Wills and Trusts: A Plain-English Glossary of Terms

When you're reading through a will or trust for the first time, the language can feel like a foreign tongue. Technically it's English, but many attorneys still draft these documents in dense legal phrasing that few outside the profession use day to day.

Keep this glossary nearby whenever you hit a word you don't recognize. This list covers the terms that show up most often. You can also find this glossary of common estate terms whenever you need to double back and look something up again.

Beneficiary

A person or organization named in a legal document to receive money or property. Wills, trusts, and life insurance policies all typically list beneficiaries, and you can also name one for a payable-on-death account.

Bequeath

To pass along property when someone dies. It simply means "to give."

Bequest

A gift of personal property — anything other than real estate — made through a will.

Bond

A type of insurance that protects heirs from financial loss if the person managing an estate, whether called an administrator or executor, makes a costly mistake.

Custodian

The adult appointed to manage property left to a child, under a law known as the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act. Nearly every state has adopted some version of this law.

Devise

A gift of real estate passed on at death. The word can also be used as a verb, meaning to leave property through a will.

Devisee

A person who inherits real estate through a will.

Executor

The individual named in a will — and later confirmed by the probate court — who handles the deceased person's affairs after death. Some states use the term "personal representative" instead. (More about executors.)

Executrix

An older term for a female executor. Modern wills generally just use "executor" regardless of gender.

Gift and estate tax

A federal tax that applies to unusually large transfers of wealth, whether given during life or left at death. (More about federal estate tax.) A handful of states also levy their own estate taxes. (More about state estate tax.)

Grantor

The person who sets up a trust.

Failed or lapsed gift

A gift written into a will that can't reach its intended recipient because that person died before the will-maker, and the will never says what should happen to the gift instead.

Heir

Someone entitled to inherit property under state law when no valid will exists.

Inheritance tax

A state-level tax charged to people who inherit property. Only a small number of states impose it, and most exclude close relatives from having to pay. No federal inheritance tax exists. (More about inheritance tax.)

Intangible property

Assets with no physical form, such as a share of ownership in a company. Documents like stock certificates simply serve as proof of who owns this kind of property.

Issue

Direct descendants — children, grandchildren, and further down the line. Spouses, siblings, parents, and other relatives don't count as issue.

Legacy

A gift of personal property left through a will.

Legatee

A person who inherits personal property.

Personal property

Every kind of asset that isn't classified as real property.

Personal representative

Another term for an estate's executor or administrator. Some states favor this term (often shortened to "PR") over "executor," and some allow either.

Per capita

A method of splitting a deceased heir's or beneficiary's share of property among their descendants.

Per stirpes

A Latin phrase meaning "by right of representation." (See that entry below.)

Real property

Real estate — land, plus anything permanently attached to it, like a house.

Residue or residuary estate

Whatever property a will covers but doesn't assign to a specific person. Wills often leave particular items to named beneficiaries, then direct "the rest and residue of my estate" to someone else.

Revocable trust

A trust the person who created it (the settlor) can cancel or change at any point while they're alive.

Right of representation

A method of dividing property among the descendants of a deceased heir or beneficiary. Generally, if a beneficiary dies before the will-maker, that beneficiary's children step into their place — for instance, if a father leaves property to his daughter, and she has already died leaving two children of her own, those grandchildren would split her share.

Seized of

An old-fashioned phrase meaning "in possession of." You might see it in a will as, "I leave to my wife all property I am seized of at my death."

Settlor

The person who creates a trust.

Successor trustee

The person who steps in to manage a trust if the original trustee is no longer able to serve.

Tangible property

Physical items you can touch. (Compare with "intangible property.")

Testamentary

Relating to a will. A trust created within a will, for example, is called a testamentary trust.

Testator

The person who writes and signs a will.

Testatrix

The older term for a female will-writer.

Trustee

The person with legal authority to manage the assets held in a trust.

Laws governing wills, trusts, and estate administration vary by state, so check the specifics that apply where you or your loved one lived.