Agent: A person authorized to act on behalf of another person.
Appraiser: A professional who determines the value of hard-to-value assets for tax, probate and trust administration purposes.
Beneficiary: A person entitled to receive benefits from a trust or estate.
Conservatorships/Guardianships: A legally recognized role in which an individual or entity manages the affairs of an incapacitated person.
Decedent: A deceased person.
Executor: In Florida, the person charged with administering the estate of a deceased person is referred to as the executor or personal representative.
Funding a trust: Transferring ownership of property to a trust.
General durable power of attorney: This is a general power of attorney that remains valid even during your incapacity.
General partner: One or more persons carrying on a business for profit as a partnership or limited partnership, having personal liability for all debts of the partnership, and, if in a limited partnership, having control of operations of the partnership.
General power of attorney: Provides someone else (your agent) with the authority to act on your behalf. It says that at any time — and in just about any capacity — your agent can conduct business in your name. The agent can be given great discretion.
Gift: A voluntary, gratuitous transfer of property made to another person.
Gifting language: Special language that may be drafted and included with your trust document and power of attorney to give authority to gift assets to accomplish planning goals.
Grantor: The creator of a trust.
Health care power of attorney: This type of power of attorney outlines the specific medical decisions that you would like to see made in the event of your incapacity and appoints an agent to carry out your wishes.
Intestate: Dying without a will or trust is referred to as intestacy.
Limited partner: One or more persons associated in a limited partnership, having no personal liability for the debts of the partnership beyond his or her partnership investment, and having no direct control over operations of the limited partnership.
Living trust: An estate plan that unlike a will may avoid probate.
Medicaid triggers: These are events which put into motion the shift of assets out of the name of the person who is incapacitated in order to qualify for Medicaid benefits.
Power of attorney: A document authorizing one person, the "agent" or "attorney-in-fact," to act on behalf of another person, the "principal."
Principal: A person who has appointed another person as his or her "agent," to act on his or her behalf.
Probate: The legal process which distributes the assets of an estate and settles its debts and taxes.
Successor trustee: Any person appointed to handle a trust after the incapacity or death of the grantor.
Surviving grantor/trustee: If the trust was a joint trust and one of the parties dies and the other is still alive, the surviving party is known as the surviving grantor. If the surviving party continues in his or her role as manager of the trust, then he or she also acts as the surviving trustee.
Trust administration: The process of following a trust's instructions after the death of the grantor.
Trustee: The person who manages assets owned by a trust under the terms of the trust.
AV Preeminent* rated, Master of Laws in Elder Law, member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), member of the Academy of Florida Elder Law Attorneys (AFELA)
For effective estate planning guidance and probate, estate and trust administration representation, turn to The Charles Law Offices. We take pride in the level of support we provide to our clients. To schedule a free initial consultation with our Florida lawyer, call 727.475.6340, toll free at 866.607.6531 or simply contact us online. We accept credit cards for our clients' convenience.
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*AV Preeminent and BV Distinguished are certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell ratings fall into two categories: legal ability and general ethical standards.
