Probate and trust terms, explained
By Sam Yusufi, Certified Probate & Trust SpecialistUpdated
Short answer
The words you'll hear most when a home is in probate or a trust, and what they mean. You're not expected to know them. Here they are, one at a time.
- Administrator
- The person the court appoints to handle an estate when there's no will, or no executor able to serve.
- Beneficiary
- A person named to receive something from a will or trust.
- Certification of Trust
- A short document that proves a trustee's authority without sharing the whole trust.
- Court confirmation
- A probate court hearing that approves a home sale, where other buyers can overbid.
- Executor
- The person named in a will to handle the estate.
- Heir
- A family member who has a right to inherit under California law.
- IAEA
- The Independent Administration of Estates Act. It lets a Personal Representative handle many tasks, including selling a home, with less court involvement.
- Letters
- The court document that gives a Personal Representative authority to act for the estate.
- NOPA
- Notice of Proposed Action. The written notice sent to heirs before a sale under full authority. Heirs have 15 days to object.
- Overbid
- A higher offer made at a court confirmation hearing.
- Personal Representative
- The general term for an executor or administrator.
- Probate
- The court process for settling an estate when property isn't held in a trust or passed on another way.
- Probate referee
- A court-appointed appraiser who values the estate's property.
- Proposition 19
- The 2021 California law that changed how inherited homes are taxed.
- Stepped-up basis
- The reset of an inherited home's tax value to what it was worth on the date of death.
- Successor trustee
- The person named in a trust to take over when the original trustee passes or can't serve.