Legal and Land Terms

Abstract – The important or main parts of a document.
Administrator – A person appointed to manage the assets of a deceased person.
Administratix – A female appointed to manage the assets of a deceased person.
Affidavit – A written statement sworn to before a person of authority.
Affinity – A non-blood or marital type relationship.
Ancestor – A person that you are descended from such as a grandfather.
Anno Domini – Latin for “ In the year of our Lord “.
Apprentice – Often a minor, bound by law or indentures to learn a trade.
Appurtenance – Real property belonging to another such as a building, or garden.
Appurtenant – An access agreement such as rights to enter a cemetery.
Assigns – To give or transfer property on a voluntary basis.
Attest – To witness or affirm by oath or signature.
Banns – A public announcement often in a church of intent to marry.
Beneficiary – The recipient of a trust or property.
Bequeath – A gift of personal property by a last will.
Bequest – The gift of personal property by will.
Bond – An agreement, requiring a performance or payment by a given date.
Bounty Land Warrant – A right to a specific number of acres for military service.
Census – An official counting or enumeration of a population.
Certified Copy – A copy of an original document certified as original.
Chain – A unit of measure equaling 100 links or 66 feet to measure a property.
Chattel – The personal property belonging to an individual.
Child of Tender Years – A minor child under age 14.
Christen – The Baptism or naming of an infant as dedicated to Christ.
Circa – An approximation of a date.
Codicil – A change or modification to a will after the initial writing.
Collateral Ancestor – From the same family line but not of the direct line of decent.
Common Ancestor - The sharing of an ancestor by two or more individuals.
Consanguinity – Relationship as a Blood Relative.
Consort - The wife of a living husband.
Conveyance – The transfer normally by deed.
Croft – A small piece or parcel of land.
Curtsey – The lifetime estate of a widower living on the lands of a deceased spouse.
Deceased – A person that has died.
Decedent – A person no longer living a deceased person.
Deed – A document transferring interest in a property from one person to another.
Deed Poll – A deed signed by an individual, sometimes for the interest of others.
Deposition – The testimony of an individual taken under oath.
Devise – A gift of property by will.
Devisee or Devisor – The giver of property. The recipient of property.
Direct Deed – A grantor deed.
Dissenter – A person not belonging to an established church.
Dower – One-third share acquired by marriage of a husbands estate for natural life.
Enumeration – The listing or counting as in a Census.
Epitaph – An inscription on a tomb or headstone for the memory of the deceased.
Escheat – The reverting of property, when there are no heirs, to the state.
Estate – Property and debts belonging to an individual.
Executor – A male appointed to carry out the will or bequest of a deceased person.
Executrix - A female appointed to carry out the will or bequest of a deceased person.
Family Burying Ground – A family cemetery.
Fee Simple – Ownership of property with no restrictions.
Fee Tail – Land or inheritance limited by lineal decent of the heirs.
Free Hold – A fee simple estate that could be Fee Tail or for life.
Friend – Reference to a member of any number of religious societies.
Furlong – 1000 links of chain or 660 feet.
Genealogy – A history of the family lines of decent.
Gazetteer – A Dictionary of Geography.
Given Name – The first or middle name of the person not the Surname.
Glebe or Parish Land – Land belonging to a church.
Heir – A person or persons entitled by law or last will to inherit an estate.
Holographic Will – A hand written will by the testator.
Indenture – A deed involving two or more persons with obligations to each other.
Indentured Servant – A person that was bound for a specific time of service.
Infant – Any person not of majority or full legal age.
Intestate – A person dying without the benefit of leaving a will.
Inventory – An accounting by an executor of the estate of a deceased person.
Issue – Offspring, legitimate children of a descendant or ancestor.
Legacy – A gift of money or property given by last will and testament.
Lineage – Direct descent or ancestry from an individual.
Link – A measurement of 7.92 inches of a chain. Used as a measure of land.
Letters of Administration – A court administration of an intestate person.
Loyalist – An American Colonist who supported the British. (A Tory)
Marriage Bond – A license for marriage with a financial obligation of the groom.
Maternal – Related thru the line of one’s mother.
Militia – Private citizens available for military service in an emergency.
Mortality Schedules – Schedule of persons that died in the year prior to the Census.
Namesake – A person named after another person.
Nuncupative Will – A will based on the oral declared will of the deceased.
Orphan – A child that has lost one or more parents.
Orphan’s Court – Special courts to oversee the needs of wards of the state.
Patent – A land grant from the government to an individual.
Paternal – A relation thru the line of ones father.
Pension – Money paid to an individual as a reward for military service.
Pole – A unit of measure of 16.5 feet for measuring land.
Posterity – Descendants or those who come after.
Power of Attorney – A person appointed to act in the interest of others. Probate – The proving or administration of a last will and testament.
Progenitor – A direct line ancestor.
Proved Will – A will certified as legitimate by a court.
Provost – A person appointed to supervise others.
Quitclaim Deed – A deed releasing all claims and interests to real property.
Right of First Born – A custom where the father’s estate went to the first born male.
Rector – A clergyman.
Relict – The widow or surviving spouse this could be male or female.
Rod – A unit of measure for surveying land equaling 5 ½ Yards.
Rood – A unit of measure around 6-8 yards for the surveying of land.
Surety – A bond posted to ensure a specific performance of a duty or obligation.
Surname – Family name or last name.
Tenant – Refers to a person holding land by any right or title.
Testate – A person that dies leaving a valid will.
Testator – A person that leaves a valid will.
Tithable – Usually refers to a male attaining the age of sixteen that pays taxes.
Tithe – Money collected for the support of clergy or the church.
Tory – A Loyalist that supported the British.
TO WIT – Naming a specific item.
Tract – A portion of land.
Tract Book – Entries of property by range or township.
Tradition – Passing down beliefs, legends, customs etc. usually to each generation.
Transcribe – To make a written copy.
Trust Deed – A type of mortgage.
Vital Records – A record of births, deaths, marriages and divorce.
Vital Statistics – The data pertaining to births, deaths, marriages and divorce.
Ward – City divisions for voting purposes.
Warranty Deed – A deed where the grantor guarantee’s the title.
Will – A written expression of a persons last intentions or wishes.
Witness – A person called to testify about an event or transaction.