Welcome to the Costaras Law Legal Glossary. This comprehensive glossary is designed to help you understand key legal terms related to Estate Planning, Business Formation, and Mergers and Acquisitions.
Our goal is to provide you with clear and concise definitions to empower you with the knowledge you need.
Estate Planning
Beneficiary
A person or entity designated to receive assets from an estate.
Bequest
A gift left to someone in a will.
Codicil
A document that amends, rather than replaces, a previously executed will.
Decedent
A person who has died.
Durable Power of Attorney
A legal document that grants someone authority to act on your behalf in financial or medical matters if you become incapacitated.
Executor
An individual appointed to administer the estate of a deceased person.
Fiduciary
A person who has the legal responsibility to act in the best interest of another person, such as an executor or trustee.
Grantor
The person who establishes a trust.
Beneficiary
People or organizations that are specified in a trust or will that are designated to receive part of a deceased person’s estate.
Grantor
A person who establishes a trust. Also commonly referred to as “settlor” or “trustor.”
Guardianship
Legal responsibility for the care of a minor or incapacitated adult.
Heir
A person legally entitled to inherit some or all of the estate of another person who has died without a will.
Intestate
Dying without a valid will.
Living Trust
A trust created during a person’s lifetime to manage their assets.
Living Will
A document specifying what medical treatment a person wants or does not want if they become incapacitated.
Probate
The legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person.
Revocable Trust
A trust that can be altered or terminated by the grantor during their lifetime.
Testator
A person who has made a legally valid will.
Trustee
An individual or organization that manages a trust.
Will
A legal document that sets forth how a person wants their property distributed after death.
Business Formation
Articles of Incorporation
A document filed with a government body to legally document the creation of a corporation.
Bylaws
Rules governing the internal management of an organization.
C Corporation
A type of corporation that is taxed separately from its owners.
Certificate of Formation
A document filed to legally establish a limited liability company (LLC).
Dissolution
The process of legally dissolving a business entity.
EIN (Employer Identification Number)
A unique identifier assigned by the IRS for business entities.
Franchise
A business model in which a business owner licenses trademarks and methods to an independent entrepreneur.
Joint Venture
A business arrangement where two or more parties agree to pool their resources for a specific task.
LLC (Limited Liability Company):
A business structure that offers limited liability protection and pass-through taxation.
Operating Agreement
An agreement among LLC members governing the LLC’s operations and member relationships.
Partnership
A business arrangement in which two or more individuals share ownership and operation responsibilities.
S Corporation
A type of corporation that meets specific IRS requirements to be taxed as a pass-through entity.
Shareholder
An individual or entity that owns shares in a corporation.
Sole Proprietorship
A business owned and operated by a single individual.
Stock
A type of security that signifies ownership in a corporation.
Trademark
A symbol, word, or words legally registered or established by use as representing a company or product.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Acquisition
The process of one company purchasing most or all of another company’s shares to gain control.
Amalgamation
The combination of one or more companies into a new entity.
Asset Purchase
Buying a company’s assets instead of its shares.
Due Diligence
The process of investigating and evaluating a business opportunity.
Horizontal Merger
A merger between companies that operate in the same industry.
Hostile Takeover
An acquisition in which the target company does not wish to be acquired.
Leveraged Buyout (LBO)
The acquisition of a company using a significant amount of borrowed money.
Merger
The combination of two companies into one.
Reverse Merger
A merger in which a private company becomes a public company by acquiring an existing public company.
Share Exchange
A method of acquiring control of a company by exchanging its shares for the shares of the acquiring company.
Synergy
The concept that the combined value and performance of two companies will be greater than the sum of the separate individual parts.
Takeover
The acquisition of one company by another.
Vertical Merger
A merger between companies that operate at different stages of the production process.