Estate planning legal terms
Terms for wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and passing property to the next generation. Start here when planning for incapacity or death.
What belongs in estate planning
This group collects the words people most often look up when they touch wills, trusts, and inheritance. Each entry explains the term in everyday language, notes where the word comes from, and walks through a short example so the idea is concrete rather than abstract. Related terms are linked at the bottom of every page, so you can follow the concept from one word to the next.
Estate planning organizes what happens to your property and your care when you cannot manage them yourself. The tools are familiar words — wills, trusts, powers of attorney — but the details matter: who decides, how property passes, and what happens when something is left out.
Families ask how a will differs from a trust, what happens without a will, and who controls decisions if someone is incapacitated. The terms below explain wills, probate, powers of attorney, and how property passes to heirs. They also cover the roles that make the system work: executors, trustees, guardians, and fiduciaries.
Planning for incapacity and death
Two documents handle incapacity: a durable power of attorney for finances and an advance directive or healthcare proxy for medical decisions. Both are simple to sign and can save a family from a guardianship proceeding. For death, a will states your wishes, while a trust can pass property outside probate; the right mix depends on the size of the estate and the state where you live.
The entries also explain the vocabulary of inheritance. Per stirpes and per capita describe how shares flow to later generations, and the difference can change what a grandchild receives. Spendthrift trusts, community property, and spousal rights all shape what a plan can accomplish.
Before you act
These explanations are for general understanding. Estate law is deeply state-specific, and documents must be signed with the formalities your state requires, so confirm anything important with a licensed attorney and an estate-planning professional.
Browse the terms
The full list for this topic is below. Each entry includes a definition, an origin note, a real-world example, and links to related words, so you can compare concepts and follow the vocabulary of estate planning from one term to the next.