Terms Used In Delaware Code > Title 12 > Chapter 15 - Letters Testamentary and Letters of Administration

• Academic institution: means an institution of postsecondary education receiving State funds or a private institution of postsecondary education with campuses physically located in Delaware serving over 1,000 students. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 9001A
• Advocate: means any of the following:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 9001A

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Ancillary administration: Probate administration of property (usually real property) owned in a State other than the one in which the decedent had his (her) principal residence at the time of death.
• 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.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appeals Commission: means 3 persons, 1 from each county, appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the majority of the Senate. See Delaware Code Title 4 Sec. 1302
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of court.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Beneficiary designation: means a testamentary or nontestamentary instrument or contract, other than an instrument creating a trust, naming the beneficiary of:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 602

• Child: means a person who has not reached the age of 18 years. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Code: means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (26 U. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 602
• Commissioner: means the person appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate who serves as the Marijuana Commissioner for the State. See Delaware Code Title 4 Sec. 1302
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Court: means the Court of Chancery. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 39A-101
• cultivation facility: means an entity licensed to cultivate, prepare, and package marijuana and sell marijuana to retail marijuana stores, to marijuana product manufacturing facilities, and to other marijuana cultivation facilities, but not to consumers. See Delaware Code Title 4 Sec. 1302
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Department of Elections conducting the election: means the Department of Elections in the county in which the office of the superintendent of a public school district is located and which is responsible for conducting elections in accordance with Chapters 10, 19, 20 and 21 of this title for that school district, except that public school elections in the Milford and Smyrna School Districts shall be conducted by the Department of Elections for Kent County and public school elections in the Woodbridge School District shall be conducted by the Department of Elections for Sussex County. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 1071
• Disclaimant: means the person to whom a disclaimed interest in property would have passed had the disclaimer not been made, or the person who would have had a power over property or with respect to property, including a power of appointment, had the disclaimer not been made. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 602
• Disclaimed interest: means the interest that would have passed to the disclaimant had the disclaimer not been made. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 602
• Disclaimer: means the refusal to accept an interest in or power over property. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 602
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Division: means the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement. See Delaware Code Title 4 Sec. 1302
• Donee: The recipient of a gift.
• Dower: A widow
• Election: shall include a referendum where applicable. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 1071
• Establishment: means any place located physically in this State where alcoholic liquor of 1 or more varieties is stored, sold or used by authority of any law of this State, including a hotel, restaurant, tavern, beer garden, or club as defined in this section, or where alcoholic liquor of 1 or more varieties is manufactured by virtue of any law of this State. See Delaware Code Title 4 Sec. 101
• 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
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiduciary: means a personal representative, trustee of a trust, agent acting under a power of attorney, conservator, custodian under a Uniform Transfers to Minors Act [Chapter 45 of this title] or similar statute of any jurisdiction, guardian, or other person authorized to act as a fiduciary with respect to the property or power of another person. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 602
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• 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
• Holder: means the person holding a power of appointment over an interest in property held in a trust, or holding a power over a trust, who is granted the right or authority to exercise the power of appointment over an interest in property held in a trust or of a power over a trust under the terms of the instrument governing the trust. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 602
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
• Jointly held property: means property held in the name of 2 or more persons under an arrangement in which all owners have concurrent interests and under which the last surviving owner is entitled to the whole of the property. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 602
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• License: means any license or permit to cultivate, possess, manufacture, sell, transport, or test marijuana or marijuana products and accessories authorized or issued by the Commissioner under this chapter. See Delaware Code Title 4 Sec. 1302
• Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Local administration: means administration by a personal representative appointed in this State pursuant to appointment proceedings described in this title. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1561
• Local personal representative: includes any personal representative appointed in this State pursuant to appointment proceedings described in this title and excludes foreign personal representatives who acquire the power of a local personal representative pursuant to § 1566 of this title. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1561
• Manufacture: means distill, rectify, ferment, brew, make, mix, concoct or process any substance or substances capable of producing a beverage containing more than 1/2 of 1% of alcohol by volume and includes blending, bottling or other preparation for sale. See Delaware Code Title 4 Sec. 101
• Marijuana: means as defined in § 4701 of Title 16. See Delaware Code Title 4 Sec. 1302
• Marijuana accessories: means any equipment, products, or materials of any kind which are used, intended for use, or designed for use in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, composting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, vaporizing, or containing marijuana; or for ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing marijuana into the human body. See Delaware Code Title 4 Sec. 1302
• Marijuana establishment: means an entity licensed as a marijuana cultivation facility, a marijuana testing facility, a marijuana product manufacturing facility, or a retail marijuana store. See Delaware Code Title 4 Sec. 1302
• Marijuana products: means products that are comprised of marijuana, including concentrated marijuana, and other ingredients and are intended for use or consumption, such as edible products, ointments, and tinctures. See Delaware Code Title 4 Sec. 1302
• Month: means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Oath: includes affirmation in all cases where an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and "sworn" includes affirmed; and the forms shall be varied accordingly. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• owner: shall include a tenant by the entirety. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 602
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• 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
• Per stirpes: The legal means by which the children of a decedent, upon the death of an ancestor at a level above that of the decedent, receive by right of representation the share of the ancestor
• Person: means as defined in § 302 of Title 1. See Delaware Code Title 4 Sec. 1302
• Person: means an individual, living, deceased or unborn, ascertained or unascertained, corporation, business trust, statutory trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government, or any governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 602
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal representative: includes executor, administrator, administrator with the will annexed and successor personal representatives and persons who perform substantially the same function under the law governing their status. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1561
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Public school election: means an election to elect 1 or more members to a board of education and any election conducted in accordance with Chapter 19, 20 or 21 of this title. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 1071
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• real property: is synonymous with the phrase "lands, tenements and hereditaments. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Reorganized school district: means a school district constituted and established in accordance with this chapter whether by reorganization, consolidation or division. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 1071
• Resident creditor: means a person domiciled in, or doing business in this State, who is, or could be, a claimant against an estate of a nonresident decedent. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1561
• Responsible employee: means persons who are any of the following:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 9001A

• Retail marijuana: means "marijuana" as defined in § 4701 of Title 16, that is cultivated, manufactured, distributed, or sold by a licensed marijuana establishment. See Delaware Code Title 4 Sec. 1302
• Revocable trust: A trust agreement that can be canceled, rescinded, revoked, or repealed by the grantor (person who establishes the trust).
• Sale: means every act of selling as defined in this section. See Delaware Code Title 4 Sec. 101
• School board: means the board of education of a reorganized school district. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 1071
• Sell: means : solicit or receive an order for; keep or expose for sale; deliver for value or in any other way than purely gratuitously; keep with intent to sell; keep or transport in contravention of this title; traffic in; or for any valuable consideration, promised or obtained, directly or indirectly, or under any pretext or by any means whatsoever, procure or allow to be procured for any other person, to carry alcoholic liquors on one's person or to transport with one and with intent to sell the same, but not in any establishment where the sale thereof is allowed. See Delaware Code Title 4 Sec. 101
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Sexual assault: means physical contact of a sexual nature perpetrated without consent or where consent is unable to be given. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 9001A
• 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
• State Board: consists of 9 members who are citizens of this State andappointed as follows:

  (1) The Governor shall appoint, with Senate confirmation, 7 voting members. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 104

• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Tenancy by the entirety: A type of joint tenancy between husband and wife that is recognized in some States. Neither party can sever the joint tenancy relationship; when a spouse dies, the survivor acquires full title to the property.
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trust: means :

  a. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 602

• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes its territories and possessions and the District of Columbia. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302