Which of the following is a non-probate asset explicitly listed as such?

• A. Joint tenancy with survivorship
• B. Life insurance
• C. Totten trust
• D. Property held in POA

Answer: (D)

Non-probate assets pass outside the probate process. The usual examples are property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, which automatically transfers to the surviving owner at death; life insurance proceeds paid to a named beneficiary; and Totten or payable-on-death accounts, where the designated beneficiary receives the assets directly when the owner dies. A power of attorney, however, does not create a non-probate asset. It grants someone authority to act for the principal during life, and that authority ends at death; the underlying assets are then distributed under the will or by intestacy, not by the POA. So the element described as a non-probate asset, in this context, would not be the POA arrangement, making the property held in a POA not fit the typical non-probate category.