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A B C D E F G H I J
K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Affidavit: A written or printed declaration or statement of facts confirmed by the oath or
affirmation of the making party.
Amendment: Alteration of a law or resolution.
Ancillary Administration: Administration of an estate other than where the decedent
was domiciled.
Beneficiary: Heir at law, in an intestate estate, and devisee, in a testate estate.
Bona
Fide: In or with good faith, honestly, openly & sincerely, without deceit
or fraud.
Caveat: If an creditor of the estate of a decedent is apprehensive that an estate, wither
testate or intestate, will be administered without the creditor's knowledge, or
if any person other than a creditor is apprehensive that an estate may be administered,
or that a will may be admitted to probate, without the person's knowledge, he
or she may file a caveat with the court. Upon a probate proceeding opened, the
court will notify that person of the opening.
Claims: Liabilities of the decedent, whether arising in contract, tort, or otherwise,
and funeral expenses. The term does not include expenses of administration or
estate, inheritance, succession, or other death taxes.
Clerk: The clerk or deputy clerk of the court.
Condicil: A supplement or addition to a will, not necessarily disposing of the entire estate
but modifying, explaining, or otherwise qualifying the will in some way.
Creditor: An individual or entity to which an estate may be indebted.
Curator: A person appointed by the court to take charge of the estate of a decedent until
letters are issued.
Decedent: The person who has died.
Devise: When used as a noun, means a testamentary disposition of real or personal property
and, when used as a verb, means to dispose of real or personal property by a will.
The term includes "gift," "give," "bequeath," bequest,"
and "legacy."
Devisee: A person designated in a will to receive a devise.
Disclaimer: The rejection, refusal, or renunciation of a claim, power or property.
Domicile: A person's usual place of dwelling and shall be synonymous with "residence."
Elective Share: A widow's statutory prescribed share.
Estate: Property of a decedent that is the subject of administration.
Executor: A person named by a testator to carry out the provisions in the testator's will.
Exempt
Property: Estate property which is not subject to probate proceedings.
Family Administration: Simplified probate proceeding which may be used if total value
of the estate is less than $60,000.
Family
Allowance: A portion of a decedent's estate set aside by statute for a surviving
spouse, children, or parents, regardless of any testamentary disposition or competing
claims.
Fiduciary: Another name for an executor or personal representative.
Foreign
Guardian: A guardian appointed in another state or country.
Guardian: A person who has been appointed by the court to act on behalf of a ward's person
or property or both.
Heirs: An individual entitled by law to inherit from another.
Homestead
Property: which is set aside for the benefit of specific family members, and
which cannot be transferred by the decedent to a third party. As long as the homestead
does not exceed in area or value the limits fixed by law, in most states it is
exempt from forced sale for collection of a debt.
Incapacitated
Person: A person who has been judicially determined to lack the capacity to
manage at least some of the property or to meet at least some of the essential
health and safety requirements of such person.
Intestate: Without a will.
Letters: The authority granted by the court to the personal representative to act on behalf
of the estate of the decedent and refers to what has been known as letters testamentary
and letters of administration.
Minor: A person under 18 years of age whose disabilities have not been removed by marriage
or otherwise.
Oath: A solemn affirmation to tell the truth.
Personal
Representative: The fiduciary appointed by the court to administer the estate
and refers to what has been known as an administrator or executor.
Per
Stirpes: To distribute a share to a descendant of a deceased beneficiary.
Petition: A written request to the court for an order.
Plenary
Guardian: Full, entire, complete Guardianship.
Preneed
Guardian: A person named in a written declaration to serve as guardian in
the event of the incapacity of the declarant.
Probate
of Will: Means all steps necessary to establish the validity of a will and
to admit a will to probate.
Pro
Bono Work: or services done or performed by an attorney, free of charge.
Rescind: To cancel; revoke; terminate.
Residuary
Devise: A devise of the assets of the estate which remain after the provision
for any devise which is to be satisfied by reference to a specific property or
type of property, fund, sum, or statutory amount.
Revocation: The act of withdrawal or recall of some power, making void a will.
Self-Proved
Will: A will in which at least two witnesses took an oath, included in the
will, at the time the will was signed, and in which both the witnesses' and the
decedent's signatures were notarized by a qualified notary public.
Subpoena: A document ordering an individual to appear in court and give testimony.
Sui
Juris: Of full age and capacity.
Summary
Administration: Administration used if assets are under $25,000 or the decedent
has been dead for more than 2 years.
Testate: Having left a will at death.
Trustee: Person or entity authorized by a trust document to handle certain property matters
on behalf of another.
Waiver: The voluntary relinquishment of a privilege or a right.
Ward: A person who is under a guardian's charge or protection.
Will: An instrument executed by a person, which disposes of a person's property on or
after his or her death.
This
"Glossary of Terms" is not intended to be a definitive legal definition
of terms. It has been provided to assist with general understanding of court terminology.
If
you have a need for definitive legal definitions of these or any other legal terms,
you should seek the services of an attorney. The Probate Resource is not an attorney
and does not provide legal consult.
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