Table of Contents
Your Estate Planning Companion
Part I: Setting Your Goals
1. Selecting Your Estate Planning Goals
Part I: Setting Your Goals
Part II: Laying the Groundwork
Part III: Children
Part IV: Wills
Part V: Probate and How to Avoid It
Part VI: Understanding Estate and Gift Taxes
Part VII: Reducing or Eliminating Estate Taxes
Part VIII: Imposing Controls Over Property
Part IX: Taking Care of Personal Issues
Part X: Family Business Estate Planning
Part XI: Going Further
Part XII: Sample Estate Plans
2. Personal Concerns and Estate Planning
Avoiding Conflict
Leaving Unequal Amounts of Property to Children
Providing Care for Minor Children
Subsequent Marriages
Long-Term Care for a Child With Special Needs
Concerns of Unmarried Couples
Worries About the Effect of Inheriting Money
Disinheriting People, Including Children
Communicating Your Decisions to Family and Friends
Part II: Laying the Groundwork
3. Special Property Ownership Rules for Married People
What You Need to Know
Marital Property in Community Property States
Marital Property in Common Law States
Moving to a Different State
4. Inventorying Your Property
Instructions for the Property Inventory Worksheet
Your Property Worksheet
5. Your Beneficiaries
Types of Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Life Estate Beneficiaries and Final Beneficiaries
Alternate Beneficiaries
Residuary Beneficiaries
Gifts Shared by More Than One Beneficiary
Establishing a Survivorship Period
Explanations and Commentary Accompanying Gifts
Disinheritance
Simultaneous Death
Property You Give Away by Will or Trust That You
No Longer Own at Your Death
Part III: Children
6. Children
Naming Someone to Take Custody of Your Minor Children
Naming an Adult to Manage Your Child’s Property
How Your Children’s Property Should Be Managed
Tax-Saving Educational Investment Plans
Naming Children as Beneficiaries of Life Insurance
Leaving Property to Children Who Are Not Your Own
Disinheritance
Children Conceived After a Parent Dies
Part IV: Wills
7. Wills
A Will as the Centerpiece of Your Estate Plan
A Backup Will With a Comprehensive Estate Plan
What Makes a Will Legal?
Types of Wills
What Property Cannot Be Transferred by Will?
Explanatory Letters Accompanying Your Will
Can My Will Be Successfully Challenged?
Keeping Your Will Up to Date
Part V: Probate and How to Avoid It
8. Probate and Why You Want to Avoid It
What Is Probate?
Probate Fees
Avoiding Probate
When You May Want Probate
Debts, Taxes, and Probate Avoidance
Probate Reform
9. Living Trusts
Does Everyone Need a Living Trust?
Living Trusts Explained
Major Decisions in Creating a Living Trust
Creating a Valid Living Trust
Keeping Your Living Trust Up to Date
10. Joint Tenancy and Tenancy by the Entirety
What Is Joint Tenancy?
Joint Tenancy Bank Accounts
Joint Tenancy Safe Deposit Boxes
Tenancy by the Entirety
Joint Tenancy in Community Property States
Tax Concerns Affecting Joint Tenancy
Drawbacks of Joint Tenancy
When Joint Tenancy Makes Sense
Creating a Joint Tenancy for Property With Documents of Title
Creating Joint Tenancy for Personal Property
Without Documents of Title
11. Pay-on-Death Designations: Bank Accounts, Securities,
Stocks and Bonds, Motor Vehicles
Choosing Beneficiaries
Pay-on-Death Bank Accounts
Naming a Pay-on-Death Beneficiary for Government Securities
Naming a Beneficiary for Stocks and Bonds
Vehicle Registration
Transfer-on-Death Deeds for Real Estate
12. Life Insurance
Do You Need Life Insurance?
Types of Life Insurance
Life Insurance and Probate
Choosing Life Insurance Beneficiaries
Reducing Estate Tax by Transferring Ownership of Life Insurance Policies
13. Retirement Benefits
Social Security
Individual Retirement Plans
Pensions
When You Retire
Retirement Plans and Estate Planning
Using Disclaimers for Retirement Accounts
Probate and Taxes
14. State Law Exemptions From Normal Probate
Will Your Estate Qualify?
Using These Rules to Plan
Summary of State Law Exceptions to Normal Probate
California Exemptions From Normal Probate
New York Exemptions From Normal Probate
Texas Exemptions From Normal Probate
Florida Exemptions From Normal Probate
Part VI: Understanding Estate and Gift Taxes
15. Estate Taxes
Federal Estate Tax Exemptions
The Big Picture: Estate and Gift Taxes
Will Your Estate Have to Pay Taxes?
Calculating and Paying Estate Taxes
Reducing Federal Estate Taxes
The Federal Income Tax Basis of Inherited Property
State Inheritance and Estate Taxes
16. Gifts and Taxes
The Federal Gift Tax: An Overview
What Is a Gift?
How the Federal Gift Tax Works
Using Gifts to Reduce Estate Taxes
When Not to Give Property Away: Tax Basis Rules
Using Gifts to Reduce Income Taxes
Part VII : Reducing or Eliminating Estate Taxes
17. An Overview of Ongoing Trusts
Trusts to Reduce Estate Taxes
Ongoing Trusts Used to Control Property
Ongoing Trusts and Avoiding Probate
What Ongoing Trusts Can’t Do
When Ongoing Trusts Begin and End
The Trustee
Taxation of Ongoing Trusts
18. Estate Tax–Saving Bypass Trusts
Overview of Bypass Trusts
IRS Restrictions on Bypass Trusts
AB Trusts: Bypass Trusts for Married Couples
Bypass Trusts for Unmarried People
19. Other Estate Tax–Saving Marital Trusts
QTIP Trusts
Trusts for Noncitizen Spouses: QDOTs
Marital Deduction Trusts
20. Charitable Trusts
An Overview of Charitable Trusts
The Income Tax Deduction
A Closer Look at Charitable Remainder Trusts
A Closer Look at Charitable Lead Trusts
Types of Charitable Trusts: A Comparison
21. Other Estate Tax–Saving Trusts
Generation-Skipping Trusts (GSTT Trusts)
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
Grantor-Retained Interest Trusts: GRATs, GRUTs, and GRITs
22. Disclaimers: After-Death Estate Tax Planning
Advantages of Disclaimers
Disclaimers and AB Trusts
IRS Rules for Disclaimers
Including Disclaimers in Your Estate Plan
23. Combining Estate Tax–Saving Trusts
Combining Two Estate Tax–Saving Trusts
Combining a Charitable Trust With Other Estate Tax–Saving Trusts
Combining Three Different Estate Tax–Saving Trusts
Using Ongoing Trusts and Gift Giving to Reduce Estate Tax
Part VIII: Imposing Controls Over Property
24. Property Control Trusts for Second or
Subsequent Marriages
Evaluating Your Situation
How a Marital Property Control Trust Works
Restricting the Surviving Spouse’s Rights Over Trust Property
The Role of the Trustee
Savings on Estate Taxes
Working With a Lawyer
25. Trust and Other Devices for Imposing Controls
Over Property
Educational Trusts
Trusts for People With Special Needs
Spendthrift Trusts
Sprinkling Trusts
Trusts to Manage Your Own Property
Powers of Appointment
Combining a Property Control Trust With Estate Tax-Saving Trusts
Part IX: Taking Care of Personal Issues
26. Incapacity: Making Medical and Financial Decisions
Medical Decisions
Financial Decisions
Guardianships and Conservatorships
27. Body and Organ Donation, Funerals, and Burials
Making Your Own Choices
Leaving Written Instructions
Donating Your Body or Organs
Death Notices
Services and Ceremonies Following a Death
Funerals
Cremation
Burials
Part X: Family Business Estate Planning
28. Family Business Estate Planning
Operation of the Business
Reducing Estate Taxes
Avoiding Probate of a Family Business
Part XI: Going Further
29. Using Lawyers
Hiring a Lawyer
Doing Your Own Research
30. After You Complete Your Estate Plan
Storing Your Estate Planning Documents
Revising Your Estate Plan
31. After a Death Occurs
Wills
Probate-Avoidance Living Trusts
Ongoing Trusts for Estate Tax Savings or Property Management
Preparing and Filing Tax Returns
Trustee’s Reports to Beneficiaries
Collecting the Proceeds of a Life Insurance Policy
Obtaining Title to Joint Tenancy Property
Part XII: Sample Estate Plans
32. Some Estate Plans
A Prosperous Couple in Their 60s and 70s
A Wealthy Couple in Their 70s
A Single Man in His 60s
A Younger Couple
A Single Woman in Her 30s
A Widow in Her 80s
A Couple in Their 60s, in a Second Marriage
An Unmarried Couple in Their 40s
Glossary
Appendix A: State Inheritance Tax Rules
Index
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