CAVEAT PROCEEDINGS – To challenge or Contest a Last Will and Testament (Will) before the Court. The Caveat may be to introduce a Will if the Personal Representative filed the Estate without a Will (Intestate), to claim a more recent Will than the one filed exists and should be Probated, to claim the Decedent was not competent when the purported Will was signed, to claim a Will is false or some other reason.
CERTIFICATE OF DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP – In order to be treated similar to a spouse in a Probate matter, Domestic Partners must Register their Domestic Partnership with the Register of Wills in their County of Domicile. The Register of Will then issues a Certificate of Domestic Partnership. There are numerous benefits to doing so. In an Intestacy (no Will), the Spouse generally inherits and also enjoys Priority of Appointment as Personal Representative of the Estate. In addition, an inheritance to a Spouse is not subject to the 10% Inheritance Tax whereas an inheritance by a non-registered Domestic Partner is subject to the tax.
CLAIM AGAINST ESTATE – Generally, unsecured creditors of a Decedent must file a formal Claim Against the Estate in order to be paid a debt. The Claim must be filed with the Register of Wills and served upon the Personal Representative and/or the attorney for the Estate. Creditors generally have 6 months from date of death to file their Claim, albeit there are exceptions to this general Statute of Limitations. If a Claim is believed to be incorrect or is made after the Statute of Limitations, a Notice of Disallowance may be filed. The Creditor then has 60 days to substantiate their Claim or it is disallowed.
CO-PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE – A Personal Representative is the individual (or individuals) who are appointed by the Court to have the legal responsibility to Probate an Estate. An Estate may have more than one Personal Representative. In this instance the Personal Representatives are known as Co-Personal Representatives. Appointing Co-Personal Representatives can become quite inconvenient as they are required to do everything together.
CREDITOR – An entity, or individual, to which a debt is owed by the Decedent of the Estate. Secured Creditors have collateral for the debt owed, such as a mortgage or auto loan. Unsecured Creditors do not have collateral and tend to be credit cards, personal loans, health care professionals/facilities or other individuals.
CUSTODIAL ACCOUNT - If a minor child inherits, the inheritance must be held in a Custodial Account like a Universal Transfer to Minors Account (UTMA).
CUSTODIAN – A Custodian has custody of assets. They may be the financial institution that holds a retirement plan or they may be an individual who holds and controls assets for another individual. If a minor child inherits, the inheritance must be held in either a Guardianship or in Custodial Account like a Universal Transfer to Minors Account (UTMA)