A living will (also known as an “advanced directive” or “healthcare directive”) is a legal document in which a person clearly states medical treatment wishes should he/she become unable to communicate and/or make such decisions.

POD and TOD are simple strategies ensuring assets go directly to the person of one’s choice following death (without any need for probate). While the former is most often used for bank accounts (with a named beneficiary receiving all money in event of one’s death), the latter is similar but used for assets such as stocks, bonds, and real estate in some states (with a beneficiary named on investment accounts or property paperwork and assets automatically transferring to that same person).

This document gives the party of one’s choosing the power to make legal decisions on his/her behalf when (and if) incapacitation or an inability to act on one’s own behalf occur. This can take shape as various types and reflect a range of responsibilities (e.g., establishing a power of attorney to permit another party to act only for limited purposes, such as signing loan closing documents).

Probate is the legal process used to administer a person’s estate after his or her death, verifying the will is valid and authentic, paying off any taxes or debts, and ensuring the correct parties receive all property and possessions.

A qualified domestic trust (often called a QDOT) is a special type of trust used in estate planning when someone wants to leave money or property to a spouse who is not a U.S. citizen.

A remainderman is someone who’s set to inherit property after someone else’s interest in it ends (e.g., in leaving a home to a spouse for the rest of the spouse’s life followed by a child, the child is the “remainderman” whereas the spouse is the “life tenant”).

The residue or residuary estate is what’s left of someone’s property and assets after all debts, taxes, expenses, and specific gifts mentioned in a will are paid or distributed (i.e., estate “leftovers”).

A testator is a person who makes a will, writing down how he/she wants property and assets distributed upon death.

A trustee is a person or organization responsible for managing money or assets placed in a trust for someone else’s benefit.

A trustor is someone who creates a trust, putting money, property, or other assets into it and deciding how these should be managed and distributed.

A spendthrift provision is a trust rule designed to help protect money or assets from being wasted or taken by creditors, applicable when concerns are present about a beneficiary’s money-management skills, debts, or legal issues.