New issues in estate planning today include the inheritance rights of sperm bank children, increasing recognition of an action for Intentional Interference with an Expectancy (Anna Nicole Smith case), the Harmless Error rule, and the increasing liability for attorneys who do a poor job of drafting. The book uses the richness of relatively full versions of contemporary cases - interspersed with segments of relevant statutes - to show the variety of important issues involved in any real case, and the variety of different techniques which may be employed to try to reach a particular result. Memorable stories and recent cases illustrate the fundamentals of estate planning. A few of the major issues in probate are included, such as entry into the safe deposit box of the deceased, giving (or avoiding) notice to creditors, and disputes over who is entitled to serve as personal representative when there is a serious dispute between creditors and heirs. The combination of good stories, relevant statutes, and important contemporary issues should give the reader a rich understanding of the area of estate planning. About the author: Prof. Lucy A. Marsh, a graduate of Smith College and the University of Michigan Law School, has taught Trusts & Estates for many years at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, and is the author of assorted books and articles in the field. She is Founder and Director of the Wills Lab, in which students write real wills, medical powers of attorney, living wills, and related documents for low-income clients under the direct supervision of practicing attorneys - thus giving law students the opportunity to learn the important skills of interviewing, advising, and drafting from lawyers who are experts in the field. Her goal is to help students learn how to apply theory to practice - effectively.

In this expanded second edition of "What You Need to Know About Estate Planning in Texas," family law attorney Thomas Daley explains the building blocks of a comprehensive estate plan in plain English. Even if you don't know the difference between a Springing Power of Attorney and a bottle of spring water, "What You Need to Know About Estate Planning in Texas" will explain all the important concepts you need to understand. Written in the crisp style of a litigation attorney, this expanded second edition of Thomas Daley's popular title contains descriptions of Miller Trusts, used to divert income so that a nursing home patient can qualify for Medicaid and Lady Bird Deeds that allow a Medicaid recipient to pass their homestead to family members without being subject to Medicaid Estate Reimbursement Program ("MERP") claims. The appendices contain numerous sample forms and a questionnaire that you can complete before meeting with an estate planning attorney. Your estate plan speaks for you when you can no longer speak for yourself. This book is a practical, no-nonsense first step in creating your own comprehensive estate plan.

Approximately 70% of Americans will face difficult end of life medical decisions. Making these decisions for ourselves is hard, but making these decisions for our loved ones can be heart-wrenching. Chances are you know someone who has been in the position of needing to make important medical decisions for a dying family member. More often than not, these decisions are followed by second guessing and self-doubt. Why Every Adult Must Have A Health Care Directive is a fun and fast read covering the reasons for having a Health Care Directive and the steps to preparing one. A free Minnesota Health Care Directive form is included.

Do you know what to do when someone dies? Losing a loved one is one of life's most difficult experiences. There are so many conflicting emotions and yet, if you have the responsibility as a successor trustee or personal representative there's so much to do. Where do you begin? Who can you trust? Where do you turn to get your questions answered? Straight Talk What To Do When Someone Dies provides you with insight about the things you should be doing, how to speak the language, who to trust and ultimately how to get the results you (and your loved one) intend. In their straight forward, easy to read style, Peggy Hoyt and Debbie Roser will answer your questions and help you navigate your fiduciary responsibilities, including what you should and shouldn't be doing during the administration process. They will help you understand probate, trust administration and the important differences between Wills and Trusts. You'll learn how to prepare your own estate plan for your loved ones to prevent unexpected results, including the costs of estate planning (or not planning), and why how you own your property is so important. Straight Talk What To Do When Someone Dies is a must read for everyone who has ever lost a loved one or might lose a loved one someday

TrustWorthy is a collection of 25 personal -- and positive -- stories told by beneficiaries, trustees and their advisors. The book speaks to the human side of personal trusts, leaving the technical side (legal, tax, investments) to others.

The book's objective? To begin to transform the most complex, conflicted and difficult relationship known under the law -- the "arranged marriage" between beneficiary and trustee -- by supplanting prevailing negative assumptions and behaviors. Readers are given a peek at "what other families do."

Storytellers tackle big questions, for example: How can trusts be used to promote beneficiaries' maturity? What should I look for in a trustee? How can beneficiaries successfully integrate inheritances into their lives? How can trustees, prudently and within legal and other constraints, administer trusts in a way that enhances beneficiaries' lives? How can the widespread dissatisfaction, and all the talk of "problem" beneficiaries and "problem" trustees, give way to more creative and productive relationships?

Hartley Goldstone, J.D. and MBA, delights in being surprised by profound questions, having served families for 30 years at attorney, trustee and planner. Today, he is an accomplished speaker, educator and coach for trustees, inheritors in all stages of life, their families and advisors.

Kathy Wiseman, MBA and faculty at the Bowen Center for the Study of Family systems, assists people with the legacy potential of their family business, foundation and wealth. She educates families and their professionals about the human assets that underlie success for any trust/estate.

Here's what others say about TrustWorthy

You are about to go on the positive journey that is the ongoing effort of Hartley and Kathy to reengineer the beneficiary/trustee relationship toward its higher functioning...

-From the Foreword to TrustWorthy, by James E. Hughes Jr., author of The Cycle of the Gift and Family Wealth

This is the one book to read this year if you are creating your estate plan, if you are a trustee or a beneficiary, or if you advise families of wealth. You will not think about trusts in the same way again.

-Charles W. Collier, Former Senior Philanthropic Advisor at Harvard University and author of Wealth in Families

TrustWorthy should be required reading not only for trustees and beneficiaries, but also for grantors and trusted family advisors. Hartley and Kathy's decision to use storytelling to reveal the vast potential in the trustee and beneficiary relationship was a stroke of genius. The stories in this book are inspiring and do a great job of demonstrating how trusts can be used not only to transfer financial wealth, but also to transfer legacy from one generation to the next.

-Sara Hamilton, CEO and Founder, Family Office Exchange

To many, asset protection seems like an ultra-luxury. The aim of this book is to let people know who can provide competent asset protection planning, what asset protection is, where asset protection can be done, when asset protection should be done, why it is no longer a luxury, but a necessity, and how asset protection can be achieved. To this end, it is written in a (hopefully) approachable format for both the interested public and financial professionals, and should cover the broad strokes of asset protection planning in one sitting. If you believe that you don't own enough to protect, ask yourself: How long did it take for me to pay for and earn all of these assets? How would I feel if a creditor took them, and my only alternative to save it is to declare bankruptcy and ruin my credit?

New Tax Court decisions have had a major impact on wealth succession planning the last few years, including the popular use of the family limited partnership. This guide will keep you current with legal arguments and technical analyses that apply to estate and gift tax law specific to the business valuation profession, including family limited partnership and wealth succession planning. 220 estate and gift tax law court case abstracts dating back to 1995 including in-depth analysis on the recent Astleford, Bigelow, Holman, and Jelke decisions; articles on estate and gift tax law and FLPs excerpted from the Business Valuation Update; 4 never-before-published research articles by experts William Chandler, Bruce Johnson, Will Frazier, and Owen Fiore; plus a quick reference summary table that outlines the cases abstracted. Court case abstracts from the past year, including in-depth analysis on the Astleford, Bigelow, Holman, and Jelke decisions.

The Estate Planning Handbook covers the basic issues relating to Estate Planning such as wills and trusts, health care surrogates and powers of attorney to the more advanced issues relating to QTIPs, Private Annuities and Family Partnerships along with case law from the tax court.

Equity and Trusts in Nigeria covers wide-ranging issues in this area of law and draws from a mixture of property law and the law of obligation. Some of the topics covered are: History and Development of Equity; Equitable interest in land; The nature of trust; Matrimonial property and trusts; Charitable trust; General equitable defenses; Trustees' fiduciary duties; Commercial trusts and insolvency; and the future of equity.

This handbook is intended to educate and inform people who need to learn about the probate administration process, including the nature of the process, the steps involved, the functions of the probate court and the personal representative(s) of the estate.

WHO SHOULD OWN THE GUIDE?

IF you are named on your own, parent's, relative's, friend's or neighbor's estate plan as a trustee, you will need to know your responsibilities and have the system to successfully address the trust placed in you.

IF you are establishing an estate plan with an independent third party, bank or corporate trustee, you will want to use the guide's, "Notify-Respond-Verify" system. Make sure they get it correct.

IF you are a parent or grandparent, what gift could be more important or useful than a well drafted estate plan and a system to make it work? Give your heirs the tools they can use to make the plan a success.

WHO SHOULD GIVE THE GUIDE?

IF you are an estate planning attorney you realize your clients need a system for transferring and tracking their assets. This is it. The Guide for the Successful Trustee.

IF you are an accountant do your clients have their assets properly titled? Use the "Guide" to get the proper registration and use the system to keep it that way. Thousands of dollars in unnecessary taxes and fees are generated by incorrect registrations.

IF you are a financial advisor, have your peers and predecessors titled all of their clients' past investments properly? What is your liability to clients on past transactions and current estate plans? Meet with the client and family go over the three phases of estate planning. Illustrate the phases and the differences between the three. "The Guide for the Successful Trustee" has the system to make it simple and successful.

JOINT PROPERTY CAN DESTROY YOUR ESTATE. While it seems easy to retitle accounts as joint with a right of survivorship, it can come with DEVASTATING TAXES and LAWSUIT LIABILITY. But there are legal and effective planning solutions to help your family AVOID PROBATE and UNNECESSARY TAXES. Trust planning can provide PEACE OF MIND... but only if you plan ahead, use the RIGHT DOCUMENTS and work with the RIGHT PROFESSIONALS. You'll learn how folk remedies like joint property can produce a tax and legal nightmare; how proven planning techniques can avoid the probate process while avoiding unnecessary taxes; and how a trust can protect your assets from your children's divorcing spouses and bad spending habits.

Now available in paperback, Fiduciary Loyalty presents a comprehensive analysis of the nature and function of fiduciary duties. The concept of loyalty, which lies at the heart of fiduciary doctrine, is a form of protection which is designed to enhance the likelihood of due performance of non-fiduciary duties by seeking to avoid influences or temptations that may distract the fiduciary from providing such proper performance. In developing this position, the book takes the novel approach of putting to one side the difficult question of when fiduciary duties arise, in order to focus attention instead on what fiduciary duties do when they are owed. The issue of when fiduciary duties arise can then be returned to - and considered more profitably - once a clear view has emerged of the function that such duties perform. This analysis has both practical and theoretical implications for understanding fiduciary doctrine. For example, it provides a sound conceptual footing for understanding the relationship between fiduciary and non-fiduciary duties, highlighting the practical importance of analyzing both forms of duties carefully when considering fiduciary claims. Further, it explains a number of tenets within fiduciary doctrine, such as the proscriptive nature of fiduciary duties and the need to obtain the principal's fully informed consent in order to avoid fiduciary liability. Understanding the relationship between fiduciary and non-fiduciary duties also provides a solid foundation for addressing issues concerning compensatory remedies for their breach and potential defenses, such as contributory fault. The distinctive purpose that fiduciary duties serve also provides a firm theoretical basis for maintaining their separation from other forms of civil obligation, such as those that arise under the law of contracts and of torts. Fiduciary Loyalty was the winner of the 2nd SLS Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship 2010.

Acting as a power of attorney or as an estate trustee carries a great deal of financial and legal responsibility. But in "Let the Records Show," authors Linda A. Alderson and Douglas Alan Alderson have distilled the information and have provided a step-by-step guide to keeping financial and property affairs in order. "Let the Records Show" offers a ten-step guide for effectively handling record-keeping obligations, and it demystifies and simplifies the terminology and related work processes associated with creating a complete and proper information trail to satisfy legal interests. It also provides: Answers to questions to consider before acting as an attorney An overview of accounting and legal terms presented in plain English Tips on the fundamentals of being an attorney or estate trustee Guidance on inventory preparation Comparison between the roles of attorney and estate trustee A review of common problems and how to fix them Information on estate litigation basics Charts, templates, and checklists to help you stay organized Filled with practical guidance on how to maintain financial records to meet the legal requirements, "Let the Records Show" helps to simplify the roles of power of attorney and estate trustee.

This book is designed for law school courses covering trusts. The cases, problems, and questions are drawn extensively from Texas materials and attempt to provide the student with a comprehensive understanding of how trust creation, administration, and enforcement are handled in Texas. Resulting trusts, constructive trusts, and trust accounts are also discussed.

A guide written in layman's terms describing the bookkeeping aspects of being an executor, trustee, or attorney for property under Ontario law. Readers will have access to online spreadsheets available for download. The spreadsheeets include sample entries and formulas to make it easier to get started. As one reviewer has said, "For most of us, taking on the role of an executor is a confusing and daunting task. In this guide, Donna has done an excellent job of explaining the elements of simple estate accounting and provides a useful template to guide you through the process. I cannot imagine a better introduction to this challenging topic."

This book is designed for law school courses covering intestate succession and wills. The cases, problems, and questions are drawn extensively from Texas materials and attempt to provide the student with a comprehensive understanding of how property transmission at death is handled in Texas.

The use of international trusts continues to expand, and practitioners increasingly need to be aware of cross-border considerations. This title provides a concise and practical overview of the key aspects of law and practice in all the key jurisdictions offering trusts.
Private and commercial trusts are established under the law of an increasing number of jurisdictions, which are competing to attract trust business, and these laws are often dissimilar. As international trusts mature, established trust jurisdictions are changing their laws to comply with the legal demands and standards imposed by international agencies, as well as to meet the legitimate expectations of the institutional investor. The courts of international centers are also developing their own jurisprudence. In addition, jurisdictions new to trusts are introducing trusts in the vehicles which they offer investors, and legislation from these new trust centers is opening up new routes for international investment and tax mitigation.
This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the subject, covering all the key on-shore and off-shore jurisdictions that practitioners typically encounter. It offers a very practical overview of the subject using a questionnaire format for each country, avoiding academic material, and giving concise answers to the sorts of frequently asked questions that arise in trust law and practice. The questionnaire covers a full range of subjects such as the mechanics of trusts, issues such as anti-money laundering laws and conflicts of laws, shams, protectors, and forced heirship as well as the different types of trusts used in a jurisdiction.
Formerly an annual special issue in the journal Trusts & Trustees, this title has been improved and extended with a reworked questionnaire, new countries and contributors, and a new editor, Charles Gothard.

Your financial legacy is different than anyone else s. The effort you put into earning and saving your money, your retirement plans, your dreams for your family s future: these are all uniquely yours. Blindly following a cookie-cutter tax solution will jeopardize these wishes and cost you dearly. Cut Your Tax in 2010 gives you the straight talk on why most of us are destined to pay too much in taxes and what you can do to escape this fate. Learn: Why Uncle Sam desperately wants your money How to protect your personal and business assets in four smart steps How an estate plan can save your family more than just taxes Plus, get insights on the capital gains trap, the tax benefits of living trusts, and other tax-saving tips. This book is ideal if you are a retiree or someone working towards retirement who has built up a financial legacy for your family. Don t hand Uncle Sam more of your hard-earned money than he deserves. Learn what it takes to truly protect it, grow it, and pass it on.

Don't Fall Victim to Discriminatory Laws Not when you and your partner can do something about it. You and your partner can empower yourselves though the proven legal techniques described in the book Estate Planning for Domestic Partners: The Legal Secrets You Need to Know to Protect Your Partner and Your Future. Written by a prominent partner protection planning attorney, this valuable information can help you navigate around the restrictive laws that prevent you and your partner from gaining full marriage and tax rights by using other legal principles such as contracts, trusts, and powers of attorney.

The Gay Marriage Alternative provides LGBT and other unmarried couples with partner protection planning solutions now that are equal to or better than rights married heterosexual couples take for granted... without changing the law. The right combination of trusts, powers of attorney and medical directives can provide these rights while retitling accounts as joint with a right of survivorship, drafting Wills, and transferring funds to a partner can lead to tax or administrative disasters. Find out the right way you and your partner can seize legal equality, security, and peace of mind. While the struggle for nationwide marriage equality may take decades, partners can protect each other now.

Are you interested in paying the minimum amount of estate and gift taxes? Would you like to avoid probate and keep your financial affairs private? Estate Planning in Arizona is the reference you need. Written for Arizonans with little or no legal experience, this book tells you what you need to know:

The basics of wills and trusts
Protecting your assets
Appointing guardians for your children
Health care directives and living wills
Taking title to real estate
. . . and much more!

Providing you with a better understanding of the laws and issues involved in estate planning, this comprehensive, easy-to-understand book will help you to preserve wealth, protect your family, and create a winning succession plan.

Drafting effective wills and trust allows property to be given to the people or institutions that matter most to an individual. This book explains how to do the special, thoughtful drafting required by anyone who truly cares about distribution of property, care of elderly parents, guardians for young children, or care for pets after the owner is gone. The book is richly illustrated by samples of techniques used in the actual wills and trusts of well-known Americans. Topics covered include: WHAT HAPPENS WITHOUT A WILL; CAPACITY TO MAKE A WILL; SELECTING THE TRUSTEES; DESIGNING PET TRUSTS. Realistic, thought-provoking DRAFTING EXERCISES followed by detailed POINTERS FOR DRAFTING help the reader develop the skills needed for effective drafting. The concluding chapters cover related documents, including: MEDICAL AND FINANCIAL POWERS OF ATTORNEY, MEDICAL DIRECTIVES and LIVING WILLS. About the author: Lucy Marsh, Professor of Law at University of Denver Sturm College of Law is a native to Denver. She is a 1963 graduate of Smith College and a 1966 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. While attending the University of Michigan, she played a key role in setting up the first legal clinic in Ann Arbor to serve the underprivileged. She has led a distinguished career as an attorney, professor and advocate for community causes. Admitted to the bar in both Connecticut and Colorado, she was the first woman elected to the Colorado Bar Association Real Estate Section's Title Standards Committee, served the city as member of the Denver District Attorney's Office in the 1970's, was a commissioner to the Colorado Real Estate Commission, and provided legal assistance to the Colorado AIDS project. Her academic career at the University of Denver began in 1973 as a part time professor and led up to her present position as a full professor in 1982. Since that time she was voted DU Professor of the Year in 1985 and was elected by the students in 1987 to give the commencement address. She now leads a unique program in which the students in her Trust and Estates classes participate in a Will's Lab, providing free services for the indigent and elderly. She also employs a unique teaching tool called the Technicolor System, attributed to her father, Thompson Marsh, to assist in the learning process by color coding different types of information in student's legal drafts