Estate & Legacy Planning

The court-supervised legal process of settling a person’s estate after death, which includes validating the will, paying outstanding debts and taxes, and distributing remaining assets to heirs or beneficiaries. It can be time-consuming, costly, and public, which is why many estate plans use tools like trusts and beneficiary designations to avoid it. If someone dies without a will, the process still occurs, with assets distributed according to state intestacy laws.

The person named in a will and legally responsible for carrying out its instructions and settling the deceased’s estate. Their duties include filing the will with the probate court, inventorying and protecting assets, paying outstanding debts and taxes, and distributing what remains to the beneficiaries. As a fiduciary, they are legally bound to act in the estate’s best interest, and if someone dies without naming one, the court appoints an administrator to serve the same role.

The person or institution responsible for managing the assets held in a trust and carrying out its terms for the benefit of the beneficiaries. Their duties include safeguarding and investing trust assets, making distributions according to the trust’s instructions, keeping records, and handling taxes. As a fiduciary, a trustee is legally required to act in the beneficiaries’ best interest and can be an individual, such as a trusted family member, or a professional like a bank or trust company.

A legal arrangement, usually revocable, that holds your assets so they can pass to beneficiaries without going through probate. It only works when you both create it and fund it, meaning you retitle assets like your home and accounts into the trust. While alive, you typically act as both grantor and trustee, with a successor trustee taking over if you die or become incapacitated.

A legal term used in wills and trusts to direct that if a beneficiary dies before you, their share automatically passes down to their descendants, such as their children, rather than being redistributed among the surviving beneficiaries. The phrase is Latin for “by branch,” reflecting how assets flow down each family line. For example, if one of your children predeceases you, that child’s share would be split among their own children.

A legal document that transfers whatever ownership interest one person has in a property to another, without guaranteeing that the title is clear or even valid. Unlike a warranty deed, it offers no protection against liens or competing claims, so the recipient takes on that risk. Because of this, it is most often used between people who trust each other, such as transferring property to a spouse, family member, or one’s own living trust.