Glossary · General
Residuary estate
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Definition: What's left of the estate after specific legacies, debts, taxes and costs have been paid. The residuary beneficiary inherits whatever is in the residue.
Most disputes start with a vague residue clause. A well-drafted will names a residuary beneficiary and includes a substitution if that beneficiary dies first — typically 'their children in equal shares per stirpes'.
The residue absorbs the cost of administration: probate fees, solicitor charges and Inheritance Tax usually come out of residue first, reducing what the residuary beneficiary receives.
Primary source: moneyhelper.org.uk/family-and-care/death-and-bereavement/making-a-will