Advance Directive:  A legal instrument that appoints someone to make medical decisions if you are unable to do so and expresses your wishes regarding life support and tube feeding.

Beneficiary:  The person named in a Will or trust to receive your property.

Conservatorship: A court proceeding appointing a conservator to manage your financial affairs and property if you become incapacitated and if there are no alternatives.

Decedent: A person who has died.

Guardianship: A court proceeding appointing a guardian to manage your personal affairs if you become incapacitated and if there are no alternatives.

Heir: A person entitled to receive your probate property if you die without a Will.

HIPAA Waiver: A person appointed to have access to your medical records.

Intestate/ Intestacy: The default laws that determine how to administer your estate if there is no Will or trust in effect.

Letter of Instruction:  A written memorandum stating your wishes as to who should receive your property upon your death.  This document allows you to change a beneficiary without having to redo your Will or trust.

Non-Probate Property: Property that is not subject to a probate proceeding.  Examples of non-probate property include: jointly owned property, trusts, annuities, retirement benefits, and life insurance.

Personal Representative:  The person appointed by the court to administer your probate estate upon your death.

Pourover Will: A Will used with a revocable living trust that transfers any property that was not transferred to the trust during your lifetime to the trust.

Power of Attorney: A legal instrument that appoints an agent to manage your financial affairs.  This document should be durable, meaning it remains in effect if you become incapacitated.

Probate: A court-supervised process to administer your estate if you died without a Will or if you have property that must be distributed with a Will.

Revocable Living Trust:  A trust established by an individual or married couple that becomes effective immediately.  It avoids probate, facilitates tax planning, provides for management during periods of incapacity without need for guardianship or conservatorship, and provides for ultimate distribution of the estate.

Testamentary Trust:  A trust that is established in a Will and does not come into effect until after the probate administration of the decedent’s estate.

Trust:  A relationship where one person (the trustee) holds title to property and has a fiduciary duty to manage and distribute the trust property for the benefit of the trust beneficiaries in accordance with the terms of the trust.

Trustee:  The person who holds legal title to trust assets and has a fiduciary duty to manage and administer those assets in accordance with the terms of the trust.

Will:  The legal instrument that states your wishes on how to distribute your property after death through a probate proceeding.