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Wills & Trusts Kit For Dummies
Navigate probate, tax issues, and state lawsCreate an estate plan and protect your family's interests
Need a will, but have no idea where to start? This friendly guide shows youhow to prepare a legal will or trust -- either on your own or with professional help -- and ensure that your wishes are honored. You'll handle everything from planning your bequests and writing and signing a will to selecting a trust and drafting your durable power of attorney.
Discover how to:
Provide for your children
Hire and work with professionals
Minimize tax liabilities
Amend or revoke a will or trust
Avoid common estate planning mistakes
Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.
Need a will, but have no idea where to start? This friendly guide shows youhow to prepare a legal will or trust -- either on your own or with professional help -- and ensure that your wishes are honored. You'll handle everything from planning your bequests and writing and signing a will to selecting a trust and drafting your durable power of attorney.
Discover how to:
Provide for your children
Hire and work with professionals
Minimize tax liabilities
Amend or revoke a will or trust
Avoid common estate planning mistakes
Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.
- GenresFinance
356 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 11, 2013
helpful checklists of considerations
accounts with beneficiaries bypass probate (exclude from will)
---forced me to develop a summary of these (Found that I hadn't identified some benef's)
---include with will to simplify Executor's task
CD forms incompatible with my Windows software (Vista)
spendthrift trust
for will suggest 3 witnesses and notary. (ditto trust)
residue clause (residuary)
include inventory of accounts & p-words
accounts with beneficiaries bypass probate (exclude from will)
---forced me to develop a summary of these (Found that I hadn't identified some benef's)
---include with will to simplify Executor's task
CD forms incompatible with my Windows software (Vista)
spendthrift trust
for will suggest 3 witnesses and notary. (ditto trust)
residue clause (residuary)
include inventory of accounts & p-words
April 15, 2017
This is not a good book. The information is factual without being especially helpful, overly detailed in areas that I found irrelevant or problematic morally (e.g., a LOT of detail about how to screw your exes and children from beyond the grave), and rather vague in other areas that might actually be useful (e.g., the costs/benefits of universal life insurance).
It was helpful insofar as it informed me of the differences in function of wills and trusts, the utility of durable power of attorney and of medical advocates and healthcare proxies (and also what these things are). One thing it could do better is to focus a bit more: It might have been better as two separate books — one for wills and one for trusts. I could have also done with a few more practical tips. E.g., there's discussion of finding multiple disinterested witnesses to your will, but not much discussion about how to find those people. It seems like a small detail but something as simple as, "a lot of people choose a lawyer, a friend and their pastor" would have been good. Or something like , "more than half of people choose x over y when z". You get a million ways to do things and not enough actual guidance, (facts not knowledge again). The part of tens and pitfalls sections did this well, but more throughout would have been better. Last, I really have to take issue with the discussion of insurance products here. They say universal is better but then give no logical explanation for why that's true. It's misleading and counter to the intention of the book to arm you against getting sold a bag of goods when you consult a lawyer or other expert while you are planning your estate.
In summary, worth a skim but not something I'd keep on your shelf.
It was helpful insofar as it informed me of the differences in function of wills and trusts, the utility of durable power of attorney and of medical advocates and healthcare proxies (and also what these things are). One thing it could do better is to focus a bit more: It might have been better as two separate books — one for wills and one for trusts. I could have also done with a few more practical tips. E.g., there's discussion of finding multiple disinterested witnesses to your will, but not much discussion about how to find those people. It seems like a small detail but something as simple as, "a lot of people choose a lawyer, a friend and their pastor" would have been good. Or something like , "more than half of people choose x over y when z". You get a million ways to do things and not enough actual guidance, (facts not knowledge again). The part of tens and pitfalls sections did this well, but more throughout would have been better. Last, I really have to take issue with the discussion of insurance products here. They say universal is better but then give no logical explanation for why that's true. It's misleading and counter to the intention of the book to arm you against getting sold a bag of goods when you consult a lawyer or other expert while you are planning your estate.
In summary, worth a skim but not something I'd keep on your shelf.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews