Legal Terminology:
Beneficiary: someone who is designated to receive income or assets in a Last Will and Testament or Revocable Living Trust.
Charitable Lead Trust: a gift made in trust to a charity that includes income payable to the charity for a set time, with the remainder returned to the donor or another non-charity.
Charitable Remainder Trust: a gift made in trust to a charity that includes income payable to the donor during that person’s lifetime, and at the death of the donor the remaining value belongs to the charity.
Codicil: a written and properly witnessed legal amendment to a Last Will and Testament.
Decedent: a person who has died.
Devise: a gift by a Last Will and Testament.
Domicile: a person’s fixed place of residence that she considers their permanent address.
Donee: a person who receives a gift.
Donor: a person who gives a gift.
Durable Power of Attorney with Health Care Surrogate Provisions: gives someone the right to make financial and medical decisions for you in the event you become incapacitated and cannot act on your own.
Estate: the assets and liabilities left by you at your death.
Estate Planning: the process of planning the transfer of your personal assets at death to your beneficiaries.
Estate Tax: Federal and State tax that taxes the transfer of wealth upon death.
Grantor: the person who creates a Revocable Living Trust, sometimes called Settlor.
Gross Estate: the total dollar value of all of your property for estate tax purposes.
Guardian: a person who is legally responsible for managing the affairs and the care of a minor or incompetent person, appointed by the court.
Heir: a person legally entitled to receive another person’s property through inheritance.
Inheritance Tax: a tax levied in some states on inherited property.
Intestate: a person who dies without a Last Will and Testament.
Joint Tenants with the Rights of Survivorship: owning property jointly, the survivor will receive the property
Last Will and Testament: a legal document stating your wishes for the disposition of your estate after your death.
Life Estate: an interest that continues for the life of the person holding that interest.
Living Will: a legal document that directs that your life not be artificially prolonged if you are terminally ill or in a persistent vegetative state.
Pay-on-Death designations: an account where a person is named as the beneficiary upon the death of the owner.
Personal Property: includes tangible property such as furniture, motor vehicles, jewelry, collectibles; and intangible property such as stock certificates and bank accounts.
Personal Representative: the person named in a Last Will and Testament to carry out the provisions of an estate, also known as Executor or Executrix.
Pour-Over Will: a Last Will and Testament that will cover property that has not been titled in the name of the Living Trust. The assets will be poured over into the Trust for management.
Prenuptial Agreement: a legal agreement agreed to by a couple prior to their marriage that defines their rights upon divorce or death.
Probate: the legal process of settling the estate of a deceased person. Any claims against the estate will be resolved and the decedent's property will be distributed unto the beneficiaries.
Probate: the legal process of settling the estate of a deceased person. Any claims against the estate will be resolved and the decedent's property will be distributed unto the beneficiaries.
QTIP Trust: a marital trust that allows the estate to receive a marital deduction even though the surviving spouse has only an income interest in the trust.
Revocable Living Trust: a legal document that lets you hold property and manage it for your beneficiaries in accordance with the instructions set out in the Trust agreement, without the need for probate.
Spendthrift Trust: a trust created for a beneficiary to prevent the beneficiary from spending their inheritance foolishly.
Taxable Estate: gross estate minus deductions like debts, marital and charitable deductions and expenses.
Tenancy in Common: co-ownership in property without the right of survival; each owner’s interest passes through their individual estate at the date of death.
Tenancy by the Entirety: husband and wife jointly own the assets with right of survival.
Testamentary Trust: a trust established in a Last Will and Testament.
Testate: a person who makes a Last Will and Testament.
Trustee: a person or institution appointed to manage Trust property according to the instructions in the Trust agreement.
