Searching the internet for information on the probate process can be overwhelming. If you aren’t an attorney, finding explanations that are easy to understand feels virtually impossible considering all of the probate terminology and legalese involved.

So what does it all mean?!
Here are important definitions…

• Administrator/Administratrix: A Personal Representative appointed by the Court to oversee the administration of an estate when there is no Will.
• Beneficiary:  A person or entity specifically listed by name in a Decedent’s Will or Trust as a recipient of assets.
• Decedent: A person who has died.
• Dependent Administration: A type of probate proceeding in which the Personal Representative of the estate must seek and receive approval from the probate court for all tasks related to the administration of the estate at hand.
• Distributee: A person who is entitled to a part of the estate of a decedent under a lawfully valid will or under probate law.
• Exectutor/Executrix: A personal representative named and thus, appointed by the testator in the Will to administer the estate in accordance with his/her last wishes.
• Heir: An heir is a person who is entitled under the statutes of descent and distribution to a part of the estate of a decedent who dies intestate.  The term includes the decedent’s surviving spouse.
• Independent Administration:  A type of probate proceeding in which a personal representative of an estate is able to administer an estate with very little court supervision.
• Intestate: The legal term used when someone dies without a will. For example: Mr. Smith died intestate.
• Intestate succession: How property is divided, according to statutes, when the person who died did not have a Will (intestate).
• Non-probate assets: Assets that pass automatically upon death by title, deed, or beneficiary designation. These typically include joint bank accounts, life insurance policies, 401(k) plans, pension plans, IRA’s, payable-on-death accounts, as well as property owned as joint tenants with right of survivorship. These assets do not need to be administered through the probate court or by probate proceeding.
• Personal Representative: A person who is an executor or an administrator of an estate, and can be independent, dependent or temporary.
• Probate: Probate is the legal process of acknowledging the death of an individual, proving the validity of their will (if any), collecting the decedent’s assets, ensuring payment of valid debt (if any), and distributing the Decedent’s assets to their heirs or beneficiaries. 
• Probate assets: Assets that are included in the probate estate because they cannot pass automatically upon death by title, deed, or beneficiary designation. Typically, these could be real estate, motor vehicles, and bank accounts.
• Probate Court: The court with jurisdiction over the probate of wills and the administration of estates.
• Testator/Testatrix: A person who makes a will.
• Will: A legal document containing instructions about how a person’s property should be divided after their death and who should be in charge (executor) of doing so. Depending on the situation, it might also nominate a guardian for minor children. 

Please note: our firm is based in Texas and some terms and definitions may pertain specifically to Texas law. If you have specific questions about your estate plan, or a loved one’s probate case, please give us a call so that we may provide answers tailored to your particular situation.