Probate and Estate Planning Glossary

Beneficiary: A person who stands to receive part of the decedent’s estate under a will or under the law.

Decedent (or deceased): The person who died.

Decedent’s estate: The property that a person owned at the time of death. This includes personal and real property.

Intestate: This term is used to describe the situation that occurs when a person dies without leaving a will.

Intestate succession: The order in which the decedent’s beneficiaries inherit property when the decedent dies without a will.

Non-Probatable Assets:  These are the decedent’s assets that will not be subject to court oversight during a probate.   These assets may include property held in a trust, life insurance proceeds, payable-on-death accounts, and retirement plans.

Personal property: Assets owned by the decedent that are not real property, such as cash, securities, jewelry, furniture, and cars.

Personal representative: Also known as the  administrator or executor, this person is appointed by the court.  They are responsible for the management and distribution of the estate.

Probate: A process that is overseen by the court and that determines where, how, and to whom the decedent’s property will be distributed.

Probatable Assets:  These are the decedent’s assets which will be subject to court oversight during a probate, including personal and real property.

Real property: Buildings and land.

Settlor: One who establishes a trust that is held and administered by a trustee for the benefit of another. A settlor may also be referred to as a trustor, grantor, or donor.

Testate: When someone dies with a valid will in place to govern the distribution of their estate.

Trust: When one person (the trustee) holds another person’s (a settlor) property at that person’s request for the benefit of someone else (the beneficiary).

Trustee: A person or organization that holds or administers property or assets (a trust) for the benefit of a beneficiary.

Will: A legal document that provides a person’s wishes about what should happen to his/her property after death.  A will alone will not remove the requirement for court supervised probate proceedings.