Estate Planning Terms

Question 1

Legally binding due to having been executed in compliance with the law

Answer 1

Valid

Question 2

A person who makes or creates a valid will

Answer 2

Testator

Question 3

A person who creates a trust

Answer 3

Grantor

Question 4

The party that creates a trust, usually the donor

Answer 4

Settlor

Question 5

The transfer, gift, or sale of property from one individual to another.

Answer 5

Disposition

Question 6

A person who has died.

Answer 6

Decendent

Question 7

To receive all or a portion of the estate of an ancestor upon his/her death.

Answer 7

Inherit

Question 8

A legal document that expresses a person’s wishes as to how their property is to be distributed after their death and as to which person is to manage the property until its final distribution.

Answer 8

Last Will and Testament

Question 9

A will that’s typed and signed by the testator and witnessed by two disinterested parties.

Answer 9

Formal Will

Question 10

One who is called upon to be present at a transaction.

Answer 10

Witness

Question 11

A pre-printed standardized form that includes the state’s statutory provisions of a will.

Answer 11

Statutory Will

Question 12

A document intended to be a person’s last Will and Testament, that does not comply with the very strict formal requirements for a valid Will set out in the relevant state acts.

Answer 12

Informal Will

Question 13

An unattested will that is completely in testator’s own handwriting.

Answer 13

Holographic Will

Question 14

A type of petition that is filed as part of a court proceeding in which the validity of a decendent’s will is brought under scrutiny.

Answer 14

Will Contest

Question 15

critical observation or examination

Answer 15

Scrutiny

Question 16

The act of carrying out, performing or completing.

Answer 16

Execution/Execution

Question 17

A will which is not written, but is declared orally by the testator.

Answer 17

Nuncupative Will

Question 18

A legal document that ensures an individual’s remaining assets will automatically transfer to a previously established trust upon their death.

Answer 18

Pour Over Will

Question 19

Legal arrangement that lets you decided how your assets are managed and distributed, both during your lifetime and after you die.

Answer 19

Living Trust

Question 20

A person’s legal and mental ability to make or alter a valid will.

Answer 20

Testamentary Capacity

Question 21

A third party who is authorized by a settlor to execute and manage trust assets.

Answer 21

Trustee

Question 22

The ability to make and understand a specific decision at the time it needs to be made.

Answer 22

Mental ability

Question 23

The individuals to whom a testator would be most likely to devise her or her estate, generally a spouse or children.

Answer 23

Testator’s bounty

Question 24

A stipulation within a legal document or in a specific law.

Answer 24

Provisions

Question 25

Never married.

Answer 25

Single

Question 26

Previously married or divorced.

Answer 26

Unmarried

Question 27

A court-ordered agreement in which a married couple live separate lives, usually by living apart.

Answer 27

Legally Separated

Question 28

A gift made in a will

Answer 28

Testamentary Gifts

Question 29

The voluntary and immediate transfer of property from one person (the donor or grantor) to another (the donee or grantee) without consideration.

Answer 29

Gift of real property

Question 30

A gift given by means of the will of a descendent of an interest in real property.

Answer 30

Devise

Question 31

Someone who receives real property (As opposed to personal property) from an estate.

Answer 31

Devisee

Question 32

The gift of personal property under the terms of a will.

Answer 32

Bequest

Question 33

An individual named in a will, revocable trust, or irrevocable trust to receive property from a testator or grantor.

Answer 33

Beneficiary

Question 34

A gift of money.

Answer 34

Legacy

Question 35

One who recieves a legacy.

Answer 35

Legatee

Question 37

Gifts that are distributed prior to distributing the remainder of the big “pot” of the estate.

Answer 37

General disposition

Question 38

Assets that remain after the specifically devised assets are taken out of the total estate.

Answer 38

Residuary Estate

Question 39

A clause in a will that disposes of any estate property that remains after satisfaction of all other gifts.

Answer 39

Residuary Clause

Question 40

A clause in a will that prevent bequests from lapsing when the intended beneficiary has pre-deceased the testator.

Answer 40

Anti-lapse provision

Question 41

to die before (another person)

Answer 41

Pre-deceased

Question 42

A person who inherits, or has a right of inheritance in the property of a person who has died intestate.

Answer 42

Heirs at law

Question 43

Dying without a legal will.

Answer 43

Intestate

Question 44

The method by which property is distributed when a person dies without a valid will.

Answer 44

Intestate Succession

Question 45

A person, appointed by will or the court to administer the decendent’s estate

Answer 45

Personal Representative

Question 46

Someone named in a will as the person who will carry out the testator’s formal wishes.

Answer 46

Executor

Question 47

A person who would take on the duties of an executor if, for any reason, the person you’ve named cannot fulfill the role.

Answer 47

Alternative Executor

Question 48

When a person dies and has a will at their death.

Answer 48

Testate

Question 49

State laws that determine who will inherit the descendent assets if the person died without a will.

Answer 49

Intestacy Laws

Question 50

A clause (section) in the will that names (appoints) a Personal Representative.

Answer 50

Personal Representative Clause