We know it can sometimes feel like a foreign language when addressing legal matters. Below are terms and acronyms commonly used in estate planning:
- Will: Last Will and Testament.
- Personal Representative: The person named in a Will to act on your behalf; also can be called an “Estate Trustee”.
- Executor and Executrix: The older gendered terms for the person named in a Will to act on your behalf.
- POA: Short for Power of Attorney.
- Donor: In your own POA you are a “Donor” because you are giving the authority to act.
- Attorney: The person named in a POA to act on your behalf.
- PD: A Personal Directive is called a “PD” or sometimes a “PCD” because it concerns your Personal Care decisions.
- Delegate: The person named in a PD to act on your behalf.
- Guardian: The person named in a Guardianship Appointment to look after the person and/or property of your child.
- Trustee: A person or company that holds and administers assets for the benefit of a third party and can be named in a variety of estate planning documents.
- ACDMA: Adult Capacity and Decision-making Act.
- HOTDA: Human Organ and Tissue Donation Act.
- MAiD: Medical Assistance in Dying.
