Disclaim

We’ve all heard of “disclaimers,” but there’s also “disclaim,” and the person form, “disclaimant.” If you didn’t know this, that’s probably a good thing.

If you disclaim something (usually a gift or obligation), it means you’re using a legal contract to renounce some obligation (or whatever it is) that you would otherwise have.

You were a crazy person and decided to disclaim your million-dollar inheritance from Uncle Earl. You, the disclaimant, could submit a disclaimer of interest to the proper legal representatives of Uncle Earl, which would make the inheritance go to the next person in the inheritance line.

Okay, sometimes disclaiming some inheritance might not be so crazy. Maybe you realized life is more than about money. Or maybe the inheritance is a horse ranch that you’d rather not maintain, or a giant property with more taxes than your paycheck can bear. Hey, it happens to the best of us.