Legal concepts Flashcards
Q: What are the three essential elements of a valid contract?
A: Offer and acceptance, intention to create legal relations, and consideration.
Term: Capacity to Contract
Definition: The legal ability of a person to enter into a binding agreement.
Q: What is a Power of Attorney?
A: A legal document giving one person authority to act on another’s behalf.
Term: Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)
Definition: A legal arrangement allowing someone to make decisions on another’s behalf if they lose mental capacity.
Q: What are the two types of Lasting Power of Attorney?
A: Property and financial affairs; health and welfare.
Term: Donor
Definition: The person who gives power to another in a Power of Attorney.
Q: What is mental capacity?
A: The ability to make one’s own decisions and understand the consequences.
Term: Court of Protection
Definition: A specialist court that makes decisions for people lacking mental capacity.
Q: What is a general (ordinary) power of attorney?
A: A non-enduring arrangement that becomes invalid if the donor loses mental capacity.
Term: Attorney
Definition: The person authorized to act under a Power of Attorney.
Q: What happens if someone loses capacity without an LPA in place?
A: The Court of Protection may appoint a deputy to act on their behalf.
Term: Deputy
Definition: A person appointed by the Court of Protection to manage someone’s affairs if no LPA exists.
Q: What is a trust?
A: A legal arrangement where assets are held by trustees for the benefit of beneficiaries.
Term: Settlor
Definition: The person who creates and places assets into a trust.
Q: Who are trustees?
A: Individuals responsible for managing trust assets in the interest of the beneficiaries.
Term: Beneficiary
Definition: A person entitled to benefit from the assets held in a trust.
Q: What is the role of a trust deed?
A: It outlines the terms, powers, and responsibilities of trustees.
Term: Bare Trust
Definition: A simple trust where the beneficiary has an absolute right to the assets.
Q: What’s a discretionary trust?
A: A trust where trustees have discretion over how and when to distribute assets.
Term: Interest in Possession Trust
Definition: A trust where a beneficiary has the right to income but not necessarily the capital.
Q: What is a will?
A: A legal document expressing how a person’s assets should be distributed after death.
Term: Intestacy
Definition: The condition of dying without a valid will.
Q: Who is an executor?
A: A person appointed in a will to carry out the deceased’s wishes.
Term: Probate
Definition: The legal process of validating a will and granting authority to administer the estate.
