Probate Glossary

Probate Glossary

Administrator
A person or institution appointed by a court to act on behalf of the deceased person in connection with the administration of a decedent’s estate.

Administrator with Will Annexed (for Administrator CTA)
An administrator appointed by a court to act on behalf of the deceased person who left a will, but where no nominated executor is willing and able to act.

Beneficiary
The individual or corporation who receives the benefit of a transaction (e.g., beneficiary of a life insurance policy, beneficiary of a trust, or beneficiary under a will.)

Conservator
The individual or corporation who legally has charge of the care and management of the person, property, or both of an adult who is unable to provide for his own personal needs or who is substantially unable to manage his financial affairs. Limited conservatorships may be established for developmentally disabled adults.

Contingent Beneficiary
One to whom distribution is dependent upon the occurrence of an event.

Devisees and Legatees
Persons named by a decedent in his will. A bequest or devise generally refers to real property and a legacy of money or personal property.

Escheat
The term which describes the reversion of property to the state in the event a person dies leaving no valid will and no heirs at law surviving him.

Executor
The individual or corporation appointed in a will by a testator to take care of the testator’s property after his death. Also called a personal representative.

Ex Parte
A judicial proceeding granted without notice.

Fiduciary
A person charged with a high degree of care who acts on behalf of another. Executors and trustees are fiduciaries.

Grantor
The individual or corporation who makes a grant (transfer) of property to another person (e.g., grantor of a trust, grantor of a deed of property).

Guardian
The individual or corporation who legally has charge of the care and management of the person, property, or both, of a child during his minority.

Heir
The person who inherits property under state law.

Inheritance Taxes
The taxes imposed, according to the relationship to the decedent, on the person who receives the property.

Intestate
Refers to someone who dies leaving no will.

Irrevocable Trust
A trust whose terms and provisions cannot be changed, modified, altered, amended, or revoked.

Life Estate
An interest in property, the term of which is measured by the life of its owner.

Personal Representative
This term describes an executor or administrator.

Pour-over will
A will that provides for the transfer, after or during the probate court proceedings, of all or part of the net assets of a decedent’s probate estate from the executor’s control to the control of a trustee who is in charge of a trust that was in existence immediately before the death of the deceased person (inter vivos trust).

Probate Administration
The legal process whereby a probate court supervises the marshalling of a deceased person’s debts and taxes and orders the property distributed according to decedent’s will, or in its absence, to the deceased person’s heirs. The probate court has jurisdiction over the personal representative and the decedent’s assets.

Real Property
An interest in land or property permanently affixed to land.

Revocable Trust
A trust whose terms and provisions can be changed, modified, altered, amended, or revoked.

Settlor
Another word for grantor or trustor of a trust. The person who “settles” the assets into the trust.

Tenancy In Common
A form of holding title to real or personal property by two or more persons. Because there is no right of survivorship, the legal relationships and results are very different from joint tenancy. Tenants in common need not hold equal interest, and on the death of a tenant in common, his interest will pass by his will or according to the laws of intestate succession.

Testate
Refers to someone who dies leaving a will.

Trust
A legal entity established either during a trustor’s lifetime (inter vivos) or at his death (testamentary). The trust is governed by the terms set forth in the trust documents. A trust must have a trustee, a beneficiary, and a “corpus” or property subjected to the trust.

Trustee
The individual or corporation who in a trust has bare legal title to the assets and has the power given in the trust to carry out the wishes of the person or persons (trustor or trustors) who created the trust. The trustee has a fiduciary obligation to the trust’s beneficiaries enforceable in court if not carried out. The trustee is subject to strict regulation. Although he has legal title for convenience, the beneficial or equitable title is in fact owned by the beneficiaries. When there is more than one trustee, the trustees are called co-trustees.

Trustor
The person or persons who establish a trust. There can be more than one trustor.

Will
A document, prepared and executed by a person with the formality required by the laws of the state of his domicile at the time, which is intended to govern and direct the disposition of his estate and settlement of his legal affairs at the time of his death and which has no legal effect until his death. If the document is entirely in the person’s own handwriting, it is called a “holographic will.” If a will is typed, it is called a “witnessed will” because the signing of it generally requires two or more witnesses to testify later, if necessary, that the execution was not procured by fraud, duress, or misrepresentation.

 

 

 

 

 

*For informational purposes only, not intended to replace professional legal advice.