Mobile Notary and End-of-Life Planning Business Startup Flashcards

These vocabulary flashcards cover the essentials of starting a mobile notary business, small business bookkeeping, and Florida-specific end-of-life planning concepts based on the lecture transcript.

Commingling

The official financial and legal term for mixing personal and business money together in the same bank account.

Legal Shield

The practice of keeping business money separate from personal money to protect personal assets like a house or savings from business-related legal issues.

Estate

In the legal and financial world, this represents everything you own when you die.

Probate

The official legal court process of distributing a dead person's estate, which is known for being slow, expensive, and public.

Last Will and Testament

An end-of-life document that tells the court who receives an individual's assets and who will care for minor children, but is subject to probate court approval.

Revocable Living Trust

A document that acts like a digital safe to hold assets while living and passes them directly to chosen beneficiaries upon death to bypass probate court.

Power of Attorney (POA) for Finances

A document granting someone the legal power to manage another person's financial affairs while they are alive but unable to speak for themselves.

Advance Directive

A Florida-specific document that usually combines a Living Will (life support preferences) and a Healthcare Surrogate (named medical decision-maker).

Deduction

A business expense that lowers taxable income, such as notary supplies or business-related driving.

Substantiation

The IRS requirement to provide proof that an expense actually occurred and was for a legitimate business purpose.

The $75$ Rule

An IRS rule (Publication 463) stating that receipts are not required for business expenses under $75$, excluding lodging which always requires a receipt.

Standard Mileage Rate

A fixed amount of money set by the IRS—noted as $76\,cents\,per\,mile$ as of July 1, 2026—that business owners can deduct for Every mile driven for business.

Audit Trail

The records kept to prove that tax deductions are legitimate in the event of an IRS audit.

Florida Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (Chapter 740)

A Florida law creating a legal pathway for people to pass on digital lives, including emails, photos, and cryptocurrency.

Fiduciary

A person legally appointed and trusted to manage someone else's money or property, such as an executor or a Power of Attorney agent.

Custodian

In the digital world, the company that holds data, such as Google, Facebook, Apple, or a bank.

Digital Asset

Any electronic record a person has a right to, including social media accounts, emails, and cryptocurrency.

Self-Proving Affidavit

Under Florida Statute $732.503$, an attachment to a Will where the Testator and witnesses swear under oath before a notary that the Will was executed correctly, allowing it to be accepted instantly by probate court.

Testator

The person whose Will is being signed and executed.

Jurat

The specific part of a document that a notary signs and stamps, proving an oath was administered.

Notarial Act

The official action taken under a state commission, such as administering an oath, taking an acknowledgment, or witnessing a signature.

Itemized Invoice

A bill that breaks down total cost into specific line items, such as separating state-regulated notary fees from unregulated travel fees.

Lady Bird Deed

Legally known as an Enhanced Life Estate Deed, this Florida document allows a homeowner to pass property directly to a beneficiary while maintaining total control during their lifetime.

Grantor

The person who currently owns a property and is transferring it via a deed.

Remainderman

The beneficiary who receives ownership of a property after the Grantor dies in a life estate setup.

Reconciliation

The process of comparing personal business records against official bank statements to ensure balances match perfectly and to catch errors or fraud.

Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL)

The illegal act of giving legal advice, drafting legal documents, or interpreting law without an attorney's license; in Florida, this is a third-degree felony.

Notario Publico

A term for highly trained legal professionals in Latin America that Florida notaries are strictly regulated from using in advertisements for different U.S. notary services.