Estate Planning & Probate Glossary

Plain-English definitions for the estate planning, probate, elder law, and wealth transfer tax terms attorneys and their clients run into most - plus the legal technology terms that come up when evaluating software.

Estate Planning

Last Will and Testament
A legal document that states how a person's property should be distributed after death and can name guardians for minor children. Unlike a trust, a will must go through probate. Why wills matter →
Revocable Living Trust
A trust created during a person's lifetime that can be changed or revoked. Assets placed in it typically avoid probate and pass directly to beneficiaries at death. Estate planning basics →
Irrevocable Trust
A trust that generally cannot be modified or revoked once created. Often used for tax planning, asset protection, or Medicaid planning purposes.
Power of Attorney (POA)
A legal document that authorizes a named agent to make financial, legal, or business decisions on someone else's behalf.
Durable Power of Attorney
A power of attorney that remains in effect even if the person who granted it becomes incapacitated, making it a core incapacity-planning document.
Healthcare Directive (Advance Directive)
A document that states a person's wishes for medical treatment and often names a healthcare agent to make decisions if they become unable to do so themselves.
Living Will
A type of advance directive that specifically addresses end-of-life care preferences, such as the use of life-sustaining treatment.
Pour-Over Will
A will used alongside a living trust that directs any assets not already titled in the trust to 'pour over' into it at death.
Beneficiary Designation
A named individual or entity set to receive assets such as retirement accounts, life insurance, or payable-on-death accounts directly, bypassing probate and often overriding a will.
Trustee
The person or institution responsible for managing trust assets and distributing them according to the trust's terms and in the best interest of the beneficiaries.
Successor Trustee
The person or institution named to take over trust administration if the original trustee dies, resigns, or becomes incapacitated.
Grantor (Settlor)
The person who creates a trust and transfers assets into it. Also referred to as the settlor, trustor, or trust-maker depending on jurisdiction.
Testator
The person who creates and signs a will.
Codicil
A legal amendment used to make changes to an existing will without rewriting the entire document.
Spendthrift Trust
A trust designed to protect trust assets from a beneficiary's creditors by restricting the beneficiary's ability to sell or assign their interest in advance.
Special Needs Trust
A trust structured to hold assets for a person with disabilities without disqualifying them from means-tested government benefits like Medicaid or SSI.
Community Property
A legal framework, used in some U.S. states, under which most property acquired during a marriage is owned equally by both spouses regardless of whose name is on the title.

Probate & Estate Administration

Probate
The court-supervised process of validating a will (or applying intestacy law if there is none), paying debts, and distributing a deceased person's remaining assets. Best probate software →
Intestate / Intestacy
Dying without a valid will. When someone dies intestate, state law determines how their assets are distributed among heirs.
Executor (Personal Representative)
The person named in a will (or appointed by the court) to administer an estate: gathering assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing property to beneficiaries.
Letters Testamentary
A court document that officially authorizes an executor to act on behalf of an estate, such as accessing accounts or transferring property.
Letters of Administration
The court document appointing an administrator to manage an estate when there is no valid will naming an executor.
Estate Inventory
A comprehensive list of a deceased person's assets and their estimated values, typically required as part of the probate or estate administration process. Estate administration workflows →
Small Estate Affidavit
A simplified, often court-free procedure available in many states that lets heirs collect a decedent's assets when the estate falls below a statutory value threshold.
Ancillary Probate
A secondary probate proceeding opened in a state other than the deceased's home state, typically required when they owned real property there.
Fiduciary Duty
The legal obligation of a trustee, executor, or agent to act in good faith and in the best financial interest of the beneficiaries or principal they represent.

Elder Law & Guardianship

Elder Law
A practice area focused on legal issues affecting older adults, including long-term care planning, Medicaid eligibility, guardianship, and elder abuse protection. Best elder law software →
Guardianship
A court-supervised arrangement giving one person (the guardian) legal authority to make personal and healthcare decisions for someone (the ward) who cannot make them independently. Guardianship & conservatorship workflows →
Conservatorship
A court-supervised arrangement giving a conservator authority over the financial affairs of a person unable to manage them, sometimes combined with guardianship of the person.
Ward
The individual for whom a guardian or conservator has been appointed to make personal or financial decisions.
Medicaid Planning
Legal and financial strategies used to help individuals qualify for Medicaid long-term care benefits while preserving assets, often involving specific trusts and asset transfer rules.
Incapacity Planning
Preparing legal documents in advance, such as a durable power of attorney and healthcare directive, to designate decision-makers in case of future incapacity.

Tax & Wealth Transfer

Estate Tax
A tax imposed on the transfer of a deceased person's estate before assets are distributed to heirs, assessed above a federal (and sometimes state) exemption threshold. Tax tools for estate attorneys →
Gift Tax
A federal tax on transfers of money or property made during a person's lifetime without receiving full value in return, subject to annual and lifetime exemptions.
Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax (GSTT)
An additional federal tax on transfers made to beneficiaries who are more than one generation below the donor, such as grandchildren, designed to prevent skipping a round of estate tax.
Step-Up in Basis
An adjustment that resets an inherited asset's cost basis to its fair market value at the owner's death, which can significantly reduce capital gains tax for heirs who later sell it.
Estate Tax Exemption (Unified Credit)
The dollar amount an individual can transfer during life or at death before federal estate or gift tax applies.
Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT)
An irrevocable trust strategy that lets a grantor transfer future appreciation of an asset to beneficiaries at a reduced tax cost, while retaining an annuity payment for a set term.
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT)
A trust that owns a life insurance policy so the death benefit is excluded from the insured's taxable estate.
Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT)
An estate planning trust that allows a person to transfer a home to beneficiaries at a reduced gift tax value while retaining the right to live in it for a set term.

This glossary is provided for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Definitions can vary by state; consult a licensed attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

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