ad litem
[Latin: as regards the action] A grant ad litem is the appointment by a court of a person to act on behalf of an estate in court proceedings, when the estate’s proper representatives are unable or unwilling to act. For example, the Official Solicitor may be appointed administrator ad litem when a person wishes to claim against the estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (see family provision) but the personal representatives are not willing to act, or nobody is entitled to a grant, or the only person entitled to a grant is the litigant himself. Once the proceedings in question are over, application may be made by the estate’s proper representatives for a general grant, whereupon the grant ad litem will terminate. A guardian ad litem is the former name for a litigation friend responsible for the conduct of legal proceedings on behalf of someone else (typically, a minor). See children’s guardian.

• digital services
• digital signature
• dilapidation
• diminished responsibility
• diplomatic agent
• diplomatic immunity
• diplomatic mission
• direct evidence
• direct examination
• directions questionnaire
• direction to jury
• directives of the EU
• Direct Labour Organization
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• director
• Director of Public Prosecutions
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• directors’ authority to act
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• disability discrimination
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• disabled person
• disablement benefit