a valid
will.
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Testator
A person who makes a valid
will.
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Trust
A written arrangement whereby an appointed trustee is given
money or assets to hold and manage for the benefit of those defined in the deed
or will which created the trust.
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Trustee
A company, or individuals, appointed in a will or the trust
deed to hold the trust assets and to be responsible for the management of a
trust.
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Will
A written document which when properly executed controls how a
person's assets are to be dealt with after their death. If improperly executed
the document may not constitute a will.
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Wills in expectation of marriage
If you and your partner intend getting married soon your
will(s) can be made 'in expectation of your marriage' which means it/they will
be valid before and after the marriage takes place. Marriage would otherwise
cancel a will.
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Worldwide will
Unless you specify otherwise,
wills prepared through Barclays Will Writing service will cover your
worldwide assets. However, the law of the country in which the assets are
situated may limit the effectiveness of any gift. If you have assets outside of
England and Wales you should seek advice in the country where those assets are
situated. If you already have a foreign will which is to remain in force or you
are arranging for a foreign will to be prepared, please fill in the details in
section 1 of the instruction form.
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