Title

The legal document, such as a deed, which provides evidence of a person’s ownership interests in certain property.

Totten Trust

A type of revocable trust created when a grantor deposits money into a bank account with written instructions that upon the grantor’s death, whatever money remains in the account passes automatically to a named beneficiary.

Transfer-on-Death Deed

A legal document which automatically transfers ownership interests in real property to named beneficiaries upon the death of the previous owner.

Trust

An arrangement in which property interests are legally held by one person (the trustee) at the request of another (the settlor) for the benefit of a third party (the beneficiary).

Trust Contest

A contest against the validity of a trust, either in part or in whole

Trust Litigation

Litigation between the individuals who have interests of some kind in a trust, such as the trustee, the settlor, and the beneficiaries.

Trustee

A person who stands in a fiduciary relation to another, having been given legal title to someone else’s property for the benefit of a third party.

Undue Influence

The use of power or influence over a testator or settlor in such a way that it keeps them from acting according to their own free will. When a person is named as a beneficiary and actively participated in procuring the will or trust which names them as a beneficiary,...

Vested Beneficiary

A beneficiary with the present right to receive distributions under a will or trust.

Will

A legal document which expresses a person’s final wishes about what happens to their property after they pass away, often specifically identifying intended beneficiaries for specific items of property.