Terms Used In California Codes > Probate Code > Division 9 > Part 5 > Chapter 4 > Article 1 - Administration of Testamentary Trusts Subject to Continuing Court Jurisdiction

• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• County: includes "city and county. See California Insurance Code 14
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Instrument: means a will, a document establishing or modifying a trust, a deed, or any other writing that designates a beneficiary or makes a donative transfer of property. See California Probate Code 45
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership and includes both real and personal property and any interest therein. See California Probate Code 62
• State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Insurance Code 28
• State: includes any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession subject to the legislative authority of the United States. See California Probate Code 74
• Trust: includes the following:

  California Probate Code 82

• Will: includes codicil and any testamentary instrument which merely appoints an executor or revokes or revises another will. See California Probate Code 88