Resources

Estate planning glossary

Plain-language definitions of the terms that come up most in wills, trusts, and probate — with a Washington lens. 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.

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.

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.

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 Property: 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 Agreement: 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.

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.

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 Tax: 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.