| Payable-on-Death Account |
See “Totten Trust.” |
| Per Capita | A way of distributing your estate so that your surviving descendants will share equally, regardless of their generation. |
| Per Stirpes | A way of distributing your estate so that your surviving descendants will receive only what their immediate ancestor would have received if he/she had been living at your death. |
| Personal Property |
Movable property. Includes furniture, automobiles, equipment, cash and stocks. Opposite of real property that is permanent (like land). |
| Personal Representative |
Another name for an executor or administrator. |
| Pour Over Will |
A short will often used with a living trust. It states that any assets left out of your living trust will become part of (pour over into) your living trust upon your death. |
| Power of Attorney |
A legal document giving someone legal authority to sign your name on your behalf in your absence. Ends at incapacity (unless it is a durable power of attorney) or death. |
| Probate | The legal process of validating a will, paying debts, and distributing assets after death. |
| Probate Estate |
The assets that go through probate after you die. Usually these include assets you own in your name and those paid to your estate. Usually does not include assets owned jointly, payable-on-death accounts, insurance and other assets with beneficiary designations. Assets in a trust also do not go through probate. |
| Probate Fees |
Legal, executor, and appraisal fees and court costs when an estate goes through probate. Probate fees are paid from assets in the estate before the assets are fully distributed to the heirs. |
| Qualified Domestic Trust (QDOT) |
Allows a non-citizen spouse to qualify for the marital deduction. |
| Qualified Terminable Interest Property (QTIP) |
A trust that delays estate taxes until your surviving spouse dies so more income will be available to provide for your spouse during his/her lifetime. You can also keep control over who will receive these assets after your spouse dies. |
| Qualifying Subchapter S Trust (QSST) |
Trust that meets certain IRS qualifications and is allowed to own Subchapter S stock. |
| Quitclaim Deed |
Document that allows you to transfer title to real estate. With a quitclaim deed, the person transferring the title makes no guarantees, but transfers all his/her interest in the property. |
| Real Property |
Land and property that is permanently attached to land (like a building or a house). |
| Recorded Deed |
A deed that has been filed with the county land records. This creates a public record of all changes in ownership of property in the state. |
| Revocable Trust |
A trust in which the person setting it up retains the power to change (revoke) or cancel the trust during his/her lifetime. Opposite of irrevocable trust. |
| Required Beginning Date (RBD) |
The date you must begin taking required minimum distributions from your tax-deferred plans. Usually, it is April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which you turn age 70 1/2. If your money is in a company-sponsored plan, you may be able to delay your RBD beyond this date if you continue working (providing you are not a 5% or greater owner of the company). |
| Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) |
The amount you are required to withdraw each year from your tax-deferred plan after you reach your Required Beginning Date. This amount is determined by dividing the year-end value of your tax-deferred account by a life expectancy divisor found on a chart provided by the IRS. |
