Estate planning terms: a plain-English glossary of 45 words to know

A

Administrator

An administrator is the person a probate court appoints to manage an estate when there is no will, or no executor able to serve. The court issues letters of administration, and the administrator inventories assets, pays debts, and distributes what remains³.

Advance Directive

An advance directive is a written document stating your health care wishes and naming someone to decide for you if you cannot speak for yourself. It usually combines a living will with a health care power of attorney, and signing rules vary by state⁴⁵.

Attorney-in-Fact

An attorney-in-fact is the person named in a power of attorney to act for someone else, usually for financial or legal matters. The name does not mean lawyer, only someone the signer authorizes in writing, and the authority ends at the signer's death⁴.

B

Beneficiary

A beneficiary is a person or organization named to receive money or property through a will, a trust, a retirement account, or a life insurance policy. A beneficiary designation on an account usually overrides a will, so the account passes directly without probate⁵.

Bequest

A bequest is a gift of personal property, such as money, jewelry or a specific item, left to someone through a will. A gift of real estate is technically called a devise, though people often use bequest for any gift in a will⁶.

C

Codicil

A codicil is a short written supplement to an existing will that amends, adds or revokes a provision without the cost and hassle of rewriting the whole document from scratch. Most states require a codicil to be signed and witnessed the same way as the original will, and it does not replace the will it amends, only changes part of it⁷.

Community Property

Community property is a system, used in a handful of states, where most assets acquired during marriage belong equally to both spouses, regardless of whose name is on the title or who earned the income. Property either spouse owned before marriage, or received individually as a gift or inheritance, usually stays separate. At death, a spouse's half of the community property passes under their will⁸.

Conservator

A conservator is a person a court appoints to manage the financial or daily life affairs of an adult a court has found unable to manage them alone, often because of illness, injury or age. Some states use conservator only for finances and guardian for personal or medical decisions, while others use the terms interchangeably, so check your state's exact usage⁹.

Contingent Beneficiary

A contingent beneficiary is the backup person or organization named to receive an asset if the primary beneficiary has already died, cannot be found, or a stated condition is met before the asset can pass to them. Naming one keeps the asset from defaulting into the probate estate if the first choice cannot inherit¹⁰.

D

Decedent

Decedent is the legal term for the person who has died. It appears throughout probate paperwork, tax forms and court filings in place of the person's name, carrying no judgment, only a neutral reference to whose estate is being handled¹¹.

Descendant

A descendant is anyone in a person's direct bloodline going forward: children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on. Intestate succession laws, and many wills, divide property among a person's descendants, often using a per stirpes formula if a descendant has already died¹².

Durable Power of Attorney

A durable power of attorney stays in effect even if the signer later becomes incapacitated, which is why people sign one for estate planning. Without that durability language, a power of attorney ends the moment the signer can no longer decide for themselves¹³.

E

Estate

An estate is everything a person owns and owes at death: real estate, accounts, retirement plans, vehicles, belongings and business interests, minus debts and taxes. Property with a beneficiary or joint owner passes outside probate; everything else becomes the probate estate¹⁴.

Estate Tax

Estate tax is a tax on the transfer of a person's property at death, calculated on the estate's total value before distribution. The federal estate tax applies only to estates above a large exemption amount, so most estates never owe it⁴⁴.

Executor

An executor is the person named in a will to carry out its instructions: filing the will with the probate court, inventorying assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing what remains. Some states call this role a personal representative instead¹⁵.

F

Fiduciary

A fiduciary is anyone legally required to act in someone else's best interest rather than their own, including an executor, a trustee, an agent under a power of attorney, and a guardian or conservator. Duties include keeping records and avoiding conflicts of interest¹⁶.

G

Grantor

A grantor, also called a settlor or trustor depending on the state, is the person who creates a trust and transfers property into it. In a revocable living trust, the grantor often also serves as the initial trustee, keeping control of the property until death or incapacity, when a successor trustee takes over³¹.

Guardian

A guardian is a person a court appoints to make personal, medical or living decisions for someone who cannot make them alone, most often a minor child or an incapacitated adult. Parents commonly name one for minor children in a will¹⁷.

H

Heir

An heir is someone entitled by state law to inherit from a person who dies without a valid will, such as a spouse, child or other close relative. Heir is often confused with beneficiary, which is named in a document instead¹⁸.

I

Inheritance Tax

Inheritance tax is a tax owed by the person who receives property from an estate, unlike estate tax, which is owed by the estate itself before distribution. Only a small number of states charge one, and most exempt close relatives⁴³.

Intestate

Intestate describes a person who dies without a valid will, or with a will that fails to dispose of some property. State intestate succession law then decides who inherits, usually starting with a spouse and children, and the exact order and shares differ from state to state, so an intestate estate in one state can be divided very differently than the same estate in another¹⁹.

Intestate Succession

Intestate succession is the set of state rules deciding who inherits property when a person dies without a valid will covering it. Each state sets its own order of priority, generally a spouse and children first, then parents, siblings and more distant relatives if none survive, and a court-appointed administrator carries out the distribution⁴¹.

J

Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship

Joint tenancy with right of survivorship is a way of owning property with others so that when one owner dies, their share passes automatically to the surviving owner, without probate. It is common for married couples on a home or bank account²⁰.

L

Letters of Administration

Letters of administration are the document a probate court issues to an administrator, giving them legal authority to manage an estate when there is no will or no executor able to serve. Banks, insurers and government agencies typically require a certified copy before they will release the decedent's assets or account information to the administrator²¹.

Letters Testamentary

Letters testamentary are the document a probate court issues to an executor, confirming their authority to act for the estate named in a valid will. Banks and government agencies typically require a certified copy before releasing assets, and some institutions ask for a copy issued within the last few months²².

Life Estate

A life estate gives someone the right to use and live in a property for the rest of their life, after which ownership passes automatically to a named remainder beneficiary without probate. The life estate holder is usually responsible for taxes and upkeep while they hold the interest, but generally cannot sell or mortgage the property outright without the remainder beneficiary's agreement²³.

Living Trust

A living trust, also called an inter vivos trust, is created and funded while its maker is still alive, unlike a trust created by a will after death. It is revocable by default, meaning the person who created it can change or cancel it, and property transferred into it passes to beneficiaries without probate²⁴.

Living Will

A living will is a written statement of the medical treatments a person does or does not want if they become unable to communicate, such as artificial breathing or feeding tubes, usually paired with a health care power of attorney⁴⁶.

N

Next of Kin

Next of kin refers to a person's closest living relatives, an informal ranking used to decide who is notified of a death, who can authorize a funeral, or who inherits when there is no will. The exact ranking, and whether it carries any legal authority, depends on state law, so next of kin status alone does not always grant the right to make decisions²⁵.

P

Payable on Death

A payable-on-death designation, often shortened to POD, names a person to receive the funds in a bank account immediately upon the owner's death, without probate. The owner keeps full control of the account while alive, the beneficiary has no rights to it until death, and the designation can be changed or canceled at any time⁴¹.

Per Stirpes

Per stirpes is a Latin term, translated roughly as by the branch, describing how a deceased beneficiary's share passes down to their own children instead of being absorbed by the other, still-living beneficiaries. It keeps a deceased child's branch of the family in line to inherit that child's original share²⁶.

Personal Representative

Personal representative is the modern, gender-neutral term many states use for the person who manages an estate, whether called an executor because a will named them or an administrator because the court appointed them. Some states use the term exclusively in their statutes, while others still use executor and administrator alongside it²⁷.

Pour-Over Will

A pour-over will works alongside a living trust, naming the trust as beneficiary of any property its maker forgot to transfer into it before death. That leftover property still goes through probate first, then pours into the trust to be managed and distributed under the trust's terms, along with everything already funded into it²⁸.

Power of Attorney

A power of attorney is a signed document giving another person, the attorney-in-fact, authority to act on the signer's behalf for financial, legal or health care matters. It can be broad or limited to specific tasks, and unless a state allows a narrow exception, it ends automatically the moment the signer dies²⁹.

Probate

Probate is the court-supervised process of confirming a will, appointing someone to manage the estate, paying debts and taxes, and distributing what remains to the right people. Property with a beneficiary or joint owner, or held in a trust, usually passes outside it, and many states offer a simplified, faster process for smaller estates⁴¹.

R

Revocable Trust

A revocable trust, sometimes called a revocable living trust, can be changed or canceled by its creator at any time while mentally competent. It becomes irrevocable at the creator's death or incapacity, and property properly transferred into it during life avoids probate at death³⁰.

S

Settlor

Settlor is another word for the person who creates and funds a trust, used interchangeably with grantor and trustor depending on the state and the document's drafting style. The settlor sets the trust's terms, chooses the trustee, and names the beneficiaries who will benefit from the property placed in it³¹.

Small Estate Affidavit

A small estate affidavit is a sworn statement that lets heirs collect a deceased person's property without opening a full probate case, once the estate falls under the state's dollar limit and any waiting period has passed. The limit, waiting period and exact procedure all vary by state³⁹.

T

Testate

Testate describes a person who dies with a valid will in place, the opposite of intestate. It does not guarantee every asset passes under the will, since some pass outside it by beneficiary designation, joint ownership, or a trust the person set up separately³².

Testator

A testator is the person who makes a will. A valid will generally requires the testator to be an adult of sound mind, to sign voluntarily, and to have it witnessed under state rules, and the term still refers to that person after death when the will is offered for probate³³.

Transfer on Death

A transfer-on-death designation, often shortened to TOD, names a person to receive a brokerage account, vehicle title or, in many states, real estate directly at the owner's death, without probate. The owner keeps full control during life, and the designation can be changed or revoked at any time before death⁴¹.

Trust

A trust is a legal arrangement in which one person, the trustee, holds and manages property for the benefit of a beneficiary, under terms set by whoever created it, the settlor or grantor. Trusts can be created during life or by a will, can be revocable or irrevocable, and are often used to avoid probate or manage property for someone over time³⁴.

Trustee

A trustee is the person or institution responsible for managing a trust's property according to its terms and in the beneficiaries' best interest, including keeping records, investing prudently, and distributing property as directed. A trustee owes the beneficiaries a fiduciary duty and can be held accountable in court for mismanaging trust property³⁵.

W

Ward

A ward is the person under a guardian's or conservator's care and authority, most often a minor child or an adult a court has found unable to manage their own affairs. The guardian or conservator must act in the ward's best interest and typically reports to the court on the ward's condition and finances³⁶.

Will

A will is a signed legal document stating how a person wants their property distributed after death and can name an executor and guardians for minor children. It only takes effect at death, must generally be signed before witnesses to be valid, and can be changed or revoked at any time while the person who made it is alive and of sound mind¹.

When to get professional help

This glossary explains common terms, not how they apply to your situation. Ask a probate or estate planning attorney when choosing between a will and a trust, drafting a power of attorney, or acting as an executor or administrator for the first time. Ask a CPA when a term involves estate or inheritance tax near a filing threshold.