Plan Your Estate

Planning your estate is one of the most complicated endeavors you'll ever undertake, yet its results are also the most far-reaching; after all, it will continue to affect those you care about long after you no longer can. So it's worth understanding all the options and ramifications, being personally involved, and doing it right. This Nolo Press guide to estate planning is an excellent source of information on the many various details and considerations that you need to take into account--such as children and probate, estate and gift taxes, second marriages, and a wide variety of trust options (charitable, generation-skipping, spendthrift, living, and educational, for starters). It delves into the factors that affect married people versus single, the laws regarding children, types of beneficiaries and wills, plus joint tenancy, life insurance, retirement benefits, taxes, and organ donation. Showing a number of sample estate plans, explaining what hiring a lawyer can do for you (and how to choose a good one), how to do your own research, and including a glossary of estate-planning terms, Clifford and Jordan give you the tools to decide for yourself how you want your estate disposed of--and to make sure that's what your legal documents reflect. --Stephanie Gold

Reviews

Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2010-09-03
Summary: "Great resource book"

This book is a great resource, especially if you are using "Quicken WillMaker Plus," which is actually produced by NOLO. This book will answer a lot of questions, especially when you are trying to make out your will. There are chapters on "Inventorying Your Property," "Your Beneficiaries," "Children," "Wills," and "Probate and Why You Want to Avoid it," to name just a few. Despite the fact most of us do not want to discuss it, there is also a very helpful chapter on "Body and Organ Donations, Funerals, and Burials." If you have specific wishes, you need to make them known in the proper legal way.

In addition to a lot of general information, there is "State" specific information, so if you live in Florida, or Alaska, you will know what is permitted in your State.

Throughout the book, simple examples are used to better explain a topic, such as "Estate and Gift Taxes." Taxes are not easily understood without examples.

The final chapter of the book is a series of sample estate plans for different life situations, which will be helpful for you determine what you will need in your estate plan. Following this chapter is an extensive Glossary for a quick reference to the majority of legal terms used in Estate Planning.

All in all, a useful book whether you plan to use a lawyer, a computer program, or do it yourself. It helps you understand all that is involved, items to think about, and what the laws (Federal and State) require.

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-08-19
Summary: "clarity in the jungle!!!"

estate planning is, well, i guess a hobby of mine. i'm not an attorney. this book is on the long side, but then, the tax codes are incredibly long and complex. it's too much for a normal person to comprehend. most attorneys are highly competent and conscientious, but a few are not at times. is my attorney giving my case his or her undivided attention / knowledge / skills, or not? i've used this book as a way of assessing the information that my attorney tells me. fortunately, the stuff told to me matches the information in this book, so, i won't be attorney shopping in the near future. so, why is it important to plan your estate? because i want to specify where i want my $$$ to go - places like the national multiple sclerosis society, colleges, churches, decendents. the government, while i think it is vital, i feel does not deserve the 55% or so that it has historically taken from moderate sized estates. if you've ever been to an italian restaurant and you attempted to untangle the strands of spaghetti, you know how difficult it is to, likewise, untangle tax law. in this effort, mr. clifford does an outstanding job! based on what i've read in the past, the information is consistent with other sources. he manages to write in an upbeat manner, not easy in estate law. for any reader with any net estate beyond, say, insurance, or those with considerations, say, a chronically-ill adult child for whom a trust is necessary, i strongly recommend that you get this book and really read it. each of us will spend about 80,000 hours of our lives working. if we're smart and lucky investors, this book can save us the equivalent of years and years of working! i'm imagining that federal tax code will change pretty soon which, i hope, the author will further explain to us. it is highly recommended and i give this work a solid "A".

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-08-19
Summary: "An excellent resource for estate planning"

I've used this in conjunction with several other excellent Nolo books:

The Trustee's Legal Companion: A Step-by-Step Guide to Administering a Living Trust

8 Ways to Avoid Probate

Make Your Own Living Trust

They are all excellent books and depending on what you are trying to do, you might get by with just one, but I've found it handy to be able to use "Plan Your Estate" as my main guide and using the others for more details. This doesn't replace real legal advice, but it can help you focus on what you really need to do which will save you money in the long run.

By preparing in advance you can easily cut your legal fees by half or more and frankly, avoid getting more legal "help" than you need (for example why set up a living trust for a small estate if state law already lets you by-pass probate?). Overall an excellent book that I wouldn't imagine approaching estate planning without.

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-07-25
Summary: "Book on estate planning"

I wanted a book which would lay out the basics, and which would have information about a specific case--what happens if one's spouse is not a US citizen, and one dies--there are issues about the marital estate tax exemption and whether it applies or not. This book discusses this topic and others in a clear way.

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-07-13
Summary: "Great Book to Have When Planning Your Estate"

This is another of the NOLO Press series of legal books that does an excellent job of explaining how to deal with legal matters.

Plan Your Estate is 539 pages long and contains 32 chapters. It follows a formula used in other NOLO Press books that includes basic information, shaded boxes that address specific topics, caution boxes that warn of matters to be especially aware of, specific examples of what is being addressed, boxes that send you to other resources and areas where legal advice should be sought.

Under Wills for example there is a special one page shaded area talking about picking an executor and a resource box on ethical wills with a website that has free information. There are a couple of caution boxes including one of what to do if you live overseas when preparing a will and don't have a connection to a specific state. There are a number of seek an expert boxes addressing people creating wills that will likely be contested or if you want to create a pet trust.

At the back of the book there is an appendix looks at state inheritance tax rules, there is a great glossary and a very good index as well.

This is a great book to get if you are planning your estate.