Terms Used In Delaware Code > Title 12 > Chapter 19 - Assets of Estates; Inventory and Appraisal

• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Court: means the Court of Chancery. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 39A-101
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Donee: The recipient of a gift.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Guardian: is a "guardian of the person" as that term is used in this title. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 39A-101
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
• Month: means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Party: means the respondent, petitioner, guardian, conservator, or any other person allowed by the Court to participate in a guardianship or protective proceeding. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 39A-101
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 39A-101
• Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, a federally recognized Indian tribe, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 39A-101
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.