A person who is named the inheritor; may differ from the legal heir.

A taxation on appreciation of an asset (sales price minus purchase price).

A person who has died.

Heirs; the members of your closest living family class. Any of your Distributees can petition the Surrogate's Court to become the Estate Representative (Administrator), responsible for distributing the assets in the Estate in accordance with New York State Law.

Legal entity that consists of all of a decedent’s assets.

The person whose responsibility is to bring the will to court (“probate”) and distribute property

A Health Care Proxy is a document in which you grant someone the authority to make medical decisions for you if you are unable to make those decisions yourself. A doctor will never take instructions from anyone but you if you are still able to make decisions.

A person who has died without having a will.

A Living Will is a document in which you express the kinds of medical treatments that you want and do not want. Typically a Living Will outlines the types of “heroic” medical procedures that a person does not want, like life support, intubation, etc.

Powers of Attorney grant authority to an agent to make designated financial decisions for someone while that person is alive. The authority granted can be narrow, for example, targeted to a specific transaction, or broad, granting the agent the authority to make any financial decisions the person could make themselves.