GLOSSARY OF LEGAL TERMS
Quick definitions for terms you’ll see across our articles and pages.
This page is general information, not legal advice for your situation.
ABLE Account
Special Needs Planning
A tax-advantaged savings account for people with disabilities that doesn’t count against certain government benefit limits.
Administrator
Probate & Trust Administration
The personal representative a court appoints when someone dies without a will. An administrator follows Indiana’s rules for who inherits, since there’s no will to guide the process.
Beneficiary
Estate Planning
The person or organization that a will, trust, retirement account, or life insurance policy names to receive assets.
Beneficiary Designation
Estate Planning
The form you fill out with a bank, retirement plan, or insurance company naming who receives that account. It controls the account directly, so it overrides what the will says.
Bequest
Estate Planning
A gift of money or property left through a will. It can be a specific item, a dollar amount, or a share of whatever is left after debts and other gifts are paid.
Business Succession Planning
Business Law
The process of preparing who takes over a business, whether through a sale, a transfer to family, or a plan for what happens if something happens to the owner.
Charitable Remainder Trust
Charitable Giving
A trust that pays income to you or someone you name for a set number of years, then passes what remains to a charity. You will see it written as CRT.
Closing
Real Estate
The final step in a real estate transaction, when the parties sign documents, funds transfer, and ownership officially changes hands.
Community Foundation
Charitable Giving
A public charity that manages charitable funds for one region. Indiana has one serving every county, and they often hold donor advised funds and endowments for local families.
Deed
Real Estate
The legal document that transfers ownership of real estate from one person to another.
Donor Advised Fund
Charitable Giving
A charitable account you fund now and give away over time. The deduction happens the year you contribute, then you recommend grants to charities on your own schedule. Written as DAF.
Endowment
Charitable Giving
A charitable fund built to last. The organization invests the principal and spends only part of the earnings each year, so the gift keeps paying out long after it is made.
Estate
Probate & Trust Administration
Everything someone owns at the time of their death: property, accounts, personal belongings, and debts.
Executor
Probate & Trust Administration
The personal representative a will names to handle the estate. An executor follows the instructions the will lays out.
Guardianship
Estate Planning Elder Law & Medicaid
A court process that puts someone in charge of decisions for a person who can’t make them alone, whether a minor child or an adult who needs help.
Incapacity
Estate Planning Elder Law & Medicaid
A state where someone can no longer make decisions for themselves, whether temporary or permanent. Estate planning documents often address who steps in if this happens.
Intestate
Estate Planning Probate & Trust Administration
Dying without a valid will. When this happens, Indiana law decides who inherits, not the person who died.
Irrevocable Trust
Estate Planning
A trust the person who creates it usually can’t change or cancel once it’s set up. People use them for specific goals, like Medicaid planning or protecting assets from creditors.
Letters of Administration
Probate & Trust Administration
The court document that gives an administrator legal authority to manage an estate when there’s no will.
Letters Testamentary
Probate & Trust Administration
The court document that gives an executor legal authority to manage an estate named in a will.
Living Will / Advance Directive
Estate Planning
A document that states your wishes for medical treatment if you can’t communicate them yourself.
LLC (Limited Liability Company)
Business Law
A business structure that separates personal assets from business liability. Many small business owners choose it for that protection.
Long-Term Care
Elder Law & Medicaid
Ongoing support for daily activities, whether at home, in assisted living, or in a nursing facility. Planning for it often overlaps with Medicaid and estate planning.
Medicaid
Elder Law & Medicaid
A government program that can help pay for long-term care. Eligibility depends on income, assets, and how you structure those assets ahead of time.
Medicaid Look-Back Period
Elder Law & Medicaid
The window of time Medicaid reviews when someone applies for long-term care benefits, to check whether they transferred assets beforehand.
Operating Agreement
Business Law
The internal document that spells out how an LLC runs: ownership shares, decision-making, and what happens if a member leaves.
Per Capita
Estate Planning Probate & Trust Administration
A way to divide an inheritance equally among everyone at the same generation, no matter which family branch they come from.
Per Stirpes
Estate Planning Probate & Trust Administration
A way to divide an inheritance by family branch. If a beneficiary dies first, their share passes down to their own children instead of spreading out equally among everyone else.
Personal Representative
Probate & Trust Administration
Indiana’s term for the person who manages an estate through probate. A personal representative can be an executor (the will names them) or an administrator (the court appoints them when there’s no will).
Power of Attorney
Estate Planning
A document that lets someone else make decisions on your behalf while you’re alive, usually for finances or health care.
Private Foundation
Charitable Giving
A charitable organization funded and controlled by one family, individual, or company. More control over where the money goes, and more rules to follow.
Probate
Probate & Trust Administration
The court process that settles someone’s estate after death: validating the will if there is one, paying debts, and distributing what’s left.
Qualified Charitable Distribution
Charitable Giving
A direct transfer from your IRA to a charity, available starting at age 70½. The money never counts as income to you, which is why it is often used to cover a required minimum distribution. Written as QCD.
Required Minimum Distribution
Estate Planning
The amount federal law requires you to withdraw from a retirement account each year once you reach a set age, currently 73. Skipping it triggers a penalty. Written as RMD.
Retained Life Estate
Charitable GivingReal Estate
An arrangement where you transfer your home to a charity or another person now but keep the right to live there for the rest of your life. Ownership changes on paper. Where you live does not.
Revocable Trust
Estate Planning
A trust the person who creates it can change or cancel during their lifetime. It often helps a family avoid probate.
Special Needs Trust
Special Needs Planning
A trust that holds assets for someone with a disability without affecting their eligibility for government benefits.
Spend-Down
Elder Law & Medicaid
The process of using countable assets on allowed expenses to meet Medicaid’s eligibility limits, rather than simply giving money away.
Stepped-Up Basis
Estate PlanningProbate & Trust Administration
When someone inherits property, its tax basis resets to the value on the date of death. That usually means a smaller tax bill if the heir sells.
Title
Real Estate
Legal ownership of real estate, along with the rights that come with it.
Trust
Estate Planning
A legal arrangement where a trustee holds and manages assets for the beneficiaries. Trusts often help a family avoid probate or plan for incapacity.
Trustee
Estate Planning Probate & Trust Administration
The person or institution responsible for managing a trust’s assets for the beneficiaries.
Will
Estate Planning
A document that states how someone wants to distribute their assets and who should raise their minor children after they’re gone.