Glossary.

Administrator
The person appointed by and qualified before the Clerk to administer the decedents estate when there is no will or the will does not name an executor or names an executor who for some reason does not serve.

Administrator C.T.A.
"Cum testamento annexo", or, " with the will annexed." An administrator of an estate other than named executor in a will. Serves when all named executors do not serve due to death, incapacity or renunciation of their right to serve.

Beneficiary
A person or organization entitled to receive a portion of the estate.

Bond
A written document in which the obligor formally recognizes an obligation to pay money in the event the obligor does not properly perform his or her duties.

Certificate of Qualification
The Certificate of Qualification, sometimes referred to as "Letters Testamentary," is the paper that the personal representative receives from the Clerk at the time of qualification which states that a person has qualified as executor or administrator and has authority to act on behalf of the estate.

Certified Copy
A copy of a document or record, signed and certified as a true copy by the officer to whose custody the original is intrusted.

Codicil
A supplement or an addition to a will; it may explain, modify, add to, subtract from, qualify, alter, restrain or revoke provisions in an existing will.

Commissioner of Accounts
Person(s) appointed by the Court to monitor the reports and activities of personal representatives.

Creditor
Person or organization owed money by the decedent.

Decedent
Deceased person.

Estate
The decedent's property, including real estate, personal property and all other assets owed or controlled by decedent at the time of his/her death.

Executor
The person named in decedent's will to administer the estate. To accept the appointment, the executor must qualify before the clerk.

Fiduciary
A person in a position of trust with respect to another's property; a general term used to refer to executor, administrator or trustee.

Heirs at Law
Person(s) who would inherit the decedent's estate if the decedent died without a will.

Holographic Will
Will written entirely by the testator with his own hand.

Intestate Estate
An estate to be administered without a will.

Inventory
Detailed list of articles; a list or schedule of property, containing designation or description of such specific article.

Personal Representative
A term used to mean either the executor or the administrator of the estate.

Probate
Procedure whereby a will is admitted to record in the clerk's office. Also, used to include the process of qualifying a person as an executor or administrator of an estate. It sometimes is referred to as the entire process of administering an estate.

Qualification
Procedure whereby a person is appointed by the clerk to serve as executor or administrator of a decedent's estate.

Self-Proved Will
Will that includes a notarized affidavit of the testator and attesting witnesses. See the 1950 Code of Virginia, Section 64.1-87.1 and 64.1-87.2, as amended, for specific language.

Testator
One who dies leaving a will.

Testate Estate
An estate to be administered pursuant to a will.

Will
A written document that gives instructions on how a person wants his or her property distributed after death.