Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging, during the person’s life, for the management and disposal of that person’s estate during the person’s life, in the event the person becomes incapacitated and after death.

A Grant of Letters of Administration or Grant of Administration is a legal document that is issued by the Supreme Court of Judicature of Jamaica or the Resident Magistrate’s Court, where a person dies without making a Will. The Grant of Letters of Administration empowers the person to whom it is issued to step into the shoes of the deceased person and wind up (administer) that deceased person’s estate (assets/affairs).

Probate is the term for the legal process in which a will is reviewed to determine whether it is valid and authentic. Probate also refers to the general administering of a deceased person’s will or the estate of a deceased person without a will.

A will is a versatile document to identify and distribute possessions to preferred beneficiaries, also it can be used to name a guardian for a child in the event that both parents die.