LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT  -  A simple Last Will and Testament (Will) appoints a Personal Representative and provides specificity as to the decedent’s intentions regarding who receives their Estate.  Wills may vary in complexity and some may include Trust language to create a Testamentary Trust upon the death of the Decedent.

LEGATEE – A Legatee is a person or an entity designated to inherit under a Will.

LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION – When Probate is opened and a Personal Representative is appointed, Letters of Administration will be issued to the Personal Representative.  Letters of Administration are used to demonstrate that an individual is the person appointed by the Court to Probate the Estate and conduct the business of the Decedent after death.  

LIFE ESTATE – A Life Estate is granted when a property owner executes and files a Life Estate Deed.

LIFE ESTATE DEED – A type of property deed where the owner(s) of a property grant themselves the right to live in the property for the rest of their lives (Life Tenants) and name a beneficiary or beneficiaries (Remaindermen) to inherit the property upon the death of the last of the owners.  Property deeded as a Life Estate is not subject to the Probate process and/or the terms of a Decedent’s Will.

LIMITED ORDERS – Limited Orders are issued by the Court in lieu of Letters of Administration.  Limited Orders may limit an individual to search and discovery of Estate assets and/or to access a Safe Deposit Box.  Limited Orders do not allow an individual to transact business on behalf of an Estate.  Frequently Letters of Administration are issued as a result of discoveries made using Limited Orders.

LIST OF INTERESTED PERSONS – Submitted with a Petition to Probate an Estate, a List of Interested Persons identifies all individuals and entities named in a Last Will and Testament as Personal Representative(s) and/or Legatees as well as anyone who is specifically disinherited under the Will.  In addition, the List of Interested Persons must identify any individual who might inherit in the Estate if the Decedent died Intestate (without a Will) under the Rules of Intestacy.

LIVING TRUST – Also known as a Revocable Living Trust, a Living Trust is a Trust that is established and may be changed, modified, or revoked, during the lifetime of the Grantor(s).  Living Trusts are often employed by individuals in order to avoid having to Probate an Estate as assets whose ownership is conveyed into a Living Trust prior to death are generally not subject to the Probate process as they are technically not owned by the decedent upon death.

LOSS ON SALE OF ESTATE ASSET - An adjustment is taken on the Administration Account to take a gain (or loss) to the Estate if an asset, such as Real Property, a Vehicle or other Tangible Personal Property, if the asset is sold for more or less than the value reported on the Inventory.