Advanced care directive – a document in which you
make your wishes known about resuscitation,
continuation of life support and treatment in the
event of a "terminal condition," a "persistent
vegetative state" (or PVS, an irreversible coma), an
"end-stage condition" (the final stages of Alzheimer's
disease, Parkinson's disease, or other degenerative
diseases).
Agent – a
person who serves you under a power of attorney.
Beneficiary
– a person or other entity which will receive a
benefit (asset, valuable right) through a will, trust,
or contract.
Custodianship
– the court-administered process whereby an individual
or institution is given control over a child or
incompetent person's proceeds from a probate estate. A
custodian is a fiduciary.
Decedent –
a person who has died.
Domicile –
the jurisdiction in which a person lives and in which
he intends to remain.
Executor –
the person who "executes" the terms of your will and
administers your estate. Often used interchangeably
with Personal Representative, or "P.R."
Fiduciary
– a person having control over and responsibility for
the assets of another, or the responsibility of that
office. A fiduciary is a steward in the common-law and
religious sense. The fiduciary's duty is to faithfully
administer the affairs of another with utter disregard
for his own interests.
Funding your
trust – the process of transferring title to the
trustee of your trust. This is necessary to avoid
probate. See
Funding and
Administering your Revocable Living Trust.
Grantor –
see settlor.
Guardianship
– the court-administered process whereby an individual
or institution is given control over a person. Used
for children (under 18 in Maryland) and incompetent
persons.
Intestate
– without a will. A person who dies without a will is
"intestate" ("in" + "testate" or not testate), and his
or her property passes by "intestate succession," or
the laws of intestacy.
Irrevocable
trust – you do not retain the right to amend or
revoke your trust. Irrevocable trusts require that you
not retain control, but provide significant tax
benefits. The more common irrevocable trusts are
"Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts" and "Charitable
Remainder Trusts."
Living trust
– a trust that you set up during life.
Living will
– a document in which you make your wishes known about
resuscitation, continuation of life support and
treatment in the event of terminal illness or terminal
injury. A living will is a statutory creation, and its
interpretation is entirely dependent on the terms of
the enabling statute.
Personal Representative – the person who
administers your estate if you die without your own
estate plan; administers you estate according to the
will drawn up for you by the legislature. Often used
interchangeably with Executor, or referred to as the "P.R."
Power of
Attorney – a document in which you delegate your
authority to administer your assets or make medical or
other decisions. Powers of attorney can be effective
upon their execution (signing) by you, or "springing,"
that is, ineffective until a triggering event such as
a certification of your incompetency. They can also be
"general," effective only as long as you are competent
and alive (whether or not your agent knows of your
death); or "durable," that is, effective whether you
are competent or not, and effective as long as your
agent does not know of your death.
Probate –
the process by which the Orphan's Court enforces the
terms of your will.
Probate estate – everything you at your death,
except certain assets, most commonly (1) assets owned
by a living trust; and (2) assets which will pass by
contract to a beneficiary or joint owner at your
death.
"Pour-Over"
Will – a will that passes assets from your probate
estate to your trust.
Residency
– determined as the county or Baltimore City in which
the person maintains a permanent residence.
Revocable
Trust – you retain the right to amend or revoke
your trust at any time.
Settlor –
the person who sets up or "settles" a trust. Also
called a "grantor" or "trustor."
Testamentary
trust – a trust that you set up through your will.
Often used for a "minor's trust" for children.
Testator –
the person who makes a will.
Trust – a legal entity which owns property, and
administers and disposes of those assets. A trust is
usually expressed in a document, but the document is
not the trust. Assets owned by a trust do not pass
through the probate estate.
Trustee – the person who administers your
trust. This can be you (as long as you are competent),
your spouse, a child, or a professional – or a
combination. For tax and administrative reasons, your
professional advisor might counsel you to use
different trustees for different purposes.
Trustor –
see settlor.
Will – the document through which you make your
wishes regarding your probate estate known. If it is
validly drawn and executed (signed by you while
competent and witnessed by two witnesses, in
Maryland), it is enforceable through probate, by the
Orphan's Court, in Maryland. A handwritten will is not
valid in Maryland unless validly executed as set forth
above. |
