How To Settle Your Living Trust

With samples and explanations of all the necessary documents, this guide provides everything readers need to know in order to dissolve and dispose of assets, understand legal and financial aspects of trusts, handle asset valuation, and more.

The failproof way to pass along your estate to your heirs without lawyers, courts, or the probate system.

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.

A do-it-yourself manual for making your own living trust, with checklists, step-by-step procedures, worksheets, and forms.

Explains how living trusts work, discusses the different types of trusts, compares living trusts with wills, and offers advice on selecting an attorney.

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.

A living trust is a trust used for the purpose of avoiding the delays and costs associated with probate. They are easy to set up and simply involve completing and signing a trust agreement in which you name yourself as both grantor (creator of the trust) and trustee (manager of the trust assets). Once set up, you transfer some or all your assets to the trust. As trustee, you then take over management of the trust assets. When you die, the assets are distributed to the beneficiaries named in the trust agreement. However, as the assets are held in the trust's name rather than in your personal name, they will not need to go through probate. This allows for the assets to be distributed quickly after your death, and without the probate fees. This self-help kit provides you with step-by-step instructions, detailed information and all the legal forms necessary to help you create your own revocable living trust and avoid probate. ✔ Prepare a living trust quickly and easily. ✔ Avoid the costs and delays of probate. ✔ Protect yourself and your assets during incapacity. ✔ Make gifts to your loved ones. ✔ Create trusts for young beneficiaries.

". . . is unquestionably the layman's most nearly complete source on living trusts. . . . Recommended reading for anyone who wants to maximize his net estate left to heirs, speed asset distribution after death, avoid will challenges, minimize estate costs, and maintain privacy." -- Robert Bruss, Esq., and Nationally Syndicated Real Estate Columnist Chicago Tribune ". . . presents in clear, concise, and readable language what every person needs to know. I heartily recommend it as required reading for every caring husband, wife, parent--all those with an estate to pass along to heirs." -- Byron Countryman, Esq. Countryman and McDaniel Attorneys at Law, Los Angeles Why The Living Trust Is So Important You may think your heirs have been well provided for, but did you know that: Your loved ones may have to wait more than two years before receiving a penny from your estate--even though you have left a legally valid will? Costs of probating your will may eat up more than 10 percent of your estate-money your heirs will never receive? The specific instructions of your bequest may be contested or changed completely--even though clearly spelled out in your will? Once a will is probated, it becomes a matter of public record--anyone can access the information just by going to the courthouse and asking for your tile? A will cannot help you in life? If you become incapacitated or your judgment comes into question, it becomes a matter for the courts to decide and is, again, a very public process. A Living Trust is a simple, inexpensive legal alternative that eliminates the costs and delays of probate and ensures that your loved ones will receive their inheritance promptly and exactly as you intended. It is also the only estate planning tool that allows you to plan for your own incapacity or for avoiding competency hearings. When The Living Trust was published in 1989, it quickly became the bible on how to avoid probate. This updated edition includes information on the new IRA Q-TIP Trust, the Spousal and Family Support Trust, and the Family Limited Partnership. In addition, there is new material on the Charitable Remainder Trust (to preserve a large estate), the Gift Trust (to reduce the impact of inflation), protection for the handicapped, and a checklist of more than 150 "must" provisions that separate a good Living Trust from a bad one. Also included is up-to-date information about trusts for unmarried couples, placing assets in your trust, what should never be placed in your trust, and much, much more. A nationally recognized authority on Living Trusts, Henry W. Abts III is chairman and founder of The Estate Plan, the nation's oldest and largest Living Trust production corporation, responsible for creating more than 25,000 Living Trusts. A graduate of the University of Southern California, Abts holds a master's degree from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

The Revocable Living Trust is an efficient and cost-effective estate planning tool, but settling a Revocable Living Trust isn't immediate, automatic, or free.In this booklet, you'll find seven steps that will take you from the moment you find out you've been named the trustee of your loved one's trust right through the day when all the money has been distributed and everyone is happy. These seven steps are all things your lawyer will tell you to do, so there's nothing secret in here. However, after your lawyer tells you these things, you have to go out on your own and get them all done. And--while you're out there on your own--your lawyer's clear direction will suddenly be fuzzy and hard to remember. That's where this booklet comes in. It's a step-by-step guide for family trustees written to guide you clearly and understandably so you can take care of your family.Steve Matteucci has degrees in Economics (BA), Law (JD), Taxation (LLM), and Theology (MDiv). He has been a lawyer, a trustee, and a pastor. As a lawyer, he wrote hundreds of trusts; as a trustee, he managed and settled many trusts; and as a pastor, he understands how hard it can be for families to deal with the business of death.