Estate

Required fields

idtestatorPersonIdstatusdomicilecreatedAtlastModifiedAt

Fields

Field	Type	Description
adjudicatingBodies	array[Adjudicating body]	Courts and bodies with jurisdiction over this estate. Plural legal systems may involve multiple courts
administration	object	Estate administration details. Tracks the journey from death through grant, tax clearance, distribution, and closure Administration phase data — populated when the testator dies and the estate enters pre_probate or in_administration status.
administrationDeadline	string	Target deadline for completing estate administration
administrationDeadlineSource	string	Source or basis for the administration deadline
ancillaryProbate	array[object]	Ancillary probate proceedings in jurisdictions other than the primary domiciliary jurisdiction. Required when the estate includes assets in foreign jurisdictions Multi-jurisdiction estate administration. Each entry represents one jurisdiction's administration.
attestation	Attestation	Will execution formalities — witnesses, signing method, and compliance checks
choiceOfLaw	object	Choice of law declaration under the Brussels IV Regulation (EU Succession Regulation 650/2012) or equivalent. Allows the testator to choose which jurisdiction's succession law applies Brussels IV Regulation choice of law. Allows EU nationals to choose their nationality's law for succession.
codicils	array[Codicil]	Amendments to the will. Each codicil must be executed with proper formalities
commorientesRule	object	Commorientes rule — the legal presumption for order of death when two or more people die in the same event. Critical for determining which estate inherits from which Rule determining order of death when people die in the same event. Varies by jurisdiction.
companionEstateId	string	Links to a companion estate record — either a parallel estate under a different legal system, or a household companion's estate For dual-system estates — links secular and religious estate records. Also used for companion (household/couples) estates.
companionLinkStatus	enum	Current state of the companion estate link. Absent if the estate has never been linked to a companion Lifecycle: invited → active → decoupling → decoupled. See docs/companion-estates.md for full semantics.
contestability	object	Structured assessment of grounds on which this will could be contested — the challenge surface
conversionRates	array[object]	Exchange rates used when converting foreign-currency assets to the reporting currency. Document the rate and date to satisfy probate courts Exchange rates used for estate valuation in cross-border estates.
createdAt	string	Timestamp when this estate record was first created
deathCertificateDate	string	Date of the death certificate
deathCertificateReference	string	Death certificate reference number
deathRecord	Death record	Details of the testator's death
deathVerification	object	Verification of the testator's death — addresses the delegation trigger gap identified by the OpenID Foundation
decoupledAt	string	ISO 8601 timestamp when the companion link was severed
defaultPropertyRegime	enum	The default marital property regime for this estate. Determines which assets the testator may freely dispose of community_property: assets acquired during marriage are jointly owned 50/50 (US community property states, France, Spain). separate_property: each spouse owns what they acquire (England and Wales, most common law). equitable_distribution: court divides property fairly on divorce/death (most US states on divorce). deferred_community: assets are separate during marriage but shared on dissolution (Scandinavia, Germany). universal_community: all assets are joint from marriage (Netherlands pre-2018, some Indonesian adat). participation_in_acquisitions: Swiss regime — separate during marriage, share gains on dissolution. islamic_dower: mahr-based system — property is separate, wife has deferred mahr claim.
defaultSuccessionRegime	object	The default succession regime for all assets and properties in this estate. Individual assets/properties may override with their own successionRegime
domicile	Jurisdiction	The testator's domicile — the jurisdiction whose succession law governs moveable property by default. For cross-border estates, individual assets may declare their own applicableLaw
electiveShareRight	object	Surviving spouse's elective share right (US). Allows the spouse to claim a statutory share of the estate regardless of the will's provisions US — surviving spouse's right to elect against the will.
escheatment	object	Escheatment — the reversion of unclaimed estate property to the state. Applies when no valid heirs can be identified after statutory dormancy periods Texas Comptroller-requested: US states actively pursue escheatment of dormant estate assets
executionDate	string	Date the will was formally executed (signed with proper attestation). Enables look-back period calculations when combined with lifetime transfers
externalReferences	array[External reference]	References to this estate in external systems — practice management software, court filing systems, government portals. Enables round-trip synchronisation between INHERIT and PMS
forcedHeirship	Forced heirship	Forced heirship regime applicable to this estate, if any
id	string	Unique identifier for this estate record
integrity	object	Cryptographic digest of the canonical form of this document, excluding the integrity field itself — used for tamper detection and signing readiness The digest is computed over the canonical JSON serialisation (keys in lexicographic order, no whitespace, UTF-8 NFC). See docs/policies/canonical-json.md for the full specification.
judicialVariationPower	object	Court power to vary a will to make reasonable financial provision for family and dependants. Applies in England and Wales (Inheritance Act 1975), New Zealand, and similar jurisdictions UK/NZ — court power to vary a will under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 or equivalent.
jurisdictionRules	object	Conflict of laws rules governing this estate — determines which jurisdiction's succession law applies to which assets
lastModifiedAt	string	Timestamp when this estate record was last modified
linkedAt	string	ISO 8601 timestamp when the companion link became active
mirrorWillId	string	Reference to the companion estate's id when this will was created as a mirror of the companion's will. Mirror wills have substantially the same provisions — typically leaving everything to each other and then to shared beneficiaries. This field records the intent, not a guarantee that the wills remain identical (either partner may subsequently diverge) Set automatically when a mirror will template is used. Either partner may later modify their will independently — divergence is expected and should be flagged by implementations as an inconsistency worth reviewing, not an error.
noContestClause	object	In terrorem (no-contest) clause — a provision that a beneficiary forfeits their gift if they challenge the will. Enforceability varies by jurisdiction In terrorem clause — beneficiary forfeits gift if they challenge the will.
notes	string	Free-text notes about the estate. Use for anything not captured by structured fields
parallelDistributions	array[Parallel distribution]	Parallel distribution schemes under different legal systems — customary, religious, or statutory
pretermittedHeirClaims	array[object]	Claims by pretermitted heirs — children born or adopted after the will was executed who are not mentioned in it Claims by children born/adopted after the will was made.
primaryInstrument	enum	The primary instrument governing succession for this estate will: estate passes primarily through the will. revocable_trust: estate passes through a revocable (living) trust — common in US estate planning. both: combination of will and trust. intestacy: no will exists — estate distributes under intestacy rules.
priorMatrimonialClaim	object	A prior matrimonial claim against the estate — typically from a former spouse under a financial order
probateGrant	Probate grant	The probate grant or letters of administration for this estate
probateReadiness	array[Probate readiness]	Machine-generated completeness assessments against jurisdiction-specific probate form requirements. This is data completeness, NOT legal validation — it says 'you haven't entered the death certificate reference yet', not 'this estate is legally ready for probate'
provenance	Provenance	Consolidated provenance metadata — how this entity was created, by whom, and whether a human has verified it
registrations	array[object]	Registrations of the will with official will registries. Not all jurisdictions have will registries, and registration is rarely compulsory Will registries worldwide (DIFC Wills Service Centre, UK Probate Registry, etc.).
religiousConsideration	object	The testator's faith-based wishes for succession. Explicitly separate from legal succession regime — may or may not be binding depending on jurisdiction Estate-level only. Asset-level sacred/religious concerns are handled by culturalDisposition. tradition uses the same enum as legalSystems to maintain consistency.
reportingCurrency	string	The currency used for probate reporting and estate accounts. All values in this estate may need converting to this currency ISO 4217 currency for probate reporting.
revocationClause	boolean	Whether the will contains a general revocation clause ('I revoke all former wills and testamentary dispositions')
revokesDocumentIds	array[string]	Document IDs of prior wills or instruments this estate record expressly revokes
status	enum	The lifecycle status of this estate record. Progresses from planning through to closure planning: estate plan is being prepared, not yet finalised. confirmed: estate plan is signed and in effect — the will has been executed. pre_probate: testator has died, estate is being gathered before applying for probate/grant. in_administration: grant obtained, estate is being administered — collecting assets, paying debts, distributing. distributed: all assets distributed to beneficiaries, final accounts pending. closed: estate administration is complete — all accounts filed, all distributions confirmed.
successionConflicts	array[Succession conflict]	Known conflicts between legal systems regarding succession for this estate
suggestedPractitionerNeeds	array[string]	Informational list of practitioner activity codes suggesting the types of professional help this estate may need. Computed from estate complexity, not user-entered Informational. Activity codes computed from estate complexity — e.g. trust_preparation, cross_border, iht_planning. Canonical taxonomy at openinherit.org/reference/practitioner-activities.json.
taxTreaties	array[object]	Double taxation treaties affecting this estate — determines which jurisdiction taxes which assets and how double taxation is relieved
taxTreatyPositions	array[object]	Tax treaty positions relevant to the estate. Documents which treaties are being relied upon for double taxation relief Bilateral tax treaty claims relevant to the estate.
testamentaryCapacity	Testamentary capacity	Record of testamentary capacity assessment for the testator
testamentaryPromises	array[object]	Claims under the Law Reform (Testamentary Promises) Act 1949 (New Zealand). Allows claims by persons who provided services to the deceased in reliance on a promise of testamentary provision NZ — claims under the Law Reform (Testamentary Promises) Act 1949.
testamentaryScenarios	array[object]	Testamentary scenarios — declarative conditions for mirror wills, survivorship, commorientes, and remarriage revocation
testatorPersonId	string	Reference to the Person.id of the testator (the person whose estate this is)
testatorPersonIdDisplay	string	Human-readable display name for the referenced testator person
totalEstimatedValue	Money	Estimated total value of the estate before liabilities. In minor currency units
willType	object	The type of will. Extension types use x-inherit- prefix secular: standard civil will. religious: will governed by religious law. dual: separate secular and religious components. composite: single document blending secular and religious provisions. oral_witnessed: oral will with witnesses. oral_customary: oral will under customary law. holographic: entirely handwritten. notarised: executed before a notary. privileged_will: military/mariner's will with relaxed formalities.

invited

active

decoupling

decoupled

Lifecycle: invited → active → decoupling → decoupled. See docs/companion-estates.md for full semantics.

community_property

separate_property

equitable_distribution

deferred_community

universal_community

participation_in_acquisitions

islamic_dower

community_property: assets acquired during marriage are jointly owned 50/50 (US community property states, France, Spain). separate_property: each spouse owns what they acquire (England and Wales, most common law). equitable_distribution: court divides property fairly on divorce/death (most US states on divorce). deferred_community: assets are separate during marriage but shared on dissolution (Scandinavia, Germany). universal_community: all assets are joint from marriage (Netherlands pre-2018, some Indonesian adat). participation_in_acquisitions: Swiss regime — separate during marriage, share gains on dissolution. islamic_dower: mahr-based system — property is separate, wife has deferred mahr claim.

will

revocable_trust

both

intestacy

will: estate passes primarily through the will. revocable_trust: estate passes through a revocable (living) trust — common in US estate planning. both: combination of will and trust. intestacy: no will exists — estate distributes under intestacy rules.

planning

confirmed

pre_probate

in_administration

distributed

closed

planning: estate plan is being prepared, not yet finalised. confirmed: estate plan is signed and in effect — the will has been executed. pre_probate: testator has died, estate is being gathered before applying for probate/grant. in_administration: grant obtained, estate is being administered — collecting assets, paying debts, distributing. distributed: all assets distributed to beneficiaries, final accounts pending. closed: estate administration is complete — all accounts filed, all distributions confirmed.