Resources

Estate planning glossary

Plain-language definitions of the terms that come up most in wills, trusts, and probate across Washington and Montana. Use the filter to focus on one state. General information, not legal advice.

Wills & Estates

Estate: Everything a person owns at death — real estate, accounts, and personal property — along with the debts owed. How each asset is titled determines whether it passes under a will (the probate estate) or outside of it.
Will (Last Will and Testament): A written, signed, and witnessed document directing who receives a person’s probate property at death, naming a personal representative to administer the estate, and nominating guardians for minor children. In Washington a will generally must be signed by the maker and two competent witnesses.
Codicil: A separate signed and witnessed document that amends an existing will without replacing it. Because it must meet the same formalities as a will, many people today simply sign a new will instead.
Intestacy (Intestate): Dying without a valid will. Washington’s intestate succession statutes then decide who inherits and in what shares — which may not match what the person would have chosen.
Beneficiary: A person or organization named to receive property — under a will or trust, or through a beneficiary designation on an account or policy.
Bequest / Devise: A gift of property made in a will. “Devise” traditionally refers to real property and “bequest” to personal property, though the terms are often used interchangeably.
Testator: The person who makes a will. A testator must be of legal age and of sound mind, and must sign with the formalities Washington requires for the will to be valid.
Residuary Estate: Whatever remains of an estate after debts, expenses, taxes, and specific gifts are satisfied. A will’s residuary clause names who receives this remainder — and catches anything the will did not otherwise dispose of, which is why it matters so much.
Per Stirpes / Per Capita: Two ways to divide a gift among descendants when a beneficiary dies before you. “Per stirpes” passes that person’s share down their own branch of the family; “per capita” divides equally among the surviving individuals at a given level. The choice can significantly change who inherits.

Trusts

Trust: A legal arrangement in which a trustee holds and manages property for beneficiaries under terms set by the person who created it (the grantor). Trusts can take effect during life or at death and are a core estate-planning tool.
Revocable Living Trust: A trust created during life that the grantor can change or revoke at any time. Assets titled in it avoid probate and are managed by a successor trustee on the grantor’s incapacity or death, while remaining fully within the grantor’s control and taxable estate.
Irrevocable Trust: A trust that generally cannot be changed or revoked once created. In exchange for giving up control, it can offer benefits such as removing assets from the taxable estate or protecting them for a specific purpose.
Grantor (Settlor / Trustor): The person who creates a trust and transfers property into it.
Trustee: The person or institution that holds legal title to trust property and must manage it prudently and solely in the beneficiaries’ interest, following the trust’s terms and the law’s fiduciary duties.
Pour-Over Will: A will used alongside a revocable living trust that “pours” any assets still in the person’s own name at death into the trust, so they are ultimately distributed under the trust’s terms.
Successor Trustee: The person or institution that takes over managing a trust when the original trustee can no longer serve — often stepping in to run a revocable living trust on the grantor’s incapacity or death, without court involvement.
Testamentary Trust: A trust created inside a will that comes into existence only at death — commonly used to hold assets for minor children or to manage a beneficiary’s inheritance over time. Because it arises through the will, it is established as part of probate.
Special Needs Trust (Supplemental Needs Trust): A trust designed to provide for a beneficiary with disabilities without disqualifying them from needs-based public benefits such as Medicaid or SSI. It supplements, rather than replaces, what those programs cover.

Probate & Administration

Probate: The court-supervised process of validating a will, appointing a personal representative, paying debts and taxes, and distributing the remaining property. Washington’s process is comparatively streamlined and, in many estates, requires limited court involvement.
Personal Representative (Executor / Administrator): The person appointed to administer a probate estate — gathering assets, paying valid debts and expenses, filing tax returns, and distributing what remains. Called an “executor” when named in a will and an “administrator” when appointed without one.
Letters Testamentary: The court order that formally authorizes a personal representative to act for an estate. Banks and other institutions typically require them before releasing assets.
Nonprobate Asset: Property that passes outside the will and probate — by beneficiary designation, payable-on-death or transfer-on-death registration, survivorship ownership, or a living trust. Coordinating these with the will matters, because a beneficiary designation usually controls regardless of what the will says.
Fiduciary: A person or institution legally required to act with loyalty and care for someone else’s benefit — such as a trustee, personal representative, or agent under a power of attorney.
Nonintervention PowersWA: A hallmark of Washington probate: for a solvent estate, the court can grant the personal representative authority to administer and close the estate with little ongoing court supervision. It is a major reason Washington probate is often faster and less costly than in many other states.
TEDRA (Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Act)WA: Washington’s statutory framework for resolving disputes over wills, trusts, and estates. Among other tools, it lets interested parties settle certain matters through a binding written agreement, sometimes avoiding contested litigation.
Small Estate AffidavitWA: A Washington procedure that lets a successor collect the personal property of a modest estate — one whose probate personal property falls under a statutory limit — by sworn affidavit instead of opening a full probate.
Ancillary ProbateWA + MT: A second probate opened in another state because the person owned real property there. A Washington resident with a Montana cabin, ranch, or land, for example, may need an ancillary probate in Montana in addition to the main probate at home — a common reason to plan around out-of-state property.
DomicileWA + MT: The one state a person treats as their permanent home. Domicile drives which state’s law governs the estate and which state’s estate tax applies — a pivotal question for someone who splits time between Washington and Montana, given Washington’s estate tax and Montana’s lack of one.
SitusWA + MT: The legal location of an asset. Real property is generally governed by the law of the state where it sits, regardless of where the owner lives — which is why out-of-state land can pull an estate into a second state’s probate and tax rules.
Uniform Probate Code (UPC)MT: A standardized probate framework adopted by Montana (but not Washington) that streamlines administration, allowing most uncontested estates to proceed through informal probate. It is why Montana and Washington, though both efficient, handle probate through different mechanics.
Informal ProbateMT: Montana’s administrative probate track under the Uniform Probate Code. When there is no dispute, a personal representative can be appointed through the clerk of court and settle the estate without formal hearings.

Transfers & Beneficiaries

Beneficiary Designation: A form on file with a financial institution or insurer naming who receives an account or policy at death. It generally overrides the will, so designations must be kept current and coordinated with the overall plan.
Payable-on-Death (POD) / Transfer-on-Death (TOD): Registrations that let a bank account (POD) or an investment account or — in Washington — real estate via a TOD deed pass directly to a named beneficiary at death, without probate.
Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship: A form of co-ownership in which a surviving owner automatically receives the deceased owner’s share, bypassing probate. It should be used deliberately — it can unintentionally disinherit others or create tax and creditor issues.
Community PropertyWA: In Washington, a community-property state, most property acquired by spouses or registered domestic partners during the relationship is owned equally by both. That characterization affects how assets transfer at death and how they are taxed.
Community Property AgreementWA: A Washington agreement providing that a couple’s property is all community property and passes automatically to the survivor at the first death, often avoiding probate at that stage. Powerful but not right for every couple, so it should be used with care.
Separate PropertyWA: In Washington, property a spouse or registered domestic partner owned before the relationship, or received during it by gift or inheritance. It contrasts with community property, and keeping the two clearly separated affects how assets pass and are taxed at death.
Tenancy in Common: A form of co-ownership in which each owner holds a distinct share that passes through their own will or estate at death — with no right of survivorship. It is the default arrangement for many co-owners who are not spouses.
Common-Law Property StateMT: Montana’s marital-property system, in which each spouse generally owns the property titled in their name — in contrast to Washington’s community property. The difference matters at death: unlike community property, separately owned Montana assets do not receive a full “double” step-up in basis when the first spouse dies.
Elective ShareMT: A surviving spouse’s statutory right, in Montana and other Uniform Probate Code states, to claim a share of the deceased spouse’s estate regardless of what the will provides. Washington’s community-property system protects a surviving spouse differently, so the tools differ across the two states.

Incapacity Planning

Durable Power of Attorney: A document authorizing a trusted agent to handle financial or legal matters. “Durable” means it stays effective if the person later becomes incapacitated — the main reason it exists.
Health Care Directive (Living Will): Documents stating a person’s wishes for medical care and naming someone to make health-care decisions if they cannot. In Washington these are commonly paired as a Health Care Directive and a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care.
Guardianship: A court-supervised arrangement appointing someone to make decisions for a person who cannot manage their own affairs and lacks adequate planning documents. Sound incapacity planning is designed to avoid the need for one.
POLST (Portable Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment): A portable medical order, used in Washington, that translates a seriously ill person’s treatment wishes into standing instructions medical providers can act on. It complements — but does not replace — a health care directive.
HIPAA Authorization: A signed permission that lets health-care providers share your medical information with the people you name — so an agent or family member can obtain the information they need to help make decisions.

Estate & Gift Tax

Estate Tax: A tax on the transfer of a taxable estate at death. There is a federal estate tax with a high exemption, and Washington imposes its own estate tax at a lower threshold — so planning that considers only the federal tax can miss Washington exposure.
Washington Estate TaxWA: A state-level estate tax on Washington residents (and Washington property of nonresidents) above the state exemption amount, separate from and in addition to any federal estate tax. Its lower threshold makes it a common concern for Washington families.
Gift Tax: A federal tax on lifetime transfers above the annual exclusion and lifetime exemption. Strategic lifetime gifting is a common tool, and Washington has no separate state gift tax.
Step-Up in Basis: An income-tax rule that resets the cost basis of most inherited assets to their date-of-death value, often erasing built-in capital gain for heirs who sell — a key reason the income-tax and estate-tax pictures must be planned together.
Annual Exclusion: The amount you may give to any number of individuals each year without using your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption or filing a gift tax return. The figure is set by the IRS and adjusts periodically for inflation.
Marital Deduction: The unlimited federal estate and gift tax deduction for property passing to a U.S.-citizen spouse. It defers tax until the second spouse’s death, which is why planning for the survivor’s eventual estate — including Washington’s estate tax — still matters.
Portability: A federal rule letting a surviving spouse use the deceased spouse’s unused estate tax exemption. Washington’s estate tax has no portability, so married couples with Washington exposure often plan with a credit-shelter or QTIP trust to preserve both spouses’ state exemptions.
Conservation Easement: A permanent, voluntary restriction on how land can be developed, granted to a qualified land trust or agency in exchange for potential income, estate, and property tax benefits. For families holding ranch, farm, or timber land in Washington or Montana, it can lower the taxable value of the land while keeping it in the family and undeveloped.

Updated July 2026