Estate and Family Law Abbreviations
50 abbreviations · part of Legal Abbreviations
Abbreviations from wills, trusts, probate, estate planning, guardianship and family courts: powers of attorney (POA, DPOA, HCPOA), trust types (ILIT, GRAT, QTIP, SNT), account titles (TOD, POD, JTWROS, TTEE), uniform acts (UTMA, UPC, UCCJEA) and divorce and child-welfare terms (QDRO, GAL, TPR). Rules differ sharply from state to state, and many trust abbreviations refer to specific federal tax provisions. Entries are general information, not legal or tax advice.
| Abbreviation | Stands for | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AHCD | Advance health care directive | Written instructions about medical treatment, often including the appointment of a health care agent, that take effect if a person loses the capacity to make decisions. |
| CASA | Court Appointed Special Advocate | Trained community volunteer appointed by a juvenile or family court to advocate for the best interests of a child in foster care or abuse and neglect proceedings. |
| CHINS | Child in need of services | Juvenile court case category, used in Indiana, Vermont and other states, for children who need court-supervised help because of abuse or neglect or because of behaviors… |
| CLT | Charitable lead trust | Trust that makes payments to charity for a term of years, after which the remaining assets go to family members or other noncharitable beneficiaries. |
| CPS | Child Protective Services | State or county agencies that receive and investigate reports of child abuse and neglect, assess children's safety, provide services to families and, when necessary… |
| CRT | Charitable remainder trust | Irrevocable trust that pays income to the donor or other beneficiaries for life or a term of up to 20 years, then passes the remaining assets to charity. |
| DAPT | Domestic asset protection trust | Irrevocable self-settled trust, permitted in about 20 states, in which the creator can remain a discretionary beneficiary while the assets are shielded from the… |
| dec'd | Deceased | Marks a person as dead in wills, probate records, legal notices and genealogical abstracts, as in "John Hale, dec'd." It often identifies the person whose estate is… |
| DPOA | Durable power of attorney | Power of attorney that stays in effect if the principal later becomes mentally incapacitated, allowing the agent to keep managing finances without a court-appointed… |
| DVRO | Domestic violence restraining order | Civil court order, especially under California's Domestic Violence Prevention Act, protecting a person from abuse, threats or harassment by a spouse, partner, relative… |
| EPA | Enduring power of attorney | Document under English law, also used in some Commonwealth jurisdictions, giving an attorney power over the donor's property and finances that continues if the donor… |
| EPO | Emergency protective order | Short-term protective order, often requested by a police officer at any hour from an on-call judge, that protects a victim of domestic violence, stalking or child abuse… |
| FBO | For the benefit of | Notation in account titles, checks and wire instructions identifying the person whose interest an account or payment serves when someone else, such as a custodian or… |
| FOC | Friend of the Court | Michigan circuit court office that investigates and makes recommendations on custody, parenting time and child support in domestic relations cases and enforces support… |
| GAL | Guardian ad litem | Person appointed by a court to investigate and represent the best interests of a child or incapacitated adult in a particular case, such as a custody dispute, abuse and… |
| GRAT | Grantor retained annuity trust | Irrevocable trust into which a person transfers assets while keeping a fixed annuity for a term of years; growth above an IRS-set interest rate passes to beneficiaries… |
| GST | Generation-skipping transfer tax | Federal tax on transfers to "skip persons", typically grandchildren or others two or more generations younger, whether by gift, at death or through trusts, in addition… |
| HCPOA | Health care power of attorney | Document in which a person appoints an agent, often called a health care proxy or surrogate, to make medical decisions if the person cannot make or communicate them. |
| ICPC | Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children | Agreement among all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. |
| IDGT | Intentionally defective grantor trust | Irrevocable trust drafted so its assets are outside the grantor's estate for estate tax purposes, while the grantor is still treated as owner for income tax and pays… |
| ILIT | Irrevocable life insurance trust | Trust created to own life insurance so that the death benefit stays out of the insured's taxable estate and passes to beneficiaries under the trust's terms. |
| JDR | Juvenile and domestic relations district court | Virginia court with jurisdiction over cases involving juveniles, including delinquency, abuse and neglect, custody, visitation and support, and family abuse protective… |
| JTWROS | Joint tenants with right of survivorship | Form of co-ownership in which two or more people own property equally and, when one dies, that owner's share passes automatically to the survivors without probate. |
| LPA | Lasting power of attorney | Legal document in England and Wales that lets a person, the donor, appoint attorneys to make decisions if they lose mental capacity. |
| MSA | Marital settlement agreement | Contract between divorcing spouses resolving property division, debts, spousal support and often child custody and support, usually incorporated into the final divorce… |
| PFA | Protection from abuse order | Civil order under Pennsylvania's Protection From Abuse Act protecting victims of domestic violence from family or household members and intimate partners. |
| PINS | Person in need of supervision | New York Family Court category for youths under 18 who are truant, habitually disobedient, ungovernable or run away, behaviors that would not be crimes for an adult. |
| POA | Power of attorney | Legal document in which one person, the principal, authorizes another, the agent or attorney-in-fact, to act on the principal's behalf in financial, legal or business… |
| POD | Payable on death | Beneficiary designation on a bank or credit union account, such as checking, savings or a certificate of deposit, that releases the money directly to the named person… |
| PR | Personal representative | Person appointed by a probate court to administer a deceased person's estate, collecting assets, paying debts and taxes and distributing what remains. |
| PSA | Property settlement agreement | Agreement between spouses dividing their marital property and debts, and often addressing alimony, as part of a divorce or legal separation. |
| QDOT | Qualified domestic trust | Trust that allows property left to a surviving spouse who is not a US citizen to qualify for the estate tax marital deduction, which is otherwise unavailable for… |
| QDRO | Qualified domestic relations order | Court order directing a retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or pension, to pay part of a participant's benefits to an alternate payee, usually a former spouse or child… |
| QPRT | Qualified personal residence trust | Irrevocable trust into which a person transfers a home while keeping the right to live in it for a term of years, after which the home passes to beneficiaries. |
| QTIP | Qualified terminable interest property | Property, usually held in a QTIP trust, that qualifies for the estate tax marital deduction even though the surviving spouse receives only a lifetime income interest… |
| RLT | Revocable living trust | Trust that a person creates and controls during life, usually acting as trustee, which holds title to assets and passes them to beneficiaries at death without probate. |
| SAPCR | Suit affecting the parent-child relationship | Texas Family Code term for any lawsuit about conservatorship (custody), possession and access, child support, paternity, adoption or termination of parental rights. |
| SLAT | Spousal lifetime access trust | Irrevocable trust created by one spouse for the benefit of the other spouse, and often the children, that removes assets from the grantor's taxable estate while… |
| SNT | Special needs trust | Trust that holds assets for a person with a disability without disqualifying them from means-tested benefits such as Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid. |
| TIC | Tenants in common | Form of co-ownership in which each owner holds a separate, undivided share of the property, which may be unequal, and can sell, mortgage or leave that share by will. |
| TOD | Transfer on death | Beneficiary designation on brokerage accounts, vehicles and, in many states, real estate that passes the asset directly to the named people when the owner dies, without… |
| TPR | Termination of parental rights | Court order permanently ending the legal relationship between a parent and child, removing the parent's rights and duties and freeing the child for adoption. |
| TTEE | Trustee | Abbreviation for "trustee" in account titles, deeds, checks and brokerage statements, showing that a person holds assets in a fiduciary capacity for a trust rather than… |
| U/A | Under agreement | Notation in trust account titles showing that the trust was created by a written trust agreement, usually followed by DTD and the date the agreement was signed. |
| UCCJEA | Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act | Uniform law adopted in nearly every state that decides which state's courts can rule on child custody, usually the child's "home state", where the child lived for six… |
| UGMA | Uniform Gifts to Minors Act | Uniform state law, first approved in 1956, that allows gifts of cash and securities to a minor through a custodian without a formal trust. |
| UIFSA | Uniform Interstate Family Support Act | Uniform law, in force in every state, governing how child and spousal support orders are established, enforced and modified when the parties live in different states. |
| UPC | Uniform Probate Code | Model law drafted by the Uniform Law Commission, first approved in 1969, that simplifies and standardizes probate, wills, intestate succession, guardianship and… |
| UTC | Uniform Trust Code | Model law approved by the Uniform Law Commission in 2000 that provides comprehensive default rules for express trusts, including creation, modification, trustee duties… |
| UTMA | Uniform Transfers to Minors Act | Uniform state law, adopted in nearly every state, that allows gifts of money, securities, real estate and other property to a minor through a custodian who manages the… |