GLOSSARY H - L

Income tax
Tax payable in income. An income tax return must be prepared and submitted for the Deceased for the year in which they died and any tax due must be paid before the distribution of the estate.

Inheritance tax
Or IHT, the tax which is payable on your estate and on certain lifetime gifts after you die.

Inquest
A public enquiry, held by a coroner, into the medical cause and circumstance of a death.

Instrument of Variation
A document which varies a Will or the provisions of intestacy after a person has died.

Interest
The right to property.

Intestacy
The name for the situation which arises when someone dies without making a Will.

Their estate is then distributed according to the laws governing intestacy. - HM Revenue and Customs on intestacy >>

Intestate
A death where there is no legally valid Will.

Issue
All your “living” direct bloodline descendents.

Joint tenancy
Property owned by 2 or more people.  Joint tenants are usually husband and wife and in the event of the death of one tenant, the other becomes the owner of the whole property.  A joint tenant cannot make a gift of their share of the property to anyone else as it is not theirs to give.

Legacy
A gift left in a Will, other than houses or land.  There are three common types of legacies:

• A specific legacy is simply a specific property or object
• A pecuniary legacy is a gift of a specific sum of money
• A residuary legacy is a gift of the money or assets left over when all other legacies and expenses have been paid

Liabilities
The debts that need to be settled by the estate following the death of the Deceased e.g. household and general bills, funeral expenses, outstanding income tax.

Living will
Sometimes known as an "advance directive" is a document containing instructions to medical personnel to allow them to stop prolonging your life in the event of you becoming terminally ill, permanently unconscious or losing your mental capacity.  Some people decide they do not want to be kept alive in such an event by either artificial means or medical treatment. Living Wills cannot necessarily be enforced by law.