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Ancillary probate
A probate in a state where the decedent has property and which
is other than where the decedent was domiciled.
Annuity
The periodic payment of a definite sum of money, with such
payments to continue for life or for a definite number of years.
Assets
All types of things that can be owned, such as cash, houses,
buildings, stocks and bonds, interests in corporations and partnerships
and other things of value.
Attorney
A lawyer
Beneficiary
A person (or an organization) that receives a benefit from a
trust, the proceeds of an insurance policy, or from property specified by
a Last Will & Testament.
Codicil
A supplement, amendment, or addition to a Last Will &
Testament. A Codicil must be executed with all the formalities of
the Last Will & Testament itself. A Codicil may modify, add to, subtract
from, alter, or revoke provisions in a Last Will & Testament.
Conservatorship
A legal proceeding to administer the assets of an incapacitated person,
known as the "protected person." The person appointed by the Court to
administer the assets is called the Conservator. In Arizona,
Conservatorship proceedings come under the jurisdiction of the Probate
Court.
Decedent
The name given to a person who has died; a deceased person.
Devise
When used as a noun, real or personal property given to
another by a Last Will & Testament. When used as a verb, to dispose of
real or personal property by Last Will & Testament.
Devisee
A person specified in a Last Will & Testament to receive real
property or personal property.
Domicile
The place where a person lives and considers to be his or her
home, to which he or she will return after an absence. The legal
concept of domicile requires the concurrence of physical presence and
present intention of making it his or her home.
Donee
The one who receives a gift.
Donor
The one who makes a gift.
Durable Power of
Attorney
A legal document that grants authority to someone else, called
an agent, to act on behalf of the person giving the grant of authority and
containing special language to make the document effective even if the
person making it later becomes legally incompetent.
Estate
The degree, quantity, nature, and extent of interest which a
person has in real and personal property. Also, the name given to the
assets owned by a decedent or a protected person.
Estate Tax
Taxes assessed by a governmental entity (state or federal)
upon a decedent's right to transfer assets.
Executor
A person appointed by a testator to carry out the directions and requests
in his Will and to dispose of the Estate according to the provisions of
the Will. In Arizona, this person is known as the Personal Representative.
Executrix
A female executor.
Fiduciary
A person or company that standing in a relationship of trust
and confidence to another arising by reason of kinship between the
parties, or professional, business, or social relations that would
reasonably lead an ordinarily prudent person in the management of his
business affairs to repose that degree of confidence in another which
largely results in the substitution of that other’s will for his in the
material matters involved in the transaction. A fiduciary may be a
personal representative, a guardian, a conservator and a trustee.
Formal probate
Probate proceedings conducted before a judge with notice to
interested persons.
Funeral
The process of interment, cremation, or other disposition of a corpse,
including any religious or other ceremony taking place prior to
disposition.
Guardianship
A legal proceeding involving the care of a person who, due to age or
incapacity, is unable to manage his or her own affairs. The person whose
affairs are managed is known as the "ward." The person appointed by the
Court to administer the affairs is called the Guardian. In Arizona,
Guardianship proceedings come under the jurisdiction of the Probate Court.
Heirs
The persons who are entitled under the laws of the state to
the property of a decedent.
Holographic Will
A will written by the testator entirely in his own hand and
not witnessed.
Informal probate
Probate proceedings conducted without notice to interested
persons by an officer of the court acting as a registrar for probate of a
Will or appointment of a Personal Representative.
Inherit
To receive property from a deceased person either as a result
of state law or some right specified in a trust or a Last Will &
Testament.
Inter Vivos Trust
A “living” trust, meaning a trust that is created and becomes
effecting during the lifetime of the Trustor.
Intestate
The death of a person without making a Last Will & Testament.
Irrevocable
Not revocable. A term used to describe a trust in which
the Trustor has, by the specific terms of the trust agreement, given up
the power to alter, amend, or terminate the trust either in whole or in
part.
Joint Tenancy
A form of ownership in which two (2) or more persons hold
interests in the same property with a right of survivorship, meaning that
upon the death of one (1) of the owners all of the other owners
automatically acquire the interest of the decedent.
Last Will & Testament
An instrument by which a person makes a disposition of his
property to take effect after his death, or by which a person appoints a
Personal Representative to administer his Estate after his death.
Life Estate
A right to use property only for someone’s lifetime.
Obituary
An account or notice of someone's death, frequently accompanied by a brief
biographical description of the person's life.
Personal Property
The term generally applied to all property other than real
property. Assets where ownership arises either out from physical
possession of the property or as the result of a document establishing
ownership.
Personal
Representative
The person who performs the duties of Executor.
Power of Attorney
A legal document that grants authority to someone else, called
an agent, to act on behalf of the person giving the grant of authority.
A power of attorney expires if the maker becomes legally incompetent
unless the document contains special language to make it “durable.”
Probate avoidance
The process of planning one's Estate so that it is not
necessary to conduct a probate proceeding after death.
Reading of the Will
In Arizona, there is no formal "Reading of Will" as Perry
Mason and others used to perform on television. Wills that are
probated are filed with the Court and are a matter of public record.
Wills that are not probated are not public record but may be available for
inspection by persons with a financial interest in the Estate.
Real Property
The term applied to real estate, minerals and royalty
interests, growing timber, land and buildings that are permanently affixed
to the land.
Revocable Trust
A trust in which the Trustor has specifically reserved the
right and power to alter, amend or terminate the trust either in whole or
in part.
Spouse
A married person's wife or husband.
Supervised probate
A single court proceeding to secure complete administration
and settlement of a decedent's Estate under the continuing authority of
the Court which extends until entry of an order approving distribution of
the Estate and discharging the Personal Representative or other order
terminating the proceeding.
Testamentary Trust
A trust created in a Last Will & Testament, and which does not
become effective until the death of the Testator.
Testate
One who has made a Last Will & Testament.
Testator
A person who died and made a Last Will & Testament before his or her
death.
Trust
The legal relationship created by virtue of one party holding
legal title to property for the benefit of another.
Trustee
The person or organization that holds title to the trust
property and who is appointed to execute, administer, and carry out the
terms of a trust for the benefit of the beneficiary.
Trustor
The name given to the person who creates a trust; also known
as a Settlor or a Grantor.
Unsupervised probate
A probate proceeding that is not supervised by the Court.
For probate assistance in
Arizona, call us at 928/445-3230 or
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