Representation to the act of one person representing or standing in the place of another; and he who so represents or stands in the place of another is termed his “representative.” Thus, an heir is the representative of the ancestor, and an executor is the representative of the testator, the heir standing in the place of his deceased ancestor with respect to his realty, the executor standing in the place of his deceased testator with respect to his personalty; and hence the heir is frequently denominated the “real” representative, and the executor the “personal” representative. In constitutional law, representatives are these persons chosen by the people to represent thplr several interests In a legislative body. Legal representative. A person who, in the law, represents the person and controls the rights of . another. Primarily the term meant those artificial representatives of a deceased person, the executors and administrators, who by law represented the deceased, in distinction from the heirs, who were the “natural” representatives. But as, under statutes of distribution, executors and administrators are no longer the sole representatives of the deceased as to personal property, the phrase has lost much of its original distinctive force, and is now used to describe either executors and administrators or children, descendants, next of kin, or distributees. Moreover, the phrase is not always used in its technical sense nor always with reference to the estate of a decedent; and in such other connections its import must be determined from the context; so that, in its general sense of one person representing another, or succeeding to the rights of another, or standing in the place of another, it may include an assignee in bankruptcy or insolvency, an assignee for the benefit of creditors, a receiver, an assignee of a mortgage, a grantee of land, a guardian, a purchaser at execution sale, a widow, or a surviving partner.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
One who represents or is in the place of another. 2. In legslation, it signifies one who has been elected a moraber of that branch of the legislature called the house of representatives. 3. A representative of a deceased person, sometimes called a personal representative, or legal personal representative, is one who is executor or administrator of the person described.