Nervous about seeing a Lawyer about a Will or after someone passes away?

There is no need to be nervous about seeing a Lawyer about a will.  Wills & Tax Associate Heather Varley, has put together a small glossary of terms that may be mentioned to help:

Administrator - personal representative of a person who has died without a will or without appointing an executor.

Assets - everything of value owned by the deceased at the date of death.

Beneficiary - the person or organization receiving part of the estate or benefitting under a trust.

Codicil - a document that acts as an amendment or supplement to a will.

DWP - the Department for Work and Pensions, the governmental organization that administers the benefits system.

Estate - everything owned by the deceased on the date of death.

Executor - someone appointed under a Will to act as a deceased’s personal representative.

Grant of representation - the legal document (e.g., probate or letters of administration) needed by the personal representative to administer an estate.

Inheritance tax - the tax that arises when someone dies or sometimes when gifts are made into trust during your lifetime.

Intestacy - the legal rules that apply when someone dies without a Will.

Letters of administration - the legal document issued to an administrator to enable the estate to be administered.

Liabilities - what is owed by the deceased at the time of death and which are deductible for inheritance tax purposes.

Oath - the document that a personal representative needs to swear before the grant of representation can be issued.

Personal representative - the person who is responsible for administering the deceased’s estate.

Probate - the legal document issued to an executor confirming the validity of the Will and enabling the executor to administer the estate.

Will - the document that records the deceased wishes about the distribution of your estate, sometimes supplemented by a codicil.

Our Wills & Tax Team, based in Christchurch, also cover Bournemouth, Poole and the New Forest. For a free initial chat, please call 01202 499255 and Heather or a member of the team will be happy to discuss any questions that you may have.-