Estate Planning Basics

Cover
Table of Contents
Your Estate Planning Legal Companion
A First Look at Estate Planning
	Evaluating Your Personal Situation
	Your Property
	Your Beneficiaries
	Providing for Young Children
	Planning for Incapacity
	Transferring Your Property After You Die
	Estate Taxes
	Making Changes
	More Estate Planning Resources From Nolo
Your Beneficiaries
	Direct Beneficiaries
	Alternate Beneficiaries
	Beneficiary Complexities
	Disinheritance
	Talking It Over
Children
	Naming Someone to Care for Young Children
	Naming Someone to Manage Your Child’s Property
	Choosing How Your Children’s Property Should Be Managed
	Naming Children as Beneficiaries of Life Insurance
	Tax-Saving Accounts
	Leaving Property to Adult Children
	Leaving Property to Other People’s Children
Planning for Incapacity: Medical Care and Finances
	Medical Decisions
	Financial Decisions
Wills
	Will Requirements
	Types of Wills
	Probate
	Using a Will in Your Estate Planning
	Preparing Your Will
	Challenges to Your Will
Living Trusts
	How a Living Trust Works
	Do You Need a Living Trust?
	Living Trusts and Taxes
	Living Trusts and Young Children
	Shared Living Trusts for Couples
	Making Key Decisions About Your Living Trust
	Preparing Your Living Trust Documents
Other Ways to Avoid Probate
	Pay-on-Death Bank Accounts
	Transfer on Death Accounts for Securities
	Transfer on Death Car Registration
	Transfer on Death Deeds for Real Estate
	Joint Tenancy
	Tenancy by the Entirety
	Community Property With Right of Survivorship
	Community Property Agreements
	Simplified Probate Proceedings
	Life Insurance
	Gifts
Retirement Plans as Estate Planning Devices
	Individual Retirement Programs
	Pensions
	Choosing Beneficiaries for Individual Retirement Programs
	Retirement Plans and Taxes
Estate Tax
	Federal Estate Tax Exemptions
	State Estate and Inheritance Tax
	Gift Tax
	The Federal Income-Tax Basis of Inherited Property
Reducing Federal Estate Taxes
	Making Gifts During Life
	Disclaimer Trusts
	Tax-Saving Irrevocable Trusts
	Disclaiming Gifts
	Marital Property Control Trusts for Second or Subsequent Marriages
	Special Needs Trusts for People With Disabilities
	Education Trusts
	Spendthrift Trusts
	Flexible Trusts
Lawyers
	Will You Need a Lawyer?
	Working With a Lawyer
	Doing Your Own Research
Finalizing Your Estate Plan
	Storing Your Documents
	Sharing Your Documents
	Revising Your Documents
Some Sample Estate Plans
	Leslie and Martin: A Couple in Their Late 50s
	Michelle: A Single Mother in Her 40s
	Randy and Lisa: A Prosperous Older Couple
	Gail and Nick: A Young Married Couple
	Richard: A Single Man
	Clemencia and Pierre: A Couple in Their Second Marriage
Index