Glossary of Legal Terms
Some of the documents featured within the archive use some old legal terms. In order to aid your undertsanding of the documents some of the terms are translated into a modern understanding here.
- ABUT: to border, end or lean upon
- CONVEYED: to make over in law
- CONVEYANCE: act or means of conveying; the act of transferring property
- COVENANT: a formal agreement or a contract constituting an obligation to perform an act
- DEED: a legal document which sets out the terms of an agreement, which is signed by both parties
- ESTATE: the rights and assets of a person in property th parties
- INDENTURE: the act of indenting, indentation; a deed under seal; with mutual covenants, where the edge is indented for future identifcation; a written agreement between two or more parties; a contract
- LEASE: the letting of land or tenements, eg rent etc, for property for a prescribed period
- MORTGAGE: a loan of money advanced to purchase property. The transfer of the property is withheld as security for payment
- MORTGAGOR: the person obtaining the loan
- MORTGAGEE: The person giving the loan
- WILL: Adeclaration of a person's intentions to distribute his/her estate and assets the loan
