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Estate Planning Simplified Kit
Estate Planning Simplified

List Price: $34.95
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Did You Know?

A LAST WILL & TESTAMENT is written document which leaves the estate of the person who signed the will to named persons or entities (beneficiaries, legatees, devisees) including portions or percentages of the estate, specific gifts, creation of trusts for management and future distribution of all or a portion of the estate (a testamentary trust), see last will & testament.

Did You Know?

A CODICIL is a written amendment to a person's will, which must be dated, signed and witnessed just as a will would be, and must make some reference to the will it amends, see codicil.

Did You Know?

A LIVING WILL is document authorized By statutes in all states in which a person appoints someone as his/her proxy or representative to make decisions on maintaining extraordinary life-support if the person becomes too ill, is in a coma or is certain to die, see living will.

Did You Know?

A LIVING Trusties sometimes called an inter vivo (Latin for "within one's life") trust, a trust created by a declaration of trust executed by the trustor or trustors (also called settlor or settlors) during his/her/their lifetime, as distinguished from a "testamentary trust," which is created by a will and only comes into force upon the death of the person who wrote the will, see living trust.

Did You Know?

A POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR HEALTHCARE is a written document stating that one person gives to another the full power and authority to make healthcare decisions for that one person when he or she is unable to, power of attorney for healthcare.

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Plan Your Estate

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Edition: 8th
Pages: 480 pp
Ships within one business day from the west coast

Table of Contents
The 8th 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.

Bronze Estate Planning Package
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Estate Planning
Our Bronze package is the #1 selling estate-planning package we offer. Our clients rave about the quick, professional and reliable service. We guarantee your satisfaction and that you will not find another offer like this anywhere!
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Silver Estate Planning Package
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Estate Planning
Our Silver estate-planning package offers the same services as our #1 selling Bronze package with additional opportunity for future changes to your documents.
...Last Will & Testament, Living Will,
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Gold Estate Planning Package
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Estate Planning
Our Gold premium estate-planning package includes everything that the Silver package does but further provides for every growing family who will have a lifetime of changes required.
...Last Will & Testament, Living Will,
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Ultimate Estate Planning Package
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Estate Planning
Our Ultimate estate-planning package offers the same services as our premium Gold package for you and your spouse, and includes your adult children and their spouses. This is a top-seller among grandparents!
...Last Will & Testament, Living Will,
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Plan Your Estate

By Attorneys Denis Clifford & Cora Jordan, Nolo Press

Venue:

 

National - All States

View our Estate Planning Packages that offer the best options and prices on the internet.

*NOT GOOD IN LOUISIANA

Description:

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.

Table of Contents

Introduction: How to Use This Book

  • A. How This Book Works
  • B. Will You Need Professional Help?
  • C. Other Resources

Part I: Setting Your Goals

1. Selecting Your Estate Planning Goals

  • Part I: Setting Your Goals
  • Part II: Laying the Groundwork
  • Part III: Children
  • Part IV: Wills
  • Part V: Probate and How to Avoid It
  • Part VI: Understanding Estate and Gift Taxes
  • Part VII: Reducing or Eliminating Estate Taxes
  • Part VIII: Imposing Controls Over Property
  • Part IX: Taking Care of Personal Issues
  • Part X: Family Business Estate Planning
  • Part XI: Going Further
  • Part XII: Sample Estate Plans

2. Personal Concerns and Estate Planning

  • A. Avoiding Conflict
  • B. Leaving Unequal Amounts of Property to Children
  • C. Providing Care for Minor Children
  • D. Subsequent Marriages
  • E. Long-Term Care for a Child With Special Needs
  • F. Concerns of Unmarried Couples
  • G. Worries About the Effect of Inheriting Money
  • H. Disinheriting People, Including Children
  • I. Communicating Your Decisions to Family and Friends

Part II: Laying the Groundwork

3. Special Property Ownership Rules for Married People

  • A. What You Need to Know
  • B. Marital Property in Community Property States
  • C. Marital Property in Common Law States
  • D. Moving to a Different State

4. Inventorying Your Property

  • A. Instructions for the Property Inventory Worksheet
  • B. Your Property Worksheet

5. Your Beneficiaries

  • A. Types of Beneficiaries
  • B. Primary Beneficiaries
  • C. Life Estate Beneficiaries and Final Beneficiaries
  • D. Alternate Beneficiaries
  • E. Residuary Beneficiaries
  • F. Gifts Shared by More Than One Beneficiary
  • G. Establishing a Survivorship Period
  • H. Explanations and Commentary Accompanying Gifts
  • I. Disinheritance
  • J. Simultaneous Death
  • K. Property You Give Away by Will or Trust That You No Longer Own at Your Death

Part III: Children

6. Children

  • A. Naming Someone to Take Custody of Your Minor Children
  • B. Naming an Adult to Manage Your Child's Property
  • C. How Your Children's Property Should Be Managed
  • D. Tax Saving Educational Investment Plans
  • E. Naming Children as Beneficiaries of Life Insurance
  • F. Leaving Property to Children Who Are Not Your Own
  • G. Disinheritance
  • H. Children Conceived After a Parent Dies

Part IV: Wills

7. Wills

  • A. A Will as the Centerpiece of Your Estate Plan
  • B. A Backup Will With a Comprehensive Estate Plan
  • C. What Makes a Will Legal?
  • D. Types of Wills
  • E. What Property Cannot Be Transferred by Will?
  • F. Explanatory Letters Accompanying Your Will
  • G. Can My Will Be Successfully Challenged?
  • H. Keeping Your Will Up to Date

Part V: Probate and How to Avoid It

8. Probate and Why You Want to Avoid It

  • A. What Is Probate?
  • B. Probate Fees
  • C. Avoiding Probate
  • D. When You May Want Probate
  • E. Debts, Taxes, and Probate Avoidance
  • F. Probate Reform

9. Living Trusts

  • A. Does Everyone Need a Living Trust?
  • B. Living Trusts Explained
  • C. Major Decisions in Creating a Living Trust
  • D. Creating a Valid Living Trust
  • E. Keeping Your Living Trust Up to Date

10. Joint Tenancy and Tenancy by the Entirety

  • A. What Is Joint Tenancy?
  • B. Joint Tenancy Bank Accounts
  • C. Joint Tenancy Safe Deposit Boxes
  • D. Tenancy by the Entirety
  • E. Joint Tenancy in Community Property States
  • F. Tax Concerns Affecting Joint Tenancy
  • G. Drawbacks of Joint Tenancy
  • H. When Joint Tenancy Makes Sense
  • I. Creating a Joint Tenancy for Property With Documents of Title
  • J. Creating Joint Tenancy for Personal Property Without Documents of Title

11. Pay-On-Death Designations: Bank Accounts, Securities, Stocks and Bonds, Motor Vehicles

  • A. Choosing Beneficiaries
  • B. Pay-on-Death Bank Accounts
  • C. Naming a Pay-on-Death Beneficiary for Government Securities
  • D. Naming a Beneficiary for Stocks and Bonds
  • E. Vehicle Registration
  • F. Transfer-on-Death Deeds for Real Estate

12. Life Insurance

  • A. Do You Need Life Insurance?
  • B. Types of Life Insurance
  • C. Life Insurance and Probate
  • D. Choosing Life Insurance Beneficiaries
  • E. Reducing Estate Tax by Transferring Ownership of Life Insurance Policies

13. Retirement Benefits

  • A. Social Security
  • B. Individual Retirement Plans
  • C. Pensions
  • D. When You Retire
  • E. Choosing Beneficiaries for Your Retirement Plans
  • F. Using Disclaimers for Retirement Accounts
  • G. Probate and Taxes

14. State Law Exemptions From Normal Probate

  • A. Will Your Estate Qualify?
  • B. Using These Rules to Plan
  • C. Summary of State Law Exceptions to Normal Probate
  • D. California Exemptions From Normal Probate
  • E. New York Exemptions From Normal Probate
  • F. Texas Exemptions From Normal Probate
  • G. Florida Exemptions From Normal Probate

Part VI: Understanding Estate And Gift Taxes

15. Estate Taxes

  • A. Federal Estate Tax Exemptions
  • B. The Big Picture: Estate and Gift Taxes
  • C. Will Your Estate Have to Pay Taxes?
  • D. Calculating and Paying Estate Taxes
  • E. Reducing Federal Estate Taxes
  • F. The Federal Income Tax Basis of Inherited Property
  • G. State Inheritance and Estate Taxes

16. Gifts and Gift Taxes

  • A. The Federal Gift Tax: An Overview
  • B. What Is a Gift?
  • C. How Federal Gift Tax Works
  • D. Using Gifts to Reduce Estate Taxes
  • E. When Not to Give Property Away: Tax Basis Rules
  • F. Using Gifts to Reduce Income Taxes

Part VII: Reducing or Eliminating Estate Taxes

17. An Overview of Ongoing Trusts

  • A. Trusts to Reduce Estate Taxes
  • B. Ongoing Trusts Used to Control Property
  • C. Ongoing Trusts and Avoiding Probate
  • D. What Ongoing Trusts Can't Do
  • E. When Ongoing Trusts Begin and End
  • F. The Trustee
  • G. Taxation of Ongoing Trusts

18. Estate Tax-Saving Bypass Trusts

  • A. Overview of Bypass Trusts
  • B. IRS Restrictions on Bypass Trusts
  • C. AB Trusts: Bypass Trusts for Married Couples
  • D. Bypass Trusts for Unmarried People

19. Other Estate Tax-Saving Marital Trusts

  • A. QTIP Trusts
  • B. Trusts for Noncitizen Spouses: QDOTs
  • C. Marital Deduction Trusts

20. Charitable Trusts

  • A. An Overview of Charitable Trusts
  • B. The Income Tax Deduction
  • C. A Closer Look at Charitable Remainder Trusts
  • D. A Closer Look at Charitable Lead Trusts
  • E. Types of Charitable Trusts: A Comparison

21. Other Estate Tax-Saving Trusts

  • A. Generation-Skipping Trusts (GSTT Trusts)
  • B. Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
  • C. Grantor-Retained Interest Trusts: GRATs, GRUTs, and GRITs

22. Disclaimers: After-Death Estate Tax Planning

  • A. Advantages of Disclaimers
  • B. Couples and Disclaimers
  • C. IRS Rules for Disclaimers
  • D. Disclaimers and Living Trusts
  • 23. Combining Estate Tax-Saving Trusts
  • A. Combining Two Estate Tax-Saving Trusts
  • B. Combining a Charitable Trust With Other Estate Tax-Saving Trusts
  • C. Combining Three Different Estate Tax-Saving Trusts
  • D. Using Ongoing Trusts and Gift-Giving to Reduce Estate Tax
  • Part VIII: Imposing Controls Over Property

24. Property Control Trusts for Second or Subsequent Marriages

  • A. Evaluating Your Situation
  • B. How a Marital Property Control Trust Works
  • C. Restricting the Surviving Spouse's Rights Over Trust Property
  • D. The Role of the Trustee
  • E. Savings on Estate Taxes
  • F. Working With a Lawyer

25. Trusts and Other Devices for Imposing Controls Over Property

  • A. Educational Trusts
  • B. Trusts for People With Special Needs
  • C. Spendthrift Trusts
  • D. Sprinkling Trusts
  • E. Trusts to Manage Your Own Property
  • F. Powers of Appointment
  • G. Combining a Property Control Trust With Estate Tax-Saving Trusts

Part IX: Taking Care of Personal Issues

26. Incapacity: Making Medical and Financial Decisions

  • A. Medical Decisions
  • B. Financial Decisions
  • C. Guardianships and Conservatorships

27. Body and Organ Donation, Funerals, And Burials

  • A. Making Your Own Choices
  • B. Leaving Written Instructions
  • C. Donating Your Body or Organs
  • D. Death Notices
  • E. Services and Ceremonies Following a Death
  • F. Funerals
  • G. Cremation
  • H. Burials

Part X: Family Business Estate Planning

28. Family Business Estate Planning

  • A. Operation of the Business
  • B. Reducing Estate Taxes
  • C. Avoiding Probate of a Family Business

Part XI: Going Further

29. Using Lawyers

  • A. Hiring a Lawyer
  • B. Doing Your Own Research

30. After You Complete Your Estate Plan

  • A. Storing Your Estate Planning Documents
  • B. Revising Your Estate Plan

31. After a Death Occurs

  • A. Wills
  • B. Probate-Avoidance Living Trusts
  • C. Ongoing Trusts for Estate Tax Savings or Property Management
  • D. Preparing and Filing Tax Returns
  • E. Trustee's Reports to Beneficiaries
  • F. Collecting the Proceeds of a Life Insurance Policy
  • G. Obtaining Title to Joint Tenancy Property

Part XII: Sample Estate Plans

32. Some Estate Plans

  • A. A Prosperous Couple in Their 60s and 70s
  • B. A Wealthy Couple in Their 70s
  • C. A Single Man in His 60s
  • D. A Younger Couple
  • E. A Single Woman in Her 30s
  • F. A Widow in Her 80s
  • G. A Couple in Their 60s, in a Second Marriage
  • H. An Unmarried Couple in Their 40s

Glossary

Appendix: State Inheritance Tax Rules

Index

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Complete Estate Planning Kit
Complete Estate Planning Kits

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Do It Yourself Documents carries state-specific items for all 50 states and DC.

Did You Know?

Sixty percent of bankruptcies and seventy-five percent of divorces in California are done without lawyers!

Did You Know?

A POWER OF ATTORNEY is a written document signed By a person giving another person the power to act in conducting the signer's business, including signing papers, checks, title documents, contracts, handling bank accounts and other activities in the name of the person granting the power, see power of attorney!

Did You Know?

PROBATE is the process of proving a will is valid and thereafter administering the estate of a dead person according to the terms of the will, see probate!