Renunciation
Renunciation is a term subject to different meanings. In the context of probate law, renunciations means giving up one’s right to a gift or inheritance. One example is where a…
Testamentary
Testamentary means related to a will. One appointed by will or testament may receive letters testamentary, authorizing them to distribute the assets. A testamentary trust is a trust created by…
Succession
Succession also signifies the estate, rights and charges which a person leaves after his/her death, whether the property exceed the charges, or the charges exceed the property, or whether s/he…
Per Stirpes
Per stirpes is a Latin term meaning “by roots,” or by representation. The term is often used in wills and trusts to describe how to carry out a distribution when…
Executorial Trustee
Executorial trustee is a person who is appointed as an executor of a decedent’s estate and also is given powers and duties as a trustee, in reference to a testamentary…
Unnatural Will
Unnatural Will is a will that distributes the testator’s estates to strangers rather than to the testator’s relatives without any apparent reason. In civil law these types of wills are…
Wills Residuary Estate
Residuary estate is a term used in probate law to refer to the part of a deceased’s estate that remains after all specific gifts and bequests have been made and…
Wills Advancement
An advancement is an irrevocable gift made while living by a parent to his or her child, with the intent that the gift is to represent all or part of…
Will Substitutes
Will substitutes are functionally indistinguishable from a will because the death beneficiary receives assets at the death of the donor. In addition, will substitutes convey no lifetime benefits (personal enjoyment)…
Will Execution Ceremony
The will execution ceremony is the procedure by which a testator makes known how he wants his property to be handled after his death through his will. The execution ceremony…
Will Contest
Will Contest is a legal proceeding challenging the validity of a will and/or its terms based on the contention that the will does not reflect the actual intent of the…
Tearing of Will
Tearing of a will refers to an act of tearing of paper on which the will is written. The act of tearing must be done with an intention to revoke…
Substitution by Will
Substitution by will is the effect of a clause in a will whereby the testator provides for the replacement of the beneficiary of a particular bequest by another person, or…
Ethical Will
A document or materials in which a person expresses the beliefs and experiences that have mattered most in his or her life. An ethical will has no legal significance; it…
Simple Will
A simple will refers to a single legal document that makes direct distribution of assets for an unproblematic estate. One can easily write a simple will by filling out an…
Self Proving Will
A self-proving will is a will with an attached affidavit signed by a notary public stating that the will was properly signed and witnessed and that it is the will…
Revocation of Will
Revocation of will is an affirmative act, such as writing annulled or void across the face of the will or by tearing, cutting, burning, obliterating, erasing and defacing the instrument…
Reciprocal Wills
Reciprocal wills refers to reciprocal testamentary dispositions made by two or more persons in favor of each other. Parties can unite the provisions in a will or they can make…
Pour Over Will
A pour over will is a will of a person made in conjunction with a trust in which all property is designated to be distributed or managed upon the death…
Mirror Wills
When a husband and wife execute wills with respect to the same property independently, in each others name, such wills are called mirror wills. Mirror wills are individual wills. They…
Joint Will
A joint will is a single testamentary instrument recording the wishes of two persons. For example, a husband and wife disposing common property. In relation to each signatory’s property, the…
Joint and Mutual Will
Joint and mutual will is a will which is executed jointly by two persons and which contains reciprocal provisions. The devises are made in consideration of the other. A joint…
Mutual Wills
Mutual wills are wills made by two people, often spouses, in which each gives his/her estate to the other, or agree upon the distribution of their assets. If there is…
Holographic Will
A holographic will is one that is entirely written, dated, and signed in the handwriting of the testator (person making the will), rather than typewritten or printed. In some states,…
