Your Living Trust and Estate Plan : How to Maximize Your Family's Assets and Protect Your Loved Ones

by PLATT, HARVEY J.

• ISBN13: 9781581152173
• ISBN10: 1581152175
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2002-03-01
• Publisher: Allworth Press

Summary

This completely up-to-date guide explains the latest strategies for using a living trust to create a flexible estate plan. The author clearly and concisely discusses the effects of The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the fundamentals of estate, financial, and tax planning in easy-to-understand terms, mapping out effective techniques for saving money and property, and including important subjects not covered in other books (such as estate planning for the HIV positive). Readers will learn strategies for reducing probate costs, creating flexible estate plans, and planning for disability. This valuable planning tool will make its readers more informed participants in the estate-planning process, pointing out the dangers of the "do-it-yourself" guides and reducing the risks involved in establishing a living trust. A glossary of significant legal terms is included.

Author Biography

Harvey J. Platt is an attorney, the author of Making a Will and Creating Estate Plans, and a frequent lecturer on the subject of estate planning and. His law firm, Platt & Platt, has an extensive practice concentrating in the field of trusts and estates.



He is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys; Co-Chairperson of the New York State Association for Retarded Children Trust; a member of the Board of Directors of the Association for the Help of Retarded Children, Inc.; and a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction: What This Book Means and Why You Should Read It	xi
The Development of an Estate Plan	1	(6)
Selecting Who Receives the Benefits of Your Estate	7	(4)
Wills	11	(12)
Understanding the Probate Process	23	(6)
Co-ownership of Property	29	(10)
Trusts	39	(10)
The Role of Trusts in Estate Planning	49	(10)
The Living Trust	59	(22)
Understanding and Minimizing Estate Tax	81	(36)
Gifts	117	(14)
Charitable Contributions	131	(8)
Generation-Skipping Tax	139	(10)
Grits, Grats, and Gruts	149	(6)
Life Insurance	155	(10)
The Significance of Your Domicile	165	(4)
The Power of the Survivor	169	(8)
The Subsequent Marriage---Premarital and Postmarital Agreements	177	(8)
Planning for Minors	185	(6)
Estate Planning for Families with Children Who Have Special Needs	191	(22)
People with Risk of AIDS	213	(6)
Surrogate Planning for the Senior Citizen	219	(8)
Retirement Benefits	227	(12)
Medicare and Medicaid	239	(16)
The Protection of Assets	255	(8)
The Family Limited Partnership and the Limited Liability Company	263	(10)
Estate Planning for the Business Owner	273	(10)
Estate Planning for the Surviving Spouse	283	(8)
The Cutting Edge: Value Reduction Strategy in Discount Planning	291	(8)
Concluding Thoughts	299	(14)
Appendixes
I. Net Worth Worksheet	301	(2)
II. Glossary of Terms	303	(10)
Index	313