Once clients get a draft of their estate plan, the most frequent comment is “I tried to read it, but some of it was legal gibberish.” While we try to make our legal documents as straight forward and clear as possible, to make them as legally effective as possible “legal gibberish” or legal terms are sometimes necessary. However, with some quick reading, you can turn those estate planning terms from a foreign language to plain English!
Common Estate Planning terms:
- Per stirpes – “by roots” – how assets are distributed, meaning to your children, then to their children, then to your parents, then siblings, then nieces and nephews. This term assures that your property stays in your bloodline and doesn’t end up with Great Uncle Bob’s stepson.
- Pro-Rata – “in proportion” -distributing a share based on fractal ownership, not by bloodline. If you name four people as beneficiaries and one does not survive you, this term redistributed the property among the remaining 3, instead of the property passing to that person’s children.
- Beneficiary – a person or entity who is to receive part of your estate or trust.
- Heir-someone who is related to you according to law, but does not necessarily get anything from your trust or estate.
- Bequeath – the act of giving personal property.
- Devise – the act of giving real estate.
- Executor – the person appointed to handle your Will and Probate (the court process that happens with a Will).
- Trustee – a separately named person (or they may be the same person as your Executor but does not have to be), who manages and controls your Trust. Think of this person as the manager of the store while you are the owner.
- Pour-Over Will – a will designed to take property that was not put into a trust through the probate process, ultimately putting the property into the trust. A safety net for assets that may be accidentally left out of the trust to assure they are distributed as the trust determines and not probate.
- Probate- the legal court process in which a Will is presented and proven as valid, allowing the Executor to access bank accounts and other assets so they may be distributed.
Curious about other legal or estate planning terms? Check out Merriam-Webster’s Law Dictionary to read more! At Grissom Law, LLC we work with our clients to answer any question, from the definition of terms to complex tax concerns. Our goal is for our clients to understand their estate plans and be able to tell others what they mean. We don’t hide behind complex language and unnecessary terms.
Disclaimer
This Blog/Web Site is made available for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide legal advice. By using this blog site you understand that there is no attorney-client relationship between you and Grissom Law, LLC.