A proportional diminution or reduction of the pecuniary legacies when there are not sufficient funds to pay them in full.
When property mentioned in a will cannot be given to a beneficiary because it no longer belonged to the deceased at the time of death, for example, the particular gift may have been destroyed, sold, or given away between the time of the will and the time of death.
The management and settlement of an estate are performed by a person under the authority of the court (see: administrator and executor). The process usually involves:
A person or institution appointed by a court to act on behalf of the deceased person in connection with the administration of a decedent’s estate.
An administrator appointed by a court to act on behalf of the deceased person who left a will, but where no nominated executor is willing and able to act.
A written statement or affirmation made under penalty of perjury that requires notarization.
An administration of a decedent’s property located in a state other than the state of the decedent’s domicile.
The individual or corporation who receives the benefit of a transaction (e.g., beneficiary of a life insurance policy, beneficiary of a trust, or beneficiary under a will.)
Cash or securities are placed in a bank, trust company, insured savings and loan, or insured brokerage account, subject to withdrawal only upon court order or statute.
A form of insurance that protects the assets of the estate.
Claims are the petitions, registers, accounts, or appeals filed with the court.
An addition to a will, the codicil may modify, add to, subtract from, qualify, alter, or revoke provisions in the will. The codicil is a separate document. It is signed with the same formalities as a will. The codicil can be changed, revoked, canceled, or destroyed at any time.
Real or personal property owned in common by husband and wife as a kind of marital partnership. Either spouse has management and control of the community real and personal property; however, both spouses must join in a transfer of ownership or lease for more than one year of community real property or a gift of community personal property. All property acquired during marriage from earnings, and the earnings themselves, are community property. Property acquired by gift or inheritance is separate property, not community property.
A person determined by the court to be unable to protect and manage their own personal care or financial affairs, or both, and, for whom the court has appointed a conservator.
The individual or corporation who legally has charge of the care and management of the person, property, or both of an adult who is unable to provide for his own personal needs or who is substantially unable to manage his financial affairs. Limited conservatorships may be established for developmentally disabled adults.
A legal proceeding in which a court places the interests of an incapacitated adult in the care and protection of another. In some states, this is called guardianship. Contingent Beneficiary One to whom distribution is dependent upon the occurrence of an event.
A request is filed with the court by a person or entity who believes they are owed money by the decedent.
The person who has died and whose estate is being settled.
A written statement made under penalty of perjury.
Persons named by a decedent in his will. A bequest or devise generally refers to real property and a legacy of money or personal property.
A refusal to accept, for example, a testamentary gift that is made in a prescribed manner and time.
The division of estate funds among those who are entitled to inherit.
The specific location of a person’s permanent residence determines, for many purposes, the laws that will govern his affairs. A person may have many residences, but he can have only one domicile. Therefore, the domiciliary proceeding is created in the decedent’s domicile jurisdiction.
A person who receives a gift from another.
A person who receives a gift from another.
Any claim or restriction on a property’s title.
The term describes the reversion of property to the state in the event a person dies, leaving no valid will and no heirs at law surviving him.
All the money and property owned by a person at the time of death.
The death taxes imposed by the federal government on the transfer of assets upon death.
The individual or corporation appointed in a will by a testator to take care of the testator’s property after his death. Also called a personal representative.
A judicial proceeding granted without notice.
A person charged with a high degree of care who acts on behalf of another. Executors and trustees are fiduciaries.
A final report to the court detailing the finances of an estate or trust.
Federal law allows a donor to exclude an amount of gifts from taxation each year if the gifts are of a present interest and to a specific individual. A present interest gift is one in which the done has an immediate unrestricted right of use, benefit, and enjoyment. The federal amount is $10,000 per donor per year.
The individual or corporation who makes a grant (transfer) of property to another person (e.g., grantor of a trust, grantor of a deed of property).
A person the court appoints to protect the interests of another person in a specific court case. Latin for guardian at law.
The person who inherits property under state law.
A legal proceeding in which evidence is presented to determine the entitlement of heirs.
A court decision declares the entitled heirs and their respective shares in the estate. In some states, this is called a kinship order.
Generally, a will completed handwritten, dated, and signed by the person making the will.
The taxes imposed, according to the relationship to the decedent, on the person who receives the property.
A trust set up during a person’s lifetime to distribute money or property to another person or organization (as distinguished from a person who transfers money or property after death).
Refers to someone who dies, leaving no will.
An itemized list of assets, including cash and appraised property. Issue A person’s legal descendants (i.e., children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.).
A trust whose terms and provisions cannot be changed, modified, altered, amended, or revoked.
A form of property ownership by two or more persons, often designated as “joint tenants with right of survivorship.” Joint tenants always own equal parts of joint tenancy property. When a joint tenant dies, his or her interest in the property automatically goes to the surviving joint tenant.
A person or entity named in a will or trust to receive assets. In some situations, a legatee may be termed a devisee or beneficiary.
A document issued by the court granting authority to handle the affairs of an intestate estate.
A document issued by the court granting authority to handle the affairs of a testate estate.
An interest in property, the term of which is measured by the life of its owner.
The person who receives the benefits from the real or personal property during his lifetime only. The benefits stop when he dies.
A type of conservatorship for developmentally disabled adults.
A specific type of conservatorship, under the Lanternman-Petris-Short Act, allows for involuntary detention and treatment of a person (the conservatee). This conservatorship is a result of mental disorder, and the conservatee appears to be a danger to himself/herself or others or is gravely disabled. The Public Guardian must file this matter. (See Conservator and Conservatee)
As used in the context of guardianship, a person under the age of 18 who is placed in the care of a court-appointed guardian.
A person’s closest living relative or relatives.
An administrator or executor appointed by the court to administer a decedent’s estate.
A formal application made to a court in writing requests action on a certain matter. A petition must be filed with the court to begin the probate process.
The actual power of legal authority given by the trust or will of one person, the “donor” of the power, to a second person, the “done” of the power, which enables the second person to designate the manner of disposing of the property. A power of appointment may be general or special, as defined below:
Enables the donee to designate himself, his creditors, his estate, the creditors of his estate, or any other person as the owner of the subject property.
Limits the done as to the persons he can designate as owners of the property over which he has a power of appointment. The limitation of appointment can be very specific (e.g., to a group consisting only of A’s children) but can never be the done, his estate his creditors, or the creditors of his estate because this would defeat the purpose of the special power, namely, to keep the appointive property from being taxed in the estate of the done on his death.
A will that provides for the transfer, after or during the probate court proceedings, of all or part of the net assets of a decedent’s probate estate from the executor’s control to the control of a trustee who oversees a trust that was in existence immediately before the death of the deceased person (inter vivos trust).
One who would normally be beneficiary of the decedent, but who is not mentioned in the will.
The legal process whereby a probate court supervises the marshaling of a deceased person’s debts and taxes and orders the property distributed according to the decedent’s will, or in its absence, to the deceased person’s heirs. The probate court has jurisdiction over the personal representative and the decedent’s assets.
The court that handles matters concerning wills and estates, such as the distribution of property or money to those named in a will. In California, the Probate Court also handles guardianships and conservatorships.
A specialized area of genealogy that deals with identifying and locating the heirs to an estate and proving their right to an inheritance. Probate researchers are sometimes referred to as forensic genealogists.
A county official appointed to administer an estate.
An interest in land or property permanently affixed to land.
An ownership interest in property that will become a present interest after the present owner or life tenant has received all the property benefits to which he is entitled.
The remaining part of a decedent’s estate after paying debts and legacies. Also called “residuary estate.”
One to whom all or part of the residue is distributed.
An ownership interest in property that returns to the original owner when the intervening interest expires.
A trust whose terms and provisions can be changed, modified, altered, amended, or revoked.
A method of distribution, sometimes referred to as “per stirpes,” whereby the share of the distribution of a deceased beneficiary is divided equally among his children.
In California, a category of property between husband and wife that is not community property or quasi-community property, but that is owned separately by the husband or wife.
Another word for grantor or trustor of a trust. The person who “settles” the assets into the trust.
The portion of an estate that an heir will receive as determined by state succession law or a decedent's will.
A decedent's estate may avoid probate and have the personal property transferred directly to an heir if the decedent’s estate meets the requirements of that specific state.
The next person or organization appointed if a vacancy arises in a conservatorship, guardianship, or decedent’s estate because of the fiduciary’s death, removal, or resignation.
A form of holding title to real or personal property by two or more persons. Because there is no right of survivorship, the legal relationships and results are very different from joint tenancy. Tenants in common need not hold equal interest, and on the death of a tenant in common, his interest will pass by his will or according to the laws of intestate succession.
The trust that comes into being only as a result of the death of a person whose will provides for the creation of the trust after his death, hence, the term “testamentary.” Once in existence, this trust is irrevocable.
Refers to someone who dies leaving a will.
The person who signs the will that disposes of his property; testatrix is the female term. It is common as a convenience to use the term testator for either a man or a woman.
A form of a revocable trust, usually a bank account, that allows distribution to the beneficiary upon the death of the trustee, without the need for probate of the asset. For example, John Jones as Trustee for Mary Jones.
A legal entity established either during a trustor’s lifetime (inter vivos) or at his death (testamentary). The trust is governed by the terms set forth in the trust documents. A trust must have a trustee, a beneficiary, and a “corpus” or property subject to the trust.
The individual or corporation who in a trust has bare legal title to the assets and has the power given in the trust to carry out the wishes of the person or persons (trustor or trustors) who created the trust. The trustee has a fiduciary obligation to the trust’s beneficiaries enforceable in court if not carried out. The trustee is subject to strict regulation. Although he has the legal title for convenience, the beneficiaries own the beneficial or equitable title. When there is more than one trustee, the trustees are called co-trustees.
The person or persons who establish a trust. There can be more than one trustor.
A document, prepared and executed by a person with the formality required by the laws of the state of his domicile at the time, which is intended to govern and direct the disposition of his estate and settlement of his legal affairs at the time of his death and which has no legal effect until his death. If the document is entirely in the person’s own handwriting, it is called a “holographic will.” If a will is typed, it is called a “witnessed will” because the signing of it generally requires two or more witnesses to testify later, if necessary, that the execution was not procured by fraud, duress, or misrepresentation.
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