Phrase |
Definition |
| Lien |
The right to keep a debtor’s property from being sold or transferred until s/he pays what s/he owes. And the right to sell the property to pay a debt. |
| Lapse |
When the person who gets something in a Will (called the devisee) dies before the person who made the Will (called the testator). The Will can say who will get the property if that happens. If it doesn’t, state law says the property can go to the devisee’s descendants, unless the Will says otherwise. If the devisee doesn’t have a descendant, the property can go to the heirs of the person who made the Will, or in some cases, it can go to the state. |
| Legal Custody |
A parent’s right and responsibility to make decisions about a child’s health, education and well being. |
| Legal Separation |
When you can get court orders on parenting and money issues, but you are still legally married to your spouse. |
| Letter of Instructions |
A written note from the person who makes a Will or trust to the executor or trustee. The note gives instructions that are not in the Will or trust. |
| Letters of Administration |
Court papers that say someone is the personal representative of a probate estate when someone dies without a Will. If there is a Will, but it doesn’t name the personal representative as executor, the court issues Letters of Administration-With-Will-Annexed. |
| Letters Testamentary |
Court papers that let someone be the personal representative of a probate estate. |
| Life Insurance Trust |
A type of inter vivos trust. The only thing in the trust is a life insurance policy. This type of trust is not subject to probate or estate tax if the person who makes the trust does not die within the next 3 years. |
| Litigation |
A case, or lawsuit. The people in a lawsuit cannot agree, so they present evidence and let the court decide. |
| Living Will |
A paper that says whether or not you want doctors to use machines to keep you alive if you get a terminal illness. Also called an Advance Health Care Directive or a directive to physicians. |
| Local Rules |
A set of rules you have to follow to start a Court case. Every County and Court has different local rules. |
| Litigant |
A party, or side, in a lawsuit. |