Let’s face it: you can''t avoid death or taxes. But you
can create an estate plan that will make both a whole lot
easier for your loved ones and put you in control of how
your assets will get passed to your heirs.
Here, Wall Street Journal personal-finance reporter Rachel
Emma Silverman walks you step-by-step through the process.
Chock-full of clear and solid advice on how to get the most out of
the main estate planning tools - including wills, trusts, life
insurance, guardianship papers, and powers-of-attorney documents -
the Wall Street Journal Complete Estate-Planning Guidebook
will help make your estate-planning process as simple, smooth, and
unintimidating as possible.
This book will help you:
· Clarify your estate-planning goals,
such as dividing up property for heirs, reducing taxes or leaving
money for charity
· Understand the key estate-planning
documents you’ll need, including wills, beneficiary-designation
forms, powers-of-attorney and health-care advance directives
· Decode the technical jargon that
estate planners often use, so you feel comfortable discussing QTIPs
and QPRTs when you sit down with your lawyer.
· Reduce possible estate, gift or
generation-skipping taxes and legal and probate fees – decreasing
what goes to the tax man and increasing what goes to your
heirs
· Learn strategies to divide money
and personal property among your heirs, and reduce the possibility
of family fights
· Discuss sensitive estate-planning
issues with your family
· Maintain your estate-plan over
time, including how to store and when to update your
documents
With completely up-to-date information on how to navigate the new
2011 estate tax legislation, and thoughtful advice on how to handle
your estate in complicated situations – like if you’re single, in a
same-sex relationship, or wish to provide for children with special
needs - this is the estae-planning guide for today’s
messy and complicated world.
One of the biggest estate planning mistakes people make, says
Silverman, is waiting too long to start. Which is why the Wall
Street Journal Complete Estate-Planning Guidebook isn’t just
for those planning for retirement or their golden years. It’s for
anyone, of any age, who wants the peace of mind of knowing that
your wishes will be respected and your hard-earned money will get
passed on as you would like.
關於作者：
Rachel Emma Silverman is an editor and reporter at the Wall
Street Journal, where she has worked since 1998. She currently
edits and co-writes The Juggle, the Wall Street Journal’s
work-and-family website and reports on career, workplace and family
issues. Before that, she covered personal finance, focusing on
estate planning, wealth management, insurance, philanthropy, art
and collectibles, and financial aspects of marriage and divorce.
She graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University and
was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She now lives in Austin, TX
with her husband and two young sons.
內容試閱：
INTRODUCTION
You can’t avoid death or taxes.
But by carefully drafting your will and medical directives, and by
having clear discussions with your family, you can reduce the
chances that your relatives will squabble over your medical care or
your heirlooms. And while few people are subject to the
federal estate tax under the recently-passed tax law, if you’re one
of them, you can use strategies such as trusts, life insurance and
philanthropy to vastly reduce the amount of money that goes to the
tax man and increase what goes to your heirs or the causes you
believe in.
In The Wall Street Journal Complete Estate Planning
Guidebook, I’ll take you through the estate-planning process,
step-by-step -- from helping you figure out your planning goals
Benefiting your children? Minimizing estate taxes? Caring for
Fido? to helping you divvy up your family’s silver so your kids
don’t fight over it.
The book is structured around the main estate planning tools you
will likely encounter: wills, trusts, life insurance, guardianship
papers, advance medical directives which spell out your wishes in
case you become severely incapacitated and powers-of-attorney
documents which grant another person the power to make decisions
about your medical care or finances when you cannot. I’ll also
help you decode the technical jargon that estate planners often
use, so you feel comfortable discussing QTIPs and QPRTs when you
sit down with your lawyer.
Some situations require more complicated planning, so in special
sections throughout the book, called “A Deeper Look,” we’ll
talk about how to handle your estate if you’re single, in an
unmarried or same-sex relationship, in a remarriage, or have a
family member who is disabled or has special needs and you serve as
a family caregiver. We’ll also address the growing “asset
protection” industry, which seeks to shield estates from the hands
of creditors or divorcing spouses. And since many of us are
pet owners, we’ll discuss how to plan for our furry friends.
In the first chapter, Getting Started, we’ll cover key steps
you should take before you and your lawyer draft your will, trust
and other documents. Here, I will help you figure out your estate
planning goals, take stock of your possessions, and provide
strategies for talking these ideas over with your family. This
chapter also offers guidance on how to choose a lawyer and other
estate advisers. Clarifying your estate planning objectives, and
discussing them with your family, will likely save you money and
time—and minimize arguments—in the long run.
We’ll also provide information here about key estate planning steps
to take at different stages in your life, and in a special section
in this chapter, we’ll take a deeper look at estate-planning
tactics if you’re single or in an unmarried or same-sex
relationship.
Chapter Two, Death and Taxes, explains how estate, gift and
generation-skipping taxes work and introduces some strategies to
help minimize them. Under current law, these taxes affect just a
small number of people, but it’s still important to understand how
they work.
In Chapter Three, Wills, you’ll learn why a will is the
centerpiece of most estate plans and we’ll go over some strategies
to ensure that your money and belongings are left in the way that
you choose. We’ll discuss how to choose an executor and I’ll
explain the responsibilities of the role. We’ll also go over when
it may make sense to say “no” to an inheritance. We’ll talk about
how some estate plans may be equitable, but not necessarily
equal—and I’ll offer some ideas about how to balance out bequests
and gifts to heirs who may have very different economic and family
circumstances.
While a will is an essential part of any estate plan, not all of
your assets are governed by the terms of your will. In
Chapter Four, Probate and Ways to Avoid It, I’ll explain how
some key assets -- including retirement plans, insurance policies,
certain jointly-owned property, and some trusts -- don’t pass
through wills and aren’t subject to the legal process of probate.
Probate is a time-consuming court procedure that divides up your
property as directed by your will. I’ll help you make sure
your property goes to your intended heirs. We’ll also talk about
how to pass on Individual Retirement Accounts, or IRAs, which are
subject to all sorts of complex rules.
Chapter Five, Trusts, discusses how trusts work. Contrary to
popular belief, you don’t need to be a Rockefeller to create a
trust. In fact, many people without significant wealth use trusts
for a variety of reasons, such as avoiding the hassles and expense
of probate or providing for young children. You’ll learn about the
pros and cons of naming a family member or a financial services
firm as your trustee and how to choose the right place to set up
your trust. This chapter also includes a detailed “trust tip
sheet,” that decodes the alphabet soup of trust lingo that you may
hear from your lawyer. I’ll teach you how to structure trusts for
minor children and spouses, how to create tax-saving trusts and how
to pass your house on to heirs through a trust. In a special
section in this chapter, we’ll take a deeper look at how to use
trusts and other tactics to protect your assets from creditors and
lawsuits.
In Chapter Six, Life Insurance, we’ll go over this valuable
tool for providing for your family’s future. We’ll discuss the
differences between term and permanent life insurance and how to
best structure your life insurance policy to reduce estate taxes.
And we’ll go over some basic insurance, tax and estate-planning
strategies for passing on family businesses.
Chapter Seven, Philanthropy, discusses charitable giving,
and how such generosity doesn’t just help important causes; it also
can help you reduce taxes and provide for your family members.
We’ll talk about different ways to make charitable gifts, including
direct bequests and charitable trusts, and I’ll explain the pros
and cons of setting up your own charitable foundation.
In Chapter Eight, Preparing for the Unthinkable, we’ll
discuss other key estate-planning documents you’ll need. These
include papers naming a guardian for your children, as well as
powers of attorney for finances and health, crucial documents which
name agents to make financial and medical decisions for you if
you’re unable to do so yourself. In a section in this chapter,
we’ll take a deeper look at planning for family members with
special needs. We’ll also talk about making funeral and burial
plans. And we’ll address how to plan for your pets’ care when you
are not around.
In Chapter Nine: Preserving Family Harmony, we’ll go over
some ways to help strengthen your estate plans to help prevent
family feuds and challenges, especially when you’re no longer
around to voice your wishes. Here, we’ll talk about feud de-fusers
such as mediation, arbitration and “no-contest” clauses, which
disinherit heirs if they protest your will. We’ll address some
estate planning strategies for blended families who are in second
and third marriages and may have both children and stepchildren.
I’ll give you ideas for dividing up personal property, such as
jewelry and heirlooms. That tangible stuff with sentimental value
often causes more rifts than cash. And we’ll take a deeper look at
an unusual, but effective way, to help keep family harmony: paying
family members for their caregiving contributions if you or your
spouse were to become incapacitated.
At this point you’ll have learned how to draw up your will, trust
and other estate documents. Congratulations! But you’re not quite
done yet. You still need to create a system for taking care of your
estate plan over time. That’s where Chapter Ten: Maintaining
Your Plan, comes in. We’ll go over the “care and feeding” of
your estate plan – how to store it and when to update it, and the
importance of keeping your plans flexible.
In short, this book should provide you with the information you
need to ensure that when you’re gone, your hard-earned money goes
where you want it to. That said, if your finances or family
situations are unusually complex or your spouse or heirs are
non-U.S. citizens, I highly recommend also getting tailor-made
legal and tax advice from qualified advisers who specialize in
estate planning.
The more you plan ahead, the lower the chances of divisive family
brawls and surprise tax bills. What’s more, when you educate
yourself about estate planning, you can reduce the number of
expensive hours you spend with your lawyer and avoid sketchy
tax-shelters and other shams.
As you work through the Wall Street Journal Complete
Estate-Planning Guidebook, rest assured that although you can’t
evade death or taxes, you can create an estate plan that will make
both a whole lot easier for your loved ones. Your family will thank
you for it.
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