Latin in Real Estate and Property Records

Ahhhhhh........ good old Latin. Some might say that making your way through old courthouse records and law dictionaries is about all it's good for. Looks like your question may have proved their point.

Et alia is Latin for "and others." In a situation where more than one person owned a piece of property, the clerks in the courthouses and county records would list the name of the first person on the deed, followed by "et al." or "et alia."

TE could mean a couple of things. I don't make a hobby out of reading courthouse records, so I can't say for sure, but two possibilities look like they would fit within the circumstances of ownership records and real estate tax documents. One is "testator" or "testatrix," meaning the person - male and female, respectively - leaving property in a will. The second could be "trustee." To determine which was actually the case in the record(s) you are looking at, I'd probably need more information to figure out which makes more sense contextually. Have fun with the records!