The most comprehensive -- yet easy to read -- guide to estate planning on the market!

Plan Your Estate covers everything from the basics of wills and living trusts to sophisticated tax-saving strategies. The authors give you straightforward, plain-English explanations of every significant estate-planning option available, so you can make the best decisions for you and those you love.

The book covers:

wills

probate and how to avoid it

living trusts

property-control trusts

naming guardians for children

leaving property to children

estate taxes and how to reduce them

living wills (health care directives)

financial powers of attorney

final arrangements

strategies for business owners

and much more

The 9th edition is completely updated with the latest federal and state laws, and now covers ethical wills -- a new way to pass on values, beliefs and important personal experiences. Good for all states except Louisiana.

There are a number of ways to leave property to those you want to have it after your death. The peculiarities of our system of inheritance mean that substantial amounts of money and time can often be saved if property is labeled and transferred by certain legal methods rather than others. But to choose wisely among these methods, first you must clearly define your estate planning goals.

This book is divided into 12 parts; each part covers a different estate planning goal or purpose. This chapter gives you an overview of each goal, so you can select the ones that matter to you. It also presents a sample estate plan of a couple in their 50s, so you can get a feel for what kinds of decisions you may have to make, and what types of documents you may end up with.

I urge you to read all chapters of every part that concerns you before you actually begin to formulate your own estate plan. Different aspects of estate planning are often intertwined. For example, it just doesn’t make sense to decide what property should pass under your will—and so go through probate—until you understand that some of it might be better left by other probate-avoidance methods. Similarly, if you have a good-sized estate, you’ll need to understand how estate taxes work before you can determine the wisest ways to transfer property to your loved ones. The point is that you need a good overview of all the parts of estate planning that concern you before you begin to make your plan.

Setting Your Goals
Use Part I to focus on your estate planning goals. After reading the first chapter, you should be able to decide which other parts of the book probably apply to your situation.

You should also take some time to mull over important personal concerns that can arise in estate planning—such as leaving unequal amounts of property to different children or avoiding potential conflicts. Chapter 2 discusses some of these concerns. Read this chapter unless you’re very confident that your personal situation is clear and not conflicted.

"Thrift is a wonderful virtue, especially in an ancestor." —Mark Twain

Laying the Groundwork
This part covers the primary concerns of any estate plan: what you own and to whom you want to leave it.

Obviously, you’ll need to be sure of what you own. Also, sensible planning usually requires at least a rough idea of what your property is worth. Chapter 4 contains a worksheet you can use to list all your major items of property or just use as a safety check to make sure you haven’t overlooked anything.

Your "estate" includes all the property you own, minus anything you owe (assets minus liabilities). You may find it useful to use the worksheet to make a rough estimate of the dollar value of your estate, which can be helpful both for general planning purposes and to predict whether or not your estate is likely to be liable for estate taxes. Of course, your estate will very likely have a different worth when you die, so precise figures aren’t necessary.

You can’t leave what you don’t own. Ownership rules for single people are simple. Except as limited by contract (such as a partnership agreement or other form of shared ownership), you can leave all property you own outright. For these purposes, the fact that some institution has a claim on the property, such as a mortgage on a house or a loan lien on a car, doesn’t create shared ownership.

 

The most comprehensive -- yet easy to read -- guide to estate planning on the market!

Introduction: How to Use This Book Part I: Setting Your Goals 1. Selecting Your Estate Planning Goals 2. Personal Concerns and Estate Planning Part II: Laying the Groundwork 3. Special Property Ownership Rules for Married People 4. Inventorying Your Property 5. Your Beneficiaries Part III: Children 6. Children Part IV: Wills 7. Wills Part V: Probate and How to Avoid It 8. Probate and Why You Want to Avoid It 9. Living Trusts 10. Joint Tenancy and Tenancy by the Entirety 11. Pay-On-Death Designations 12. Life Insurance 13. Retirement Benefits 14. State Law Exemptions From Normal Probate 15. Estate Taxes 16. Gifts and Gift Taxes Part VII: Reducing or Eliminating Estate Taxes 17. An Overview of Ongoing Trusts 18. Estate Tax-Saving Bypass Trusts 19. Other Estate Tax-Saving Marital Trusts 20. Charitable Trusts 21. Other Estate Tax-Saving Trusts 22. Disclaimers: After-Death Estate Tax Planning 23. Combining Estate Tax-Saving Trusts Part VIII: Imposing Controls Over Property 24. Property Control Trusts for Second or Subsequent Marriages 25. Trusts and Other Devices for Imposing Controls Over Property Part IX: Taking Care of Personal Issues 26. Incapacity: Making Medical and Financial Decisions 27. Body and Organ Donation, Funerals and Burials Part X: Family Business Estate Planning 28. Family Business Estate Planning Part XI: Going Further 29. Using Lawyers 30. After You Complete Your Estate Plan 31. After a Death Occurs Part XII: Sample Estate Plans 32. Some Estate Plans Glossary Appendix: State Inheritance Tax Rules Index

"An excellent source of information on wills and estate planning."

 

"An exhaustive guide, explaining everything from simple wills to complex trusts. Particularly helpful are a series of 'profiles' that illustrate how estate plans can benefit various individuals and families."

 

"Following Clifford’s advice in this laymen’s guide can save your heirs a bundle."

 

"Walks you through... provisions you need to consider for your situation."

 

"Comprehensive, up to date and organized to make it easy to find the information you want.... clearly explain the nuts and bolts of estate planning."

 

Denis Clifford, a graduate of Columbia Law School, where he was an editor of The Law Review, is a lawyer who specializes in estate planning. He is the author of many Nolo titles including Quick and Legal Will Book, Nolo's Simple Will Book and Make Your Own Living Trust and co-author of Plan Your Estate and A Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples. He has been interviewed by such major media as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Money Magazine.

 

Plan Your Estate by Denis Clifford
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