Maple - Idiots Guides: Estate Planning

Publisher: Mike Sanders

Associate Publisher: Billy Fields

Managing Editor: Lori Cates Hand

Cover Designer: Lindsay Dobbs

Book Designer: William Thomas

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Indexer: Brad Herriman

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DIGITAL OPERATIONS, DELHI:

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Fifth American Edition, 2016
Published in the United States by DK Publishing
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Copyright 2016 Dorling Kindersley Limited
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All rights reserved.
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Published in the United States by Dorling Kindersley Limited.

Formerly published as The Complete Idiots Guide to Wills and Estates, Fourth Edition.

IDIOTS GUIDES and Design are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC

ISBN: 9781615648979

This digital edition published 2016
eISBN: 9781465450678

Note: This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author(s). It is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the author(s) and publisher are not engaged in rendering professional services in the book. If the reader requires personal assistance or advice, a competent professional should be consulted. The author(s) and publisher specifically disclaim any responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.

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idiotsguides.com

I dedicate this edition to my wife, Sarah, my sons, daughters-in-law, grandsons, and granddaughters, who continue to bless me.

Introduction

Welcome to the world of estate planning. Youll notice I didnt say the wonderful world or the fascinating world. I dont want you rolling your eyes and muttering Come on. But I do want you to continue reading this book.

Making your way through a guide about putting together an estate plan probably wont be as lighthearted as reading about how to select wines or start a rock garden. Still, I honestly believe you will find this book not only informative but also engrossing because its very relevant to you and your life. And perhaps there are some important parts of estate planning you havent given much thought to before. Learning something new, especially when its about yourself, is always interesting.

I think youll soon be absorbed in exploring just how you want to lay out your estate plan, including a basic will and a few other documents. Youll set planning goals for yourself, now and at different stages of your life ahead, and youll learn about professionals who can help you along the way. Youll read stories about others and their experiences, tootales that are informative, puzzling, amusing, and sometimes even touching. Youll learn from the mistakes some of those folks madeand from reading about the right steps others took at particular times in their lives.

So this book is about people as well as legal documents and tax talk. Its about how we use those papers, those directives, and even those taxes, to put ourselves in control of our financial destiny.

If you have an estate planand you will when you finish this book, or at least will have started the ball rollingthen obviously you have an estate. No matter how small you may think your assets are, you do have an estate. So youll want to protect it, watch it grow, and even see it spent in exactly the ways you choose.

Having an estate plan will make you feel like a million dollarsno matter if your net worth is missing a few of those zeros.

How This Book Is Organized

The chapters in this book are laid out to guide you through the estate planning process as its likely to occur in your life, no matter what your age right now:

, Understanding Your Assets, introduces you to what an estate is and acquaints you with the planning process. It helps you sort out your assets so you know what you own and, in particular, how you own it.

, Wills, Trusts, and Probate, takes you into the heart of the book: preparing a will and perhaps also a trust if that can be useful to you. Ive also included some cautions about what happens when you dont have a will.

, Beneficiaries, talks about your nearest and dearest and how you probably want to provide for them in some specific estate planning situations. I tell you how to head off potential arguments and misunderstandings in this part, too.

, Taxes, introduces you to the sometimes-complex world of federal and state taxes and offers terrific strategies for paying as little as possible on your estate, your income, and when making gifts.

, Retirement, Elder Issues, and More, eases you into planning for your retirement, no matter when thats coming up in your life. Along with other information, I tell you what you can expect from the government then and what you have to put together on your own.

At the back of the book, Ive included a glossary of helpful estate planning terms and a key to the online forms and worksheets.

Extras

Ive included special asides in every chapter. Heres what to look for:

BRIEF

These sidebars contain intriguing stories about people in specific estate planning situations.

DEFINITION

Look here for definitions of legal terms and other words that may be unfamiliar to you.