| A | B |
|---|
| Administrator | A person appointed by the courts to administer the estate of a deceased person who dies without will and, therefore, does not have a designated executor to manage the settlement of their estate. |
| Beneficiary | A person named in a will to receive a portion of a deceased person’s property following the testator’s (will creator’s) death. A will can contain one or many named beneficiaries. |
| Bond (as Related to Estate Planning)- | Bonds provide assurance that an estate is not defrauded. If a court-appointed administrator does inappropriately defraud an estate, the company that issued the bond will reimburse the estate for the cost. A bond is like an insurance policy. It is there, if needed. The cost of bonds increases with the value of property covered by the bond. |
| Codicil | A document that adds, deletes, and/or explains provisions in an existing will. It is typically used only to make minor changes but many attorneys today recommend creating a new will instead. |
| Estate | Everything that people own in their own name (i.e., assets) at the time of their death. |
| Executor | A person named in a will to perform tasks that include inventorying the deceased person’s assets, collecting money that is due, repaying debts, and distributing remaining assets to beneficiaries. |
| Guardian | A person named in a will to accept the responsibility of providing care to the testator’s minor children in the event of the parents’ death. |
| Holographic Will | A handwritten will that people prepare themselves. It should be entirely handwritten with no typed information and include a date and the testator’s signature. |
| Intestate | The legal term used to describe someone who dies without a valid will. |
| Intestacy Laws | State-specific laws that determine how property passes to the heirs of someone who dies intestate. Close relatives (e.g., spouse, children) take precedence over more distant relatives (e.g., cousins). |
| Self-Proving Will | Wills that include a sworn statement from witnesses who watched the testator sign it. Having this feature eliminates the need to find the witnesses many years later to probate a will. |
| Probate | The court-supervised legal process of gathering a deceased person’s assets and distributing them to creditors (i.e., repaying debts owed by the deceased person) and beneficiaries (heirs). |
| Testator | The legal term used to describe a person who has written and executed a will. |
| Will | A legal document that describes how people’s property should be distributed following their death. |
| Witness | A person who is present when a testator signs a will to attest to the authenticity of the document. At least two witnesses are generally required and they will add their signature along with the testator’s. |
