Probate Index Glossary
Glossary of Terms Commonly Found in Official Records
A, B, C, D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
Administrator - person appointed to settle estate of the deceased
Chattels - articles of personal property
Circa - about (for example c. 1790)
Codicil - an addition to a will
Consort - spouse
CTA - Cum testamento annexo, with will attached
DBN - "de bonis non" concerning goods not settled by preceding administrator
Eodem Die - Old date: to the same place: or same point
Et al - "and others"
Et ux - "and wife"
Executor - appointed by testator (deceased) to carry out the direction and request of his will
Fee simple - pure fee, clear or restriction or conditions
Grantor/grantee or direct/reverse or indirect - seller/buyer
Hundreds (Hds.) - an old English term for land division utilized by Penn equaling a land area of less than a county or shire but larger than a town or parish.
Inventory - detailed list of articles or property with estimated value
Letters of Administration (LTA) - formal instrument appointing an administrator to settle an estate.
Nuncupative - description of a will orally created, not written
OS - Old date: pre-Gregorian calendar
Perch - land measurement equaling c.16.5 feet
Probate - the act or process of proving a will
Prothonotary - Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas until 1832 and then Clerk of Superior Court
Relict - widow or widower
Renunciation - act by which a person abandons rights to serve as an executor, etc.
Sales - a list of sales documented the selling of personal property/chattels to settle the estate of an individual by helping to offset debt against the estate.
Testator - one who dies leaving a will
Testatum Fi Fa - a writ for Sheriff to levy judgment against debtor
T/A (trading as) - under the name of
Voucher - receipt, acquittance or release which serves as evidence of payment or discharge or a debt.
