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    Estate Planning Basics
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    Estate Planning Basics
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    Estate Planning Basics
    Ebook324 pages3 hours

    Estate Planning Basics

    By Denis Clifford

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    This book provides concise, straightforward, and easy-to-read information about the major components of estate planning – without going into endless detail about arcane options that apply only to the wealthy. Topics include:
    • choosing beneficiaries
    • estate planning by parents with minor children
    • wills
    • living trusts
    • avoiding probate
    • trusts for people in a second marriage, and
    • planning for incapacity.
    Best-selling Nolo author Denis Clifford uses plain-English to make these estate planning issues easy to understand, and he lets you know which tasks you can handle yourself, and when you’ll need a lawyer’s help.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNOLO
    Release dateAug 22, 2017
    ISBN9781413324495
    Unavailable
    Estate Planning Basics
    Author

    Denis Clifford

    Denis Clifford, a graduate of Columbia Law School, where he was an editor of The Law Review, is a lawyer who specializes in estate planning. He is the author of many Nolo titles, including Quick and Legal Will Book, Make Your Own Living Trust and Plan Your Estate and coauthor of A Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples. He has been interviewed by such major media as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Money Magazine.

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    Reviews for Estate Planning Basics

    4/5

    5 ratings12 reviews

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    • 5/5
      The topic is something everyone of a certain age needs to consider. If you have any real estate or investments that should be transferred to your heirs upon your demise, this book is a clear, easy-to-understand survey of the topic. It is a hard subject to force oneself to think about, because it means planning for a time when you will not be around. But your loved ones probably will be, and they will be glad you thought of this. This is revision 4 of the book, so the information is up-to-date. I got this book just before taking a class on Living Trusts, so it was and is very a propos. I'm working my way through the book's recommendations. We will likely consult a lawyer for some of our estate planning, but this book provides enough of an introduction to the topic that we will not need to spend our money on a lawyer's time for him to educate us about what our options are, and what basic terms like "probate" mean. Recommended to get the reader "up to speed" on the terms, concepts, and basis for estate planning.
    • 5/5
      NOLO books are always excellent, and this one is no exception. I even enjoy its smaller size because it's easier to handle.This actually came to us at a really good time because now that many of our friends and family are having kids they are beginning to think about what would happen if they were to pass away. It has a nice large section just on Children.It also does a good job explaining wills and living trusts, and ways to help avoid probate. The back has several estate plan examples for people in different situations in life.I always recommend NOLO books 100%. If you are in the beginning stages of planning for your estate pick up this book.
    • 4/5
      A solid introduction to Estate Planning, it covers all the basics well. I went into the book with no knowledge of estate planning, just knowing that I needed a will for our expectant first child. After reading the book I feel comfortable with the lingo of estate planning and know what documents I need for my family. I wish it went into more depth in some areas, but I also appreciate that it was short and an easy read. Also filled with many good example.
    • 4/5
      I classify NOLO's legal books in two broad categories: broad and shallow vs. narrow and deep. Purchasers of this book, as its title should indicate, will get a broad and shallow, "basic" introduction to estate planning. I don't hesitate to recommend this book to someone starting out in total ignorance who is thinking about estate planning. However, this book is not designed, nor is it intended, to allow someone to establish a well ordered estate. It is more of a broad outline useful for establishing relevant concepts and vocabulary. To properly set up your estate, you'll either need to consult with a professional in the field, and/or purchase some of NOLO's other "narrow and deep" works on related subjects (e.g., 8 Ways to Avoid Probate). I think that after reading this work, someone wishing to consult with a professional should be able to converse with some clarity as to what is desired.This fairly slim book (well, around 200 pages is slim for me, especially considering the topic) is organized clearly and written in a straight forward manner. The single brief appendix, gives six, fairly short examples of estate plans. These plans tie things together and are nice leaping off points for exploring more specific goals (again, by consulting with a professional or via further research). This is a useful work, but don't consider it a stand-alone reference. This book really is about "estate planning BASICS."
    • 5/5
      I have been fortunate to receive several NOLO books from the LibraryThing early reviewer program and this book on estate planning is just as wonderful as the others.This book is very approachable, only a little scary and definitely worth purchasing if you own anything you care about or have any family.I say it is a little scary and that is only because the subject itself is scary - it deals with planning for a time when you are no longer you.The author speaks in plain English and keeps the legal mumbo-jumbo to himself. In places where the book may not be detailed enough for certain situations an additional reference is given for more reading.I was surprised to find that even though this book is written to apply to readers in every state, in a lot of cases the author was able to include major state variations in policy without cluttering up the subject. It's very easy to know from the title of the section if it applies to you. If you don't live in that state you skip it and move on.I am going to pass this copy on to my father who has yet to write a will or think about his estate - he seems to feel since he has little money that it isn't necessary, but perhaps in those cases it is even MORE necessary and I hope he'll understand that.Bite the bullet, pick up this book and plan for the future.
    • 4/5
      I have to confess, I wasn't exactly thrilled when this showed up in my mailbox as my most recent LibraryThing Early Reviewer book, but I realized that everyone should own a book like this. The subject is one most people don't want to deal with, and most people are blown away when faced with the technicalities and legal aspects of death. I found this book to be well organized and not filled with too much legal-speak. And the fact that it is VERY current, is the most important aspect of the book. (Now I want to go back to getting NOVELS from LibraryThing so I don't have to think about DEATH anymore...)
    • 4/5
      A simple to use estate planning guide. It is perfect for those who may not have previously had exposure to the process. The author does a nice job of illustrating the need for certain elements. It does not attempt to be inclusive of all scenarios and is perfect for a first go at estate planning.
    • 4/5
      This book is precisely as advertised – a simple to read, well organized primer on the basic elements of an estate plan. Each chapter begins with a short overview of the topic to be covered – beneficiaries, children, and wills for example. The language is relatively simple, yet not patronizing. Within each topic, more concise subheadings introduce a short discussion of that subtopic. None of these are very long, ranging from a single paragraph to a couple of pages. Specialized related topics are discussed in highlighted boxes. Resources for further information – usually Nolo products - are also lined out. Nolo’s underlying philosophy is that consumers usually don’t need attorneys. Instead, through fill-in-the-blank forms and checklists (offered, of course, by Nolo online, for a fee), the consumer is told repeatedly that an attorney is unnecessary for “most” estate plan situations. From time to time, the author will opine that a reader with a certain type of problem or needing a specialized kind of legal document needs to see an attorney. I’m a huge fan of demystifying the law. I believe that legalese isn’t necessary (and that some attorneys use it to appear learned), and that most people can represent themselves or draw up a simple will. On the other hand, law is full of pitfalls, even for those of us who passed the bar exam. A consumer who fails to study this very carefully may make a problem, rather than solve one. A concern for me is that I don’t believe that the information in this book is always sufficient for a consumer to *identify* an issue that could be problematic. Otherwise, I have only one little quibble with the content. That was the author’s failure to even mention the existence, let along the effect, of Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs) on the distribution of retirement funds post-divorce. [Full disclosure - I am an attorney. One of the things I really liked about this volume was that it covers the same topics as a first-year law student’s probate class, vastly simplified. I’d forgotten how much ground gets covered!]
    • 4/5
      NOLO did it again! Estate Planning is a fine addition to any library. Their books are easy to follow and full of useful information. One of the things I like best about NOLO books are that you don’t need to read them cover to cover to gain useful knowledge. Each chapter can be read any time you need more information or you can read the whole book to gain a detail review at the book’s topic. This book’s topic, Estate Planning, gives you the basic information needed to save you time, worry and money while maintaining a well thought out estate. Now is the time that each of us need to think about our estates and how to avoid probate. I got this book from LibraryThing as part of their book give away.
    • 3/5
      NOLO publishes business and legal guides that are consistently easy to comprehend and helpful to the layperson. This 7th edition of Estate Planning Basics is straightforward in it's organization and in the advice that it offers.If you've avoided dealing with estate planning, the book does give some steps that can be implemented as you're still deciding how best to allocate whatever assets you might have. Here are a few of the things that I found particularly helpful:(1) the description of different ways to transfer property (wills, living trusts, pay-on-death accounts for bank deposits and securities, transfer-on-death real estate deeds, transfer-on-death vehicle registration, joint tenancy, tenancy by entirety) some of which can be undertaken without necessarily hiring an attorney;(2) Estate Planning Basics - doesn't cover all the different scenarios and instead suggests a variety of NOLO books for more specialized concerns such as blended families, families with young children, online living trusts, special needs trusts, trusts for pets, planning for long term care, etc. (3) shared gifts - raises questions re: partitioning, whether the beneficiaries should sell the property or share ongoing ownership of the property.(4) "dead hand" controls -trying to impose conditions that control use or gifting of the property after you die - whether to keep property within the family or giving the gift only under some conditions, or control the property for a set period of time.(5) suggesting couples use a survivorship clause or a simultaneous death clause in their wills(6) legal challenges and lawsuits against your estate(7) drafting an ethical will as a separate document. An ethical will is a document through which someone expresses the beliefs and experiences that have mattered most in his/her life and while this can be valuable both to the person writing it and to his/her heirs, they recommend that you use a separate document for your ethical will so that it is not joined with the practical details of the will or trust and managing material assets.(8) the importance of creating a UTMA (Uniform Trust for Minors Act) trust for minor children or a family pot trust and their benefits over assigning a "property guardian" to manage the minor children's property.(9) the value of tax-saving educational investment plans (529 plans) and Coverdell accounts for families with young children.(10) Spendthrift trusts for adult children(11) Suggestions re: ways to leave gifts for other people's children depending on the value of the gift, etc.(12) Planning for incapacity, medical care and finances: discusses and compares the living will, durable power of attorney, advance health care directive, health care agent, attorney in fact for finances, springing power of attorney, durable power of attorney for finances. Also discussed are DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) orders and POLST Forms (Physician's Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment).(13) the discussion on the types of legal wills such as the holographic (handwritten) wills (which the author does not recommend), pour over wills (also not recommended), statutory wills (only recommended for uncomplicated situations), electronic wills (only valid in Nevada), oral wills (also not recognized in most states), and video wills (not recognized). (14) discussion of how all property left by will must go through the expensive process of probate. The author discusses the importance of having the will be part of one's larger estate plan. Overall, Estate Planning Basics, is good at what it does insofar as it gives the reader a broad perspective on estate planning. It's likely a good beginning book to help someone develop an understanding of the possible issues and find resources geared towards his/her specific needs.The main reason that I only gave the book 3 stars is that more than other NOLO books, this Estate Planning Basics, focuses and is limited to an overview. While Atty. Clifford discusses a variety of scenarios and fact patterns, the book doesn't have sample forms for the reader to use. Admittedly, sample forms may do more harm than good as it may encourage readers to undertake drafting these documents on their own without fully reflecting or comprehending the importance of certain choices. Another negative is that the section on same-sex marriages hasn't been updated to reflect the changes in federal law. ISBN-10: 1413319254 - Paperback $16.86Publisher: Nolo; Seventh Edition edition (August 30, 2013), 240 pages. Review copy courtesy of the Amazon Vine Program.About the Author:Denise Clifford is a practicing estate planning attorney and the author of several bestselling books on estate planning, including Make Your Own Living Trust and Plan Your Estate (Nolo).
    • 5/5
      When it's time to start planning what to do with ones estate, many basic questions arise: do I need to try to avoid probate? what is probate anyway? just what constitutes a legal will? what's a 'living trust' and do I need one? what are 'durable powers of attorney for finances' and how do I best answer the questions in a health care declaration? The NOLO 'Estate Planning Basics' answers all these questions and more. The NOLO guides are written with the premise that people with small estates can avoid attorney fees and use their guides instead. I would sooner operate on myself rather than pay a surgeon than frame a will without specific legal advice. However, consulting the guide while talking with an attorney worked well for my spouse and me. May I suggest that you consider reading the guide then calling attorneys in your area and pricing the cost of writing a will? We found an elder law attorney who agreed to write an entire estate plan - will, durable power of attorney, and health care declaration for a total of $250 for both of us. So ask around before you decide that you can't afford legal advice. Lawyer or not, the NOLO guide is a good place to begin your planning.
    • 4/5
      A simple but effective overview of estate planning concepts. Easy to understand examples were helpful (considering marriage status, age of children, size of estate). Chapters are short enough that you can read one or two, digest them, and then come back to the next topic. Good primer for those who haven't explored the topic before and a good review for those who have.