|
| |
|
GLOSSARY |
|
Abatement
A proportional diminution or
reduction of the pecuniary legacies, when there are not sufficient
funds to pay them in full.
|
|
Ademption
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.
|
|
Administrator
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.
|
|
Administrator with Will Annexed
(for Administrator CTA)
An administrator appointed by a
court to act on behalf of the estate of a deceased person who left a
will, but where no nominated executor is willing and able to act.
|
|
Affidavit
A written statement or affirmation
made under penalty of perjury that requires notarization.
|
|
Ancillary Administration
An administration of a decedent's property located in a state other
than the state of the decedent's domicile.
|
|
Beneficiary
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).
|
|
Codicil
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,
cancelled, or destroyed at any time.
|
|
Community Property
Real or personal property that is
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.
|
|
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.
|
|
Contingent Beneficiary
One to whom distribution is
dependent upon the occurrence of an event.
|
|
Declaration
A written statement made under
penalty of perjury.
|
|
Devisees and Legatees
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.
|
|
Disclaimer
A refusal to accept, for example, a
testamentary gift that is made in a prescribed manner and time.
|
|
Domicile
The specific location of a person's
permanent residence that determines, for many
purposes, the laws that will
govern his affairs. A person may have many residences, but he
can have only one domicile. The domiciliary proceeding is that
created in the jurisdiction of the decedent's domicile.
|
|
Donee
A person who receives a gift from
another.
|
|
Donor
A person who makes a gift to
another.
|
|
Escheat
The term which 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.
Estate Taxes — Federal
The death taxes imposed by the
federal government on the transfer of assets upon death.
Executor
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.
Ex Parte
A judicial proceeding granted
without notice.
Fiduciary
A person charged with a high degree
of care who acts on behalf of another.
Executors and trustees are
fiduciaries.
Gift Tax Annual Exclusion
Both California and federal law
allow 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 donee has an immediate
unrestricted right of use, benefit, and enjoyment. The
federal amount is $10,000 per donor per
donee per year.
Grantor
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).
Guardian
The individual or corporation who legally has charge of the care and
management of the person, property, or both, of a child
during his minority.
Heir
The person who inherits property
under state law.
Inheritance Taxes
The taxes imposed, according to the
relationship to the decedent, on the person who receives the
property.
Intestate
Refers to someone who dies leaving
no will.
Inter Vivos Trust
A trust created "between the living." The grantor (trustor) is a
living person. An inter vivos trust can be either revocable
or irrevocable.
Irrevocable Trust
A trust whose terms and provisions
cannot be changed, modified, altered, amended, or revoked.
Joint Tenancy
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.
Life Estate
An interest in property, the term
of which is measured by the life of its owner.
Life Tenant
The person who receives the
benefits from real or personal property during his lifetime only.
The benefits stop when he dies.
Minor
A person who is under the age of
legal competence.
Personal Representative
This term describes an executor or
administrator.
Power of Appointment
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 "donee" 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:
·
General Power
Enables the donee to designate
himself, his creditors, his estate, the creditors of his estate, or
any other person, as owner of the subject property.
·
Special Power
Limits the donee as to the persons
to whom 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 donee, 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 donee on his death.
Pour-over Will
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 is in charge of a trust that was in existence
immediately before the death of the deceased person (inter vivos
trust).
Pretermitted Heir
One who would normally be beneficiary of the decedent but who is not
mentioned in the will.
Probate Administration
The legal process whereby a probate court supervises the marshalling
of a deceased person's debts and taxes and orders the
property distributed according to 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.
Quasi-community Property
In California only, that property
acquired by a decedent while living outside
California, which, if acquired in
California, would have been community property. For federal
estate tax purposes, quasi-community property is treated like
separate property.
Real Property
An interest in land or property
permanently affixed to land.
Remainder Interest
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.
Residue
The remaining part of a decedent's
estate after the payments of debts and legacies. Also called
"residuary estate."
Residuary Beneficiary
One to whom all or part of the
residue is distributed.
Reversionary Interest
An ownership interest in property
that returns to the original owner when the intervening interest
expires.
Revocable Trust
A trust whose terms and provisions
can be changed, modified, altered, amended, or revoked.
Right of Representation
A method of distribution, sometimes
referred to as "per stirpes," whereby the share of distribution of a
deceased beneficiary is divided equally among his children.
Separate Property
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.
Settlor
Another word for grantor or trustor of a trust. The person who
"settles" the assets into the trust.
Tenancy in Common
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 interests, and on the
death of a tenant in common, his interest will pass by his will or
according to the laws of intestate succession.
Testamentary Trust
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.
Testate
Refers to someone who dies leaving
a will.
Testator
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.
Totten Trust
A form of 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. Example, John Jones as
Trustee for Mary Jones.
Trust
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 subjected to the trust.
Trustee
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 legal title for
convenience, the beneficial or equitable title is in fact owned by
the beneficiaries. When there is more than one trustee, the trustees
are called co-trustees.
Trustor
The person or persons who establish
a trust. There can be more than one trustor.
Uniform Gifts to Minors Act
A law that permits a person
("donor") to register stock, bank accounts, or
insurance in the name of another
("custodian") for the benefit of one who is at the time a
minor ("beneficiary") without preparing a formal trust document. In
effect, the trust document has been written into the law. In so
doing, the donor makes an irrevocable gift of the property to the
minor, but the custodian holds, invests, reinvests, and applies the
property for the benefit of the minor until his majority, at which
time the property is turned over to the beneficiary. This is a
simple, inexpensive way to make small gifts to a minor.
Will
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.
|
|
Return to Top |
|
