Jargon Buster Q-Z

Rectification
Government department which can be appointed as Executor. A service fee is charged.

Remainderman/Men
If a court is satisfied that a Will so expressed, fails to carry out the testators wishes by way of a clerical error or by failure to understand what his instructions were, then the court may order that the Will be rectified to carry out the testators intentions.

Residuary Gift
The person, people or organisations who receive the benefit of a gift when a life interest comes to an end.

Residuary Legatee
A gift of the residue of an estate. The Residue is what remains after all debts and taxes have been paid and all legacies and bequests have been given.

Residue
Person or Trust receiving the balance of the estate after all other gifts etc. Where gifts have been made to other parties free of tax, the Residuary Legatee effectively bears the cost of Inheritance Tax.

This is the remainder of an estate after all debts and taxes have been paid and all legacies and bequests have been given.

Revocation
Contrary to popular belief, a latter Will DOES NOT automatically revoke an earlier one unless it contains a revocation clause. If a person leaves two Wills that are inconsistent with each other, they stand together. A Will is revoked by deliberate destruction (burning, tearing up) BY THE TESTATOR, with the intention of revocation. Accidental destruction does not form revocation itself. A Will is not revoked by writing to whoever is holding it asking them to destroy it. A Will is automatically revoked by marriage unless it was made (and stated to be made) in contemplation of a forthcoming marriage. Divorce does not automatically revoke a Will.

Right Of DeterminatiOn
The right to pass on benefit or responsibility to another person or organisation (by will or otherwise).

Seven Year Rule
The most usual form of lifetime gift which is relevant for Inheritance Tax is a gift given by one person to another. Such a gift is exempt from tax if the donor lives on for another seven years.

Specific Gifts
Is a gift such as my car or my house and it must have characteristics.
o It must itself be part of the testators personal property.
o It must be a specified part so that it is severed or distinguished by the testator from the general mass of his estate.

Step-Children
Children of a spouse which are not your own.

Survivor
Means any person mentioned in the Will still alive at a stated time (usually the testator’s death). This can include people not born when the will was made.

Tenants In Common
Where property is owned by two or more persons as tenants in common, they each own a prescribed share. The most common arrangement is for two people to own equally but this does not have to be the case. When a tenant in common dies, their share passes to the people specified in their will if they have one covering their interest in the property. Otherwise it passes according to the laws of intestacy. Owning property as tenants in common allows for much more flexibility in using a property interest to avoid tax or long term care costs, or to protect the inheritance of children, for example if a surviving spouse remarries. However it is essential to have a properly drawn up will and to take professional advice on all aspects of the different kinds of joint property ownership.

Testamentary Capacity
This requires that he shall ‘understand the nature of his act and its effects; the extent of the property of which he is disposing; shall be able to comprehend and appreciate the claims to which he ought to give effect, and, with a view to the latter object, that no disorder of mind shall poison his affections, pervert his sense of right, or prevent the exercise of his natural faculties, that no insane delusion shall influence his will in disposing of his property and bring about a disposal of it which, if his mind has been sound, would not have been made.’

Testamentary Disposition
Testamentary Disposition is simply a wider term for the word Will and includes codicils

Testamentary Expenses
Is the cost of administering a Will, i.e. expenses such as telephone, stamps, loss of wages etc.

Testator
The person who makes a Will.

Testatrix
A female making a will.

Trust
An arrangement whereby a person to whom the legal title (property and possessions) is conveyed (the trustee) holds such property and possessions for the benefit of those entitled to the beneficial interest (the beneficiary

Trustee
The person nominated to deal with a Trust. The trustee or trustees are the legal owners of assets held in trusts. The people who benefit from the trusts (the trust beneficiaries) are known as beneficial owners. Trustees may also be beneficiaries of a trust but are not automatically so. It is possible to have lay trustees (generally family members or friends) or professional trustees (generally solicitors, banks accountants or trust corporations). Professional trustees normally charge for their services. The choice of professional or lay trustees will depend on many factors and professional advice on this matter is recommended. A mixture of lay and professional appointments is a good option in some cases.

Will The legal declaration of a persons intentions after his death.