Glossary of Terms

Period The period during which personal representatives are settling an estate.

Subject to change – i.e., you can amend your Will as many times as you like during your lifetime.

Things a person owns – may be financial accounts, real estate, businesses, and/or valuable possessions.

Where the person making the Will actually signs the Will.

Person receiving a gift of anything in a Will.

A Tax executors have to pay when an estate (assets) makes a profit during the Administration Period. (Not paid on your principal, private residence).

Place of residence at the time of death for legal and tax purposes.

Person appointed in the Will to deal with the Testators Estate – executor (male) or executrix (female).

The gender-neutral term “personal representative” is typically used now.

A Tax executors have to pay when an estate (assets) makes a profit during the Administration Period. (Not paid on your principal, private residence).

A clause in a Will clearly stating that someone has been excluded and should not receive any of your estate.

Appointed in the Will to look after minor children in the event of parental death.

Place of residence at the time of death for legal and tax purposes.

Everything you own – including money, property, possessions and investments.

Person appointed in the Will to deal with the Testators Estate – executor (male) or executrix (female).

The gender-neutral term “personal representative” is typically used now.

A clause in a Will clearly stating that someone has been excluded and should not receive any of your estate.

Appointed in the Will to look after minor children in the event of parental.

Tax an estate has to pay if the estate is over the tax threshold. * Currently 40% applied to estates worth over £325,000.

When two people or more own a property, 100% each. The survivor inherits the property outright when the other dies.

A defined gift in a Will.

A separate document, typically stored alongside your Will, providing guidance to the executors, trustees and/or family dealing with your estate.

A person’s debts e.g., mortgage, loans, credit cards, hire purchase, student loans etc.

The nil rate band (NRB), also known as the inheritance tax (IHT) threshold, is the amount up to which an estate has no IHT to pay. Currently £325,0000* See also; Residents Nil Rate Band.

Deceased beneficiaries and a valid Will.

Consisting of or relating to money.

A gift of monetary value in a Will.

Person appointed in the Will to deal with the Testators estate. (Sometimes referred to as an executor (male) or executrix (female).

The process of dealing with a person’s estate after they have died.

Houses and contents.

Grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The £175,000* RNRB is available to those passing on a qualifying residence on death to their direct descendants.

The balance of an estate after tax, liabilities and any specific legacies (gifts) have been paid.

Gift of a specific item, such as jewellery or a car.

The sum to which a surviving spouse/civil partner is entitled from the estate when the deceased died intestate – currently £270,000.

Trust automatically created in a Will if leaving money to a minor.

When someone has lost mental capacity and the Courts make a Will for them.

The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

Guidance notes for executors and trustees when administering an estate.

When people own a property as 50/50, their 50% passing as per the Will.

A living person making the Will.

A specific type of trust that is created as part of a Will. A testamentary trust takes effect on death.

A person(s) who is given the responsibility of looking after a Trust.