Death Benefit Only Arrangement (DBO): A type of deferred compensation arrangement in which an employer agrees to pay only a death benefit to a deceased employee's heirs rather than the customary retirement benefit (and perhaps ancillary benefits) associated with conventional deferred compensation.

Decedent: The person who has died.

Declarations: Statements in an insurance contract that provide information about the property or life to be insured and used for underwriting and rating purposes and identification of the property or life to be insured.

Deferred Compensation Plan: A plan in which the executive elects to defer compensation into an account in the expectation of receiving the deferrals plus earnings at retirement; may involve company contributions.

Defined Benefit Plan: A plan in which the company specifies the benefit the plan will deliver. Typically involves only company contributions; company bears the investment risk. (Examples: pension or cash balance plan).

Defined Contribution Plan: A plan in which the company defines the contribution it will make to the employee's account in the plan rather than a fixed benefit the employee will receive. Typically involves both company and employee contributions; employee bears the investment risk.

Direct Skip: An outright generation-skipping transfer, either by gift or at death, to a recipient, known as a "skip person," who is two or more generation levels below the transferor. This type of property transfer prompts the generation-skipping transfer tax.

Direct Transfer: The movement of a tax-deferred retirement asset from one plan or custodian directly to another. A direct transfer is not a withdrawal and does not incur any taxes or penalties.

Donor: A person who makes a gift. The person setting up a trust can be called donor, trustor, grantor, or settlor.

Dower: The life estate of a widow in the property of her husband. At common law a wife had a life estate in one-third (in value) of the property of her husband who died without leaving a valid will or from whose will she dissented. In many states common law dower has been abolished by statute or never has been recognized.

Durable Power of Attorney: A written legal document which allows one person (the principal) to authorize another person (the attorney-in-fact or agent) to act on his or her behalf with respect to specified types of property, and which may remain in effect during a subsequent disability or incompetency of the principal.

Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care: A written legal document which grants decision-making powers related to health care to an agent; generally provides for removal of a physician, the right to have the incompetent patient discharged against medical advice, the right to medical records, and the right to have the patient moved or to engage other treatment.