Probate Terminology

Jane G. Nardy, Certified Genealogical Records Searcher, has long been a friend of the Jackson County Genealogical Society. She has provided this list of terms commonly encountered when doing probate research. Contact Jane at janeaerie@aol.com

Administration:: The collection, management, and distribution of an estate by the proper legal processes.
Administrator:: A person appointed by the proper court to adminster a deceased person's estate.
Administratrix:: A female Administrator.
Attest:: To bear witness to something, as the execution of a will, and to affirm formally with your own signature that the document is genuine.
Beneficiary:: A person for whose benefit a trust is created or who receives benefits from property. Those giving by will are usually called beneficiaries.
Bequeath:: To give personal property by will (not real property).
Consideration:: The price in a contract.
Decedent:: A deceased person, especially on who has recently died, testate or intestate.
Devise:: A gift of real property by will (not personal property).
Dower:: The lands and tenements to which a widow has claim (in life estate), after the death of her husband for the support of herself and her children. Usually one-third in value of all lands which her husband owned, but varies from state to state.
Dwelling House:: The house where a person lives with his family.
Effects:: Personal property of any kind and sometimes including real property.
Endowment:: Assigning or setting off the widow's dower.
Estate:: The sum total or aggregate of a person's property.
Executor:: A person named by the testator in his will to see that the provisions of that will are carried out after the testator's death.
Executrix:: A woman named in a will to execute or administer it.
Folio:: A leaf. In old records, it was customary to number leaves rather than pages; hence, a folio would be both sides of a leaf, or two pages. It is possible to find several pages numbered as one folio.
Goods and Chattels:: The most comprehensive description of personal property.
Guardian:: A person who is invested with the right, and so charged, to manage the rights and property of another person, as of a minor or a person incapable of managing his own affairs for some reason (idiot, lunatic, spendthrift, habitual drunkard, etc).
Heir:: A person who inherits or succeeds to the possession of property, through legal means, after the death of another, usually an ancestor. Used in a popular sense to designate any successor to property either by will or by law.
Infant:: Any person not of full legal age; a minor. The person so designated may be 6 feet tall and weigh 200 pounds!
Instrument:: Any formal legal document.
Legacy:: Legacy and bequest are equivalent terms. A legacy is essentially a gift of personal property by will.
Legatee:: A person to whom a legacy is bequeathed.
Legator:: A person who makes a will and leaves legacies.
Natural Affection:: Affection which exists naturally between near relatives and is usually regarded as good and legal consideration in a conveyance.
Relict:: The surviving spouse when one has died, husband or wife.
Surety:: A person who makes himself liable for another person's debts or obligations should the first default.
Testamentary Guardian:: Guardian named in a deed or last will of the child's father. Otherwise, the guardian is chosen by the election of the child (if the child is over 14) or by appointment of the court (if the child is under 14).
Testate:: A person who dies leaving a valid will.
Testator:: A person who leaves a will in force at his death.