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Find out how a living trust or a trust in your will can solve many of your
estate planning problems. Learn the advantages and disadvantages of
some of the most useful tools for protecting your estate for yourself and your
family. Honest, impartial advice from an acknowledged expert in estate planning.
Table of Contents
What Is A Living Trust?
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Different
kinds of trusts
The rapid increase in the use of trusts
Achieving objectives with a living trust
The laws that control living trusts |
The Advantages of a
Living Trust
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The
privacy afforded by a living trust
Avoid will contest with a living trust
How the living trust works
The trust as a great helper for the disabled and elderly
The living trust can avoid revealing private information
The flexibility of a living trust
Revocable or irrevocable
The Comprehensive Living Trust - a most useful estate planning tool
Court supervision of trusts
The mobility of the living trust |
The Disadvantages of
Living Trusts
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Need
for care to avoid abuses of living trust
The additional work required to set up the trust
The need to delegate certain activities to a trustee
The living trust is not for everyone
The need to be mentally competent to create a valid living trust
When a living trust can be set up for a person with deteriorating
mental capacity
Problems when a person becomes incompetent
The extra work of funding a living trust
Limited court supervision for trusts
Technical difficulties with trusts |
Who Needs a Living Trust?
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Who
needs the trust most urgently?
Those who want or need help managing their estate
Those who have begun to decline mentally
Assessing the seriousness of memory decline
Avoiding the impact of the decline of memory in old age |
Important Trust Terminology
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The
persons who are involved in a living trust
The assets held by a trust
The people who are entitled to income, or trust assets
The Comprehensive Living Trust - a very specific form of trust
The Self-Declaration of Trust |
Revocable and Irrevocable
Living Trusts
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Whether
a trust is revocable or irrevocable
The difference between the right to amend and the right to revoke
Situations that may make an irrevocable trust desirable |
Special Uses for Living
Trusts
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The trust must have a legal, attainable purpose
Using a life insurance trust in large estates
Trusts for the care and support of a spouse
Trusts for the care, support and education of descendants
Creating a living trust for a disabled dependent
Asset Protection Trusts |
Using Trusts to Save
Taxes
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Trusts
aren't just to save taxes
Trusts don't automatically save taxes
Determining your vulnerability to death taxes
How states deal with death taxes
The disastrous loss of death taxes to some states
What states are doing to correct this serious problem
Some ways to lessen or remove your vulnerability to death taxes |
Some Suggestions for
Married Couples Who are Vulnerable to Death Taxes
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Who
is vulnerable to death taxes
The mistake of joint and mutual wills
The complexity of the tax laws
Some possible actions to minimize
The division of property between the spouses
Special provisions in wills [or trusts] to save death taxes
Using gifts to reduce death taxes |
Using Living Trusts
for Closely Held Businesses
The Comprehensive Living
Trust
Determining Whether
You Need a Comprehensive Living Trust
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Those
who need the Comprehensive Living Trust the most
Knowing when the Comprehensive Living Trust is badly needed
The guardianship as an alternative to the Comprehensive Living Trust
Why most people don't greatly need a Comprehensive Living Trust before 55
When to start planning for a Comprehensive Living Trust
The special situation of married couples in good health |
The Pourover Will Used
With a Comprehensive Living Trust
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Be
vigilant to limit assets in your name alone
The importance of "fully funding" your living trust
Special provisions of your pourover will |
Setting Up a Comprehensive
Living Trust
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Selecting
a lawyer to prepare your living trust
Working with your lawyer in setting up your trust |
The Contents of a Comprehensive
Living Trust Agreement
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The
parties to a living trust
The form used in drafting a trust
Naming the trustee
The assets included in the trust
The revocability of a living trust
The use of trust income and principle
The powers given to trustee
The duties of the trustee
Compensating the trustee
Provisions for changing the trustee
Witnessing a trust instrument
Funding the trust |
Setting Up a Comprehensive
Living Trust Without a Lawyer
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Living
trusts aren't just for the wealthy
If you decide to prepare your own living trust
Some of the required steps if you "go it alone" |
Selecting the Trustee(s)
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The
need for great care in selecting your trustee
If you can't trust your own father, who can you trust?
The grantor or the grantor's spouse as trustee
The general qualifications of an individual trustee
The burden you place on the trustee
Selecting your spouse as your trustee
Choosing another person as your trustee
Choosing a bank as your trustee
Checking with a trust officer before selecting a bank as trustee
Choosing your adult child as your trustee
The importance of having alternate trustee(s) |
The Powers of the Trustee
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The
sources of a trustee's powers
Differences in the different state's trust law
The powers conferred on a trustee |
The Duties of the Trustee
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The
primary duties of a trustee
The trustee's duties to keep and give information
The duty to do a good job
The duty to keep trust assets separate
The duty to earn trust income |
Funding the Living Trust
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The
importance of "fully funding" a living trust
Transferring bank accounts, securities, etc.
Transferring title to real estate
Meeting the transferee's requirements |
Activating and Living
With a Living Trust
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If
an asset is not transferred to the trust |
Investing the Trust
Assets
Amending or Revoking
a Living Trust
Administering the Living
Trust
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The
general duties of a trustee
The duty to file and pay taxes
The duty of the trustee not to commit crimes
A summary of the trustee's job |
The Rights of the Trust's
Beneficiaries
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The
right to income and principal
The right to sue to compel proper actions from the trustee
Liability of trustee for breaches of trust
Breaches of trust that create trustee's liability
Duty of beneficiary to act promptly |
Keeping Principal and
Income Separate
Settling Estate Using
a Comprehensive Living Trust
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Probating
the decedent's estate
Avoiding probate
The requirements for avoiding probate
Avoiding probate with a Comprehensive Living Trust
When it is learned that probate can't be avoided |
Terminating and Distributing
the Living Trust
Glossary
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