Glossary of Helpful Terms
| administration | the management and settling of an estate |
| administrator | a person appointed by a court to settle the estate of a deceased person who has died without leaving a valid will |
| affidavit | a signed Written statement sworn before a notary or other court officer |
| assignee | one to whom some right, privilege, or property is signed over by the court |
| assignor | one who signs over the title or interest in some-thing (e.g., a part or whole of an estate) to another in-dividual or party |
| bequest | commonly used to denote a gift of real estate by will; also a legacy |
| bound land | land given by the government to induce men to enter military service; it usually consisted of a specific number of acres of previously unallocated public land |
| bound land warrant | a gift of bounty land due a person, his heirs, or assigns and entitled by military service |
| canon law | a law or statute of the church |
| codicil | document created by the testator to amend his/her will |
| collateral ancestor | an ancestor not in direct line of ascent, but of the same ancestral stock (e.g. the brother or sister of a direct ancestor) |
| consanguinity | relation by blood; descended from a common ancestor |
| decedent | a deceased person |
| deed | a formal written instrument, signed, sealed, and delivered according to law and conveying title to real estate |
| denizen | a person who has been admitted to residence in a foreign country |
| deposition | the testimony of a witness in writing and duly authenticated, given in the course of a legal proceeding |
| descendant | one who is descended, however remotely, from another |
| devise | to grant real property by will |
| devisee | one to whom real property is given by will |
| direct heir | one who is an individual's direct line of ascent or descent |
| dower | the legal right of a wife to use or own some portion of her husband's real estate, should she survive him |
| escheat | reverting of property to the state upon the death of an owner without heirs |
| estate | the property of a deceased person: a right, title, or interest in that property |
| Et Uxer (Et. Ux.) | and wife |
| executor | the person named in a will and appointed by a court to carry out the provisions of the will |
| executrix | feminine form of executor |
| fee simple | an estate of inheritance in land, absolute and without limitation to any particular class of heirs |
| fee tail | an estate of inheritance in land, limited to a partic-ular class of heirs |
| freeholder | a person who held land in fee simple. He had the right to vote and hold public office |
| grant | a term used in deeds for transferring title to real property |
| grantee | one to whom a grant is made |
| grantor | one who makes a grant (e.g. transfers title to real property) |
| guardian | a person appointed by a court to care for the property and rights of a minor or someone otherwise incapable of administering his own affairs |
| heir | a person who by descent or right of relationship inherits an estate upon the death of his ancestor |
| holographic will | a will entirely in the handwriting of the testator |
| imprimis | "first of all" |
| indenture | any deed, written contract, or sealed agreement; a contract by which a person, as an apprentice, is bound over for service; the formal agreement between a group of bondholders and the debtor as to the terms of the debt |
| infant | a person not of legal age; a minor |
| intestate | a person who has died without having left a valid will or otherwise disposed of his real and personal property |
| inventory | a list of goods or valuables in the estate of a, deceased person, filed in probate court by an executor or administer |
| kindred | persons related by blood |
| legacy | a gift by will |
| lineal descendant | a person in the direct line of descent |
| Notorial (Authentic) Will | will made by the testator before a Notary It is retained in the Notary's file until the testator's death |
| nuncupative will | an oral or unwritten will, declared by the testator in his last sickness and in the presence of wit-nesses, and later reduced to writing by someone other than the testator |
| personal property | all property other than real property |
| posthumous | born after the death of a parent |
| primogeniture | condition of being the first-born child of the same parents; in law, the right of inheritance by the eldest son |
| probate | the process of proving a will |
| relicit | a widow; sometimes (rarely) used to mean a widower |
| sibling | a brother or sister; all children of the same parents |
| spouse | a husband or wife |
| trustee | a person to whom another's property or the manage ment of another's property is given in trust |
| testament | the disposition of one's personal property by will |
| will | the legal document containing the statement of a per-son's wishes regarding the disposal of his property after his death |
| Details of Will: | ADOPTION AND GUARDIANSHIP: name
of the child(ren), parents, guardian(s) or foster parents; age and sex
of child(ren); residences of the parties involved; inheritance(s); and
guardians' bond.
BOND: name of the administrator or executor(s), bondsmen, the deceased; amount and date of bond. CASE FILE: copy of will; inventory of estate; copies of the court order; miscellaneous letters and papers pertaining to the probate action. DOCKET, CALENDAR or INDEX: date of court action; name(s) of executor(s) or administrator(s), and of the deceased; reference to the order book and case files. ORDER BOOK: court order; date of order; name(s) of executor(s) or administrator(s); identification of the estate. WILL: date of will; name of testator; name(s) and relationship(s) of heir(s) (if any); description of property and its deposition; name(s) of executor(s) and witnesses; date of probate |