101 terms · plain language
Estate planning, defined
Wills, trusts, probate, and digital assets — explained without assuming you already know the vocabulary.
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9 areas of estate planning, from the documents themselves to what happens in court.
Core documents
11Trusts
22- Asset Protection Trust
- Beneficiary
- Bypass Trust
- Charitable Lead Trust
- Charitable Remainder Trust
- Credit Shelter Trust
- Disclaimer Trust
- Dynasty Trust
- Funding a Trust
- Grantor
- Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust
- Irrevocable Trust
- Living Trust
- Marital Trust
- QTIP Trust
- Revocable Trust
- Settlor
- Special Needs Trust
- Spendthrift Trust
- Successor Trustee
- Testamentary Trust
- Trustee
People & roles
10Probate & court process
16Property & distribution
16Beneficiaries & transfers
6Taxes
6Healthcare & end-of-life
4Every term, A–Z
A
- AdministratorSomeone appointed by a court to settle an estate when no valid will names an executor.
- Advance Healthcare DirectiveAn umbrella healthcare document that states treatment preferences and names someone to decide for you.
- Affidavit of HeirshipA sworn statement identifying a deceased person's legal heirs, used mainly to clear title to property.
- Ancillary ProbateA secondary probate proceeding in another state where the deceased owned real property.
- Asset Protection TrustAn irrevocable trust structured to place assets beyond the reach of future creditors, permitted only under certain state laws.
- Attorney-in-FactThe person authorized to act for you under a power of attorney; no legal training is implied by the title.
B
- BeneficiaryA person or organization entitled to receive income or property from a trust, estate, or account.
- Beneficiary DesignationA form naming who receives an account at your death, which controls that account ahead of your will.
- BequestA gift of property made in a will, historically of personal property rather than land.
- Bypass TrustA trust funded at the first spouse's death that supports the survivor while staying outside their taxable estate.
C
- Charitable Lead TrustAn irrevocable trust paying a charity first for a set term, with the remaining assets passing to your heirs.
- Charitable Remainder TrustAn irrevocable trust paying you or your beneficiaries income for a period, with the remainder going to charity.
- CodicilA separate signed amendment that changes part of an existing will without replacing it.
- Community PropertyA marital property system in certain states where most assets acquired during marriage belong equally to both spouses.
- ConservatorA court-appointed person who manages the finances of an adult found unable to manage them alone.
- Contingent BeneficiaryA backup recipient who inherits only if the primary beneficiary cannot or does not.
- Credit Shelter TrustThe tax-planning name for a bypass trust, so called because it shelters the first spouse's estate tax credit.
- Crypto Wallet InheritanceArranging for cryptocurrency held in a wallet to reach your beneficiaries without exposing the keys while you are alive.
D
- DeviseA gift of real estate made in a will; the recipient is called the devisee.
- Digital AssetAnything you own or control that exists in electronic form, from cryptocurrency to photo libraries to domain names.
- Digital Estate PlanningThe practice of inventorying digital property and arranging lawful, practical access for the people who will handle it.
- Digital ExecutorThe person designated to handle your online accounts and digital property after death.
- Digital LegacyThe personal and communicative record you leave online, distinct from digital assets with financial value.
- Digital WillAn informal term for instructions covering digital assets, which usually supplements rather than replaces a legal will.
- DisclaimerA formal refusal of an inheritance, treated as though the person refusing had died before the decedent.
- Disclaimer TrustA trust that receives only the assets a surviving spouse chooses to refuse, deciding the plan's structure after death.
- DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) OrderA physician's medical order instructing clinicians not to attempt CPR if your heart or breathing stops.
- Durable Power of AttorneyA power of attorney written to stay in effect after you lose the capacity to make decisions.
- Dynasty TrustA long-term irrevocable trust designed to hold wealth for multiple generations without repeated transfer taxation.
E
- Elective ShareA surviving spouse's statutory right to claim a portion of the estate regardless of what the will says.
- EscheatThe transfer of property to the state when no legal heir or rightful owner can be found.
- EstateEverything you own and everything you owe at the moment of death, taken together as one pool.
- Estate TaxA tax assessed on the value of what you leave behind, paid by the estate rather than by the people who inherit.
- Estate Tax ExemptionThe amount you can pass on before federal estate tax applies, adjusted periodically and separate from state thresholds.
- ExecutorThe person named in a will to gather the estate, settle debts, and distribute what remains.
- ExecutrixAn archaic term for a female executor, still seen in older wills but no longer used in modern drafting.
F
G
- Generation-Skipping Transfer TaxAn additional federal tax on transfers to grandchildren or others two or more generations below you.
- Gift TaxA federal tax on transfers made during your lifetime for less than full value, integrated with the estate tax system.
- GrantorThe person who creates a trust and transfers assets into it, sometimes called the settlor or trustor.
- GuardianA person with legal authority to care for a minor child or an incapacitated adult and make decisions on their behalf.
H
- Healthcare ProxyThe person you authorize to make medical decisions on your behalf when you cannot make them yourself.
- HIPAA ReleaseA signed authorization allowing named people to receive your medical information from healthcare providers.
- Holographic WillA will written entirely in the testator's own handwriting, recognized only in some states.
I
- In Terrorem ClauseThe traditional Latin name for a no-contest clause, meaning a provision that operates by threat.
- IntestacyThe body of state law that determines who inherits when someone dies without a valid will.
- IntestateThe condition of dying without a valid will, leaving state law to decide who inherits.
- Irrevocable Life Insurance TrustAn irrevocable trust that owns your life insurance policy so the death benefit falls outside your taxable estate.
- Irrevocable TrustA trust whose terms generally cannot be changed or undone once created, in exchange for tax and protection benefits.
L
- Legacy (as a gift)An older term for a gift left in a will, once used mainly for gifts of money.
- Letters of AdministrationThe court document giving an administrator authority to settle an estate where no will names an executor.
- Letters TestamentaryThe court document proving an executor named in a will has authority to act for the estate.
- Life EstateAn ownership interest that lasts for someone's lifetime, after which the property passes to a named remainderman.
- Living TrustA trust you create and fund during your lifetime so your assets can pass to your family without probate.
- Living WillA written statement of the medical treatment you would want if you could not speak for yourself.
M
N
O
P
- Password Manager Estate PlanningArranging for the contents of a password manager to reach a trusted person when needed.
- Payable on DeathA bank account designation that pays the balance directly to a named person at your death.
- Per CapitaA distribution method dividing property equally among the individuals living at the time of distribution.
- Per StirpesA distribution method where a deceased beneficiary's share passes down to their own descendants.
- Personal RepresentativeThe umbrella statutory term for whoever is authorized to administer an estate, whether named in a will or appointed by a court.
- Pour-Over WillA will that transfers any assets left outside your trust into it at death.
- Power of AppointmentA right granted in a will or trust letting someone decide where certain property ultimately goes.
- Power of AttorneyA document authorizing someone to act on your behalf in financial or legal matters.
- Primary BeneficiaryThe person or entity first in line to receive an account or policy at your death.
- ProbateThe court process that validates a will, appoints an estate administrator, and oversees distribution.
- Probate CourtThe court with jurisdiction over wills, estates, guardianships, and conservatorships.
R
- RemaindermanThe person who receives property outright once a preceding interest, usually a life estate, ends.
- Residuary ClauseThe provision in a will that says who receives everything not otherwise given away.
- Residuary EstateWhatever is left of your estate after debts, expenses, taxes, and every specific gift have been satisfied.
- Revocable TrustA trust you can amend, restructure, or cancel entirely at any point while you are alive and competent.
- Right of SurvivorshipThe feature of certain co-ownership forms that sends a deceased owner's interest straight to the surviving owners.
S
- Seed PhraseAn ordered list of words that regenerates a crypto wallet and every key it holds.
- Self-Proving AffidavitA notarized statement signed alongside a will so witnesses need not testify later to validate it.
- SettlorThe traditional term for the person who establishes a trust, used interchangeably with grantor and trustor.
- Small Estate AffidavitA sworn form that lets heirs collect a modest estate's assets without a full probate proceeding.
- Special Needs TrustA trust that supports a person with disabilities without disqualifying them from means-tested government benefits.
- Spendthrift TrustA trust with a clause preventing beneficiaries from assigning their interest and blocking most creditors from reaching it.
- Springing Power of AttorneyA power of attorney that takes effect only once a defined triggering event, usually incapacity, occurs.
- Step-Up in BasisThe rule that resets an inherited asset's cost basis to its value on the date of death, erasing prior appreciation for tax purposes.
- Successor GuardianThe backup you nominate to raise your children if your first-choice guardian cannot or will not serve.
- Successor TrusteeThe person named to take over trust management when the original trustee dies, resigns, or becomes unable to serve.
- Surrogate's CourtThe name several states, notably New York and New Jersey, give to the court handling estates and guardianships.
T
- Tenancy in CommonCo-ownership where each owner holds a separate share that passes to their own heirs at death.
- Testamentary CapacityThe mental ability required to make a valid will, judged at the moment of signing.
- Testamentary TrustA trust created by the terms of your will, coming into existence only after you die and the will is probated.
- Transfer on DeathA registration that passes an asset directly to a named person at death without probate.
- TrusteeThe person or institution holding legal title to trust property and legally bound to manage it for the beneficiaries.
- Two-Factor Authentication Backup PlanningEnsuring the second authentication factor is recoverable so accounts remain reachable when the primary device is not.
U