Estate Planning: A Short Glossary

When planning to draft a will or create a trust fund, sometimes the legal jargon can seem overwhelming. Lawyers often use specific legal terms when discussing estate planning, but if you are not familiar with the terms it can end up sounding like a foreign language, leaving you confused and discouraged. To help you through the estate planning process, we have included a list of common terms that estate planning lawyers use when working on a will or trust fund.

• Estate – an estate is everything that a person owns, including all assets and liabilities
• Assets – anything a person owns that has material value, including land, a house, a car, jewelry, money, and other property
• Liability – anything a person owes to someone else, such as debts and taxes
• Testator – a person who creates a valid will
• Will – a declaration in which the testator specifies who will manage his or her estate, including all assets and liabilities, and how property will be transferred in the event of his or her death
• Beneficiary – anyone included in a will who receives benefits, such as property, from an estate
• Trust – a holding of assets set up for the benefit of a person, persons, or organization
• Trustee – a person designated to manage a trust in the best interests of the beneficiary or beneficiaries

Contact Us

For more information on creating wills or trusts, please contact the experienced Austin estate planning lawyers of Slater, Kennon & Pugh LLP today at 512-338-1100.