Estate Planning







 
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living Will
 
 
   
   
Learn About Estate Planning and How to Complete

Your own Complete Estate Plan


 

Estate planning
Name How to Prepare a Complete Estate Plan
ISBN: 978-1-906144-02-9
Pages: 120
Pub. Date Nov 2007 (3rd edition)
Edition United States
Summary

This kit will enable you to prepare:-

Healthcare Power of Attorney A Last Will & Testament,
Healthcare Power of Attorney A Revocable Living Trust and
Healthcare Power of Attorney A Living Will

 

Includes: Detailed instructions and Lawyer prepared legal documents
Format:

Downloadable

Only $59.95

 

What's included in an Estate Plan???


A Last Will & Testament, a Revocable Living Trust Agreement and a Living Will are probably three of the most important estate planning documents that a person can have. When these documents are used in combination, they provide a solid estate plan catering for a speedy and tax efficient method of transferring your assets to your heirs.

Last Will and Testament


Legal experts agree - a Last Will and Testament should be prepared in addition to a Living Trust Agreement. The reason is simple - if you add to your assets (for example, if you open a new mutual fund) and you neglect to add it to your Living Trust, it will "pour over" into the Last Will. It will not be protected from the probate court, but it will still be covered.


If you die without making a valid Last Will and Testament, you will lose control over who your assets are given to, who will take care of your children; and you risk having your estate substantially depleted due to the huge legal and other professional fees associated with intestate administration.

Making a valid Legal Will is the only way to ensure that your property passes to people of your choosing rather than to persons chosen by age old statutes and to save your estate thousands of dollars (literally) in unnecessary intestate administration expenses.


What happens if you don't have a Last Will......


If you fail to make a valid Legal Will then you should be prepared to accept that:-

  • YOUR possessions will be divided in accordance with the laws of intestacy and your personal wishes disregarded completely!
  • YOUR possessions will be placed under the control of a person appointed by a Court - which could be a total stranger!

  • YOUR children will be placed into the care of a guardian appointed by a Court - this again could be a total stranger!
  • YOU will have missed a very valuable opportunity for tax planning which could have saved your estate thousands of dollars!
Benefits of Making a Last Will......


By having a Will, you will have full control over how your assets (i.e. your estate) are managed after you die and who will look after your children when you are no longer around to do so. In particular, you can:-

Appoint Trustees and Executors of your estate

You can use your Will to specify who will have control over your assets and possessions and who will administer your spouse's and/or children's trust funds!

Appoint guardians over your infant children

You can determine who is appointed as guardians of your infant children and who will be responsible for their welfare and education!

Make funeral arrangements

You can let your family know whether and where you would like to be buried or cremated.

Make gifts of your assets to loved ones and friends

You can gift specific possessions to specific people who would otherwise not have received anything from you under an intestate administration (for example, friends, partners, charities etc.).

Create a trust for your spouse and/or children

You can use your Last Will as an opportunity to create a trust fund for your spouse and/or your children to ensure that they are properly provided for over the long term.

 

Last Will & Testament Forms included in this unique collection.


This Collection includes a variety of different Last Will and Testaments forms to cover any situation. The precedents include:-

- A Will for a Single Person with no minor children
- A Will for a Single Person with minor children
- A Will for a Married Person with no minor children
- A Will for a Married Person with minor children

and much more........

In addition, you also get:-

Self proving Affidavit forms,

Asset Register and Memorandum.,


Simply follow the instructions, and you can have your Last Will and Testament prepared in a matter of minutes. It's that easy!


Only $59.95

What are Revocable Living Trusts?


A revocable living trust (also known as an inter vivos trust, a Living Trust or a Family Trust ) is a type of trust created for the purpose of holding ownership of an individual's assets during that person's lifetime, and for distributing those assets after their death.

A Living Trust is quite easy to establish and operate. To create a basic living trust, you make a document called a declaration of trust. You then name yourself as trustee and transfer whatever assets or property you want into that trust. Because you are named as the trustee, you maintain full control over your assets just as you did before you transferred the assets. You can still do whatever you wish to with them - manage them, sell them, or even give them away.

The trust does not become effective until you die or become incapacitated.

After you, or you and your spouse (in the case of a joint trust) pass away, the trust identifies the person who will act as successor trustee (i.e. the person you appoint to handle the trust after your death). The successor trustee then transfers ownership of the assets in the trust to the beneficiaries named in the trust. In many cases, the whole process takes only a few weeks, and there are no lawyer or court fees to pay. When all of the property has been transferred to the beneficiaries, the living trust ceases to exist.


IMPORTANT
: As the trust is Revocable, you can abolish the trust or alter its terms or change the beneficiaries at any time you wish!

What happens if you don't create a Revocable Living Trust......


If you don't transfer your assets into your revocable living trust, then they will have to go through the probate process before they can be distributed to the beneficiaries named in your Last Will and Testament.


Probate itself has come to mean not just proving the validity of a Last Will and Testament but the entire administrative process involving the passing of an owner's legal title to property to his beneficiaries after his death. The deceased's property is inventoried and creditors are identified and paid after the payment is made to the estate's attorney, executor and tax entities. Assuming that the Last Will & Testament is not contested, the probate process shouldn’t take too long. However, if there are any complications, probate could end up taking years and could be extremely expensive.


Benefits of Making a Revocable Living Trust


By having a Revocable Living Trust:-

You will be able to Avoid Probate and the excessive legal fees and other expenses that go with it.

With a Revocable Living Trust, your assets will go directly to your beneficiaries after your death. Because the assets are owned by the Trust, they are not subject to probate administration, saving the money normally paid as probate administration expenses. There will be no probate attorneys fees or court costs. In most states, probate fees are charged as a percentage of the "gross" value of an estate. These fees can typically range from 3.8% ( Utah) to 11% ( Alaska)!

You avoid probate and the drawn out distribution of your assets!

If you avoid probate, the courts maintain will have no control over the Trust's assets, and therefore can not tie up the assets in a lengthy (and costly) probate process which can last any where from twelve months to five years! The Trustee simply distributes assets to named heirs free from the probate process, but only if those assets have actually been placed inside the Trust.

You avoid the unwanted publicity created by Probate.

Unlike court probate proceedings, your Revocable Living Trust is not open to inspection by the public and, as a result, no-one becomes aware of what assets you have, who you passed those assets to, who you owed monies to and what specific family arrangements you may have had in place.

Disgruntled heirs find it extremely difficult to contest gifts under a Trust.

Beneficiaries and heirs can become upset with their inheritance under a Legal Will and often hire attorneys to contest the Last Will. Because a Legal Will is on the public record, an attorney can easily evaluate the likelihood of a successful challenge to its validity or its terms before deciding whether or not to take a case. However, With a private family trust, the contents are not publicly known and, as such, attorneys are less likely to spend their own time and money pursuing a lawsuit with unknown probabilities of success.

Prevents court control of your assets when if you ever become incompetent.

A growing number of older Americans are putting their assets into a Living Trust because they want to avoid being placed under a court-appointed guardian if they become unable to manage their affairs. If you become disabled or are unable to manage your estate, your Living Trust avoids the need for a court-mandated conservatorship. The successor trustee you have named in the trust will manage your affairs without government interference and expense. The trustee occupies a position of trust and confidence and is subject to strict responsibilities. This is usually higher standards of performance than one who is dealing with his or her own property. Without the express written permission, the trustee cannot use trust property for any other reasons than those specified in the trust agreement and must hold the trust property solely for the benefit of the beneficiaries.

A Living Trust can also provide for the care, support and education of your children by turning over assets to them at an age chosen by you. Even insurance proceeds can be paid to the trust so your successor trustee can manage them for the benefit of your family.

You can avoid Statutory restrictions on bequests of property.

You can reduce or eliminate estate taxes.

Revocable Living Trusts are inexpensive and easy for you to set up and maintain.

You can revoke or amend your Living Trust at any time!

You can prevents court control of inheritances received by your children and appoint someone to manage property left to them.

You can restrict and control how your estate is managed and even spent after your death.

You will have the peace of mind of knowing that you have avoided probate and the possibility of having your assets frozen for years in the probate process!!!

 
How effective is a Revocable Living Trust?


Well, let's take a simple example, such as bank account. If you had left the proceeds of this account to your nephew. Your nephew would have to wait until the probate process was available before he could have access to this account – that is assuming that the costs of probate don’t erode the monies in this account – remember your estate pays for your probate expenses. On the other hand, with a Revocable Living Trust, your nephew should simply be able to walk into the bank with the trust documents and a death certificate and withdraw the money. No two-to-five year delay. No ten percent in expenses. No publicity.

Forms Included in Your Revocable Living Trust Kit


Your Revocable Living Trust Kit contains all the ready-to-use lawyer prepared legal forms and documents necessary to create a Revocable Living Trust.


Only $59.95

Living Wills


Having a Living Will form is the first line of defense in protecting yourself against the receipt of unwanted medical treatment! A Living Will is a document that allows you to express your specific wishes regarding receipt of "life-sustaining procedures" if you become permanently comatose or terminally ill.


Even if you execute a Living Will, you still have the right to give medical directions to physicians and other health care providers for so long as you are able to do so. This document only becomes effective when you do not have the capacity to give, withdraw or withhold informed consent regarding your health care!

What happens if you don't have a Living Will......


If you become unconscious or ill and unable to make decisions regarding your own healthcare, an application may need to be made in order to have you made a ward of court. In such cases, a court will then appoint a guardian who will be given the power and responsibility of making medical decisions on your behalf.

However, there is no guarantee that your guardian will respect any wishes that you may have expressed regarding your medical treatment. This is risky...

  • what if you were religiously against blood transfusions?
  • what if you wanted certain treatments withheld or withdrawn if they are only prolonging the dying process; would your guardian respect your wishes?
  • what if your guardian decided to take a risky operation which could leave you permanently paralyzed or even brain damaged?

The only way to protect yourself is by having a Living Will!

Benefits of Making a Living Will......

By having a Living Will:-


You, rather than a court judge, can appoint an agent of your choosing to make medical decisions on your behalf should you become incapacitated!

You avoid having a court appointed guardian make medical decisions that could adversely affect you or that you would not approve of!

You will have the security of knowing that the person who has been appointed as your agent is someone that you can trust to make important health care decisions on your behalf!

You will have the security of knowing that your agent will act in the best interests of you and your family!

You can limit the rights given to your agent under your Living Will or you can give your agent full rights to make decisions on your behalf – the choice is yours not someone else’s!

You can express your wishes as to what you would like to happen if an illness or an accident leaves you in a coma or in a vegetative state:-

  • specify whether you would want to have your life prolonged by any means necessary;
  • specify whether you would like to have specific treatments withheld to allow a natural death;
  • nominate someone else to make these decisions for you!

Living Will Forms Included


Your Living Will Kit contains all the ready-to-use lawyer prepared legal forms and documents necessary to create a Living Will. It also contains all the documents and forms necessary to revoke your Living Will.

Simply follow the instructions, and you can have your Living Will prepared in a matter of minutes. It's that easy!


Only $59.95

Do I Need All of These Documents?


All three of these documents work together to satisfy your various legal needs and to provide an effective estate plan. The Revocable Living Trust Agreement allows you to transfer your assets directly to your heirs without having to incur the costs and delays normally attributed to the probate process. On the other hand, a Last Will and Testament ensures that any property which has not been transferred to the Revocable Living Trust will transfer to the persons named in your Will following completion of any necessary probate work – and avoids the normal intestacy probate whereby State intestacy laws determine how your assets will be distributed. Finally, the Living Will allows you to specify what medical treatments, if any, that you would like should you become incapacitated.

 

Remember, if you want to protect yourself, then the time to act is now – if you wait until something happens, then you’ve simply waited too long! You are moments away from quick and easily creating your estate plan. Its that simple!

 


Only $59.95

100%, Ironclad, Money Back Guarantee.


We Ensure Your Protected!

 


Only $59.95



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