<< The perhaps archaic legal term "guardian pendentilitum" has stumped all search engines tried so far. Does anyone know the meaning of this term? It came up in connection with the administration of the will of one of my ancestors. >> For Alison: From 1888 "Cochran's Law Lexicon, Pronouncing Edition, A Dictionary of Legal Words and Phrases, Including Latin and French Maxims Translated and Abbreviations Found in Law Books and Reports," by William C. Cochran, of the Cincinnati Bar, by Howard L. Bevis, Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, published in Cincinnati by the W. H. Anderson Company: Guardian, one who has the control or management of the person, or property, or both, of another, who is incapable of acting on his own behalf, e.g., an infant, or a lunatic. (2) Guardians ad litem are appointed by the court to represent infants or lunatics in an action. Pendentelite, latin, while the suit is pending. See Administration; Alimony. Administration [ ... other generally well known meanings ... ] pendente lite, while a suit is pending respecting the will, to take care of the estate only until the suit is ended. The mode of appointment administrators, their duties and powers, and the judicial supervision of their acts and accounts, are regulated by the statutes of the several states. Alimony, the allowance made to a wife out of her husband's estate for her support, either during a matrimonial suit, which is called alimony pendente lite, or at its termination, when she proves herself entitled to a separate maintenance, the fact of marriage being established. * * * You might try the search engine's again with one of these other forms. Peggy in Tulsa Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma