The Living Trust : The Failproof Way to Pass along Your Estate to Your Heirs
If you are concerned about estate planning you may be surprised that, even with a will, the probate system can eat up as much as 10 percent of an inheritance and delay the process two years. In The Living Trust, noted living trust authority Henry Abts presents 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. This new edition has been completely updated...
Search in google:
The Bible on How to Avoid Probate, Revised and Updated"[The Living Trust] 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 TribuneYou 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? 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 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. The Living Trust—the bible of how to avoid probate—will show you how to take full advantage of this critical estate-planning tool. This updated edition of The Living Trust includes the latest information on trust formations, tax changes, distribution rules, and more. It also offers: Insight into abuses within the probate system Advice on how to protect your business, savings, and retirement funds from frivolous lawsuits The effects of the Economic Growth and Tax Reconciliation Act of 2001 on estate tax, gift tax, the generation-skipping tax, and stepped-up valuation Sample and ancillary documents, including the estate preservation and tax-saving documents, the living will, and costs of living trust, all updated to reflect the latest tax changes and living trust requirements 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 60,000 living trusts. Library Journal While not a new concept, the living trust as a form of estate planning is not well known to the general public. Abts joins a chorus of experts recommending this device, which largely replaces a will and avoids passing property through probate. This is a detailed and competent, if somewhat stolid, presentation. Readers may get bogged down in matters such as the tax consequences of holding joint property before they reach anything substantive on living trusts. Robert A. Esperti and Renno L. Peterson's Loving Trust ( LJ 6/15/88) is a better organized and a more engagingly written treatment of this topic. Nevertheless, Abts is somewhat more thorough, and his book can be recommended to libraries where interest is high.-- Jack Ray, Loyola/Notre Dame Lib., Baltimore
PrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1Lest We Forget12The Agony of Probate93The Million-Dollar Lawsuit, or What Price Integrity?234Joint Tenancy: A Poor Alternative375Estate and Inheritance Taxes496The Living Trust vs. a Will597Understanding the Living Trust858Parties to the Trust1139Allocation and Distribution of Assets12310Separating the Good from the Bad13911Ancillary Documents15912Estate Preservation and Tax-Saving Documents17513Organizing Your Estate20314Funding Your Trust for Life22115Settling the Estate23916Determining Your Net Worth26117Creating Your Estate Plan27118Appropriate Costs of the Living Trust and Accompanying Documents27719Conclusion283App. AComparison of Death Costs: Loving Will vs. Living Trust for Single Person with A Trust287App. BComparison of Death Costs: Loving Will vs. Living Trust for Married Couple with A Trust299App. CComparison of Death Costs: Loving Will vs. Living Trust for Married Couple with A-B Trust307App. DComparison of Death Costs: Loving Will vs. Living Trust for Married Couple with A-B-C Trust319App. EComparison of Death Costs: Testamentary Trust vs. Living Trust for Married Couple with A-B Trust325App. FComparison of Death Costs: Testamentary Trust vs. Living Trust for Married Couple with A-B-C Trust335App. GEverything You Always Wanted to Know About the Living Trust - But Were Afraid to Ask339App. HAmerican Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Study359App. IFact vs. Fallacy: Misrepresentation by Will and Probate Attorneys363App. JMost Attorneys Are Not That Well Versed in the Living Trust381App. K: Private Letter Ruling389Index395
\ Library JournalWhile not a new concept, the living trust as a form of estate planning is not well known to the general public. Abts joins a chorus of experts recommending this device, which largely replaces a will and avoids passing property through probate. This is a detailed and competent, if somewhat stolid, presentation. Readers may get bogged down in matters such as the tax consequences of holding joint property before they reach anything substantive on living trusts. Robert A. Esperti and Renno L. Peterson's Loving Trust ( LJ 6/15/88) is a better organized and a more engagingly written treatment of this topic. Nevertheless, Abts is somewhat more thorough, and his book can be recommended to libraries where interest is high.-- Jack Ray, Loyola/Notre Dame Lib., Baltimore\ \
