GLOSSARY OF LEGAL TERMS IN ESTATES & TRUSTS

PROBATE LITIGATION, ESTATE PLANNING & ELDER LAW TERMINOLOGY

• Caveat Proceedings - also known as "Will Contests," these are lawsuits in which the validity of a Will may be challenged on a number of different grounds.
• Caveator - a person who contests the validity of a will in a caveat proceeding, seeking to change the manner in estate assets are divided.
• Codicil - codicils are separate documents which are attached to wills in order to change one or more of their provisions.
• Decedent - a deceased person.  In estates and trusts law, this term is normally used to identify the person who left behind an estate.
• General Durable Power of Attorney - Grants to another the right to make decisions regarding your financial affairs. This is especially useful in the event that you are unable to handle your affairs due to disability.
• Heirs - After payment of creditors, these individuals would be entitled to a person's estate had the person died without a will and without a surviving spouse.
• Insurance Trust - Allows the placement of life insurance policies into a trust without gift tax or estate tax consequences. Unlike a Living Trust, it is irrevocable. The Trust is the owner and beneficiary of the life insurance policies. Very specific administrative procedures must be followed to take advantage of the tax benefit.
• Intestate - Dying without a testamentary document such as a Will is called dying "intestate." Where such estate planning has been neglected, state law -- not the deceased's wishes -- will determine the distribution of the estate. This is even true where the decedent once expressed his intentions orally, but failed to put these desires into a Will and other estate planning devices.
• Living Trust - Allows the lifetime transfer of assets into a trust that is controlled by the grantors during their lifetime. The advantages are probate avoidance and cleaner management transition upon disability.
• Living Will - Some "estate planning" documents are actually designed to honor your wishes during your lifetime -- even in the worst of circumstances. If two physicians certify that you have a terminal illness and that death is imminent, a Living Will declares that you do not wish to be kept alive by artificial methods.
• Medical Care Power of Attorney - This device allows you to designate others to make medical care decisions on your behalf, including the right to withdraw or withhold life support systems under conditions which you specify. This grant of authority goes beyond the very limited circumstances covered by the Living Will.
• Maryland Orphans Court -  this court has the limited power to conduct judicial probate, direct the conduct of a personal representative, and pass orders which may be required in the course of the administration of an estate.
• Probate - A legal proceeding started with a petition for probate by persons or creditors wishing to have the Orphans Court determine the distribution of assets of the estate and appoint a personal representative.
• Rest, Residue and Remainder - All property which one has the power to dispose of by Will and which does not pass by a specific bequest.
• Testator - a person who creates a Last Will and Testament, leaving his or her personal assets and property to those designated in the will.
• Unified Credit - Every person receives a combined credit for Estate and Gift Taxes which effectively exempts certain estates from these taxes. For many years the credit was $192,800 which is the amount of estate tax that would be due on a $600,000 estate, a figure known as the "exemption equivalent". The Budget Act of 1997 increased the exemption equivalent in staggered amounts to $1,000,000 over a period of years, making proper estate planning even more effective in protecting assets.