Glossary
Technical definitions of key terms used in the INHERIT open estate data standard.
Estate
Root document type in INHERIT. The estate object contains references to all people, assets, trusts, bequests, and other entities.
Testator
Represented as a Person entity with role 'testator'. The estate.testatorPersonId field references their UUID.
Beneficiary
A Person entity with role 'beneficiary'. Referenced by bequest.beneficiaryPersonId or trust.beneficiaries[].
Executor
A dedicated Executor entity linked to the estate. Contains appointment details, powers, and status.
Guardian
A dedicated Guardian entity with guardianType (person or property), linked to specific dependants.
Bequest
Describes how assets are distributed. Supports specific, pecuniary, residuary, and demonstrative types. Links to beneficiaries and conditions.
Trust
A Trust entity with trustees, beneficiaries, distribution rules, and optional termination conditions.
Codicil
Represented as a Document entity with documentType 'codicil', linked to the original will document.
Probate
Not a dedicated schema — probate status is tracked via estate.status and jurisdiction-specific extension fields.
Intestacy
Indicated by estate.intestate flag. Distribution rules come from the jurisdiction extension, not from bequests.
Jurisdiction
Specified in estate.jurisdictions[] as ISO 3166 codes. Determines which extension schemas apply.
Will
Represented as a Document entity with documentType 'will'. The will's instructions are modelled as bequests, trusts, and executor appointments.
Power of attorney
Modelled as a ProxyAuthorisation entity with delegatePersonId, capabilities, scope, and validity period.
Asset
A flexible entity supporting financial instruments, real property, personal property, digital assets, and more. Linked to valuations and ownership records.
Property
A dedicated Property entity with address, ownership structure (sole, joint, tenants in common), title references, and valuation links.
Liability
A Liability entity with creditor organisation, amount, currency, and priority classification for estate administration.
Life interest
Modelled within bequest or trust structures using lifeInterest fields specifying the beneficiary and remainder person.
Nonprobate transfer
A dedicated NonprobateTransfer entity with transfer type, designated beneficiary, and asset reference.
Conformance level
Level 0 = validation failed. Level 1 = JSON Schema validation passed. Level 2 = schema + referential integrity (UUID cross-references resolve). Returned by all SDK validate functions.
Extension
Jurisdiction extensions use x-inherit-* property blocks. Each extension has its own JSON Schema. The extensions-registry.json lists all available extensions.
Schema
JSON Schema Draft 2020-12 documents published at openinherit.org/v3/. The bundled schema combines all entity schemas into one file for validation.
Catalogue
A separate root document type with its own schema (catalogue.json). Contains assets, valuations, and organisations but no estate, bequests, or trusts.
Valuation
A Valuation entity with amount, currency, date, valuer, method, and confidence level. Linked to assets via assetId.
Kinship
A Kinship entity defining the relationship type between two Person entities. Used for forced heirship calculations and family provision claims.
Wish
A Wish entity with wish type, description, and optional linked entities. Non-binding in law but important for estate administration.
Proxy authorisation
A ProxyAuthorisation entity with delegate, capabilities, scope, validity period, and optional FHIR consent reference.
Null semantics
INHERIT distinguishes missing (not provided — no inference should be drawn), null (explicitly cleared or not applicable — only where the schema type includes null), and empty array (assessed with zero results — distinct from missing). Conflating these states causes data loss on round-trip.
Breaking change
In INHERIT, breaking changes include removing a field, changing a field's type, making an optional field required, removing an enum value, or renaming a field. Breaking changes are only permitted on draft-maturity schemas.
Extension-level validation
The base INHERIT schema accepts any x-inherit-* extension block via patternProperties without type checking. Extension-level validation requires loading the relevant extension schema alongside the base schema. A document can be Level 1 valid (base schema) but extension-level invalid.
Schema compatibility
INHERIT defines backward compatibility (v3.1 consumer reads v3.0 document) and forward compatibility (v3.0 consumer reads v3.1 document). Forward compatibility relies on lenient mode — stripping unknown fields before validation.
Conformance level
Level 1: Schema Valid — passes JSON Schema 2020-12 validation. Level 2: Referentially Intact — all UUID cross-references resolve to entities in the document. Level 3: Jurisdiction Complete — all jurisdiction-required fields populated per the active extension.