- Affidavit
- A written statement of facts sworn to be true under oath, signed before a notary or other authorized official.
- Beneficiary
- A person or organization named to receive assets from a will, trust, insurance policy, or retirement account.
- Bequest
- A gift of personal property (money, jewelry, a car) left to someone through a will.
- Codicil
- A legal amendment to an existing will, used to make changes without rewriting the whole document.
- Decedent
- The legal term for the person who has died.
- Devise
- A gift of real estate left to someone through a will (the real-property counterpart to a bequest).
- Escheat
- When an estate passes to the state because the deceased left no valid will and no locatable heirs.
- Estate
- Everything a person owns at death — money, property, investments, and personal belongings — minus their debts.
- Estate Tax
- A tax on the transfer of a large estate at death. Most estates owe none — the federal exemption is in the millions — but some states levy their own.
- Fiduciary
- Anyone legally obligated to act in another's best interest — an executor, trustee, or agent under a power of attorney.
- Guardian
- A person named (usually in a will) to care for minor children after their parents die.
- Heir
- A person legally entitled to inherit when someone dies without a will, under state intestacy law.
- Per Stirpes
- A way of dividing an inheritance so that if an heir dies before you, their share passes down to their children.
- Personal Representative
- The umbrella term for whoever settles an estate — an executor (with a will) or administrator (without).
- Pour-Over Will
- A short will used with a living trust that directs any leftover assets into the trust at death.
- Residuary Estate
- Everything left in an estate after debts, taxes, expenses, and specific gifts have been paid out.
- Testator
- The person who makes a will.
- Trustee
- The person or institution that manages a trust's assets for its beneficiaries.