Hi All, This came and I just thought I would send it on to you all. Maggie GENEALOGY VOCABULARY Although this is not a comprehensive list, it will give you definitions for some of the more common terms, especially those used in legal documents. I hope it will be helpful! ABSTRACT: a brief statement of the main parts of a document. ABSTRACT OF TITLE: a condensed history of the title of a piece of real property, including any liabilities to which it may be subject. ADMINISTRATOR: one legally authorized by the court to manage and settle an estate when the deceased has not left a will and named and executor. (female, ADMINISTRIX) AFFINITY: a relationship by marriage, rather than by blood. ANNO DOMINI: a Latin term meaning "in the year of our Lord". APPURTENANCE: something that belongs to something else. Example: the buildings on a piece of real property would be appurtenances. APPRENTICE: a person, often a minor, bound (sometimes by law) to a master for the purpose of learning a trade. ARCHIVES: a place where records are kept. ATTEST: to bear witness to something and affirm formally with your signature that it is true. BANNS: public announcement, especially in church, of intention to be married. BENEFICIARY: a person for whose benefit a trust is created. BEQUEATH: to give personal property by a will. BEQUEST: a gift of personal property by a will. CENSUS: a count of population which includes various kinds of statistics. CERTIFIED COPY: a copy of a document signed and certified as a true copy by the officer to whose custody the original was entrusted. CHILD OF TENDER YEARS: a child under age 14. CHRISTEN: to baptize an infant. CODICIL: a P. S. to a will. COLLATERAL: belonging to the same ancestral stock, but not in the direct line of descent. (i.e. aunts, cousins, etc.) CONSANGUINITY: a relationship by blood. CONSORT: wife or husband of a living spouse. CONVEYANCE: the granting of real property to another party. DEED: a legal document that contains the record of transfer of real property, or some other bargain or contract concerning the property. DECEDENT: deceased person. DESCENDANT: offspring to the furthest generation. DEPONENT: person who gives evidence, especially in writing. DEVISE: a gift of real property by will. DEVISEE: a person to whom real property is given by will. DOWER: the property to which a widow has claim upon the death of her husband. (There is no dower in community property states.) ESTATE: the total of a person's property, both real and personal. ET AL: a Latin term meaning "and others". ET UXOR: a Latin term meaning "and his wife". EXECUTOR: a person appointed by a testator (person writing will) to carry out the directions and bequests in the will. (female, EXECUTRIX) GAZETTEER: a geographical dictionary. GENEALOGY: an enumeration of the history of the descent of a family. GRANT: a general term applicable to all transfers of real property. GRANTEE: the person to whom a grant is made. GRANTOR: the person by whom the grant is made. HEIR: the person(s) who succeeds, by rules of law, to an estate upon the death of his ancestor by right of relationship. INDENTURE: a deed to which two or more persons are parties, and in which these enter into reciprocal and corresponding grants or obligations towards each other. INFANT: a minor, a person not of full legal age. (This legal term does not apply only to babes in arms.) INTESTATE: a person dies without a will. ISSUE: all lineal descendants of a common ancestor are his issue--not just his children. LEGACY: a bequest or gift of personal property by last will and testament. LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION: often known as ADMON. The instrument whereby the probate court appoints someone to administer an estate of a person who died without leaving a will. LINEAL: being in direct line of ancestry. MARRIAGE LICENSE: a license whereby permission is granted by a public authority for persons to be married. MORTGAGE: conditional transfer of title to property, as security for payment of debt. NUNCUPATIVE WILL: a will which depends merely upon oral evidence, having been dictated or declared by the testator in his last sickness before a sufficient number of witnesses, and afterward written down. PEDIGREE: recorded ancestry or line of descent...often in chart form. POSTERITY: descendants. POWER OF ATTORNEY: When a person isn't able to act for himself and appoints another to act for him, the document by which he does so is call a "power of attorney" or "letter of attorney". The person appointed becomes "attorney in fact". PRESENTS: means literally "this document or instrument". The phrase "by these presents" is used to refer to the document or instrument in which the phrase occurs. PROBATE: the act or process of proving a will. Also used as an inclusive term referring to all matters under the jurisdiction of the probate court. QUITCLAIM DEED: an instrument by which a person releases all title, interest, or claim which he may possess in real property without making a warrants thereto. RELICT: a widow or widower, the surviving spouse. PROGENITOR: an ancestor in the direct line. TENANT: a person who possesses the lands by any right or title. TESTABLE: capable of making a will. TESTAMENTORY: pertaining to a will. TESTATE: one who dies leaving a valid will. TESTATOR: one who makes a will. TO WIT: namely. TRACT: a piece of land of any size. TRANSCRIBE: to write a copy of. TRUST DEED: This is a type of mortgage. VITAL RECORDS: statistics relating to birth, death, marriage, etc. WARRANTY DEED: a deed whereby the grantor warrants the title and should the title become faulty for any reason, the grantor (or his heirs) can be sued on the warranty. WILL: a legal expression of a person's wishes as to the disposition of his property after his death. YOUNGER CHILDREN: all children not entitled by rights of the eldest son--this includes daughters even though they may be older than the eldest son. !^NavFont02F13410007NGHHZ438763 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* - Email From: Maggie Stewart-Zimmerman - Zimmerman Family Web Page: http://www.infinet.com/~dzimmerm/index.html - For Updates on all my Ohio Pages join the Maggie_Ohio Maillist send an email to Maggie_Ohio-L-request@rootsweb.com - Ohio County USGenWeb Pages: **Erie Co. at http://www.infinet.com/~dzimmerm/Erie/erie.htm **Franklin Co. at http://www.infinet.com/~dzimmerm/Franklin/franklin1.html **Knox Co. at http://www.infinet.com/~dzimmerm/Knox/primepg.htm **Medina Co. at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohmedina/index.htm **Miami Co. at http://www.infinet.com/~dzimmerm/Miami/miami.htm *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* - God Put Me On Earth to Accomplish a Certain Number of Things. Right Now I am so far behind, I will never die. --- Unknown *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*