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ADMINISTRATOR |
A person (sometimes a family member) appointed by the court to administer the estate of a person who died without a will (i.e., a Personal Representative). |
ADMINISTRATOR WITH WILL ANNEXED |
A person appointed by the court to administer the estate of a person who died with a will, but the will either fails to nominate an executor or the named executor is unable to serve. |
AFFIDAVIT |
A written statement made under oath. |
ANCILLARY ADMINISTRATION |
Administration in a state other than the decedent’s domicile, when there is also a known administration at the place of domicile. |
BENEFICIARY |
An individual or organization to which a gift of property is made. Person (or organization) receiving benefits under a legal instrument such as a will, trust, or life insurance policy. Except when very small estates are involved, beneficiaries of wills only receive their benefits after the will is examined and approved by the probate court. Beneficiaries of trusts receive their benefits directly as provided in the trust instrument. |
BLOCKED ACCOUNTS |
Cash or securities that are placed in a bank, trust company, insured savings and loan or insured brokerage account, subject to withdrawal only upon court order or statute. |
CERTIFIED PROBATE REAL ESTATE SPECIALIST
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A licensed real estate agent or broker with specialized training and certified in probate real estate. |
CODICIL |
An amendment or supplement to an existing will. When admitted to probate, it forms a part of the will. |
COMMUNITY PROPERTY |
Property acquired by a couple during their marriage except by gift or inheritance |
CONSERVATEE |
A person determined by the court to be unable to protect and manage their own personal care or financial affairs, or both. And, for whom the court has appointed a conservator. |
CONSERVATOR |
A person or organization appointed by the court to protect and manage the personal care or financial affairs, or both,of a Conservatee. |
CONSERVATORSHIP |
A court proceeding to appoint a manager for the financial affairs or the personal care of one who is either physically or mentally unable to handle either or both. |
DECEDENT |
The judgment rendered by a court after consideration of the facts and legal issues before it. |
DECLARATION |
A written statement that is unsworn but made under penalty of perjury. All declarations must be dated and signed by the declarant and must show the place of execution and name the state wherein the document was executed or otherwise, that the declaration is made under the laws of the state of California. |
DEVISE |
A legal term that now means any real or personal property that is transferred under the terms of a will. Previously, the term only referred to real property. |
DISCLAIMER |
The repudiation or renunciation of a claim or power vested in a person or which he/she formerly alleged to have. The disavowal, denial, or renunciation of an interest, right, or property imputed to a person or alleged to be his/hers. |
DISTRIBUTEE |
Someone who receives property from an estate. |
ESCHEAT |
A legal doctrine under which property belonging to a deceased person with no heirs passes to the state. |
ESCROW |
Money or documents, such as a deed or title, held by a third party until the conditions of an agreement are met. For instance, pending the completion of a real estate transaction, the deed to the property will be held “in escrow.” |
ESTATE |
A person’s total possessions (assets), including money, jewelry, securities, land, etc. These assets are managed by a fiduciary subject to a court order (e.g., guardianship estate, conservatorship estate, or decedent’s estate). |
EXECUTOR |
The person named in a will to carry out the directions as set forth in the will. This person is the personal representative of the decedent’s estate. |
EX PARTE |
Latin that means “by or for one party.” Refers to situations in which only one party (and not the adversary) appears before a judge. |
FEDERAL ESTATE TAXES
|
Death taxes imposed by the federal government on the transfer of asset following a death of an individual. |
FIDUCIARY |
A person or organization that manages property for a person, with a legal responsibility involving a high standard of care (e.g., conservators, guardians, personal representatives, agents, or trustees). |
FIDUCIARY DUTY |
An obligation to act in the best interest of another party. For instance, a corporation’s board member has a fiduciary duty to the shareholders, a trustee has a fiduciary duty to the trust’s beneficiaries, and an attorney has a fiduciary duty to a client. |
GRANTOR |
The person who transfers assets into a trust for the benefit of another. (Also known as a trustor.) |
GUARDIAN |
A person appointed by the court to protect and manage the personal care or financial affairs, or both, of a minor (ward). |
HEIR |
A person who would naturally inherit property through a will, or from another who died without leaving a will. |
HOLOGRAPHIC WILL |
Generally, a will that is completely handwritten, dated and signed by the person making the will. |
INDEPENDENT ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES ACT (IAEA) |
The IAEA grants a personal representative (PR) or executor the authority to administer most matters regarding the estate without court supervision. |
INTER VIVOS TRUST |
A trust set up during the lifetime of a person to distribute money or property to another person or organization (as distinguished from a person who transfers money or property after death). |
INTESTATE |
Without a will. Opposite of testate. |
INTESTATE SUCCESSION |
The order in which spouses, children, siblings, parents, cousins, great-aunts/uncles, second cousins twice removed, etc. are entitled to inherit from a family member when no will or trust exists. |
IRREVOCABLE LIVING TRUST |
A trust created during the maker’s lifetime that does not allow the maker or anyone else to change it. |
JOINT TENANCY |
Property owned jointly by two or more persons. |
JOINT TENANCY WITH RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP |
Property that names a co-owner on its deed or title. At the death of one of the co-owners, the other will become the sole owner of the property, regardless of what may be conveyed in the will. |
LEGATEE |
Also known as beneficiary. Person named in a will to receive property. |
LETTERS |
The court document that establishes the authority to act as a guardian, conservator, or personal representative (executor or administrator). In decedent’s estates, an executor’s letters are designated “letters testamentary,” and an administrator’s letters are “letters of administration.” |
LIFE ESTATE |
The type of ownership a person possesses in real estate when he/she has only the right of possession for his/her life, and the ownership passes to someone else after his/her death. |
LIFE TENANT |
A tenant who may retain possession of the property as long as they are alive. |
LIMITED CONSERVATORSHIP |
A type of conservatorship for developmentally-disabled adults. |
MINOR
|
A person under the age of 18. A minor is usually defined as someone who has not yet reached the age of majority. The term does not apply to an emancipated youth. As used in the context of a guardianship, a person under the age of 18 years of age who is placed in the care of a court-appointed guardian. |
PERSONAL PROPERTY |
All items, both tangible and intangible, that are not real property. Anything owned by a person that can be moved such as money, securities, jewelry, etc. (As opposed to real property e.g. house, land, crops, cabin, etc.) |
PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE |
The generic title applied to the person who is authorized to act on behalf of the decedent’s estate. Almost always, this person is either an administrator or executor appointed by the court to administer a decedent’s estate. |
PETITION |
A written, formal request, properly filed with the court, for a specific action or order. The petition is a pre-printed court form in some cases, or written in proper format on pleading paper in others (e.g., petition for probate, petition for conservatorship, etc). |
PRETERMITTED HEIR
|
A person who would normally be a beneficiary but is not mentioned in the Will. |
PROBATE |
The judicial process in which an instrument purporting to be the will of a deceased person is proven to be genuine or not; lawful distribution of the decedent’s estate. The legal process of administering a will. Also, the judicially supervised process for marshaling a decedent’s assets, paying proper debts, and distributing the remaining assets to the persons or entities entitled to them. An estate may be probated even if there is no will. |
POWER OF ATTORNEY |
A written legal document that gives an individual the authority to act for another. |
PROBATE ADMINISTRATOR |
The legal process in which the probate court supervises the collection of a decedent's debts and taxes and orders property distributed in accordance with a Will. |
PROBATE COURT |
The court that handles Probate matters, such as Wills, Trusts, Guardianship, and Conservatorships. |
PROBATE PROCESS |
The steps taken to distribute an estate under the supervision of the Probate Court. |
PROBATE ESTATE |
All the assets owned at death that require some form of legal proceeding before title may be transferred to the proper heirs. Property that passes automatically at death (property in trust, life insurance proceeds, property in a “pay-on-death” account or property held in joint tenancy) is not in the probate estate. |
PROBATE EXAMINER |
The Probate Examiner examines files and documents in pending probate matters set for hearing, providing technical, procedural and legal review to ensure that matters before the court have proper notice and complete documents for a court ruling. The Examiner’s work-product is then posted prior to the hearing date for the parties to review and correct deficiencies (or defects) prior to the hearing. |
PROBATE REFEREE |
An official appointed by the California State Controller to value all property (except for cash type items) in probate, small estate petitions, conservatorship, and guardianship matters filed with the court. Probate Referees also assist trustees in valuing assets in non-probate matters. |
PROBATE TIMELINE |
The average period of time it takes to complete the Probate Process. |
PROPERTY |
Anything that can be owned is referred to as Property. There is a distinction between Real Property and Personal Property. |
REAL PROPERTY |
Glossary Land and all the things that are attached to it. Anything that is not real property is personal property and personal property is anything that isn’t nailed down, dug into or built onto the land. A house is real property, but a dining room set is not. |
RESIDUARY ESTATE |
Also known as residue of the estate. Portion of the estate left after bequests of specific items of property are made. Often the largest portion. |
RESIDUARY LEGATEE |
The person or persons named in a will to receive any residue left in an estate after the bequests of specific items are made. |
REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST |
A trust created during the maker’s lifetime that can be changed. Allows the creator to pass assets on to choose beneficiaries without going through probate. |
SMALL ESTATES |
An estate of a decedent may avoid probate and personal property may be transferred directly to an heir if the requirements of California Probate Code § 13100 et seq. are met |
SUCCESSOR FIDUCIARY |
The next person, or organization, appointed as when a vacancy arises in a conservatorship, guardianship, or decedent's estate because of the fiduciary's death, removal, or resignation. |
TENANCY IN COMMON |
A type of joint ownership that allows a person to sell his share or leave it in a will without the consent of the other owners. If a person dies without a will, his share goes to his heirs, not to the other owners. |
TESTAMENTARY TRUST |
A trust created by the provisions in a will. Typically comes into existence after the writer of the will dies. |
TESTATE |
A person who has made a will or who has died leaving a valid will; opposite of intestate. |
TESTATOR |
The person who makes a will. |
TRUST |
A written legal instrument created by a grantor during his or her lifetime or at death for the benefit of another. Property is given to a trustee to manage for the benefit of a third person. Generally the beneficiary gets interest and dividends on the trust assets for a set number of years. A legal arrangement under which one person or institution (called a “trustee”) controls property given by another person (termed a “trustor”, “grantor” or “settler”) for the benefit of a third person (called a “beneficiary”). The property itself is sometimes termed the “corpus” of trust. |
TRUSTEE |
The person named in a trust document who will manage the property owned by the trust and distributes any income according to the document. A trustee can be an individual or a corporate fiduciary. |
TRUSTOR |
The person who transfers assets into a trust for the benefit of another. (Also known as a “grantor.”) |
WARD |
A person, especially a child, placed by the court under the care of a guardian. |
WILL |
A legal document directing the disposal of the testator’s property after their death. A will is revocable during the maker’s lifetime. |
WILL CONTEST |
A proceeding peculiar to probate for the determination of questions of construction of a will or whether there is or is not a will. Any kind of litigated controversy concerning the eligibility of an instrument to probate as distinguished from validity of the contents of the will. (Will contests are in rem proceedings in that the contest is brought against the thing, the will, as opposed to in personam proceedings, which are brought against a person.) |
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