Glossary for wills

Sometimes it seems like lawyers speak a language all their own. Over the centuries of English and American law, traditional terms and "legalese" have formed around how people inherit property, whether by a will or in cases where there is no will.

Here is a glossary of a few terms.

Will: (1) A document by which a person directs his or her estate to be distributed upon death (Black's Law Dictionary). (2) Under the Wisconsin statutory definition, a will includes any addition or amendment (usually known as a "codicile") made after the original will. Even though making a will seems straight-forward to most people, formalities of how it is written, who witnesses it, and how it may be changed or revoked are all part of state law. For example, here is a link to the Wisconsin statutory section on wills.

Testator: A person who has made a will; esp., a person who dies leaving a will. (Black's Law Dictionary). Likewise, "testate" is the state of dying with a valid will, see "intestacy" below. This is a simple definition, but the term is not in our everyday vocabulary.

Heir: (1) A person who, under the laws of intestacy [see definition below], is entitled to receive an intestate decedent's property. (Black's Law Dictionary). Although many people consider any descendant who may receive a decedent's property, either by will or by law, to be an "heir," the term only applies to those who receive when there is no will. Under Wisconsin law (and probably most other states), a surviving spouse is an heir.

Beneficiary: (1) A person nominated in a will to receive an interest in property other than in a fiduciary capacity. (Wis. Stat. 851.03). (2) Black's Law Dictionary offers a broad definition that includes a person who receives a benefit under any type of legal arrangement, such as will, trust, insurance policy, or guardianship. (Of course, Wisconsin statutes define "beneficiary" differently in different contexts too, but for probate purposes, it is defined as in (1).)

Intestacy: The state or condition of a person's having died without a valid will. (Black's Law Dictionary). How an intestate person's estate is distributed is determined by state law. Here is a link to Wisconsin statutes for intestate succession.

Issue: Descendants of a person, i.e., children, grandchildren, etc., including those who were adopted or born outside of marriage. (See, e.g., Wis. Stat. 851.13). Again, the concept is not difficult, but the term is not in our everyday vocabulary.

Residue: The part of a decedent's estate remaining after payment of all debts, expenses, statutory claims, taxes, and testamentary gifts have been made. (Black's Law Dictionary). This is the part of a person's estate that is "left over" after specific distributions (like "I give my diamond brooch to my granddaughter Susie") are made. For most people, this is the bulk of their estate, which is given in proportions rather than in set amounts because the value or nature of the estate is not known until the testator's death.

Executor (also known as "personal representative"): A person named by a testator to carry out the provisions in the testator's will. (Black's Law Dictionary). In Wisconsin, an executor is called a "personal representative," and Wisconsin statute provides for a personal representative's powers and duties.

(Photo by myuibe; used by permission.)