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Abatement: Cutting back certain gifts under a will when necessary to create a fund to meet expenses, pay taxes, satisfy debts, or to have enough to take care of other bequests which are given priority under law or under the will.
Ademption: The failure of a specific bequest of property because the property is no longer owned by the testator at the time of his/her death.
Administrator: The title given to the person who is appointed by the probate court to collect assets of the estate, pay its debts, and distribute the rest to the appropriate beneficiaries.
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 of an estate other than where the decedent was domiciled.
Beneficiary: A person who receives benefits from a will, trust or life insurance policy.
Bequest: Personal property left in a will.
Bona Fide: In or with good faith, honestly, openly & sincerely, without deceit or fraud.
Bond: An insurance type policy in which the insurance company agrees to reimburse the beneficiaries if there are losses to the estate due to a person occupying a position of trust not carrying out his or her fiduciary responsibilities.
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.
Child: Biological offspring of the person making the will (testator), also persons legally adopted by the testator.
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.
Codicil: 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.
Community Property: Generally, all property acquired by a couple after marriage and before permanent separation.
Contingent Beneficiary: Any person entitled to property under a will dependent upon the occurrence of an event.
Court: The circuit court.
Creditor: An individual or entity to which the decedent was liable for money at the time of his or her death, and that the estate owes money to.
Decedent: The person who has died and left the estate.
Declaration: A written statement made under penalty of perjury.
Deductions: Items that cause the value of the estate to be reduced, such as, medical expenses from last illness, funeral expenses, taxes, cost of administration, etc.
Deed: A document that describes ownership in real property.
Devise: Any real or personal property that is transferred under a will.
Discharge: Court order releasing the personal representative from any further duties regarding the estate.
Disclaimer: The rejection, refusal, or renunciation of a claim, power or property.
Distributee: Someone who receives property from an estate.
Domicile: The location of a person's permanent residence. This determines the laws that will govern the estate.
Donee: One who received a gift, usually from a trust.
Donor: One who made the gift, usually in trust, while still alive.
Escheat: Property belonging to a deceased person having no heirs passes to the state.
Estate: Property of a decedent that is the subject of administration. The property a person owns at the time of death.
Estate Taxes - Federal: Taxes imposed by the federal government on the transfer of assets from the dead to the living.
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.
Foreign Guardian: A guardian appointed in another state or country.
Heirs: An individual entitled by law to inherit from an estate.
Intangible Personal Property: Personal property that has no physical form but derives its value from the rights and powers that it gives its owner, examples include stock, pension benefits, patent or copyrighted (intellectual) property.
Intestate: When a person dies without having a will.
Issue: All of a person's lineal descendants.
Joint Tenancy: A way to hold title to jointly owned real or personal property. In the event of one owner's death, allows for the automatic transfer to the surviving owner.
Letters of Administration: The authority granted by the probate court to the personal representative to act on behalf of the estate of the decedent and carry out his/her proper duties.
Life Estate: A type of real estate ownership in which a person has the right of possession during his/her lifetime, and the ownership passes to someone else upon death.
Living Trust: A trust set up while a person is alive and which remains under the control of that person during his/her lifetime.
Minor: In Arizona, a person under 18 years of age.
Mortgage: An agreement by a lender in which there are terms for repayment of a monetary sum, used to finance real estate.
Personal Property: All items, both tangible and intangible, that usually have an ownership title and are not real property.
Personal Representative: The person authorized by the court to act on behalf of a decedent's estate, usually the 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.
Power of Appointment: A right generally given in a trust agreement for someone to designate who will receive property after the death of the life beneficiary (see life estate).
Pour-Over Will: A will that provides for the transfer of assets from the decedent's probate estate to a living trust.
Pretermitted Heir: One who would usually be beneficiary of the decedent but who is not mentioned in the will.
Probate Court: The circuit court of jurisdiction that supervises the probate process.
Probate Estate: All the assets owned at death that require some form of legal proceeding before title may be transferred to the proper heirs.
Probate of Will: Means all steps necessary to establish the validity of a will and to admit a will to probate.
Real Property: Land or things affixed to land. All property that is not real property is termed personal property.
Residuary Estate: All the property contained in the probate estate except for property that has been specifically and effectively left to designated beneficiaries.
Self-Proved Will: A will in which at least two witnesses took an oath that they observed the testator sign it and that the testator told them it was his/her will.
Separate Property: All property owned by a decedent that is considered neither community property nor quasi-community property, but wholly and separately owned by one spouse or registered domestic partner.
Succession: The method by which property is distributed when a decedent has left no will, as governed by state law.
Tenancy in Common: The ownership of property by two or more persons in such a manner that each has an undivided interest which upon death passes according to his/her will or the laws of intestate succession.
Testate: Having left a will at death.
Testator: One who has made a will, who dies "testate".
Transfer Agent: A representative of a corporation who is authorized to transfer ownership of a corporation's stock from one person to another, required when transferring a decedent's stock to an heir or beneficiary.
Trust: A legal arrangement under which a person or institution ("trustee") controls property given by another person "trustor", "grantor", "settler") for the benefit of a third person ("beneficiary").
Uniform Transfers to Minors Act: A law that provides a way for someone to give or leave property to a minor by appointing a custodian to manage the property for the minor.
Will: A written document, signed and witnessed as required by law, in which a person expresses what he/she wants to happen with respect to his/her property, children, pets, etc, after his or her death.
This "Glossary of Terms" is not intended to be a definitive legal definition of terms, but, is merely provided to assist the public 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.
Ademption: The failure of a specific bequest of property because the property is no longer owned by the testator at the time of his/her death.
Administrator: The title given to the person who is appointed by the probate court to collect assets of the estate, pay its debts, and distribute the rest to the appropriate beneficiaries.
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 of an estate other than where the decedent was domiciled.
Beneficiary: A person who receives benefits from a will, trust or life insurance policy.
Bequest: Personal property left in a will.
Bona Fide: In or with good faith, honestly, openly & sincerely, without deceit or fraud.
Bond: An insurance type policy in which the insurance company agrees to reimburse the beneficiaries if there are losses to the estate due to a person occupying a position of trust not carrying out his or her fiduciary responsibilities.
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.
Child: Biological offspring of the person making the will (testator), also persons legally adopted by the testator.
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.
Codicil: 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.
Community Property: Generally, all property acquired by a couple after marriage and before permanent separation.
Contingent Beneficiary: Any person entitled to property under a will dependent upon the occurrence of an event.
Court: The circuit court.
Creditor: An individual or entity to which the decedent was liable for money at the time of his or her death, and that the estate owes money to.
Decedent: The person who has died and left the estate.
Declaration: A written statement made under penalty of perjury.
Deductions: Items that cause the value of the estate to be reduced, such as, medical expenses from last illness, funeral expenses, taxes, cost of administration, etc.
Deed: A document that describes ownership in real property.
Devise: Any real or personal property that is transferred under a will.
Discharge: Court order releasing the personal representative from any further duties regarding the estate.
Disclaimer: The rejection, refusal, or renunciation of a claim, power or property.
Distributee: Someone who receives property from an estate.
Domicile: The location of a person's permanent residence. This determines the laws that will govern the estate.
Donee: One who received a gift, usually from a trust.
Donor: One who made the gift, usually in trust, while still alive.
Escheat: Property belonging to a deceased person having no heirs passes to the state.
Estate: Property of a decedent that is the subject of administration. The property a person owns at the time of death.
Estate Taxes - Federal: Taxes imposed by the federal government on the transfer of assets from the dead to the living.
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.
Foreign Guardian: A guardian appointed in another state or country.
Heirs: An individual entitled by law to inherit from an estate.
Intangible Personal Property: Personal property that has no physical form but derives its value from the rights and powers that it gives its owner, examples include stock, pension benefits, patent or copyrighted (intellectual) property.
Intestate: When a person dies without having a will.
Issue: All of a person's lineal descendants.
Joint Tenancy: A way to hold title to jointly owned real or personal property. In the event of one owner's death, allows for the automatic transfer to the surviving owner.
Letters of Administration: The authority granted by the probate court to the personal representative to act on behalf of the estate of the decedent and carry out his/her proper duties.
Life Estate: A type of real estate ownership in which a person has the right of possession during his/her lifetime, and the ownership passes to someone else upon death.
Living Trust: A trust set up while a person is alive and which remains under the control of that person during his/her lifetime.
Minor: In Arizona, a person under 18 years of age.
Mortgage: An agreement by a lender in which there are terms for repayment of a monetary sum, used to finance real estate.
Personal Property: All items, both tangible and intangible, that usually have an ownership title and are not real property.
Personal Representative: The person authorized by the court to act on behalf of a decedent's estate, usually the 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.
Power of Appointment: A right generally given in a trust agreement for someone to designate who will receive property after the death of the life beneficiary (see life estate).
Pour-Over Will: A will that provides for the transfer of assets from the decedent's probate estate to a living trust.
Pretermitted Heir: One who would usually be beneficiary of the decedent but who is not mentioned in the will.
Probate Court: The circuit court of jurisdiction that supervises the probate process.
Probate Estate: All the assets owned at death that require some form of legal proceeding before title may be transferred to the proper heirs.
Probate of Will: Means all steps necessary to establish the validity of a will and to admit a will to probate.
Real Property: Land or things affixed to land. All property that is not real property is termed personal property.
Residuary Estate: All the property contained in the probate estate except for property that has been specifically and effectively left to designated beneficiaries.
Self-Proved Will: A will in which at least two witnesses took an oath that they observed the testator sign it and that the testator told them it was his/her will.
Separate Property: All property owned by a decedent that is considered neither community property nor quasi-community property, but wholly and separately owned by one spouse or registered domestic partner.
Succession: The method by which property is distributed when a decedent has left no will, as governed by state law.
Tenancy in Common: The ownership of property by two or more persons in such a manner that each has an undivided interest which upon death passes according to his/her will or the laws of intestate succession.
Testate: Having left a will at death.
Testator: One who has made a will, who dies "testate".
Transfer Agent: A representative of a corporation who is authorized to transfer ownership of a corporation's stock from one person to another, required when transferring a decedent's stock to an heir or beneficiary.
Trust: A legal arrangement under which a person or institution ("trustee") controls property given by another person "trustor", "grantor", "settler") for the benefit of a third person ("beneficiary").
Uniform Transfers to Minors Act: A law that provides a way for someone to give or leave property to a minor by appointing a custodian to manage the property for the minor.
Will: A written document, signed and witnessed as required by law, in which a person expresses what he/she wants to happen with respect to his/her property, children, pets, etc, after his or her death.
This "Glossary of Terms" is not intended to be a definitive legal definition of terms, but, is merely provided to assist the public 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.
