Terms Used In Maine Revised Statutes > Title 18-C > Article 6 > Part 1 - Provisions Relating to Effect of Death

• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Real estate: includes lands and all tenements and hereditaments connected therewith, and all rights thereto and interests therein. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes territories and the District of Columbia. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72