Payable-on-Death
Account |
See “Totten
Trust.” |
Per Capita |
A way of distributing your
estate so that your surviving descendents will
share equally, regardless of their
generation. |
Per Stirpes |
A way of distributing your
estate so that your surviving descendents 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. |