Street Smart Estate Planning

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.

An all-you-need-to-know introduction to ensuring that your wealth and wishes are protected and preserved for family and loved ones Smart Ways to determine what you are worth with a smart and easy step-by-step process Smart Advice on life insurance, power of attorney for health care and finances, long-term care insurance, and appointing a personal guardian for your children Smart Strategies on avoiding probate and how trusts can help you and your loved ones avoid costly legal fees and devastating estate taxes Smart Tips on what you should know when creating a will, deciding on a living will, and taking a hand in planning your funeral Quick reading and easy referencing with a comprehensive index and loads of sidebars and tables Smart Guides take readers seriously. They satisfy even the most curious person's desire to know the essentials about any of a wide range of topics—from vitamins to mutual funds to stress relief. It's all about good reading and expert information. The choice is yours.

The complexities of planning and administering an estate are clearly explained in this up-to-date and authoritative guide. This new edition covers the best techniques for transferring property through Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, gifting programs, paying grandchildren's medical and tuition expenses, and more. From wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and health care directives to probate and administering an estate, it's all here in easy-to-read, plain English. A five-step planning process details how to create and implement a sound estate plan.

"An invaluable tool to help you collect the information your attorney needs." —Michael Cragun, Utah State Tax Commissioner An Accessible Guide to Estate Planning With Estate Planning (in Plain English)®, readers will learn to comprehend the legal jargon and navigate the complex rules involved in preparing one’s estate. The authors provide clear information and cite actual cases to help readers approach the process with the confidence and knowledge they need to make the best decisions for their heirs. Chapters discuss important topics such as: Estate plans, wills, and a variety of trusts Guardians, powers of attorney, advance directives, and other essential documents Life insurance Digital assets Gifts Tax considerations Avoiding probate Identifying and caring for estate property Settling business assets Finding a lawyer An invaluable reference for those preparing their estates and for their families, Estate Planning (in Plain English)®will enable readers to take the necessary steps to preserve their legacies.

"If you are a member of a blended family, this is the handbook to enable your estate plan to assure that your financial wealth will lead to your family's future well-being. Read it, follow its wisdom and practices, and smile." —James (Jay) E. Hughes Jr, Author of Complete Family Wealth and Family: The Compact Among Generations

As parents, we spend our lives caring and providing for our children. However, many of us lack the foresight to create a plan that will ensure our children are supported even after we are gone. Parents neglect to handle their estates and affairs during their lifetime and leave their grieving children drowning in paperwork and tough decisions. It is even more demanding and grueling for stepchildren and members of blending families to sort through these estates. As a member of a blended family himself, tax attorney Paul Hood has pooled his personal and professional knowledge to create this comprehensive guide to estate planning for blended families. In Yours, Mine & Ours, Hood offers real-world advice while cover crucial topics such as:

• Property Ownership
• Documents for Planning
• Important Payers in Planning
• Challenges One will Face
• Words of Wisdom

When nearly 70% of estate plans yield unfavorable results for the family, the need for a meticulous estate plan cannot be overstated. Hood’s guide to estate planning will allow individuals to rest assured that their families are provided for thoroughly.

Let’s face it: you can't avoid death or taxes. But you can create an estate plan that will make both a whole lot easier for your loved ones and put you in control of how your assets will get passed to your heirs. Here, Wall Street Journal personal-finance reporter Rachel Emma Silverman walks you step-by-step through the process. Chock-full of clear and solid advice on how to get the most out of the main estate planning tools - including wills, trusts, life insurance, guardianship papers, and powers-of-attorney documents - the Wall Street Journal Complete Estate-Planning Guidebook will help make your estate-planning process as simple, smooth, and unintimidating as possible. This book will help you: · Clarify your estate-planning goals, such as dividing up property for heirs, reducing taxes or leaving money for charity · Understand the key estate-planning documents you’ll need, including wills, beneficiary-designation forms, powers-of-attorney and health-care advance directives · Decode the technical jargon that estate planners often use, so you feel comfortable discussing QTIPs and QPRTs when you sit down with your lawyer. · Reduce possible estate, gift or generation-skipping taxes and legal and probate fees – decreasing what goes to the tax man and increasing what goes to your heirs · Learn strategies to divide money and personal property among your heirs, and reduce the possibility of family fights · Discuss sensitive estate-planning issues with your family · Maintain your estate-plan over time, including how to store and when to update your documents With completely up-to-date information on how to navigate the new 2011 estate tax legislation, and thoughtful advice on how to handle your estate in complicated situations – like if you’re single, in a same-sex relationship, or wish to provide for children with special needs - this is the estae-planning guide for today’s messy and complicated world. One of the biggest estate planning mistakes people make, says Silverman, is waiting too long to start. Which is why the Wall Street Journal Complete Estate-Planning Guidebook isn’t just for those planning for retirement or their golden years. It’s for anyone, of any age, who wants the peace of mind of knowing that your wishes will be respected and your hard-earned money will get passed on as you would like.

"Patti Spencer has learned everything there is to know on this subject and has written down a good bit of it in this book. This is a tremendous help to individuals as they try to sort out their estate and tax planning needs." - Matthew J. Creme, Jr. Partner at Nikolaus & Hohenadel LLP, Former President of the PA Bar Association "When it comes to estate planning and tax law, there's simply no one better than Patti Spencer. She demystifies estate planning in a way that is accessible for all. Known for her no nonsense style and humor, this book is a must-have for anyone making their estate plans or just trying to understand the process." - Samuel Bressi, President & CEO of Lancaster County Community Foundation "I have read Patti Spencer's newspaper column on a weekly basis for several years now, and never tire of learning more about estate planning and tax law. Patti manages to take complicated issues and reduce them to their simplest form." - David Griffith, Former Business Editor at Intelligencer Journal We don't intend to neglect our estate and financial plans, but it is so easy to be overwhelmed with conflicting financial advice. Your Estate Matters will bring clarity to those pesky, rapidly changing tax laws and will provide you with the accurate information you need to properly manage your estate. Your Estate Matters offers a practical down-to-earth approach that explains the ins and outs of estate planning, tax savings, and other issues that directly affect your family's pocketbook: income tax, living wills, trusts, prenuptial agreements, college savings, and retirement planning. If you want to stay ahead of the curve, are ready to plan your own estate, have aging parents, or have recently retired, this is the book you need to read.

This is a simple, understandable Guide for New Yorkers that answers their questions concerning Estate Planning, Estate Administration, Wills, Living Trusts and the process to accomplish their goals.

Designed to raise people?s awareness of the need to plan for themselves and those they love. Whether they are tackling the subject for the first time or revising an existing plan, this book is an essential guide. Includes tax law changes effective in 2010 and how they apply to readers.