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Intestate
Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without having in force a valid will or other binding declaration. Alternatively this may also apply where a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of the estate; the remaining estate forms the "intestate estate". Intestacy law, also referred to as the law of descent and distribution, refers to the body of law (statutory and case law) that determines who is entitled to the property from the estate under the rules of inheritance. History and the common law Intestacy has a limited application in those jurisdictions that follow civil law or Roman law because the concept of a will is itself less important; the doctrine of forced heirship automatically gives a deceased person's next-of-kin title to a large part (forced estate) of the estate's property by operation of law, beyond the power of the deceased person to defeat or exceed by testamentary gift. A forced share (or legitime) can often only ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officially bequeathing private property and/or debts can be performed by a testator via will, as attested by a notary or by other lawful means. Terminology In law, an ''heir'' is a person who is entitled to receive a share of the deceased's (the person who died) property, subject to the rules of inheritance in the jurisdiction of which the deceased was a citizen or where the deceased (decedent) died or owned property at the time of death. The inheritance may be either under the terms of a will or by intestate laws if the deceased had no will. However, the will must comply with the laws of the jurisdiction at the time it was created or it will be declared invalid (for example, some states do not recognise handwritten wills as valid, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Will And Testament
A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's ( testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person ( executor) is to manage the property until its final distribution. For the distribution (devolution) of property not determined by a will, see inheritance and intestacy. Though it has at times been thought that a "will" historically applied only to real property while "testament" applied only to personal property (thus giving rise to the popular title of the document as "last will and testament"), the historical records show that the terms have been used interchangeably. Thus, the word "will" validly applies to both personal and real property. A will may also create a testamentary trust that is effective only after the death of the testator. History Throughout most of the world, the disposition of a dead person's estate has been a matter of social custom. According to Plutarch, the written will ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Next-of-kin
A person's next of kin (NOK) are that person's closest living blood relatives. Some countries, such as the United States, have a legal definition of "next of kin". In other countries, such as the United Kingdom, "next of kin" may have no legal definition and may not necessarily refer to blood relatives at all. In some legal systems, rights regarding inheritance (which imply a decision-making capacity — for example, in a medical emergency — where no clear will or instructions have been given, and where the person has no spouse) flow to the closest relative (regardless of the age, with a representative appointed if a minor), usually a child, a parent or a sibling. However, there are people without any close adult relatives and, in such a case, decision-making power often flows to a niece or nephew, first cousin, aunt or uncle, or grandparent. For example, if a person dies intestate, the laws of some jurisdictions require distribution of the estate to the decedent's spouse or c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heir
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officially bequeathing private property and/or debts can be performed by a testator via will, as attested by a notary or by other lawful means. Terminology In law, an ''heir'' is a person who is entitled to receive a share of the deceased's (the person who died) property, subject to the rules of inheritance in the jurisdiction of which the deceased was a citizen or where the deceased (decedent) died or owned property at the time of death. The inheritance may be either under the terms of a will or by intestate laws if the deceased had no will. However, the will must comply with the laws of the jurisdiction at the time it was created or it will be declared invalid (for example, some states do not recognise handwritten wills as valid, or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Escheat
Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a number of situations where a legal interest in land was destroyed by operation of law, so that the ownership of the land reverted to the immediately superior feudal lord. Etymology The term "escheat" derives ultimately from the Latin ''ex-cadere'', to "fall-out", via mediaeval French ''escheoir''. The sense is of a feudal estate in land falling-out of the possession by a tenant into the possession of the lord. Origins in feudalism In feudal England, escheat referred to the situation where the tenant of a fee (or "fief") died without an heir or committed a felony. In the case of such demise of a tenant-in-chief, the fee reverted to the King's demesne permanently, when it became once again a mere tenantless plot of land, but could be re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Domicile (law)
Domicile is relevant to an individual's "personal law," which includes the law that governs a person's status and their property. It is independent of a person's nationality. Although a domicile may change from time to time, a person has only one domicile, or residence, at any point in their life, no matter what their circumstances. Domicile is distinct from habitual residence, where there is less focus on future intent. As domicile is one of the connecting factors ordinarily used in common law legal systems, a person can never be left without a domicile and a domicile is acquired by everyone at birth. Generally domicile can be divided into domicile of origin, domicile of choice, and domicile by operation of law (also known as domicile of dependency). When determining the domicile of an individual, a court applies its own law and understanding of what domicile is. In some common-law countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, the concept of domicile has been subject to statutor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forced Heir
Forced heirship is a form of testate partible inheritance which mandates how the deceased's estate is to be disposed and which tends to guarantee an inheritance for family of the deceased. In forced heirship, the estate of a deceased (''de cujus'') is separated into two portions. (1) An indefeasible portion, the ''forced estate'' ( Germ ''Pflichtteil'', Fr ''réserve'', It, ''legittima'', Sp and Pt ''legítima''), passing to the deceased's next-of-kin (''conjunctissimi''). (2) A discretionary portion, or ''free estate'' (Germ ''frei verfügbare Quote'', Fr ''quotité disponible'', It ''quota disponible'', Sp ''tercio de libre disposición'', Pt ''quota disponível''), to be freely disposed of by will. Forced heirship is generally a feature of civil-law legal systems which do not recognize total freedom of testation, in contrast with common law jurisdictions. Normally in forced heirship, the deceased's estate is in-gathered and wound up without discharging liabilities, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forced Heirship
Forced heirship is a form of testate partible inheritance which mandates how the deceased's estate is to be disposed and which tends to guarantee an inheritance for family of the deceased. In forced heirship, the estate of a deceased (''de cujus'') is separated into two portions. (1) An indefeasible portion, the ''forced estate'' (Germ ''Pflichtteil'', Fr ''réserve'', It, ''legittima'', Sp and Pt ''legítima''), passing to the deceased's next-of-kin (''conjunctissimi''). (2) A discretionary portion, or ''free estate'' (Germ ''frei verfügbare Quote'', Fr ''quotité disponible'', It ''quota disponible'', Sp ''tercio de libre disposición'', Pt ''quota disponível''), to be freely disposed of by will. Forced heirship is generally a feature of civil-law legal systems which do not recognize total freedom of testation, in contrast with common law jurisdictions. Normally in forced heirship, the deceased's estate is in-gathered and wound up without discharging liabilities, whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legitime
In civil law and Roman law, the legitime (''legitima portio''), also known as a forced share or legal right share, of a decedent's estate is that portion of the estate from which he cannot disinherit his children, or his parents, without sufficient legal cause. The word comes from French ''héritier légitime'', meaning "rightful heir." The legitime is usually a statutory fraction of the decedent's gross estate and passes as joint property to the decedent's next-of-kin in equal undivided shares. The legitime cannot be infringed in order to give a spouse or other beneficiary a greater share of the estate. Therefore, when a decedent has children and leaves a will, it is unlawful for the testator to override the legitime by special gift which exhausts the estate or by designating his spouse or other person as sole beneficiary. This is known as ''preterition'' when arising by omission and ''disinheritance'' when heirs are expressly deprived. English Common law In English common law ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Estate (law)
An estate, in common law, is the net worth of a person at any point in time, alive or dead. It is the sum of a person's assets – legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind – less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person. (See inheritance.) Depending on the particular context, the term is also used in reference to an estate in land or of a particular kind of property (such as real estate or personal estate). The term is also used to refer to the sum of a person's assets only. The equivalent in civil law legal systems is patrimony. Bankruptcy Under United States bankruptcy law, a person's estate consists of all assets or property of any kind available for distribution to creditors. However, some assets are recognized as exempt to allow a person significant resources to restart his or her financial life. In the United States, asset exemptions depend on vario ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring society around relationships that were derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour. Although it is derived from the Latin word ''feodum'' or ''feudum'' (fief), which was used during the Medieval period, the term ''feudalism'' and the system which it describes were not conceived of as a formal political system by the people who lived during the Middle Ages. The classic definition, by François Louis Ganshof (1944), François Louis Ganshof (1944). ''Qu'est-ce que la féodalité''. Translated into English by Philip Grierson as ''Feudalism'', with a foreword by F. M. Stenton, 1st ed.: New York and London, 1952; 2nd ed: 1961; 3rd ed.: 1976. describes a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations which existed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercantile
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exchange of goods and services for other goods and services, i.e. trading things without the use of money. Modern traders generally negotiate through a medium of exchange, such as money. As a result, buying can be separated from selling, or earning. The invention of money (and letter of credit, paper money, and non-physical money) greatly simplified and promoted trade. Trade between two traders is called bilateral trade, while trade involving more than two traders is called multilateral trade. In one modern view, trade exists due to specialization and the division of labour, a predominant form of economic activity in which individuals and groups concentrate on a small aspect of production, but use their output in trades for other produc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
