New York estate law speaks its own language. The court is called the Surrogate's Court, the statutes are the EPTL and the SCPA, heirs are officially distributees, and an executor's authority arrives in a document called letters testamentary. If you are planning your estate, serving as a fiduciary, or inheriting from one, half the battle is simply understanding what the documents and the court are saying.
This glossary defines 70 of the most common trusts and estates terms in plain English, with New York-specific rules — dollar thresholds, statute references, and local practice — noted where they matter. Definitions are starting points, not legal advice; when a term decides real money, get counsel.
Key takeaways
- New York's two governing statutes are the EPTL (substantive rules for wills, trusts, and inheritance) and the SCPA (procedure in Surrogate's Court).
- A distributee is who inherits when there is no will; a beneficiary is who inherits under a will or trust — the two often differ, and only some people have court-notice rights.
- Key New York numbers: the small-estate limit is $50,000; a spouse's elective share is the greater of $50,000 or one-third; the 2026 state estate tax exclusion is $7,350,000 with a cliff at 105%.
- Executors get letters testamentary; administrators get letters of administration — same job, different route to appointment.
- Several terms are near-twins with different meanings: living will vs. living trust, per stirpes vs. by representation, revocable vs. irrevocable trusts.
Commonly confused pairs at a glance
| Term | Its near-twin | The difference in one line |
|---|---|---|
| Executor | Administrator | Executor is named in a will; administrator is court-appointed when there is no will (or no executor able to serve) |
| Beneficiary | Distributee | Beneficiary takes under a will or trust; distributee inherits under the intestacy statute |
| Living will | Living trust | Living will states end-of-life medical wishes; living trust holds and passes property |
| Will | Codicil | A codicil amends an existing will and must be signed with the same formalities |
| Revocable trust | Irrevocable trust | Revocable can be changed but gives no tax or creditor protection; irrevocable generally cannot be changed but can give both |
0–9
1404 exam
A deposition under SCPA 1404 that lets a potential will challenger question the attesting witnesses and the drafting attorney before filing objections — the estate bears the cost of the initial examination of the first two attesting witnesses, and the exam does not by itself trigger a no-contest clause.
A
Administrator
The person the Surrogate's Court appoints to manage an estate when there is no valid will or no executor able to serve. SCPA 1001 sets the priority list, starting with the surviving spouse and children.
Ancillary probate
A second, satellite proceeding (SCPA Article 16) required when someone domiciled elsewhere dies owning property — usually real estate — in New York, or, in that state's court, when a New Yorker dies owning property in another state.
Attestation clause
The paragraph at the end of a will where witnesses confirm the signing formalities were followed. It creates a presumption that the will was properly executed, which matters enormously if a witness later dies or forgets.
B
Basis step-up
The federal income tax rule (IRC § 1014) resetting an inherited asset's cost basis to its date-of-death value, erasing built-in capital gain. A major reason gifting appreciated assets during life is sometimes the wrong move.
Beneficiary
Any person or charity entitled to receive property under a will, trust, or account designation. Beneficiaries receive notice of probate but, unlike distributees, need not be formally served with a citation.
Bequest
A gift of money or personal property made in a will (real estate passes by devise). Bequests can be specific (my watch), general (the sum of $10,000), or residuary (everything left over).
Bond
An insurance policy a fiduciary posts to protect the estate against mismanagement. Most professionally drafted New York wills dispense with the bond; courts often require one for administrators of intestate estates.
C
Codicil
A stand-alone amendment to an existing will, signed and witnessed with the full formalities of EPTL 3-2.1. Modern practice usually favors signing a fresh will instead of stacking codicils.
Community spouse
In Medicaid planning, the spouse who remains at home while the other receives institutional care. New York's spousal impoverishment rules let the community spouse keep an allowance of resources and income.
Credit shelter trust
Also called a bypass trust: a trust funded at the first spouse's death, up to an exemption amount, so those assets support the survivor but stay out of the survivor's taxable estate. In New York, sizing it against the state's $7,350,000 exclusion helps avoid the estate tax cliff.
D
Decedent
The person who has died. New York statutes and court papers use this term rather than deceased.
Distributee
A person entitled to inherit under New York's intestacy statute, EPTL 4-1.1 — spouse and children first. Distributees must be served with a citation in probate because they have standing to object to the will.
Durable power of attorney
A document under General Obligations Law Article 5, Title 15 appointing an agent to handle your finances, remaining effective even if you become incapacitated. New York's statutory short form was substantially revised in 2021.
E
Elective share
The minimum a surviving spouse may claim regardless of the will: the greater of $50,000 or one-third of the net estate, including many non-probate testamentary substitutes (EPTL 5-1.1-A). Absent a valid written and acknowledged waiver (such as a prenuptial agreement) or disqualification under EPTL 5-1.2, you cannot fully disinherit a spouse in New York.
EPTL
The Estates, Powers and Trusts Law — New York's substantive statute governing wills, trusts, intestacy, powers of appointment, and fiduciary powers. Cited constantly in this glossary; the procedural counterpart is the SCPA.
Executor
The person named in a will to collect assets, pay debts and taxes, and distribute the estate. The executor's legal authority begins when the Surrogate's Court issues letters testamentary.
F
Fiduciary
Anyone who manages property for another under the highest legal duties of loyalty and care — executors, administrators, trustees, guardians, and agents under powers of attorney. Breach can mean personal liability (see surcharge).
G
Grantor
The person who creates and funds a trust (also called settlor or trustor). In tax law, a grantor trust is one whose income is taxed to the grantor — true of nearly all revocable trusts.
Guardian ad litem
An attorney the Surrogate appoints (SCPA 403) to protect a party who cannot protect themselves in a proceeding — a minor, an incapacitated person, or an unknown heir. Their fee is usually paid from the estate.
H
Health care proxy
New York's document (Public Health Law Article 29-C) appointing an agent to make medical decisions if you cannot. Unlike a living will, it names a decision-maker rather than listing instructions.
Heir
The everyday word for someone who inherits from a relative who died without a will. New York statutes call these people distributees; lawyers use the terms almost interchangeably.
Holographic will
A will that is handwritten and unwitnessed. New York recognizes them only narrowly (EPTL 3-2.2) — for members of the armed forces during armed conflict and mariners at sea — and they expire after a set period.
I
In terrorem clause
A will or trust provision revoking the gift of any beneficiary who challenges the document. Enforceable in New York, subject to the safe harbors of EPTL 3-3.5, which protect 1404 exams and certain other steps.
Intestate
Dying without a valid will. EPTL 4-1.1 then dictates who inherits: everything to a spouse if no children; $50,000 plus half to the spouse and the rest to children if both survive. See our guide to dying without a will in New York.
Irrevocable trust
A trust the grantor generally cannot unilaterally amend or revoke. The lost control buys benefits a revocable trust cannot deliver: estate tax exclusion, creditor protection, and Medicaid asset protection after the look-back period.
J
Joint tenancy
Co-ownership with right of survivorship: when one owner dies, the survivor automatically owns the whole, outside probate. Convenient, but adding a joint owner can create gift, tax, creditor, and elective-share complications.
K
Kinship hearing
A Surrogate's Court proceeding to prove exactly who a decedent's relatives are — common when a person dies intestate with no close family. Claimants must document the family tree, often with genealogists, before funds are released.
L
Letters of administration
The court decree giving an administrator authority over an intestate estate. Banks, brokers, and title companies will not deal with anyone who cannot produce a certified copy.
Letters testamentary
The equivalent decree for an executor after the will is admitted to probate. Preliminary letters (SCPA 1412) can issue once the probate petition is filed, when the estate needs management before the will is admitted.
Life estate
The right to occupy or use property for life, with ownership passing automatically at death to the remainderman. A staple of New York deed and Medicaid planning for the family home.
Living will
A written statement of your end-of-life treatment wishes. New York has no living-will statute; the document works as clear and convincing evidence of intent and is best paired with a health care proxy.
Look-back period
The window in which Medicaid reviews asset transfers before granting coverage: 60 months for nursing home care. New York has enacted, but repeatedly postponed, a 30-month look-back for community-based home care.
M
MAPT (Medicaid Asset Protection Trust)
An irrevocable trust designed to shelter the home and savings from long-term care costs. The grantor typically keeps the income; after the look-back period passes, the principal no longer counts against Medicaid eligibility. See our Medicaid planning practice.
Marital deduction
The unlimited federal estate and gift tax deduction for transfers to a U.S.-citizen spouse. Transfers to a non-citizen spouse do not qualify unless made through a QDOT.
Medicaid
The joint federal–state program that pays for long-term care for those with limited countable resources — the only public program that covers extended nursing home and home care, which is why eligibility planning exists.
N
No-contest clause
Another name for the in terrorem clause: challenge the will and forfeit your gift. Its deterrent power depends on leaving the would-be challenger enough to lose.
Notice of probate
The formal notice (SCPA 1409) sent to beneficiaries and certain others telling them a will has been offered for probate. Unlike a citation, it does not require the recipient to do anything.
P
Per stirpes
A distribution pattern in which a deceased beneficiary's share passes down their family line. New York's default for most modern instruments is the similar by representation system (EPTL 1-2.16), which pools shares at each generation.
Personal representative
The umbrella term for whoever administers an estate — executor or administrator. Many states use it as an official title; New York papers usually name the specific office.
Pour-over will
A will used alongside a revocable trust that catches any assets left outside the trust at death and pours them into it (authorized by EPTL 3-3.7). A safety net, not a substitute for funding the trust.
Power of appointment
Authority granted in a will or trust letting someone (often the surviving spouse) redirect who ultimately receives trust property. Governed by EPTL Article 10; a key tool for building flexibility into irrevocable plans.
Probate
The Surrogate's Court process of proving a will is valid, appointing the executor, and supervising administration. Only assets in the decedent's sole name pass through it. Our New York probate guide walks through every step.
Q
QDOT (qualified domestic trust)
The special trust (IRC § 2056A) that preserves the marital deduction when the surviving spouse is not a U.S. citizen. It requires a U.S. trustee and imposes estate tax on principal distributions.
QTIP (qualified terminable interest property) trust
A marital trust paying the surviving spouse all income for life while the first spouse controls where the principal goes afterward — the workhorse of blended-family and tax-deferral planning.
R
Remainderman
The person who takes property when a prior interest ends — after a life estate, or when a trust terminates. Remaindermen have standing to object to a fiduciary's accounting.
Residuary estate
Everything left in an estate after specific bequests, debts, taxes, and expenses. The residuary clause is usually a will's most important sentence, because it disposes of the bulk of the estate.
Revocable living trust
A trust you create, control, and can revoke during life; at death it distributes assets without probate. It saves no taxes by itself. See our New York revocable living trust guide for when it earns its keep.
Right of election
The surviving spouse's procedural right to claim the elective share. Under EPTL 5-1.1-A it must generally be exercised within six months after letters issue, and no later than two years after death.
S
SCPA
The Surrogate's Court Procedure Act — the statute governing how New York estate proceedings actually run: petitions, citations, letters, accountings, and small estates. The substantive rules live in the EPTL.
Self-proving affidavit
A sworn statement the witnesses sign at the will execution (SCPA 1406) confirming the formalities. It lets the will be probated without tracking down live witness testimony years later.
Settlor
Another name for the person who creates a trust — interchangeable with grantor. New York case law and older instruments often prefer this term.
SLAT (spousal lifetime access trust)
An irrevocable trust one spouse creates for the other's benefit, using gift tax exemption now while keeping indirect household access to the funds. Popular for locking in today's $15,000,000 federal exemption.
Small estate
An estate with $50,000 or less of personal property (real estate excluded), eligible for New York's simplified voluntary administration under SCPA Article 13 — cheaper and faster than full probate.
SNT (supplemental needs trust)
A trust under EPTL 7-1.12 holding assets for a person with disabilities without disqualifying them from Medicaid or SSI. It supplements — never replaces — government benefits.
Spendthrift clause
A provision shielding a beneficiary's trust interest from creditors and from the beneficiary's own improvidence. New York protects trust income interests by statute (EPTL 7-1.5) even without an express clause.
Springing power of attorney
A power of attorney that takes effect only upon a future event, typically the principal's incapacity. Most New York practitioners prefer immediately effective durable powers, because proving the trigger causes delay.
Successor trustee
The person or institution named to take over a trust when the initial trustee dies, resigns, or becomes incapacitated — the reason a revocable trust keeps working during the creator's incapacity.
Surcharge
The Surrogate's remedy against a fiduciary who breaches duty: personal liability to repay the estate for losses, sometimes with interest and denial of commissions.
Surrogate's Court
New York's specialized court — one per county — for probate, estate administration, accountings, guardianships of minors' property, and adoptions. The judge is called the Surrogate.
T
Tenancy by the entirety
A form of joint ownership reserved for married couples (in New York, for real property and co-op shares) with survivorship rights and meaningful protection against one spouse's individual creditors.
Testamentary capacity
The mental threshold for signing a valid will: understanding the act, one's property, and one's close family. It is a deliberately low bar — lower than contract capacity — and is measured at the moment of signing.
Testator
The person who makes a will. A woman was traditionally called a testatrix, though modern New York usage applies testator to everyone.
Totten trust
A bank account held in trust for a named person (EPTL Article 7, Part 5). The depositor keeps full control during life; the balance passes to the beneficiary at death, outside probate.
Trust corpus (principal)
The property inside a trust — as distinct from the income it generates. Many trusts give beneficiaries income but restrict access to corpus, so the distinction controls real money.
Trustee
The fiduciary who holds legal title to trust assets and administers them for the beneficiaries under the trust's terms, the EPTL, and the Prudent Investor Act.
U
Undue influence
Coercion — moral or psychological — that overpowers a testator's free will so a will or trust reflects the influencer's wishes. A leading ground for will contests and trust litigation, usually proven circumstantially.
Unified credit
The federal credit that shelters lifetime gifts and death transfers up to the exemption — $15,000,000 per person in 2026, permanent and indexed. New York has its own, much smaller exclusion; see our estate tax cliff guide.
V
Voluntary administration
New York's affidavit-based small-estate procedure (SCPA Article 13) for estates with personal property of $50,000 or less. A voluntary administrator collects and distributes assets without full letters.
W
Will contest
A challenge to a will's validity in Surrogate's Court — on grounds of improper execution, incapacity, undue influence, or fraud — filed as objections in the probate proceeding, typically after 1404 exams.
How Schwartsman Law Group can help
Definitions get you oriented; applying them to your family's facts is the real work. Schwartsman Law Group PLLC handles the full arc these 70 terms describe — wills, trusts, and estate planning, probate and administration, Medicaid and estate tax planning, and litigation when disputes erupt. Founding attorney Marianna Schwartsman, a summa cum laude Fordham Law graduate trained at major New York trusts-and-estates firms, leads every matter personally.
If a term on this page describes your situation — an elective share question, a trust you have been asked to run, a citation from the Surrogate's Court — call +1 (212) 518-3868 or request a free consultation. We serve clients from offices in Brooklyn (2102 Avenue Z), Manhattan (590 Madison Avenue), and Manhasset (1129 Northern Boulevard).