Probate Glossary

Administrator:  A person appointed by the Probate Court who is responsible for overseeing the distribution of a decedent’s property and paying the estate’s valid debts when the decedent died without a Will (known as dying “intestate”).

Decedent: The legal term for a person who has passed away

Executor: A person named in a Will who, after being appointed by the Probate Court, is responsible for overseeing the distribution of a decedent’s property and paying the estate’s valid debts.

 Intestate: When a decedent dies without a Will.  In this situation, the decedent’s property is distributed according to state laws of Intestacy, which may be very different from what a decedent may have wanted.

Irrevocable Trust:  A trust that cannot be changed.  Irrevocable Trusts are usually used to make gifts of assets subject to conditions, or to remove property from a Donor’s taxable estate.  They are also commonly used in Medicaid planning to protect assets for future generations.

Living Trust / Revocable Intervivos Trust:  A trust created by a Donor during his or her lifetime, as opposed to a Testamentary Trust that is created upon death in a Donor’s Will.  A Living Trust is typically revocable, allowing the Donor to change Beneficiaries and dispositive provisions at will.

Probate:  A court-supervised process of estate distribution whereby a person’s assets are distributed to his or her heirs according to the terms of his or her Will, or, if a person dies without a Will, according to state law.

Probate Assets: Assets and property owned at death that pass according to a decedent’s Will or according to state law.  Probate property is more easily defined by a negative – it does NOT include most retirement benefits, life insurance, and jointly owned property, which all pass to named beneficiaries.  Typically, probate property includes anything in a decedent’s individual name that has no named beneficiary.

Successor Trustee:  A person or institution that assumes the duties of a Trustee when he or she is no longer able to serve.  A Successor Trustee is often very important, because he or she will be responsible for distributing the Donor’s property after he or she has passed away.

Trust:  A legal instrument, created by a Donor, whereby a Trustee agrees to hold property for a group of Beneficiaries according to set terms outlined by the Donor.  Trusts can be very helpful estate and tax planning devices.