Ameliorative waste refers to modifications that increase the value of property made by a tenant who failed to obtain the landowner or future interest holder’s permission. Ameliorative waste differs from permissive waste and voluntary waste,...
wills
amend
To amend is to make a change by adding, subtracting, or substituting. For example, one can amend a statute, a contract, the United States Constitution, or a pleading filed in a lawsuit. Generally, procedures dictate the way in which one...
ancestor
An ancestor is a predecessor in the family. In a legal sense, especially in the law of inheritance, any person whose estate is inherited by legal act or descent is an ancestor. The term ancestor applies only to natural persons. Predecessors...
ancillary administration
Ancillary administration is the performance of ancillary probate which is a proceeding for estate assets located in another state than where the deceased lived. Each state has its own property laws, so administrators of estates must have a...
ancillary probate
Ancillary probate is a secondary proceeding required in another state than the original probate proceeding. This secondary proceeding is required where the deceased left property or assets in more than one state, and because each state has...
anti-contest clause
Anti-contest clauses (also known as in terrorem clauses, contest clauses, no-contest clauses, noncontest clauses, and forfeiture clauses) are clauses in a will that impose a condition upon a devisee or legatee that they will not dispute the...
anti-lapse statute
Anti-lapse statutes are laws enacted in every state that prevent bequests from lapsing when the intended beneficiary has relatives covered by the statute. Without the statutes, if someone were to bequeath something to an intended beneficiary...
antilapse statute
Anti-lapse statutes are laws enacted in every state that prevent bequests from lapsing when the intended beneficiary has relatives covered by the statute. Without the statutes, if someone were to bequeath something to an intended beneficiary...
applicable exclusion amount
The applicable exclusion amount (also known as unified credit) refers to the total gifts and estate transfers exempted from an individual’s gift and estate taxes. Every U.S. citizen has an applicable exclusion amount for all gifts made inter...
appointees
In the context of a power of appointment, the appointees are the people the donee actually selects from the objects of the power. They are selected by the power of possession holder to receive the appointive assets subject to that power of...