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Act
Acts of the General Assembly (i.e. passed by Parliament) are the basic structure of our legal system. Any reference to an Act includes all the rules and regulations that relate to that Act.

Adjourn
To postpone a court sitting, or any meeting, to another date and/or location.

Administrator
Someone who is given authority by the High Court to manage and administer the estate of a deceased person. When an administrator is appointed by the High Court, the Court issues a grant of letters of administration. (A female administrator is called an administratrix.)

Affidavit
A written statement that is signed and sworn on oath and therefore able to be used as evidence
in court.

Aggregation order
Aggregation of titles occurs when two or more separate blocks of land share a common ownership list. The titles remain separate, but there is only one common ownership list for all the aggregated land. (Refer to section 308 of the Act.)

Ahi kaa
A term used in relation to land. Its literal meaning is "to keep home fires burning" and indicates continuous occupation of land by an iwi or hapu.

Alienation
Alienation is when landowners grant certain rights of their land to another person. For example:

• selling land gives the new owner the ownership rights
• leasing land gives the lessee a limited right to occupy land in return for payment of rent (and other conditions)
• mortgaging land gives the mortgagee the right to sell the land if the mortgage is not repaid.
  (Refer to section 4 of the Act.)
  

Amalgamation
Amalgamation of titles occurs when the titles of two or more blocks of land are cancelled and a single title is issued for the whole of the area. The blocks of land are no longer separate. (Refer
to section 307 of the Act.)

Annuity
A yearly grant or allowance, usually provided for in a will.

Attorney - Power of
A legal document that appoints another person to act on one's behalf in business or legal matters. Powers of attorney continue to be in force until they are cancelled by the person granting the power or that person dies.

Auditor
A person who checks and examines accounts.

Beneficial owner
The owner of a beneficial interest in land. Where land is vested in trustees, the trustees own the
land as legal owners on behalf of the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries hold their individual shares in the land as beneficial owners

Beneficiary/beneficiaries
Person/s who benefit from a trust.

Bequest
Personal property left to someone in a will.

Body corporate
A legal entity such as a company, incorporation, or Maori trust board.

Charter
A set of principles that form the constitution of an organisation.

Clear day
A day interpreted to be 24 hours from a named point in time. If the day ends on a public holiday,
then the time automatically extends by the duration of the holiday.

Codicil
A supplementary will that is read in conjunction with a will.

Contest (a will)
To dispute or challenge a will through the High Court.

Contract
An agreement between two parties that is intended to be enforceable at law. Contracts are usually written, but a spoken agreement can also be a contract.

Corpus
The land of a Maori incorporation, at the time it is established, plus any land acquired later that is declared by the court to form the main part of the incorporation. Land that is not declared as corpus is called investment land.

Court order
A document prepared and signed by a court, to give effect to a decision of a Judge of that court.

Cross lease
A cross lease occurs where several owners of land in one title lease out separate areas, within that title, to each other individually for house sites. A composite title is issued to each house owner, comprising:

1. the freehold share of the lessee in the whole block, and
2. the leasehold interest of the lessee in the individual site.
   The two ownerships cannot be separated. In the case of Maori land, it is the person(s) entitled to
   succeed to the Maori land who succeed to both interests.
   

Crown
The Crown refers to the Queen, who is the head of state of New Zealand. Crown-owned land is, in effect, state-owned land.

Devise
Real property (land) left to someone in a will.

Disability
In its legal use, this means physical or mental disablement that, in the opinion of the Court, results in a person lacking, wholly or partly, the competence to manage his/her affairs in relation to his/her property.

Dividend
A payment made to shareholders.

Effective forthwith
There is usually a period of two months before orders of the Maori Land Court can be released. This period, called the appeal period, allows for any appeals that may be lodged. If the Court considers that the order should be issued without the appeal period, the Court will declare the order to be "effective forthwith", and the order can be released immediately.

Equitable obligation
A duty enforceable at law to act according to good conscience.

European land
The term "European land" has been replaced by the term "general land" in the Act.

Executor
A person appointed to carry out certain duties under the last will of a deceased person. The deceased will have named the executor in his/her will, and the appointment of that person is confirmed by the High Court. When an executor is confirmed by the High Court, that Court issues probate in his/her favour. (If the will does not name an executor, then the person who is appointed by the High Court to administer the estate is called an administrator. The feminine form for executor is executrix.)

Fragmentation/fragmenting
Fragmentation occurs when a person's shares in land are divided amongst other people.

Gazette notice
The NZ Gazette is the offical publication of the government containing proclamations, orders in council, statutory regulations and other matters. A gazette notice is a notice which appears in the NZ Gazette.

General land
This term covers land that is not Maori land that has been alienated from the Crown and land that is no longer Crown or Maori land and is owned by Maori (see next item).

General land owned by Maori
General land beneficially owned by more than four persons, of whom the majority are Maori.

Grant of administration (or grant of letters of administration)
Where the High Court appoints someone to administer the estate of a deceased person (an
administrator), the Court's authority for that person to act is given in a grant of letters of administration.

Hapu
A subtribe or kin group that is linked by a common ancestor.

Hui
Meeting, gathering, for purposes of discusion and/or celebration.

Income
Money that is derived from assets held and earnings (such as rent and interest) but not
"purchase money" (land converted into money).

Iwi
The traditional Maori tribal hierarchy and social order made up of hapu (kin groups) and whanau
(family groups), having a founding ancestor and territorial (tribal) boundaries.

Joint tenants
People who own land jointly. The interests are not split between them - they are co-owners. If one owner dies, the other joint tenant/s automatically succeed to the interest that the deceased joint tenant held. This kind of ownership is most commonly used by married couples, who often prefer to own property as joint tenants. Where general land is owned by more than one person, it is deemed to be held by them jointly unless the title states otherwise.

Kai tiaki
A trustee/guardian.

Karakia
Prayer.

Legal owner
The owner of the legal title to land. When trustees are appointed, they become the legal owners of the land. The names of the trustees, not the beneficiaries, will appear on the title. (See also Beneficial owner and Beneficiary.)

Life interest
A life interest (or life estate) gives a person (usually a surviving spouse) the right to receive income from the estate of a deceased person. That person is called the "life tenant". When the life tenant dies, their right to life interest finishes. Many life interests state that the life interest will terminate if the life tenant remarries. The life interest does not entitle the life tenant to any other portion of the estate. It is limited to income (e.g. rents or interest) and excludes capital (e.g. purchase money or compensation for land).

Maori community purposes
The promotion and support of initiatives through financial aid, loans, and grants.
Initiatives include:

• health
• social, cultural, and economic welfare
• educational and vocational training.
  (For a full definition of Maori community purposes, refer to section 218 of the Act.)
  

Maori (freehold) land
Land whose beneficial ownership the Maori Land Court has determined by freehold order (that is,
the Court has created a title for the land and determined the beneficial owners to that land). Freehold titles are often divided by partition order. The land retains the status of Maori land. The status of the land will continue to be Maori land unless and until the Maori Land Court makes an order changing the status of the land.

Maori incorporation shares
Shares held in a Maori incorporation.

Marae
Meeting-ground, enclosed space in front of a house, courtyard, village common.

Minor
A person who has not yet reached the age of 20 and has not legally married.

Order declaring trusts
This is the court order created by the Maori Land Court that sets out all the terms of a trust. It is also called a trust order. It includes the responsibilities, rights, obligations, and limitations of the trustees and sets out the general purpose of the trust.

Panui
In this context, a list of Court hearings, venues, dates and times.

Papakainga
Land utilised for housing for an iwi/hapu or whanau group

Personal representative
An executor, administrator, or trustee of a will.

Power of attorney
See under Attorney.

Preferred classes of alienee
Alienation favours those in the bloodline. These are the preferred classes of alienee (other than
an alienation of Maori incorporation shares):

• children, and remoter issue, of the alienating owner
• whanaunga of the alienating owner who are associated, in accordance with tikanga Maori, with the land vested in the Maori incorporation
• other beneficial owners of the land who are members of the hapu associated with the land vested in the Maori incorporation
• the trustees of the persons referred to above
• the descendants of any former owner who is or was a member of the hapu associated with the land vested in the Maori incorporation.

Where a person wishes to sell or gift shares in a Maori incorporation and no member of the preferred classes listed above can acquire the shares, the Maori incorporation may acquire the shares as a last resort. (Preferred classes of alienee are set out fully in section 4 of the Act.)

Probate
When the High Court confirms the appointment of an executor to administer the will of a deceased person, the Court's authority for that person to act is given in a grant of probate. (See also executor.)

Property order
Property orders are granted under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988. They are designed to protect persons who are under disability, especially mental disability. Orders are granted by the High Court.

Prosecute
To go to the Maori Land Court for a hearing of an application and to present the case to the judge; to process through the Maori Land Court

Proxy
The authority given by an owner of an interest in land to another person to vote on their behalf.

Putea
Literally, a "basket". In the context of a trust, it is the concept of several people, collectively, filling a
basket by contributing communally with money and other assets.

Quorum
The minimum number of members that must be present at a meeting to make proceedings valid.

Regulation
Delegated legislation related to a specific Act.

Remainder interest
An interest in an estate that becomes fully effective only when the life interest ends. For example,
children can be the remainder persons named in their father's estate, of which their mother has a life interest.

Residuary estate
Property in a will that has not been specifically devised or bequeathed and the assets remaining
in an estate of a deceased person after provision has been made for all debts, estate costs, devises, bequests, and legacies (the balance of the estate).

Reserve contribution
A tract of land reserved for a special purpose when land is subdivided.

Rule
A rule of procedure that a Court must follow, related to a specific Act. Rules are made by a lawful judiciary authority.

Separation order
An order of the Family Court that legally recognises that a married couple have separated.

Sine die
This term is used for court hearings adjourned by a judge indefinitely. It means "without a fixed day, indefinitely".

Spouse
A legal wife or husband.

Succession
The process of transferring the assets of a deceased person to the persons entitled to receive those assets.

Succession order
An order of the Maori Land Court that transfers the land interests of a deceased person to their successors. (See also Vesting order.)

Successor
A person who receives, as of right, a share of a deceased person's estate.

Taonga tuku iho
Literally, "a treasure handed down". In the preamble to the Act, the term is applied to land.

Tenants in common
People, who as co-owners, own land together but in separate interests. Interests, in these cases, are often unequal. If one person dies, the other tenants in common have no automatic rights of succession to the interest that the deceased owner had. Maori land is deemed to be held "in common" unless otherwise determined by the court.

Testator
One who makes a will.

Tikanga Maori
Maori custom.

Tipuna/tupuna
Ancestor.

Title
The legal ownership of property and the legal evidence of a person's ownership rights.

Trust
An obligation binding the trustee(s) to deal with property over which they have control (the trust property) for the benefit of the beneficiaries.

Trust order
An order of the Maori Land Court that sets out: the objectives of a trust; the powers, obligations, and rights of trustees; and the rights of the beneficiaries.

Trustee
A person bound to deal with property on behalf of the owners or beneficiaries. The trustee becomes the legal owner when the order appointing him/her as trustee for the land is registered against the title. The beneficiaries are called the beneficial owners.

Undivided interest
Maori land is often collectively owned. Each owner's share is described as an "undivided interest" where that share is not partitioned as a separate title. Each co-owner has an interest in all of the land in the title.

Urupa
Burial ground.

Vest/vested
A change of ownership of land gives the recipient of that interest the ownership and its associated rights. (Land may be vested in a trustee, or shares may be vested in another person.)

Vesting order
An order of the court that vests land interests in someone other than the existing owner(s), therefore affecting the ownership.

Whakapapa
A person's genealogy, or family tree, linking that person to a particular family and/or ancestor.

Whanau
Family. Whanau is a wider concept than just an immediate family made up of parents and siblings - it links people of one family to a common tipuna or ancestor.

Whanaunga
Relative, blood relation, extended family member.

Whangai
A person adopted informally in terms of tikanga Maori and brought up as the adopting parent's own child without formal adoption being concluded by any court.

Will
The directions, in legal form, for the distribution of one's property after death.