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CONTESTED WILL SOLICITOR – ENGLAND & WALES
If you are involved a contested will there are a number of terms and words that you may come across when reading about wills and what happens after a person dies, and it is important that you should understand them fully. This contested will glossary is designed to help you understand the meanings of several of the words used throughout this website, so that you can gain a better knowledge of how the whole process works.
Our solicitors deal with grants of probate and letters of administration together with contested will cases where the validity of the document is questioned or where someone not included as a beneficiary makes a claim. If you would like free initial legal advice on a contested will either as a potential beneficiary or as an executor either use the helpline or complete the form and a solicitor will discuss your case with you and give you free, no obligation advice.
CONTESTED WILL GLOSSARY - LEGAL TERMS IN PLAIN ENGLISH
- Beneficiary
- Crown
- Estate
- Executor
- Grant of Probate
- Inheritance Tax
- Intestate
- Letters of Administration
- Testator
- Witness
This is the title given to anyone named in a will who should receive a portion of the estate once all the debts have been paid out of it. There may be one or more beneficiaries and according to the wishes of the deceased the estate may be split equally or unequally, depending on who was most important to the person who died.
This is another term given to the Treasury, who are entitled to claim 40% Inheritance Tax on an estate which goes over the current threshold for this tax. In cases where no will is left and there are no living relatives the Crown will receive the entire estate itself.
This is the name given to what the deceased leaves behind by way of possessions and assets. The estate is generally liquidated before it is divided among the name beneficiaries in the will; so for example any property will be sold and shares will be cashed.
This is the title given to the person or persons nominated by the deceased to handle their final estate upon their death. You can nominate someone without them knowing, but they are entitled to refuse the duty – as is anyone who has previously agreed to do it.
An executor (see above) will apply for this to give them the sole responsibility to handle all the assets left behind by the deceased. Once they have the grant they can carry out the instructions as left in the will, but they should not begin this process until they have the grant, which will come from the Probate Registry.
If the value of the deceased’s estate goes over the current level of £275,000 then the estate will become liable for Inheritance Tax. This can be avoided by leaving everything to your spouse, or by consulting a solicitor to help you legally avoid paying as much as possible in several different ways.
If a person has died intestate, then they are deemed to have died without making a will first. This can mean that their final wishes of who should get which assets may not be granted, since there are strict rules regarding who can lay claim to such an estate, and these refer to the closeness of the family ties to that person.
These are applied for in cases where there is no executor of the will. An administrator is then given the legal right to deal with the estate on behalf of the deceased.
The testator is the person who created the will in the first place. It is related to the fact that they made their last will and testament – hence the word ‘testator’ as the person who makes it.
A will must be made in exactly the right way according to the laws that are laid down otherwise it will not be valid. One of the rules regarding the correctness of any will is that it should be witnessed by two people who do not appear in the will itself. If one of the witnesses is named in the will they will not be entitled to the share that they were granted by the testator. Therefore if they realise they are in it they should refuse to witness the document so as to avoid further complications.
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