A qualified terminable interest property trust (also known as a "Q-Tip" trust) is a trust provision included in a will or revocable trust which is used by married couples to provide flexibility in estate planning in order to avoid or minimize federal estate tax. All or some of the testator's estate can be distributed to the Q-Tip trust for the use and benefit of the surviving spouse. After the date of death, the Internal Revenue Code allows the executor to decide how much of the Q-Tip trust will be protected from taxation through the marital deduction and how much will be protected from taxation through the unified credit. This will allow the executor certain post-mortem estate planning choices which the executor can use to decrease or eliminate the federal estate tax burden on the family.