Estate planning attorneys glossary
Short, plain-English definitions of the terms you'll meet when choosing a estate planning attorney provider in Charlotte.
- What are letters of administration?
- Letters of administration are a court order that authorizes a person (the administrator) to manage and distribute a deceased person's estate when there is no valid will or no named executor able to serve.
- What are letters testamentary?
- Letters testamentary is a court document issued by the clerk of superior court authorizing an executor to act on behalf of a deceased person's estate when there is a valid will.
- What is a beneficiary designation?
- A beneficiary designation is a contractual instruction naming who receives specific assets like life insurance proceeds or retirement accounts upon your death, outside the probate process.
- What is a codicil?
- A codicil is a separate legal document that amends or modifies an existing will and must be signed and witnessed with the same formality as the original will.
- What is a durable power of attorney?
- A durable power of attorney is a legal document that authorizes an agent to act on behalf of the principal and continues to be effective even if the principal becomes mentally or physically incapacitated.
- What is a health care power of attorney?
- A health care power of attorney is a legal document that authorizes another person (your agent) to make medical decisions on your behalf if you are incapacitated or unable to communicate your wishes.
- What is a living will?
- A living will is a written directive stating your preferences for medical treatment at the end of life, such as whether to use life support or resuscitation, in case you become unable to communicate those wishes yourself.
- What is a personal representative?
- A personal representative is the individual appointed by the North Carolina clerk of court to manage and distribute an estate after someone's death, serving either as the named executor or court-appointed administrator.
- What is a pour-over will?
- A pour-over will is a document that directs any assets remaining outside a revocable living trust at death to be transferred into that trust for management and distribution according to its terms.
- What is a power of attorney?
- A power of attorney is a legal document in which you authorize another person, called an agent or attorney-in-fact, to act on your behalf in financial, legal, or health-care matters.
- What is a revocable living trust?
- A revocable living trust is a trust created during the grantor's lifetime that can be modified or terminated at any time and transfers funded assets outside the probate process upon death.
- What is a small estate affidavit?
- A small estate affidavit is a North Carolina legal procedure that lets heirs transfer assets from an estate without probate when the estate's value falls below state thresholds.
- What is a testator?
- A testator is the person who makes a will and names an executor to carry out their wishes after death. The female equivalent is testatrix.
- What is a trustee?
- A trustee is a person or institution legally appointed to manage and distribute trust assets according to the trust document and in the best interest of the beneficiaries.
- What is an administrator of estate?
- An administrator of estate is a court-appointed personal representative who manages and distributes the assets of a deceased person who died intestate (without a valid will) or without naming an executor.
- What is an advance directive?
- An advance directive is a legal document that communicates your healthcare wishes if you become unable to make medical decisions yourself, typically including a living will and designation of a healthcare agent.
- What is an elective share?
- An elective share is a surviving spouse's statutory right under North Carolina law to receive a fixed percentage of the deceased spouse's estate even if the will leaves them less or nothing.
- What is an executor?
- An executor is the individual named in a will to manage the deceased's estate, pay debts and taxes, and distribute remaining assets to beneficiaries as instructed.
- What is an irrevocable trust?
- An irrevocable trust is a permanent trust arrangement that cannot be changed, modified, or dissolved once established, typically used for asset protection, tax reduction, or Medicaid eligibility planning.
- What is fiduciary duty?
- Fiduciary duty is the legal obligation imposed on trustees, executors, and agents to prioritize the financial and personal interests of beneficiaries above their own when managing estate assets or making decisions on their behalf.
- What is intestate succession?
- Intestate succession is the statutory framework that determines who inherits a person's property and assets when they die without a valid will.
- What is per capita distribution?
- Per capita distribution is an inheritance method that divides an estate equally among all living beneficiaries at the same generational level, regardless of family branches.
- What is per stirpes?
- Per stirpes is a method of distributing an estate where if a named beneficiary dies before the estate owner, that beneficiary's share passes to their descendants rather than being divided among surviving beneficiaries.
- What is undue influence?
- Undue influence occurs when someone exerts improper pressure on a testator or grantor, overcoming their free will and causing them to make decisions in a will or trust that they would not otherwise have made.