Below is a list of Queensland Public Trustee commonly used terms and their meanings
Administrator (deceased estate administration): A person appointed by the court to manage and distribute the estate of a deceased person when there is no valid will or when the appointed executor is unable or unwilling to act.
Administrator (financial administration while someone is alive): An administrator is a person or organisation appointed by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) or the court to make financial decisions for a person (during their lifetime) who has been found to have impaired capacity for making those decisions.
Advance health directive: A document where a person can record decisions about future health care and treatment if the person is unable to make those decisions at that future time.
Assets: Things that a person owns including money, real estate, shares, investments, bank accounts, cars, boats, jewellery, collections (e.g. antiques or stamps) and digital assets such as social media accounts or photos.
Attorney: A person or organisation appointed under an enduring power of attorney to make financial and/or personal/health decisions on behalf of someone.
Beneficiaries: People, charities and organisations that receive a gift or benefit from a deceased person’s estate when the person dies. A beneficiary may also be someone that is entitled to a benefit from a trust.
Capacity: Refers to a person's ability to exercise decision-making processes. They are able to:
- understand and retain (even for a short while) the information relating to the decision
- understand the main choices available
- understand and weigh up the consequences of the choices
- communicate the decision
- make a decision freely and voluntarily.
Deceased estate administration: The process of administering the estate of a deceased person in accordance with their Will or the laws of intestacy if there is no Will. Deceased estate administration involves several duties and responsibilities including:
- the collection and distribution of assets
- payment of debts
- attending to any taxation responsibilities for the deceased and the estate
- dealing with any legal matters in the estate
- establishing the beneficiaries in the estate and liaising and consulting with them
- keeping records and statements of the financial transactions that have occurred in the estate.
De facto relationship: Where two people are not married but are living with one another as a couple on a genuine domestic basis, including same-sex couples.
Enduring power of attorney: A legal document that allows someone to appoint a person (or people) or an organisation to make decisions on their behalf and continues even if they lose the capacity to make decisions for themself.
Estate/Deceased estate: The property owned by a person at the time of their death which can include assets such as real estate, bank accounts, shares, furniture, jewellery and vehicles.
Executor: An executor is a person or eligible organisation that is appointed by a person in their Will to administer their estate and carry out the terms of the Will.
General power of attorney: A legal document that allows you to appoint a person(s) to manage financial matters on your behalf, only while you are able to make your own decisions—typically for a short or set time period (e.g. while overseas or in hospital).
Guardian: A person or organisation responsible for making health and personal decisions on behalf of a person who is unable to make their own decisions about these matters. A guardian is appointed by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT).
Intestate/Intestacy: When a person dies without a valid will, they are said to have died intestate. In this situation, the law sets out how the estate is shared amongst relatives.
Letters of administration: Letters of administration is granted by the Supreme Court, and is a document which recognises that someone is eligible and able to administer an estate of a deceased person in cases where:
- the deceased did not have a valid Will or
- the Will did not appoint an executor or
- the named executor(s) is unable or unwilling to act in that capacity.
Minor: A child under the age of 18.
Power of attorney: A legal document that allows you to appoint a person(s), referred to as the attorney(s), to make decisions on your behalf. A general power of attorney applies only while you have the capacity to make your own decisions, while an enduring power of attorney continues even if you lose the capacity to make decisions for yourself.
Probate: Probate is granted by the Supreme Court, and it is a document that recognises that the executor is authorised to deal with the estate of the deceased person.
Residual estate: Everything that remains of an estate after all debts, funeral and testamentary expenses, and specific and monetary gifts, are provided for.
Testamentary capacity: Refers to the mental capacity a person must have to make a valid Will.
Testator: The person who makes a Will.
Trust: A ‘trust’ is a legal arrangement where a person or organisation (the trustee) is appointed to hold money or property on behalf of other people (the beneficiaries).
Trustee: A person or organisation administering a trust on behalf of the person who created it. A trustee administers the trust in accordance with the terms of the trust.
Undue influence: Undue influence occurs when a person is being intimidated, pressured or influenced to make decisions and they are not able to freely make the decision. For example, they may be pressured or intimidated to make their Will in a particular way.
Will: A legal document that sets out how a person’s estate is to be distributed after they die.