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Probate > Chapter 1 - The Estate Plan and the Purpose and Need for a Will > Flashcards

Chapter 1 - The Estate Plan and the Purpose and Need for a Will Flashcards

1
Q

Testament

A

Another name for a will.

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2
Q

Estate Plan

A

An arrangement of a person’s estate using the laws of various disciplines, e.g., wills, trusts, taxes, insurance, and property, to gain maximum financial benefit of all the laws for the disposition of a person’s assets during life and after death.

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3
Q

Disposition

A

The distribution, transfer, or conveyance of property.

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4
Q

Will

A

The legally enforceable written declaration of a person’s intended distribution of property after death.

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5
Q

Statutes

A

Laws passed by state and federal legislatures.

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6
Q

Legal Capacity

A

Age at which a person acquires capacity to make a valid will, usually 18.

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7
Q

Testamentary Capacity

A

The sanity (sound mind) requirement for a person to make a valid will.

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8
Q

Testator/Testatrix

A

A man or a woman who makes and/or dies with a valid will.

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9
Q

Sound Mind

A

To have the mental ability to make a valid will. The normal condition of the human mind, not impaired by insanity or other mental disorders.

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10
Q

Execution of a Valid Will

A

The acts of the testator who writes and signs the will and the two or more witnesses who attest and sign it to establish the will’s validity.

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11
Q

Holographic Will

A

A completely handwritten, signed, and usually dated will that often requires no witnesses.

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12
Q

Beneficiary (of a will)

A

A person who is entitled to receive property under a will or to whom the decedent’s property is given or distributed.

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13
Q

Formal Probate

A

A court-supervised administration of a decedent’s estate.

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14
Q

Informal Probate

A

A court proceeding of a decedent’s estate with limited or no court supervision.

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15
Q

Uniform Probate Code (UPC)

A

A uniform law available for adoption by the states to modernize and improve the efficiency of the administration of a decedent’s estate.

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16
Q

Probate Court

A

The court that has jurisdiction (authority) over the probate of wills and the administration of the decedent’s estate.

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17
Q

Domicile

A

The location (state) of a person’s true and legal home.

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18
Q

Real Property

A

Land, buildings, and things permanently attached to them.

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19
Q

Ambulatory

A

Subject to change and revocation anytime before death; e.g., a will is ambulatory.

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20
Q

Codicil

A

A written amendment to the will that changes but does not invalidate it.

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21
Q

Letter of Instructions

A

A document that specifies the testator’s instructions for organ donation and funeral and burial plans. It can also be an all-inclusive checklist of various personal and estate information to help the family and personal representative locate and identify property and documents necessary to administer the estate.

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22
Q

Surviving Spouse

A

The traditional meaning/usage of wife or husband based on legal marriage and expanded in some states to include same-sex conjugal couples.

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23
Q

Apportionment Clause

A

A clause in a will that allocates the tax burden among the residuary estate and the beneficiaries of the will.

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24
Q

Residuary Estate

A

The remaining assets (residue) of the decedent’s estate after all debts have been paid and all other gifts in the will are distributed.

25
Q

Legatee

A

A person who receives a gift of personal property under a will.

26
Q

Pro Rata

A

According to a certain rate or percentage.

27
Q

Tenancy in Common

A

The ownership of an undivided interest of real or personal property by two or more persons without the right of survivorship, which allows each owner’s interest to be passed to his or her beneficiaries or heirs upon death.

28
Q

Tenant in Common

A

One of two or more persons who own property in a tenancy in common.

29
Q

Intestate Succession Statutes

A

Laws passed in each state establishing the manner in which a decedent’s property will be distributed when death occurs without a valid will.

30
Q

Guardian

A

The person or institution named by the maker of a will or appointed by the court when there is no will to care for the person and/or property of a minor or a handicapped or incompetent person.

31
Q

Spouse’s Statutory, forced or elective share

A

The spouse’s statutory right to choose a share of the decedent spouse’s estate instead of inheriting under the provisions of the decedent’s will.

32
Q

Ward

A

A minor or incompetent person placed under the care and supervision of a guardian by the probate court.

33
Q

Incompetent Person

A

A person under legal disability, e.g., a mentally incapacitated person.

34
Q

Person Guardian

A

An individual or trust institution appointed by a court to take custody of and care for a minor or an incompetent person.

35
Q

Property Guardian

A

An individual or trust institution appointed by a court to care for and manage the property of a minor or an incompetent person.

36
Q

Fiduciary

A

A person, such as a personal representative, guardian, conservator, or trustee, who is appointed to serve in a position of trust and confidence and controls and manages property exclusively for the benefit of others. By the law their conduct is held to the highest ethical standard.

37
Q

Heir

A

Traditionally, a person, including a spouse, who is entitled by statute to the real property of an intestate. Today, a person entitled to any gift (real or personal property) of the intestate or in the decedent’s will.

38
Q

Fiduciary Duty

A

A duty or responsibility required of a fiduciary to act solely for another’s benefit that arises out of a position of loyalty and trust.

39
Q

Adoptive Parent

A

A person who legally adopts another individual, usually a child.

40
Q

Conservator

A

A fiduciary; an individual or trust institution appointed by a court to care for and manage property of an incompetent person.

41
Q

Testamentary Trust

A

A trust created in a will. It becomes operational only after death.

42
Q

Inter Vivos or Living Trust

A

A trust created by a maker (settlor) during the maker’s lifetime. It becomes operations immediately after the trust is created.

43
Q

Trust

A

A right of property, real or personal, held by one person (trustee) for the benefit of another (beneficiary).

44
Q

Settlor

A

A person who creates a trust; also called donor, grantor, creator, or trustor.

45
Q

Legal Title (of a trust)

A

The form of ownership of trust property held by the trustee, giving the trustee the right to control and manage the property for another’s benefit, i.e., the holder of the equitable title.

46
Q

Trustee

A

The person or institution named by the maker of a will or a settlor of a trust to administer property for the benefit of another (the beneficiary) according to provisions in a testamentary trust or an inter vivos trust.

47
Q

Beneficiary (of a trust)

A

The person or institution who holds equitable title and to whom the trustee distributes the income earned from the trust property and, depending on the terms of the trust, even the trust property itself.

48
Q

Equitable Title (of a trust)

A

A right of the party who holds the equitable title or beneficial interest to the benefits of the trust.

49
Q

Bypass Trust

A

An estate planning device whereby a deceased spouse’s estate passes to a trust as a life estate for the surviving spouse rather than entirely to the surviving spouse, thereby reducing the likelihood that the surviving spouse’s estate will be subject to federal estate tax.

50
Q

Principal

A

In trust law, the capital or property of a trust, as opposed to the income, which is the product of the capital.

51
Q

Federal Estate Tax

A

A tax imposed on the transfer of property at death.

52
Q

Income

A

Interest, dividends, or other return from invested capital.

53
Q

Public (charitable) Trust

A

A trust established for the social benefit either of the public at large or the community.

54
Q

Personal Representative

A

The person who administers and distributes a decedent’s estate according to the will or the appropriate intestate succession stature. It includes executor and executrix when there is a will and administrator and administratrix when there is no will.

55
Q

Executor/Executrix

A

A man or woman named in the will by the maker to be the personal representative of the decedent’s estate and to carry out the provisions of the will.

56
Q

Administrator/Administratrix

A

The man or woman appointed by the probate court to administer the decedent’s estate when there is no will.

57
Q

Transfer-on-Death Deed or Beneficiary Deed

A

A type of deed, properly executed and recorded, that allows the transfer of real property to a designated beneficiary without probate. The transfer does not take effect until the death of the owner.

58
Q

Joint Tenancy

A

Ownership of real or personal property by two or more persons with the right of survivorship.

59
Q

Domiciliary Administration

A

The administration of an estate in the state where the decedent was domiciled at the time of death.

Probate (2 decks)

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