Glossary
Plain-English real estate terms
The words you'll hear in probate, trust and divorce sales, explained simply. General information, not legal or tax advice.
Probate & trust · Divorce · Selling a home
Probate & trust
- Administrator
- The person the court appoints to handle an estate when there is no will, or when no executor can serve.
- As-is sale
- A sale where the property is sold in its current condition, without repairs by the seller. Disclosures still apply.
- Beneficiary
- A person or organization named to receive property from a will or a trust.
- Court-confirmed sale
- A probate sale that a judge must approve at a hearing. Other buyers may attend and bid more than the accepted offer.
- Date-of-death value
- What the property was worth on the day the owner passed. It matters for taxes and for dividing an estate fairly.
- Decedent
- The person who has passed away and whose property is being handled.
- Estate
- Everything a person owned when they passed, including real estate, accounts and belongings, minus what they owed.
- Executor
- The person named in a will to carry out its instructions, once the court confirms them.
- Full authority
- Court permission that lets the executor or administrator sell without a confirmation hearing, after giving notice to the heirs. Your attorney confirms whether you have it.
- Heir
- A person entitled to inherit, either under a will or, without one, under state rules.
- Intestate
- Passing away without a valid will. State rules then decide who inherits.
- Inventory & appraisal
- The official list of what the estate owns and what each item is worth, filed with the court.
- Letters
- The court document that gives an executor or administrator legal authority to act for the estate. Banks, title companies and buyers ask to see it.
- Overbid
- A higher offer made at a court confirmation hearing. The first overbid must beat the accepted price by a minimum amount set by law.
- Personal representative
- The general term for the executor or administrator of an estate.
- Probate
- The court process that confirms who has authority over a person's estate, pays debts and passes property to the right people.
- Probate referee
- A court-appointed appraiser who values real estate and other assets in a probate estate.
- Step-up in basis
- A tax rule that often resets an inherited property's cost basis to its value at the date of death, which can reduce capital gains when it sells. Ask your CPA how it applies to you.
- Successor trustee
- The person who takes over managing a trust after the original trustee passes away or can no longer serve.
- Living trust
- A legal arrangement that holds property during a person's life and passes it on afterward, often without probate. It only controls property actually titled in the trust.
- Will
- A written document that says who should receive a person's property and who should handle the estate.
Divorce
- Buyout
- When one spouse keeps the home and pays the other their share of the equity, usually by refinancing.
- CDFA
- Certified Divorce Financial Analyst: a financial professional who helps couples understand the long-term money side of a divorce settlement.
- Community property
- In California, property acquired during the marriage generally belongs to both spouses equally. Whether a home qualifies is a question for your attorney.
- Co-ownership after divorce
- Keeping the home together for a set time, often until the children finish school, under a written agreement with a clear exit date.
- Mediator
- A neutral professional who helps both spouses reach an agreement without going to court.
- Separate property
- Property owned before the marriage, or received by one spouse as a gift or inheritance. Mixing it with shared money can change its status.
- Settlement agreement
- The written agreement that sets out how property, including the home, is divided in a divorce.
- Standard court orders
- Orders that usually take effect when a divorce is filed and prevent either spouse from selling, refinancing or borrowing against shared property without consent or a court order.
Selling a home
- Appraisal
- A licensed appraiser's formal opinion of a property's value, often required by lenders and courts.
- Broker price opinion (BPO)
- A broker's written estimate of a property's likely sale price, based on comparable sales. It is not an appraisal.
- Closing costs
- The fees paid to complete a sale, such as escrow, title, transfer taxes and commission.
- Comparable sales (comps)
- Recent sales of similar nearby homes, used to estimate what a property is worth.
- Disclosures
- Required written statements about a property's condition and history, given to the buyer.
- Equity
- What the home is worth minus what is owed on it.
- Escrow
- A neutral third party that holds money and documents until every condition of the sale is met, then pays everyone out.
- Net sheet
- A one-page estimate of what a seller will actually receive after the loan payoff and all costs.
- Net proceeds
- The money left for the seller after the sale price pays off the loan and covers all selling costs.
- Refinance
- Replacing an existing mortgage with a new one, for example to take one spouse off the loan.
- Title insurance
- Insurance that protects the buyer and the lender against problems with ownership records.
- Transfer tax
- A tax charged by the county, and sometimes the city, when property changes hands.
- Vacant-home insurance
- Coverage for a home no one is living in. Standard policies often limit protection after a home sits empty, so tell the insurer.
Have a question these don't answer? Ask Nick or call 310-906-0055.
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