Estate Planning for All of Us - Will, Trusts & More


Book Description

Essential estate planning documents covered in this book are a Health Care Proxy also known as a Power of Attorney for Health Care; a Financial Power of Attorney and a Will. Depending upon your estate and goals, you may also need a Power of Attorney for Pet Care and a Living Trust. Most all of these documents are state-specific, meaning that the contents of the documents, how you make them official and the laws behind them are unique to each state. Gentreo, on it's website www.Gentreo.com, provides state-specific documents as this is crucial to making sure your documents are valid and can be used.




Living Trusts for Everyone


Book Description

Readers say it best: "Very informative." "Saved me a lot of money and headaches!" "Recommend it for everyone who has to plan estates for their elderly parents" Living Trusts for Everyone is the best resource for setting up a living trust. Explaining in specific terms what benefits a trust will have, Ronald Farrington Sharp gives the tools necessary to set up a loved one’s trust with no lawyers and no expense. Wills benefit lawyers. Trusts benefit the clients. Too often lawyers sell wills to clients only to sit back and wait to sell their probate services to their clients’ heirs. Ronald Farrington Sharp describes the best way to handle modern estate planning and details the many advantages trusts have over wills in not only eliminating probate but in also protecting your assets for your heirs. Sharp explains why legal services are not needed to do the clerical work in settling a trust after death. This updated edition includes new information on an array of subjects, including: Elimination of the federal estate tax for most estates due to increased exemption amounts Online assets The use of passwords, usernames, and websites Keeping trustees honest and the process of removing trustees for malfeasance Forms for simplifying the planning process Strategies to lower attorneys’ fees With no legal jargon, just step-by-step instructions and sample form letters, Living Trusts for Everyone takes the mystery out of the process of setting up a trust.




Estate Planning For Dummies


Book Description

Planning for your family's future made easy! If you’re like most people, you want to be sure that, once you’ve passed on, no more of your property and money will be lost to the government than is absolutely necessary. You want to know that you’ll be leaving your heirs your assets and not your debts. You want to be absolutely certain that your will is ship-shape, your insurance policies are structured properly, and that every conceivable hole in your estate plan has been filled. And most of all, you’d like to do all of this without driving yourself crazy trying to make sense of the complicated jargon, jumble of paperwork, and welter of state and federal laws involved in the estate planning process. Written by two estate planning pros, this simple, easy-to-use guide takes the pain out of planning for your ultimate financial future. In plain English, the authors walk you step-by-step through everything you need to know to: Put your estate into order Minimize estate taxes Write a proper will Deal with probate Set up trusts Make sure your insurance policies are structured properly Plan for special situations, like becoming incompetent and pet care Craft a solid estate plan and keep it up-to-date Don’t leave the final disposition of your estate up to chance and the whims of bureaucrats. Estate Planning For Dummies gives you the complete lowdown on: Figuring out what you're really worth Mastering the basics of wills and probate Using will substitutes and dodging probate taxes Setting up protective trusts, charitable trusts, living trusts and more Making sense of state and federal inheritance taxes Avoiding the generation skipping transfer tax Minimizing all your estate-related taxes Estate planning for family businesses Creating a comprehensive estate plan Straightforward, reader-friendly, easy-to-use, Estate Planning For Dummies is the ultimate guide to planning your family’s future.




We The People's Guide to Estate Planning


Book Description

WE THE PEOPLE No lawyers. Save money. We The People is America's largest legal document services company. Dedicated to helping every American avoid the high cost of legal fees, We The People gives you the information you need to handle your own legal filings quickly, easily, and inexpensively. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have already liberated themselves from the tyranny of attorneys' fees--and now you can too! We The People's Guide to Estate Planning makes planning for your future as painless as possible--all without the added hassle of hiring a lawyer. This practical, nuts-and-bolts guide covers all the basics of do-it-yourself estate planning, and covers everything you need to know about living trusts, wills, probate, and estate taxes. Extra resources--a glossary of estate planning terminology; a section on frequently asked questions; samples of effective living trusts and a last will and testament; as well as worksheets and essential information on how to settle an estate--make this the best resource available for this important step in planning for the future. You'll have all the information you need to understand the legal language of a will or living trust and learn how to seek state-specific laws and customs so you can tailor your plans accordingly. In addition, you can download sample documents from which you can create your own. Inside, you'll learn all the basics and more: * Whether you need a living trust, a will, or both * Creating a valid last will and testament * Designating a successor trustee or executor to an estate * Deciding who gets what--and making sure they do * Setting up a living trust and funding it with assets * Understanding durable power of attorney documents and living wills * Tax-saving tips that help you leave more for your beneficiaries * Getting to know (in plain English) the legal language of your will or living trust * Where to download sample documents * Settling an estate with or without a valid will or living trust It's important to take care of the ones you love after you're gone. But if your estate planning isn't done clearly, precisely, and legally, you could end up creating more problems for your survivors than you solve. Do it right, do it inexpensively, and do it yourself--with We The People's Guide to Estate Planning.




Estate Planning For Dummies


Book Description

Get your arms around wills, trusts, probate, inheritance taxes, and other important estate planning essentials Estate Planning For Dummies teaches you the ins and outs of estate planning. It’s all about drafting wills, dealing with probate, assigning powers of attorney, establishing living trusts, and beyond. Think you don’t have enough assets to merit estate planning? Think again. This everyone-friendly guide walks you through building a solid estate plan, whatever your current financial situation. In easy-to-understand language, you’ll learn the ins and outs of estate planning, including what happens to your stuff—cash, real estate, businesses, retirement funds, everything—when you pass away. This new edition is updated for the many recent changes in estate taxes and inheritance law. Make sure your assets get into the pockets of your heirs or wherever you want them to go, and learn how to accomplish it the For Dummies way. Understand state and federal estate and inheritance taxes Build an air-tight will and make sure your heirs get as much as they can Protect your estate’s privacy even after you’re gone Plan for the transition of a family business Prevent disagreements and uncertainty among your heirs Figure out how to pass on your digital assets This friendly guide is a must for people of any age in the process of drafting their wills and planning where their assets ultimately end up.




The Living Trust Advisor


Book Description

Praise for The Living Trust Advisor "The Living Trust Advisor is a necessary survival guide in the inheritance arena for every American in these turbulent economic times." --Congressman Thaddeus McCotter "Living trusts can be the most important part of an estate plan-saving time and money by reducing or eliminating estate taxes and by avoiding probate. For all those who have or are considering a living trust, The Living Trust Advisor is an invaluable source and an essential tool for any estate plan. Your beneficiaries will thank you." --Angelique M. Neal, former attorney with the IRS, Office of Chief Counsel, Los Angeles "In The Living Trust Advisor Jeffrey Condon not only shows how to make the baffling world of trusts work for the average person, but gives invaluable advice on navigating the complex web of family emotions that inevitably come to the surface in estate planning. His expert advice and guidance should be on the bookshelf of anyone who needs more than just a basic will." --Brian J. O'Connor, Personal Finance Editor, The Detroit News "Jeffrey Condon bonds with the reader on a level that encourages our complete trust in his trust instructions. In this book, he wisely walks readers through all of the pitfalls, tax implications, changes that may occur, and subsequent legal implications. The Living Trust Advisor is a fine and entertaining read as well as an indispensable resource for everyone in need of advice and compassion in making a will or a trust." --Grady Harp, Reviewer for Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powells, Reuters, USA Today, and Blogging Authors, Author of War Songs, and contributor of essays to museum catalogues




Understanding Living Trusts


Book Description

Written in clear, conversational English, this book can help anyone understand how a living trust avoids the complications, expenses, and delays of probate at times of incapacity and death.




Every Californian's Guide To Estate Planning


Book Description

Finally, an Estate Planning Guide for Californians Every Californian’s Guide to Estate Planning helps you understand the basics of leaving money and property to loved ones and charities, and naming a guardian for children—with a special focus on issues unique to California, like: how community property rules affect inheritance and taxes how to minimize capital gains for those inheriting high value real estate legal and tax rules that apply to non-citizens and U.S. permanent residents important issues for international guardians, trustees, and executors how to understand the impact of “Prop 19,” and make sure your heirs don’t lose a low (“Prop 13”) property tax rate, and how to avoid California’s slow and expensive probate system through options such as transfer-on-death deeds. With Downloadable Worksheets Includes access to essential worksheets that help you get started on writing a will, preparing a trust, choosing a guardian, leaving money to kids, naming beneficiaries, choosing agents for your health care directive and power of attorney for finances, doing a personal inventory, and more.




The Heart of the Art


Book Description

This book is written to help individuals address the human issues involved in the transmission of their estates. These are issues and values that, as each individual sees them for himself or herself, are central to the process of estate planning. The book undertakes the challenge of addressing these concerns, purposes, beliefs and values in a way to help individuals find wise and just solutions. From a legal career seeking answers the author brings to the challenge experience, insight, common sense and human understanding.




Planning Your Will, Trust, Lpa & More: Estate Planning for the Modern Family


Book Description

With society's rising affluence, children and families stand to inherit properties and many thousands and millions of dollars when parents and relatives pass away. The importance of setting out clear instructions about the distribution of your assets or wealth while you are still alive cannot be overstated. This process of estate planning involves making a will and perhaps setting up a trust, depending on your personal circumstances. The rise of the modern family and what such a family is likely to own, add to the diversity of planning required. In addition to the traditional two-parent family, we have families with single parents, partners of different races, nationalities and faiths, and same-sex partners. The modern family is likely to own foreign assets, a business, pets and digital assets, and likely to consider charitable giving in their estate planning. In this book, well-known estate planner Keon Chee takes you through the various aspects of estate planning, including the writing of a will, the setting up of a trust, planning your Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) and setting out other important final wishes. The author has invited several highly experienced practitioners to share their specialist knowledge throughout the book enhancing the breadth of coverage.