Resource Center
Probate Glossary
The words you'll hear most often, explained simply.
- Administration
- The court process of settling an estate; in Florida, either formal or summary.
- Beneficiary
- A person named in a will, trust or account to receive property.
- Codicil
- A legal amendment to an existing will.
- Decedent
- The person who has died.
- Estate
- Everything a person owned at death, including real estate, accounts and belongings.
- Heir
- A person entitled to inherit under state law when there is no will (or as determined by law).
- Homestead
- In Florida, a primary residence with special constitutional protections and inheritance rules.
- Intestate
- Dying without a valid will.
- Letters of Administration
- The court document giving a personal representative authority to act for the estate.
- Lien
- A legal claim against property to secure a debt, such as a mortgage or unpaid taxes.
- Notice to Creditors
- A published notice giving creditors a deadline to file claims against the estate.
- Partition
- A lawsuit asking a court to divide or sell co-owned property.
- Personal Representative
- Florida's term for an executor — the person who manages the estate.
- Petitioner
- The person who files the request asking the court to open probate.
- Probate
- The court-supervised process of settling a deceased person's estate.
- Step-up in basis
- Resetting an inherited asset's tax basis to its value at the date of death.
- Summary Administration
- A simplified Florida probate for estates of $75,000 or less, or where death occurred over two years ago.
- Tenants in Common
- Co-ownership where each owner holds an undivided share that can pass to their own heirs.
- Testate
- Dying with a valid will.
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