The words, in plain English.
Definitions of the terms this profession uses daily — written so you can read one before an appointment, or turn your screen round and show a client.
Mirror wills
Mirror wills are two separate, substantially identical wills made by a couple, each leaving their estate to the other and then, on the second death, to the same chosen beneficiaries. They remain independently revocable.
Intestacy rules
The intestacy rules are the statutory order set out in the Administration of Estates Act 1925 determining who inherits when someone dies without a valid will. They apply regardless of what the deceased would have wanted.
Deed of variation
A deed of variation is a document by which a beneficiary redirects all or part of their inheritance to someone else. If made within two years of death and containing the correct statements, it is treated for inheritance tax and capital gains tax as if the deceased had made the gift.
Discretionary trust
A discretionary trust is a trust in which the trustees decide which of a defined class of potential beneficiaries receives anything, how much, and when. No beneficiary has a fixed entitlement.
Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)
A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document by which a person (the donor) appoints one or more attorneys to make decisions on their behalf if they later lose the mental capacity to make those decisions themselves.
Letter of wishes
A letter of wishes is a private, non-binding document written alongside a will or trust, in which the person explains to their executors or trustees how they would like discretion to be exercised.
Life interest trust
A life interest trust gives one person (the life tenant) the right to income from trust assets, or to live in a property, for their lifetime — after which the capital passes to different beneficiaries (the remaindermen).
Property protection trust
A property protection trust is a will trust in which a person leaves their share of a jointly owned property to trustees rather than outright to their co-owner, so that the share ultimately passes to their chosen beneficiaries.
Will writer
A will writer is a professional who drafts wills and related estate planning documents for clients. In England and Wales will writing is not a reserved legal activity, so a will writer need not be a solicitor and is not subject to statutory regulation.
Attestation clause
An attestation clause is the passage at the end of a will recording that it was signed by the testator in the presence of two witnesses present at the same time, who then signed in the testator's presence — the formalities required by section 9 of the Wills Act 1837.
Executor
An executor is the person appointed by a will to administer the estate — collecting assets, paying debts and taxes, applying for probate where needed, and distributing what remains to the beneficiaries.
Estate planning software
Estate planning software is a system used by professionals to produce and manage estate planning work — wills, lasting powers of attorney and trusts — together with the client records, communication and case tracking that surround them.
Estate planning
Estate planning is the process of arranging how a person's assets, responsibilities and wishes will be handled during incapacity and after death — through wills, lasting powers of attorney, trusts and lifetime gifts.
Probate
Probate is the legal process of proving a will and obtaining authority to administer a deceased person's estate. A grant of probate is the document issued to executors confirming that authority.
Severance of joint tenancy
Severance of joint tenancy is the process of converting jointly owned property from a joint tenancy, where the survivor inherits automatically, into a tenancy in common, where each owner holds a distinct share they can leave by will.
Testamentary capacity
Testamentary capacity is the mental capacity required to make a valid will. The test in England and Wales comes from Banks v Goodfellow (1870) — the testator must understand the nature of the act, the extent of their property, the claims on them, and have no disorder of mind perverting their judgement.
Residuary estate
The residuary estate is everything left in an estate after debts, funeral expenses, taxes, administration costs and all specific and pecuniary gifts have been paid out. It is disposed of by the residuary clause of the will.
Will writing software
Will writing software is a professional drafting system that produces wills and related estate planning documents from structured answers rather than from an edited word-processor template, assembling and validating the correct clauses automatically.
See it draft one of your cases.
Book a walkthrough with someone who drafts in Willo every day. They will open your kind of case, not a demo script, and you can stop them and ask anything.
Or call 0333 049 5033 — Mon–Fri, 9am–6pm.