Estate Planning and Probate

Learn how an administrator manages an estate when no executor is available or appointed.

Learn how advance directives express health-care wishes or appoint decision-makers before incapacity.

A beneficiary designation names who should receive certain assets such as retirement accounts, life insurance, or payable-on-death accounts.

A bequest is a gift of property made through a will to a named person, charity, or other recipient.

Understand codicils as formal documents used to amend an existing will.

A creditor claim is a demand for payment from an estate based on a debt or obligation owed by the deceased person.

A devisee is a person or entity named in a will to receive property from the testator's estate.

Understand durable powers of attorney as authority that can continue after the principal becomes incapacitated.

An estate is the property, rights, and obligations a person leaves at death, including assets that may pass through probate or outside probate.

Estate administration is the process of collecting, managing, paying claims from, and distributing a deceased person's estate.

An estate inventory is a list of estate assets and values prepared during probate or estate administration.

Learn how a grantor creates or transfers property into a trust.

Understand healthcare proxies as documents that name someone to make medical decisions.

An heir is a person who may inherit from someone under intestacy law when property is not fully controlled by a valid will or other transfer.

Intestate succession is the legal order for distributing property when a person dies without a valid will controlling that property.

An irrevocable trust is a trust that the grantor generally cannot freely revoke or amend after creation.

Understand letters testamentary as court documents proving an executor's authority to act for an estate.

A nonprobate asset is property that transfers after death outside the probate process, often through beneficiary designation, joint ownership, or trust ownership.

Per stirpes is a distribution method that passes a deceased beneficiary's share down to that beneficiary's descendants by family branch.

Understand personal representatives as the people appointed to administer a probate estate.

A probate asset is property that must pass through probate before it can be transferred after death.

Probate court is a court that handles probate, estate administration, guardianship, and related matters under state law.

A residuary clause is a will provision that disposes of property remaining after specific gifts, debts, expenses, and other transfers are handled.

Learn how a residuary estate captures what remains after specific gifts, debts, and expenses.

A revocable trust is a trust the grantor can usually amend or revoke during life, often used to manage property and avoid some probate administration.

A small estate affidavit is a simplified document used in some jurisdictions to transfer estate property without full probate.

Understand trustees as fiduciaries who manage trust property for beneficiaries.

Learn what a living trust is and how it differs from a will in estate planning.

Understand what a pour-over will is and how it works alongside a living trust in estate planning.

Understand testamentary capacity and why mental competence matters when a person signs a will.

Learn what testator means in estate planning and why the term matters in wills and probate law.

A beneficiary is a person or entity entitled to receive property, money, or another benefit under a legal arrangement.

This section explains planning and inheritance terms that shape wills, trusts, probate administration, and authority over property or personal decisions.

An executor is the person named to administer an estate under a will, subject to court oversight where required.

Intestate means a person died without a valid will controlling the distribution of the estate.

A living will is a document stating a person's wishes about certain medical treatment decisions if the person cannot communicate them later.

A power of attorney is a legal document authorizing one person to act on another person's behalf in specified matters.

Probate is the legal process for administering a deceased person's estate under court supervision when required.

A trust is a legal arrangement in which one party holds or manages property for the benefit of another under stated terms.

A will is a legal document that states how a person wants property and certain responsibilities handled after death.