Discharge of a personal representative generally relates to a court order releasing the representative from any further duties. As noted in, for example, Indiana Code Title 29, Section 13, when a personal representative is discharged, the...
trusts, inheritances & estates
disclaim
Disclaim, in a legal sense, means to give up a legal claim, obligation or right to something. Rejecting one’s claim to inheritance is an example of when one disclaims.
Disclaim also means to deny responsibility for something. When used in this sense,...
disclaimer
A disclaimer refers to:
The refusal to take responsibility for someone else's claim, such as a refusal by an insurance company to grant coverage under an insurance policy; The refusal or renunciation by someone of their right to a...disclaimer trust
Disclaimer trust refers to a type of trust used by spouses to limit estate taxes. Spouses can agree to move assets the other spouse will receive upon their death into an irrevocable trust in their wills. This only occurs if the spouse chooses...
discretionary power of appointment
A discretionary power of appointment is distinguished from a mandatory power of appointment in that its exercise is optional. The power is valid so long as there is at least one person who reasonably fits the description of the class whose...
discretionary trust
Discretionary trusts are a type of irrevocable trust where the trustee has complete discretion on when and what amounts of assets to distribute to the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries have no right to distributions from the trust. The trustee...
disentail
Disentail refers to the process of converting a fee tail into a fee simple. The majority of states have passed some form of disentailing statutes.
While originally an important part of property law, fee tails (property...
disinherit
To disinherit is to intentionally deny an inheritance. For example, an owner of an estate may deprive their legal heir(s) from inheriting their estate by excluding them from their will.
[Last updated in October of 2022 by the Wex...
disinheritance
Disinheritance means to prevent someone from receiving any of your property after your death. Disinheritance occurs when the testator takes steps to make sure that a specific person is excluded from inheriting anything from the property. This...
disposing mind and memory
Disposing mind and memory (also referred to as sound mind and memory) is a requirement that a person must understand the state of their property, relationships, and the facets of a will in order for a will to be valid. A person must overcome...