Glossary

Adverse possession – A legal doctrine that describes when someone occupies property for a period of time and then claims legal rights to it.

Ancestor – A person from whom someone is descended; a direct blood relative.

Clearing title – The legal process of proving and obtaining a deed for the current owners of heirs’ property.

Condemnation/Eminent domain – The right of a government or its agent to take private property for a public purpose, with compensation to the property owner.

Co-tenants – Those who own heirs’ property with others.

Decedent – A person who has died.

Deed – A legal document used to show legal ownership of property.

Descendant – A person related to someone who has died.

Estate – The real and personal property of a person who has died.

Heirs – People entitled under intestate law to inherit.

Intestate – Dying without a valid will.

Intestate succession – State laws addressing who inherits without a will.

Joint tenants – Two or more owners with right of survivorship.

Ouster – When one co-owner excludes another.

Probate – Court process handling a decedent’s estate.

Tax lien – Government claim for unpaid taxes.

Tax sale – Sale of property for unpaid taxes.

Tenants in common – Owners with undivided interests.

Testate – A person who dies with a valid will.

Title – Ownership rights in land.

Undivided interest – An interest held in common with others.

The following definitions are from multiple sources and are not specific to any particular state statute. Of course, any statutory definitions (terms defined in the laws of a particular state) would overrule these definitions in any legal proceeding.