Plain-language probate glossary

Probate terms, in plain words

Settling an estate comes with a lot of unfamiliar language. Here is what the common probate words mean, written for a hard moment and not a law exam.

Accounting: A financial report showing all the money and property that came into and left the estate during administration.
Administrator: The person a court appoints to settle an estate when there is no valid will or no named executor able to serve.
Ancillary probate: A second probate case opened in another state because the deceased owned property there too.
Beneficiary: A person or organization named in a will, trust, or account to receive money or property.
Bond: A form of insurance a court may require so heirs and creditors are protected if the estate's representative mishandles the estate.
Codicil: A signed document that changes or adds to an existing will without replacing it.
Creditor: A person or company the deceased owed money to at the time of death.
Decedent: The person who has died and whose estate is being settled.
Distributee: A person entitled to receive a share of an estate, most often used when there is no will.
Escheat: The transfer of a deceased person's property to the state when no heirs or beneficiaries can be found.
Estate: Everything a person owns and owes at the moment of death, taken together.
Executor: The person named in a will to carry out its instructions and settle the estate.
Fiduciary: A person legally required to act honestly and in the best interests of others, as an executor must for the beneficiaries.
Heir: A person legally entitled to inherit from someone who dies without a will.
Intestate: Describes someone who died without a valid will.
Intestate succession: The default order a state uses to decide who inherits when a person dies without a valid will.
Inventory: The itemized list of everything the estate owns, with values, that the representative prepares for the court.
Letters of administration: The court document that gives a court-appointed administrator legal authority to act on behalf of the estate.
Letters testamentary: The court document that gives a will's executor legal authority to act on behalf of the estate.
Per capita: A way of dividing an inheritance equally among the surviving people at the same level of relationship.
Per stirpes: A way of dividing an inheritance so that a deceased beneficiary's share passes down to their children.
Personal representative: A general term for whoever is responsible for settling an estate, whether named in a will or appointed by the court.
Probate: The court-supervised process of proving a will, paying a deceased person's debts, and transferring what is left to the people entitled to it.
Residuary estate: Whatever is left of an estate after debts, taxes, expenses, and specific gifts have been paid out.
Small estate affidavit: A sworn form that can transfer a modest estate to its heirs without full probate when the estate is under a set value.
Testate: Describes someone who died leaving a valid will.
Testator: The person who makes a will.
Will: A signed legal document that says who should receive a person's property and who should manage the estate after death.

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These are general, educational definitions. Exact rules, dollar limits, and deadlines vary by state and change over time. Settled is an informational tool, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice.