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Legacy - Law Dictionary Search Results

Home Dictionary Name: legacy

legacy

legacy pl: -cies [Medieval Latin legatio, from Latin legare to bequeath] : a gift of property by will ;specif : a gift of personal property by will : bequest see also ademption compare devise conjoint legacy in the civil law of Louisiana : a legacy by a single disposition to more than one legatee or of indivisible property to more than one legatee de·mon·stra·tive legacy [di-mÄ n-strə-tiv-] : a legacy payable from a designated fund or asset or from the general assets of the estate to the extent the specified fund or asset fails to satisfy the legacy general legacy : a legacy payable out of the general assets of the estate legacy under a universal title in the civil law of Louisiana : a legacy that consists of a specified proportion (as one-half), a specified type (as movables), or a specified proportion of a specified type of the testator's property par·tic·u·lar legacy in the civil law of Louisiana : any legacy that is not a universa...


Legacy

Legacy [fr. legatum, Lat.]. A legacy is a gift of personalty by will, and, arising as it does from the mere bounty of the testator, it is postponed to the claims of creditors. There are four kinds of legacies:-(1) General, when it does not amount to a bequest of any particular thing or money, as distinguished from all others of the same kind; as if a testator give A. 50l. or a diamond ring, not referring to any particular diamond ring as distinguished from others. (2) Specific, when it is a bequest of a particular thing, or sum of money, or debt, as distinguished from all others of the same kind, as if a testator give B. 'my diamond ring.' (3) Demonstrative, when it is in its nature a general legacy, but there is a particular fund pointed out to satisfy it, as if a testator bequeath 1,000l. out of his Reduced Bank Three per Cents. And (4) Cumulative, or substitutional, when a testator by the same testamentary instrument, or by different testamentary instruments, has bequeathed more tha...


Demonstrative legacy

Demonstrative legacy, means where a testator bequeaths a certain sum of money, or a certain quantity of any other commodity and refers to a particular fund or stock so as to constitute the same the primary fund or stock out of which payment is to be made, the legacy is said to be demonstrative. [Succession Act, 1925 (39 of 1925), s. 150]A legacy of quantity is ordinarily a general legacy; but there are legacies of quantity in the nature of specific legacies, as of as much money, with reference to a particular fund for payment. This kind of legacy is called by the civilians a demonstrative legacy, and it is so far general, and differs so much in effect from one properly specific, that if the fund be called in or fail, the legatee will not be deprived of his legacy, but be permitted to receive it out of the general assets; yet the legacy is so far specific that it will not be liable to abate with general legacies upon a deficiency of assets, Consult Roper on Legacies; Theobald on Wills....


Cumulative legacies

Cumulative legacies, legacies so called to distinguish them from egacies which are merely repeated. In the construction of testamentary instruments, the question often arises, whether where a testator has twice bequeathed a legacy to the same person, the legatee is entitled to both, or only one of them; in other words, whether the second legacy must be considered as a mere repetition of the first, or as cumulative, i.e., additional. In determining this question, the intention of the testator, if it appears on the face of the instrument, prevails; but if it does not so appear, the following rules of contruction have been laid down:(I.) If the same specific thing be bequeathed tweice to a legatee, whether by the same instrument or not, he is entitled to one legacy only.(II.) If the legacies be not of a specific thing, but of quantity, e.g., a sum of money--(1) If they are bequeathed by the same instrument, and are of equal amount, the second legacy is nto cumulative, but the legatee is e...


Contingent legacy

Contingent legacy, one bequeathed on a contingency; e.g., if the legatee attain twenty-one.The contingency may only relate to the disposal of the fund, or it may relate to the position or existence of the beneficiary; in the first case as in a bequest to be paid or payable to A. when he shall attain twenty one years, the legacy is vested and not contingent and although he may never attain the age his personal representatives will be entitled to the legacy, but if the words 'paid' or 'to be payable' are omitted and the legacy is to A. on attaining twenty-one years of age his personal representatives will not be entitled to the legacy if he dies under that age. These are said to be positive rules of construction, Williams on Executors and Administrators, 12th Edn. P. 794, but the prima facie inference may be negatived by the context of the will taken as a whole. There are certain other guides to construction, e.g., in general, a gift of interest in the interim or a direction to pay maint...


Legacy duty

Legacy duty, a tax paid to Government on legacies and shares of residue, rising from 1 to 10 per cent. in proportion of the distance of relationship between the testator or intestate and legatee. The personal representative is liable to pay the duty. He must show a receipt signed by the legate giving certain particulars, including the amount or value of the legacy and the duty payable thereon. Duty is then paid and the receipt is stamped. If the duty is not paid by the personal representative the legatee is chargeable. The principal Acts relating to the legacy duty are the (English) Legacy Duty Act, 1796 (36 Geo. 3, c. 52); the (English) Stamp Act, 1815 (55 Geo. 3, c. 184); the (English) Customs and Inland Revenue Act, 1881 (44 & 45 Vict. c. 12), ss. 41-43; and the (English) Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910, pt. Iii. See Chitty's Statutes, tit. 'Death Duties.' Consult Hanson or Norman on Death Duties....


legacy under particular title

legacy under particular title :particular legacy at legacy ...


Additional legacy

Additional legacy, means a legacy given to a legatee in the same will or in a codicil to the same will that gave the first legacy, Black Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 902....


conjoint legacy

conjoint legacy see legacy ...


demonstrative legacy

demonstrative legacy see legacy ...


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