Ademption – a gift made in a will that fails because the will maker no longer owns the property

Administration of an estate – the process of managing a decedent’s estate after death and distributing the estate’s assets to beneficiaries and heirs

Administrator – an individual appointed by a probate court to manage the decedent’s estate after death, sometimes used interchangeably with Executor

Affidavit – a sworn statement given under oath or affirmation, often in front of a notary public

Age of majority – the age at which an individual gains the rights of an adult, age 18 in most states

Alternate beneficiary – a beneficiary designated to inherit only if the primary beneficiary does not or cannot inherit

Ancillary probate – a probate proceeding in a state in which the decedent owned property but was not domiciled

Annuity – a financial product for which an individual pays premiums in exchange for regular payments at a later date

Antilapse statute – a state law that provides that property intended for a deceased beneficiary may pass to that beneficiary’s heirs under certain circumstances

Appraisal – an opinion of an asset’s market value, usually given by a professional or expert

Attestation – the act of witnessing or certifying something, such as another’s signature on a legal document

Augmented estate – used to calculate the share of an estate a surviving spouse may claim; generally the sum of all of the deceased spouse’s property (minus exemptions and debts), the value of large gifts the decedent made shortly before death, and all of the surviving spouse’s property

Beneficiary – an individual or entity designated in a legal document, such as a will, to receive assets

Bequeath – to leave property as a gift in a will

Bequest – a gift of property made in a will

Bond – a policy that protects beneficiaries and heirs from any loss to the estate caused by an executor, administrator, or personal representative who steals or squanders estate funds; may be referred to as an “executor bond” or a “probate bond”

Capacity – having the mental ability, often related to legal authority

Capital gains tax – a tax imposed by the federal government and sometimes by states on the profits from the sale of certain assets

Certified copy – a copy guaranteed by a court or agency to be an exact copy of the original, often including an endorsement, seal, or certificate

Class – a group of people who will inherit property

Codicil – a document that adds to or modifies a will

Collateral descendant – an individual indirectly descended from an ancestor, such as a cousin or niece

Community property – a type of property co-ownership only available to married couples in some states, may include right of survivorship

Contestant – an individual who contests , such as a will or a trust

Contingent beneficiary – see Alternate beneficiary

Corpus – property held in a trust (also called “principal”)

Creditor – an individual or entity to whom money is owed

Custodian – an individual designated to manage a minor’s inherited property, often under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act

Decedent – an individual who has died

Deed – a document that transfers real estate

Descendant – may be defined by state law, usually an individual’s children, grandchildren, and so on

Devise – a gift of property in a will, or to leave property as a gift in a will, sometimes only referring to real estate

Devisee – an individual who inherits property under a will, sometimes only referring to real estate

Discharge – to release from responsibility

Disclaim – to refuse a gift left after death

Domicile – an individual’s principal and permanent place of residence

Dower and curtesy – somewhat outdated terms that refer to the right of a surviving spouse in some states to receive a certain portion of their deceased spouse’s property if they were not left at least that certain portion in estate planning documents

Elective share – the share of a deceased spouse’s property that a surviving spouse has the right to claim under state law

Encumbrance – debt attached to a certain asset, such as a mortgage on a house

Equity – the market value of an asset minus any debt on the asset

Escheat – to transfer to the state, usually to transfer a decedent’s assets to the state when no heirs are identified

Estate – an individual’s property

Estate tax – a tax imposed by the federal government and sometimes by states on the net value of a decedent’s estate before distribution

Executor – an individual appointed by a probate court to manage the decedent’s estate after death, often because they were designated in a will to administer the estate

Executrix – a somewhat outdated term for a female executor

Expenses of administration – the costs associated with probating an estate, including attorneys’ fees, court fees, and appraisal costs

Failed gift – see Lapsed gift

Fair market value – the value of an item on the open market

Federal estate tax – see Estate tax

Federal gift tax – see Gift tax

Fiduciary – an individual or institution that manages the property of another and is bound by a legal standard of care

Forced share – see Elective share

Funding a trust – the act of transferring property into a trustee’s name

General bequest – a gift of money made in a will

Gift tax – a tax imposed by the federal government and sometimes by states on the value of large gifts

Grantor – an individual who creates a trust (also called a “settlor”)

Gross estate – the total fair market value of each asset in an estate

Guaranteed signature – a signature witnessed by someone qualified to guarantee signatures

Guardian – an individual appointed by a will or by a court to assume responsibility for an incompetent adult or minor child

Guardian of the estate – see Property guardian

Guardian of the person – see Personal guardian

Guardianship – a legal right given to an individual responsible for the care of another, see Guardian

Heir – an individual who inherits property under state law rather than a will

Holographic will – a signed but unwitnessed will (not accepted in all states)

In terrorem clause – see No-contest clause

Incapacity – the lack of legal ability to act

Income in respect of decedent – income the decedent would have received had they been living

Incompetence – the lack of ability to manage one’s own affairs

Independent executor – an executor who is permitted by law to act as an executor without court intervention

Inheritance tax – a state tax imposed on property an heir or beneficiary inherits from a decedent’s estate

Insolvent estate – an estate with more debts than assets

Intangible property – assets that do not have a physical presence, such as intellectual property

Inter vivos trust – see Living trust

Intestate – to die without a will or other estate planning documents providing for the distribution of property

Intestate succession – the rules of inheritance under state law in the absence of a valid will or other estate planning document providing for the distribution of property

Inventory – a list of all property in an estate

Issue – may be defined by state law, usually the direct descendants of an individual, including children and grandchildren

Joint tenancy – a type of property co-ownership with right of survivorship in which a surviving co-owner automatically inherits the property upon the decedent co-owner’s death

Lapsed gift – a gift made in a will to an individual who has died or is otherwise unable to inherit where no alternate beneficiary is named

Lawful issue – may be defined by state law, usually the direct descendants of a married couple

Legacy – a gift of property made in a will

Legatee – an individual who inherits a gift of property under a will

Letters of administration – a legal document issued by a court that gives an estate administrator (such as an executor) the right to control a decedent’s assets

Letters of authority – see Letters of administration

Letters testamentary – see Letters of administration

Lien – a creditor’s right to take an asset if its owner does not pay a debt

Life beneficiary – an individual with the right to use certain property for their lifetime, but not the right to transfer that property after death

Life estate – the right to use certain property for life only

Lineal descendant – an individual directly descended from an ancestor, such as a child or grandchild

Living trust – a trust created for the benefit of another party during a grantor’s lifetime (also called an “inter vivos trust”)

Marital deduction – a tax provision that allows a married individual to leave property to their surviving spouse without incurring federal estate tax

Marital property – property acquired during the course of a marriage, the opposite of separate property

Minor – a child under the age of 18

Next of kin – an individual’s closest living relatives

No-contest clause – a provision in a will that provides that an individual who challenges the will’s validity and fails will be disinherited (also called an “in terrorem” clause)

Non-probate transfer – the transfer of property outside the probate court

Nuncupative will – an oral will or verbal instructions for the distribution of the individual’s property (only accepted in a few states under narrow circumstances)

Payable-on-death (POD) – a designation that names a beneficiary to inherit the relevant property without probate

Per capita – the equal division of property between surviving heirs or beneficiaries in a group if one heir or beneficiary has died

Personal effects – may be defined by state law, usually items that the decedent wore or carried

Personal property – any asset except real property

Personal property memorandum – a document referred to in a will that lists the testator’s tangible personal property and the desired distribution of that property

Personal representative – an individual appointed by a probate court to manage the decedent’s estate after death, sometimes used interchangeably with Executor

Per stirpes – see Right of representation

Petition – a legal document that requests something from a court

Posthumous child – a child born after the death of their parent

Pot trust – a trust with more than one beneficiary that gives the trustee discretion to distribute funds (also called a “sprinkling” trust)

Pour-over will – a will that leaves some or all of an estate’s assets to a trust

Prenuptial agreement – an agreement made before marriage that dictates the ownership and management of certain property (also called a “premarital” agreement)

Pretermitted child – a child omitted from a will

Probate – the process of administering an estate, sometimes used to describe the process of proving the validity of a will

Probate court – a state court with the authority to supervise legal probate proceedings

Probate estate – the decedent’s property that passes through probate

Property guardian – an individual given the authority to manage a minor child or incompetent adult’s property

Public administrator – a probate administrator hired by a probate court if no relatives or creditors of an estate can assume the role of administrator

Quasi-community property – property acquired outside of a community property state that would have been community property if it had been acquired in a community property state (also called “deferred marital property”); quasi-community property is treated as community property, see Community property

Real property – real estate

Recording – the process of filing a document, such as a copy of a deed, with the land records office

Residence – the place an individual lives, compare to Domicile

Residuary beneficiary – an individual left all remaining property under a will not specifically left to another beneficiary or through another method

Residuary estate – all remaining property subject to a will but not given to a specific beneficiary (also called “residue”)

Revocable trust – a trust that the grantor may change or retract

Right of representation – a way of dividing property in which the children of a deceased beneficiary or heir inherit their parent’s share

Right of survivorship – a characteristic of jointly owned property under which a surviving co-owner automatically inherits the property upon the decedent co-owner’s death

Schedule – a list of all property in a trust

Schedule K1 – an IRS form used to report a beneficiary’s share of an estate or trust’s income, credits, and deductions

Secured creditor – a creditor with a security interest in certain property

Security interest – an interest giving a creditor the right to seize certain property if an individual does not repay a debt

Seized of – a somewhat outdated term for “having possession of”

Self-proving affidavit – a sworn statement certifying that a will was properly executed (not accepted in all states)

Separate property – property owned by only one spouse, typically property owned before marriage, inherited property, and gifted property

Settlor – see Grantor

Small estate – an estate that qualifies for small estate procedures under state law, usually an estate with modest assets or assets that will pass outside probate

Specific bequest – an asset left to a named beneficiary in a will or trust

Spousal share – see Elective share

Sprinkling trust – see Pot trust

Statutory share – see Elective share

Stepped-up basis – the increase of an inherited item’s tax basis to the value of the item at the date of the decedent’s death

Succession – inheritance under state law, not a will

Successor trustee – an individual who becomes trustee of a trust if the original trustee can no longer serve

Surety bond – see Bond

Survivorship – see Right of survivorship

Taking against the will – a surviving spouse’s decision to take a certain share of their deceased spouse’s property instead of accepting the share left under the will

Tangible property – assets with a physical presence, such as a house or a car

Tax basis – a value used to calculate an individual’s taxable profit or loss from the sale of an asset, usually the item’s purchase price

Taxable estate – a decedent’s property subject to estate tax, generally the gross estate plus the value of lifetime taxable gifts minus deductions

Tenancy by the entirety – a type of property co-ownership with right of survivorship in which a surviving spouse automatically inherits the property upon the deceased spouse’s death, sometimes also available to couples in domestic partnerships and civil unions

Tenancy in common – a type of property co-ownership that does not provide a right of survivorship

Testamentary – having to do with a will

Testamentary capacity – the legal ability to make a will

Testamentary trust – a trust created by a settlor’s will

Testate – to die with a valid will

Testator – the author of a will

Testatrix – a somewhat outdated term for a female testator

Totten trust – a bank account held in a trust for a beneficiary who will inherit the funds upon the account owner’s death, see Payable-on-death (POD)

Transfer agent – an individual or entity that executes the necessary paperwork to transfer stocks or bonds to a new owner

Transfer-on-death (TOD) – a designation that names a beneficiary to inherit the relevant property without probate

Trust – a legal device used to manage property and established by an individual for the benefit of another

Trustee – an individual with legal authority over the contents of a trust

Trustor – see Grantor

Will – a legal device used to dispose of property after death

Last reviewed November 2023