How to Properly Plan Your 'Total' Estate with a Living Trust, Without the Lawyer's Fees : The National Living Trust Kit,9780932704542

How to Properly Plan Your 'Total' Estate with a Living Trust, Without the Lawyer's Fees : The National Living Trust Kit

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Edition: Revised
ISBN13: 9780932704542
ISBN10: 0932704549
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2001-02-01
Publisher(s): Do It Yourself Legal Pub
List Price: $30.95

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Summary

Offers sample forms and worksheets for preparing a living trust, will, and other documents for estate planning.

Table of Contents

Foreword: The Publisher's Message i
How to Use This Manual 1(1)
Introduction The Living Trust as One Primary Tool in a ``Total'' Estate Plan Scheme
The Purpose or Purposes of Estate Planning
2(1)
Different Tools Are Used To Achieve Different Estate Planning Objectives
2(1)
The Estate Planning Tools & Devises Primarily Considered in This Manual
2(1)
The Fundamental Philosophy of Estate Planning in This Manual: Use of the Trust in Combination with Other Tools in a ``Total'' or Complete Estate Plan Scheme
3(1)
Let's Get the Background Information Straight First: The Trust Basics
What is a Trust?
4(1)
The `Living Trust' Versus the `Testamentary Trust'
5(1)
Trusts May Be Created For Just About Any Purpose
5(1)
The Many Advantages of the Living Trust
6(3)
Probate Avoidance
6(1)
Flexibility: It Can Be Designed For Income & Inheritance
6(1)
Professional Management of Assets
6(1)
A Trust is Far Less Subject to Court Contest or Challenge
6(1)
Trust Property is Less Subject to Attachment
7(1)
Trust Allows for Quicker, Almost Immediate Payout of Inheritance to Beneficiaries
7(1)
It Maintains Confidentiality & Privacy of Affairs and Records
7(1)
Ability to Change Provisions as Often as Desired
7(1)
Centralization of Management
7(1)
Virtually Any State Can Be Your `Home' State
7(1)
Ability to Test Out Your Trust Provisions or Management While You're Alive
7(1)
Tremendous Savings in Administrative and Probate Costs & Expenses
8(1)
Some Common Myths About Trusts
9(2)
That Only Wealthy People Need to Have a Trust
9(1)
That With a Trust, You Lose Control of Your Property
9(1)
That With a Trust You Can totally Avoid Taxes
9(1)
That You Can Avoid Probate With Any Kind of Trust Whatsoever
9(1)
That You Can Use a Trust to Avoid Paying Your Legitimate Debts
9(1)
That Everyone Should Have a Trust
9(1)
That If You Have a Trust, You Don't Need a Will
10(1)
The Primary Estate Planning Reason Why You Should Have a Revocable Living Trust: To Aviod Probate
Should You---Must You---Have a Living Trust & Why?
11(1)
Why Avoid Probate?
11(1)
Now, The Good News: You Can Easily Avoid The Dreaded Agony of Probate By Simply Having a Living Trust
12(3)
Other Probate Avoidance Methods of Transfer Used in Estate Planning, and When They May Just Be the Proper Tools for You
The Trust Is By No Means The Only Method for Probate Avoidance Available
15(1)
Major Other Methods For Avoiding Probate
15(3)
Jointly Held Property
15(1)
United States Bonds
16(1)
Life Insurance
16(1)
Employment Benefits, Pension Fund and Death Benefits
16(1)
Pay-on-Death Bank Accounts (The Totten Trust)
17(1)
Life-time Gift Making
17(1)
The Living Trust Device May Not Suit Every One Or Every Situation
18(2)
Some Specific Situations When The Living Trust May Not Necessarily Be The Best Device
20(4)
Simplified small estate category of people
20(1)
When you already have your property in other probate avoidance forms that are as effective
21(1)
When you may just be too young or own so little property to need a trust
22(1)
When a Will, and not a trust, may be all you really need because of your special needs
23(1)
The Concept Of `Total' Estate Planning Approach
24(1)
A Prudent General Principle of Estate Planning: Employ Particular Probate Avoidance Tool Or Tools Depending On Each Individual's Needs And Situations
25(1)
Major Factors You'll Have to Consider and Decide on in Establishing a Living Trust
Basic Trust Terminology
26(2)
The Grantor
26(1)
The Trust Res
26(1)
Per Capita
26(1)
Per Stirpes
27(1)
Blood or Adopted (Child)
28(1)
Issue
28(1)
The Essential Elements and Formalities of A Living Trust
28(1)
Creator's intent in creating the trust
28(1)
Picking out specific property or assets to put in the trust
28(1)
Having a valid purpose for a trust
28(1)
Choosing and naming a trustee
28(1)
Name more than one beneficiary
28(1)
Identify the trust with a federal I.D. number, if necessary
29(1)
The Trust Team
29(6)
The trustee
29(1)
The back-up or successor trustee
30(1)
The Ideal Qualities to Look for in a Good Back-up Trustee
30(2)
Alternate back-up trustee
32(1)
A final point on picking a trustee or back-up trustee
32(1)
The beneficiaries and alternate beneficiaries
32(1)
The spouse
32(1)
The children's trust, if appropriate
33(1)
Appointment of a children's guardian
33(2)
Allocation And Distribution Of Assets
35(4)
When, exactly, is the specified inheritance to be distributed?
35(1)
In what form is the distribution to be made?
35(1)
Allocation to children
35(1)
Distribution of income or assets?
36(1)
Per capita or per stirpes distribution?
36(1)
Possibility of divorce & inheritance in the midst of divorce
36(1)
Providing for loans for older children
36(1)
Providing for special needs of children
36(1)
Gifts to charities
37(1)
What kind of living trust to create
37(1)
Disinheriting someone
37(1)
Pets as beneficiaries
37(2)
The `A-B' or `A-B-C' Types of Living Trust: How to Reduce Your Federal Estate Taxes if You are in a `Large' Estate Bracket
Tax Reduction Or Minimization As An Estate Planning Objective
39(1)
Income Taxes As Compared To Death Or Estate Taxes
39(1)
Income Taxes
39(1)
Estate and inheritance taxes (``Death Taxes'')
39(1)
What Is Your `Net' Estate Worth?
40(1)
The Marital Deduction Provision
41(1)
An Estate Tax-Saving Solution: The A-B Living Trust
42(1)
What Is An A-B Trust?
42(1)
Here's How The A-B Trust Works In Practice
43(1)
Summary Of The Advantages of A-B Living Trust
44(1)
Estate tax savings
44(1)
No probate fees or expenses
44(1)
Assures control of one's property, and that one's wishes as to inheritance will be fulfilled
44(1)
Protection of assets in event of catastropic illness
45(1)
Usable to make provision for income and maintenance for surviving spouse
45(1)
Appreciation in value of assets in trust B is estate tax-free
45(1)
Estate Tax Savings Realizable by Use of A-B Living Trust, As Compared To Use Of Will Or A Regular ``A'' Type Of Living Trust
45(2)
Some Disadvantages Of The A-B Trust
47(2)
Lack of flexibility or complete control of trust assets
47(1)
Problems associated with income taxes and estate taxes
48(1)
Complexity: it requires major considerations and determinations
48(1)
Concern about effect of the living trust in case of a divorce
49(1)
The A-B-C Trust
49(2)
The Three Types of Living Trusts: Who Should Use The ``A'', The ``A-B'', Or The ``A-B-C'' Trust?
51(1)
The ``A'' Trust
51(1)
The ``A-B'' Trust
52(1)
The ``A-B-C'' Trust
52(1)
Here's How The A-B-C Trust Works In Practice
52(2)
Summary Of The Advantages Of The A-B-C Trust
54(1)
The Estate Information Organizer Worksheet
55(178)
Let's Draw Up the Trust Creation Papers: The Step-By-Step Procedures
Some Helpful Practical Procedures For Working Out A Good Living Trust Plan
63(1)
Some Relevant General Information For Drafting The Papers
64(1)
Drawing Up The Trust-Creating Document: The Declaration Of Trust
65(2)
Which one of the three forms of living trust do you need?
65(1)
By what state rules to be governed
65(1)
Let's actually complete your living trust declaration form
65(1)
What to do when you've completed making up the draft copy of your declaration of trust
66(1)
You've got to sign and notarize your declaration document before a notary public
67(1)
Next Order Of Business: Transfer The Trust Property Into The Trust
67(6)
The extreme significance of actually transferring the trust property into the trust
67(1)
How much of your total wealth & property do you put in the trust?
68(1)
General practical principles of transferring property
68(1)
property having no documents of ownership
69(1)
Property that generally have documents of ownership
69(1)
Here's how to transfer specific trust assets
70(1)
safe deposit boxes
70(1)
business interests
70(1)
corporations
70(1)
sole proprietorships
70(1)
partnerships
70(1)
transfer of real property
70(2)
transfer of bank, brokerage and financial accounts
72(1)
transfer of securities or stock market or mutual fund accounts
72(1)
transfer of motor vehicles
73(1)
transfer of other real assets having documents of title
73(1)
A Final Word On The Transferring Of Property Into The Trust
73(1)
Form LT-I, Declaration of Trust - A Sample Form for An ``A'' Trust
74(6)
Form LT-II, Declaration of Trust - A Sample Form for An ``A'' Trust
80(10)
Form LT-III, Declaration of Trust - A Sample Form for An ``A-B'' Trust
90(11)
Form LT-IV, Declaration of Trust - A Sample Form for An ``A-B-C'' Trust
101(9)
Forms---sample forms for transfer of property to the trust
110(11)
The Operation of the Trust, Revocation of the Trust, & Settling of the Estate
To Change The Trust Property Or Beneficiaries
121(1)
Substitution Of a Trustee Or Successor Trustee
121(1)
Assumption Of Authority By Successor Trustee
121(1)
Revocation Of The Living Trust By The Grantor
122(2)
Revocation of the trust simply to end it
122(1)
Voluntary termination or revocation of the trust and transfer of trust property back to oneself
123(1)
Sign the revocation and transfer documents and record them, if applicable
123(1)
Involuntary Termination or Revocation Of Trust And Transfer Of trust Property To Beneficiaries Upon Surviving Grantor's Death
124(2)
Successor trustee signs the transfer documents, and records them, if applicable
125(1)
Forms -- Sample forms for transfer of property to trust beneficiaries
126(14)
A Few Extra Estate Planning Instruments You Should Have for a `Total' Estate Plan Protection
The extra tools we shall consider in this chapter
140(1)
Back-up, Pour Over Will - a sample form
140(1)
The Living Will
140(1)
Durable Financial and Medical Power of Attorney
140(1)
Drawing Up The Back-up or Pour-over Will
140(2)
``Execution'' (Signing) of the Will---the procedures
141(1)
The Living Will
142(1)
Drawing Up The Durable Financial and Medical Power of Attorney
143(2)
Execution (signing) of the Living Will and/or Durable Power of Attorney
145(2)
How To Revoke Your Living Will and/or Durable Power of Attorney
147(1)
Forms---sample forms for Back-up Will, Living Will & Durable Power of Attorney
148(11)
The Settling of Your Trust Estate: Here's How You must Organize Your Estate Now, or Your Trustee Still won't be Spared the Agony of Probate Later!
Having The Living Trust Is Not Enough; To Complete The Circle, You Must Organize Your Estate Also
159(1)
Use of the Estate Information Organizer Worksheet And the Final Operational Instructions For Settling. The Estate
160(1)
General Instructions On Completing The Two Forms
161(1)
``The Estate Records Book' Binder
161(2)
Form LT-102---Sample Form of ``The Final Operational Instructions To The Trustee/Successor Trustee For Settling The Estate''
163(2)
Trustee's Checklist of Duties
165(6)
Some Few Other Estate Tax-Saving Tools You May Consider, To Supplement Your Living Trust
Other Tax-Saving Devices Beyond The A-B or A-B-C Trust
171(1)
Life Insurance: An Overview
171(1)
The Purposes for Having Life Insurance
172(1)
Who Really Needs To Have Life Insurance
172(1)
What Is The ``Right'' Amount Of Life Insurance
173(2)
But Here's the Even Bigger Problem: Can You Afford It?
175(1)
Using the Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust As A Device for Estate Tax-Saving
176(9)
Situation when using this special kind of Life Insurance may be advisable
177(2)
How to set up your life insurance trust
179(1)
Can You live with the restrictions and other terms?
180(1)
To set up a life insurance trust, simply follow the following procedures, step-by-step
180(1)
How to fund the Insurance Trust
181(4)
Using Lifetime Gift-Making As an Estate Tax-Saving Device
185(2)
The advantage of this Method
185(1)
Major Disadvantages of this Method: Can You Really Afford to Permanently Part with the Gifts?
185(1)
What are the consequences if you give a gift worth in excess of $10,000?
186(1)
APPENDICES
A. Summary of the Basic Trust Rules & Requirements in All 50 States & Other Jurisdictions
187(24)
B. Schedule of Trust Assets
211(3)
C. Look, Chances Are You May Just Not Have An Estate Tax `Problem,' in the First Place
214(10)
D. Glossary of Estate & Legal Terms
224(6)
E. Some Relevant Bibliography
230(1)
F. Ordering Your Blank Forms for Creating Your Living Trust Estate Plan
231(1)
G. Publications From Do-It-Yourself Legal Publishers
232(1)
Readers Opinion Sheet 233(1)
Index 234

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