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English legal words that do not exist in Scotland

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English legal words that do not exist in Scotland

Probate. Custody. Decree absolute. Restraining order. Exchange of contracts. Freehold. Every one of these is an English term, and every one of them is used daily by Scottish people describing their own legal problem, because almost everything written about law in this country was written for a different one. Here is the translation, and — more usefully — where the difference is not a word but a rule.

RFPublished by Rooney Family Law Limited, solicitors, regulated by the Law Society of Scotland · Last reviewed 14th August 2026

Scots law is a separate legal system. It always has been, the Union preserved it expressly, and devolution has widened rather than narrowed the gap. It is not English law with different accents, and the vocabulary is the visible edge of a much larger set of differences underneath.

That would be a historical curiosity if it were not for the internet. When somebody in Falkirk searches for how to get probate, or whether they can get custody, the results are overwhelmingly English — accurate, well written, professionally produced, and wrong for them. This page exists to catch that.

It is organised by area. Where the difference is only a word, the table says so. Where the difference changes the outcome, there is an explanation underneath, because those are the ones that cost people money.

Wills, estates and inheritance

English term and its Scottish counterpart — succession
England and Wales Scotland More than a word?
Probate, grant of probate Confirmation Yes — different court, different forms
Letters of administration Confirmation to an executor-dative Yes
Personal representative Executor-nominate, or executor-dative Yes
Probate Registry Commissary department of the sheriff court Yes
Personalty and realty Moveable and heritable property Yes — the distinction does real work here
Inheritance Act claim Legal rights Yes — automatic here, discretionary there
Intestacy: statutory legacy Prior rights, then legal rights, then free estate Yes
Next of kin No equivalent in succession Yes — the phrase decides nothing

The one that matters most. In England you may in principle leave a child nothing, and their remedy is a discretionary court application. In Scotland you cannot. Legal rights give a surviving spouse or civil partner, and children, a fixed claim on your net moveable estate that arises automatically and that no will can defeat — one-third where there is both a spouse and children, one-half where there is only one or the other. It does not depend on need and it does not depend on the court’s opinion of anybody.

The counterweight, and it is a large one, is that legal rights reach only moveable property. Your house is outside the claim entirely.

Divorce and separation

English term and its Scottish counterpart — family
England and Wales Scotland More than a word?
Decree nisi, then decree absolute — now conditional order and final order Decree of divorce, granted once Yes — there is no two-stage process
Petitioner and respondent Pursuer and defender No, a word
No-fault divorce Irretrievable breakdown, established by one of four facts Yes — Scotland kept fault
Custody, residence, child arrangements order Residence order, contact order, specific issue order Yes
Access Contact No, a word
Parental responsibility Parental responsibilities and rights Yes — a different statutory scheme
Maintenance, alimony Aliment, and periodical allowance after divorce Yes
Consent order Minute of Agreement Yes
Injunction Interdict No, a word
Non-molestation order, restraining order Interdict with power of arrest, or non-harassment order Yes
Prenuptial agreement Prenuptial agreement — but treated differently Yes

There is no decree absolute in Scotland. One decree ends the marriage, and an extract of it is the document you will be asked for. If a form or a registrar asks you for your decree absolute, what they want is your extract decree of divorce.

Scotland does not have no-fault divorce in the English sense. The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, which introduced the English statement-of-breakdown procedure in April 2022, extends to England and Wales only.

In Scotland the principal ground is irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, and section 1 of the Divorce (Scotland) Act 1976 provides a second ground besides — that an interim gender recognition certificate has been issued to either party after the date of the marriage. Irretrievable breakdown itself is established by one of four facts: adultery; behaviour such that the pursuer cannot reasonably be expected to live with the defender; one year’s separation with the other party’s consent to decree; or two years’ separation without it.

Scotland shortened those separation periods in 2006, long before England moved, so separation-based divorces are common here — but the fault-based facts remain fully available and are still used, not least because they avoid the wait. Desertion is sometimes still listed as a Scottish ground. It never was one. It was a fact capable of establishing irretrievable breakdown, in what used to be section 1(2)(c), and it was repealed in 2006. On a page about terminology that distinction is worth making carefully: Scotland has grounds, and it has facts that establish them, and they are not the same thing.

The financial rules are entirely different, and this is the largest divergence of all. English financial remedy proceedings look at all the assets of both parties and divide them according to a broad discretion directed at fairness and need. Scotland does not do that. The Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 asks first what counts as matrimonial property — broadly, what was acquired by either party between the date of marriage and the date of separation — and then applies a starting point of equal sharing of that property, adjusted by defined principles.

The consequences are concrete. Property owned before the marriage is generally not matrimonial property. Neither, generally, is anything inherited or gifted by a third party, whenever it arrived. There is a strong preference for a clean break, and ongoing spousal support after divorce is limited and comparatively rare — periodical allowance to help a party adjust is normally capped at three years. A person told by an English source to expect a share of everything their spouse owns, or long-term maintenance, has been badly misled about their position in Scotland. The mistake runs in both directions, and both are expensive.

Prenuptial agreements are on stronger ground here. In England a prenuptial agreement is a factor the court weighs and can decline to follow. In Scotland an agreement about matrimonial property is a contract and is generally binding, subject to the court’s power under section 16 of the 1985 Act to set aside an agreement that was not fair and reasonable at the time it was entered into. That is a real difference in kind, not degree.

Buying and selling a house

English term and its Scottish counterpart — property
England and Wales Scotland More than a word?
Exchange of contracts Conclusion of missives Yes
Completion Settlement, on the date of entry No, largely a word
Freehold Outright ownership. The word is not used here Yes
Leasehold flat Owned outright, with a title deed and often a factor Yes
Land Registry Registers of Scotland, keeping the Land Register No, a name
Home Information Pack Home Report Yes — the Scottish one still exists
Stamp Duty Land Tax Land and Buildings Transaction Tax Yes — different rates and bands
Guide price Offers over Yes, in practice

Missives bind you earlier and more firmly than most buyers expect. A Scottish purchase is negotiated by an exchange of formal letters between the two solicitors — an offer, then qualified acceptances — and when those letters agree, missives are concluded and there is a binding contract. Until that moment either side can walk away. After it, neither can without consequences. The period of exposure to gazumping is therefore usually shorter than in England, which is the origin of the widespread belief that gazumping does not happen in Scotland. It does. It happens before missives conclude.

Residential leasehold is very close to non-existent in Scotland, and it is worth being precise about why. The provision that actually does the work is section 8 of the Land Tenure Reform (Scotland) Act 1974, which makes it a condition of every long lease granted after 1974 that no part of the subjects may be used as a private dwellinghouse. New residential leasehold simply cannot be created. Separately, the Long Leases (Scotland) Act 2012 converted certain ultra-long leases into outright ownership on 28 November 2015 — broadly those granted for more than 175 years with more than 100 years still to run and an annual rent of no more than £100 — which cleared out most of what the 1974 Act had left behind.

Feudal tenure is a different subject altogether, and it is often muddled with this one. A feu was outright ownership subject to feuduty and real burdens, not a lease. Its abolition by the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 has nothing to do with why Scotland has no residential leasehold.

The practical position is that a Scottish flat is almost always owned outright, with no lease to extend, no ground rent and no lease running down. A small number of long residential leases that fell outside the 2012 Act’s criteria were not converted and still exist, so “almost always” is doing real work in that sentence. Where a tenement has shared responsibilities, they are dealt with by the title deeds and by the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004, and a factor may be appointed to manage them — which is a management arrangement, not a landlord.

The Home Report has no English equivalent at present. England abandoned Home Information Packs in 2010. Scotland kept its version, and since December 2008 most residential property marketed for sale here must have one, prepared before the property goes on the market and provided to prospective buyers on request. It contains a single survey with a valuation, an energy report, and a property questionnaire completed by the seller. A Scottish buyer therefore starts with a professional survey the seller paid for. Buyers moving from England routinely do not know it exists, and commission a second survey they may not need.

Going to court

English term and its Scottish counterpart — courts and procedure
England and Wales Scotland More than a word?
Claimant Pursuer, but claimant in simple procedure Yes, it depends which procedure you are in
Defendant Defender in an ordinary action, respondent in simple procedure, accused in a criminal case Yes, Scotland never uses defendant
County Court, High Court Sheriff court, Court of Session Yes
Barrister Advocate, or solicitor-advocate No, largely a word
Crown Prosecution Service Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Yes
Magistrate Justice of the peace Yes
Particulars of claim Initial writ, or summons Yes
Witness statement Precognition — not the same document Yes
Small claims track Simple procedure Yes
Limitation Prescription, and limitation. Two different things Yes
Costs Expenses No, a word
Judgment Decree No, a word
Trial Proof, or proof before answer Yes
Issuing proceedings Raising an action No, a phrase
General damages Solatium Yes, solatium is pain, suffering and loss of amenity only. Future financial loss is claimed separately as patrimonial loss
Inquest Fatal accident inquiry Yes
Bankruptcy Sequestration Partly. Bankruptcy is the state of insolvency and is the word the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 uses. Sequestration is the Scottish process for administering it
Deputyship Guardianship under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 Yes
Legal Ombudsman Scottish Legal Complaints Commission Yes

Prescription and limitation are not synonyms. English law has limitation, which bars the remedy while the right survives. Scots law has both. Limitation, under Part II of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, bars personal injury actions after three years, subject to the court’s equitable discretion under section 19A. Prescription, under Part I of the same Act, extinguishes the obligation altogether — after five years for most contractual and delictual obligations, twenty years for the long prescription. A prescribed obligation is gone. There is no discretion to revive it. Treating a Scottish deadline as though it were an English limitation period, with the flexibility that implies, is one of the more serious mistakes available.

A precognition is not a witness statement. It is an account taken from a witness by or on behalf of a party, and in Scottish civil practice it is generally not itself evidence and is not lodged as the witness’s testimony. Witnesses give their evidence in the witness box. This surprises practitioners and litigants used to the English system of exchanged witness statements standing as evidence in chief.

The sheriff court is where almost everything happens. It handles the overwhelming majority of civil business in Scotland, including divorce, and it has no direct English equivalent — it is neither the county court nor the Crown Court, and it does both civil and criminal work. The Court of Session in Edinburgh hears the larger and more complex civil cases and appeals.

Words that are the same but mean something different

These are the dangerous ones, because nothing signals to the reader that they have crossed a border.

Sheriff. Not a ceremonial office and not a police officer. A Scottish sheriff is a professional judge who sits in the sheriff court, and a sheriff principal heads a sheriffdom.

Advocate. In Scotland, a member of the Faculty of Advocates — the equivalent of an English barrister. Nothing to do with the general sense of somebody who speaks up for you.

Interdict. The Scottish injunction. Breaching one is contempt of court, exactly as in England.

Title. Scottish solicitors say titles where English ones say title deeds, and mean the documents evidencing ownership.

Executor. Used in both systems, but in Scotland it covers both the person named in the will and the person appointed by the court, which in England would be an administrator.

Aliment. Not an archaism. It is the current Scottish legal term for the obligation of financial support, distinct from child maintenance administered by the Child Maintenance Service and from periodical allowance after divorce.

How to tell whether what you are reading is Scottish

A few reliable signals, if you are trying to work out whether a page applies to you.

Look for the court. If it names the county court, the High Court, the Family Court or a Probate Registry, it is English. If it names a sheriff court, the Court of Session or the High Court of Justiciary, it is Scottish.

Look for the parties. Claimant and defendant are English. Pursuer and defender are Scottish.

Look for the statute. The Children Act 1989, the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 are all English. The Children (Scotland) Act 1995, the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985, the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964 and the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 are the Scottish counterparts.

And be sceptical of anything that says “UK law”. For most of what people actually need a solicitor for — family, property, succession, injury, employment disputes — there is no such thing.

Sources

This page is general information about the law of Scotland and is not advice on your circumstances. Translating a term correctly is the beginning of the problem rather than the end of it, because the rule underneath is frequently different too. Take advice on your own case.