PROBATE TERMS
There are many legal terms used in the probate process. Your attorney has probably explained some, but as a refresher, here are some important probate terms “translated” into daily language:
Personal representative (or Administrator or Executor): The person responsible for overseeing the distribution of the estate — approved by the court.
Beneficiary: A person who inherits when there is a Will.
Heir: A person who inherits when there is no Will.
Decedent (or deceased): The person who died.
Decedent’s Estate: All the property (real or personal) that a person owned at the time of death.
Testate: When someone dies leaving a Will.
Intestate: When someone dies without leaving a Will.
Intestate succession: The order of who inherits the property when someone dies without a Will.
Heir: The person legally entitled to the property of another upon that person’s death.
Legatees, or devisees: People who are named in a Will.
Personal property: Things like cash, stocks, jewelry, clothing, furniture, or cars.
Real property: Buildings and land.
Probate: The process of deciding where, how, and to whom to distribute the decedent’s property.
Will: A legal paper that lists a person’s wishes about what will happen to his/her property after death.
Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship: If the property title states this form of joint tenancy, then when one owner of property dies, the other owner is legally entitled to take possession of the property, no matter what the will says.
Marital Deduction: A federal deduction that allows one spouse to leave his or her estate directly to the spouse upon death without having to pay gift or estate taxes.