Est8Planning for Geniuses

Scott Makuakane

Description

Take an entertaining tour through the intricacies of estate planning with a seasoned lawyer who has practiced estate planning and trust law since 1983. Though the concepts shared are as serious as a heart attack, they are expressed in a way that is easy to read and understand. So bring along your sense of humor and your curiosity to learn about how you can create positive outcomes in potentially dark times for you and your loved ones. Join the author on a “road trip” that will help you find the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have done all you can do to prepare for some inevitable challenges that are waiting down the line. 

Sujets

• Trusts
• Estates
• Wealth Management
• Droit et juridique
• Wills
• LAW
• Finance

Informations

• Publié par: Outskirts Press
• Date de parution: 13 juin 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781977220011
• Langue: English

Extrait

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Est8Planning for Geniuses All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2023 Scott Makuakane v5.0
The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.
This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Outskirts Press, Inc. http://www.outskirtspress.com
Cover Photo © 2023 Scott Makuakane. All rights reserved - used with permission.
Outskirts Press and the "OP" logo are trademarks belonging to Outskirts Press, Inc.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
To Kaila and Rudy, who fill my days with love and laughter.
An intellectual solves problems. A genius avoids them.

– Albert Einstein
Table of Contents
Preface for Idiots and Dummies Only
Preface for Everyone Else
Chapter One : The 8 Portals of Est8Planning
Chapter Two : Will a Will Do What I Think It Will?
Chapter Three : Estate Planning for Suckers: Joint Tenancy
Chapter Four : Conservatorship and Guardianship: The Wicked Stepparents of Probate
Chapter Five : Powers of Attorney: The Ultimate Blank Check
Chapter Six : Trust Me About the Cornerstone of an Effective Est8Plan
Chapter Seven : The Great Certainties: Death and Taxes
Chapter Eight : Covering your Ass . . . ets
Chapter Nine : Choosing Your Substitute Decisionmakers: They Don’t Call It a Trust for Nothing
Chapter Ten : Hey, It’s Your Funeral
Chapter Eleven : Putting the Fun in Fun ding
Chapter Twelve : How Do I Get Started?
Conclusion : Let’s Get This Show on the Road!
Preface for Idiots and Dummies Only
If you are an idiot or a dummy , this book is not for you.
Put it down.
Back away.
Whatever you do, DON’T TURN THE PAGE.
If you do, you will run the risk of discovering simple steps you can take right now that will make things much easier on yourself and your loved ones when inevitable bad things happen down the line. Better yet, you could learn a thing or two about creating and building on desirable outcomes when everything is going well.
Between us, I doubt that you are an idiot or a dummy. The fact that you picked up this book in the first place is a very good sign. But if I am wrong about you, then go back to licking your elbows or whatever you were doing a minute ago. Now SHOO!
If you tried to lick your elbow after reading that last paragraph, trust me: this book is not for you. You can keep reading if you like, but your time might be better spent changing a lightbulb with three of your best friends.
The rest of you may now turn the page.
Preface for Everyone Else
We both know that the fact that you just turned the page doesn’t mean you are a genius. But you don’t need to be a certified genius to benefit from this book. You just need to know (SPOILER ALERT) that you are going to die someday and that you stand worse than a 50-50 chance of being completely incapacitated and needing long-term care for some period of time before you die. Add to those sobering facts your basic common sense, and you have all the mental firepower you need to develop a plan to protect yourself, your family, and your stuff. This is true even if you feel like an idiot or a dummy when it comes to est8planning. The Greek philosopher Socrates once said, "The beginning of wisdom is knowing what you’re dumb at," or words to that effect. So being willing to learn proves that you are on the road to wisdom. Congratulations. Keep it up. Reading this book will give you the foundation upon which to build an est8plan that will enable you to sleep soundly at night, secure in the knowledge that you have done everything you can do to protect yourself and your family from the onslaught of time.
A brief digression for do-it-yourselfers
Let’s get something straight right now. If you want to, you can go it alone. Or almost alone. You can devise your own estate plan without the benefit of lawyers or other trained advisors. All you need is a credit card, a computer, a printer, and access to the internet. Armed with those four things, you can come up with one or more documents that may or may not accomplish what you think they will accomplish. But you will probably never know. The ultimate success or failure of an estate plan is rarely revealed during the lifetime of the planmaker. (No, "planmaker" is not a real word, but you know what I mean.)
You’ve seen the TV commercials. You’ve heard the radio ads. But before you go to a website to have your estate plan put together by a computer program, be sure to ask yourself this: would the brilliant lawyer or the highly paid radio personality who hawks these things trust a website to come up with an estate plan for himself and his family? If it’s not good enough for them, why would it be good enough for you? You may not have as much stuff as Mr. Fancyshmancylawyer or Mr. Radiobucks, but everything you own is everything you own , and it probably makes a difference to you whether it goes where you want it to go after you are gone. It probably also makes a difference to you who will make decisions for you if there is ever a time when you can’t make them for yourself. Do you want to choose the person who will give instructions to your doctors as you lay there unable to speak, or are you willing to go with whoever happens to step up to the plate? (If you are OK with whoever happens to step up to the plate, please turn back to the Preface for Idiots and Dummies Only, and f ollow the instructions this time!)
You may respond, "You’re a lawyer who makes his living putting together estate plans for clients. Of course you don’t like those legal websites. They cut into your bottom line." Well, not really. It would be much more profitable for the legal profession if you go ahead and do your estate plan online. There is a lot more money to be made in dealing with screwy estate plans after they go wrong than in setting them up correctly in the first place. Lawyers have a vested interest in urging you to do your estate plan on the internet so somebody like me can make a lot of money fixing it after you become incapacitated or die. However, most estate planning lawyers would much rather earn a living by helping people create est8plans that work, than by helping families in crisis make the best of estate plans that missed the mark
In the real world, computer-driven estate plans rarely work. An effective est8plan involves far more than a set of documents even very well drawn documents that would stand up in any court in the land, as they say in the commercials. First of all, why would you want your estate plan to have to stand up in court? Wouldn’t it be better to have an est8plan that will help you and your family stay out of court? Going to a website that promises to make all of your wildest dreams come true (apologies to Pedro of Napoleon Dynamite fame) is probably not going to serve you and your loved ones well. Instead, start by learning what you need to know in order to get your est8plan right, then create and implement your est8plan with the help of your trusted advisors, and then make sure that your est8plan stays right. What I mean by "stays right" is that it continues to work according to your wishes in light of changes in your health, your stuff, your family, the law, and the list of people you like and trust. If you think a self-help computer program will accomplish that, then you may be one of those people P. T. Barnum said was born every minute.
Bottom line: There is a lot of really good information on the internet. There is also a lot of misinformation. Do you have the training and background to tell one from the other when it comes to putting your estate plan in order? If so, then knock yourself out, Professor. If not, there is something to be said for working with live professionals instead of an impersonal website that cares more about your credit card authorization than about what happens to you, your family, and your stuff when you become incapacitated or die.
The purpose of this book
My goal is to equip you with the knowledge that will enable you to work effectively with your trusted advisors to construct an est8plan that will accomplish your objectives. There is a lot of information in this book, and perhaps not all of it applies to you. Just turn to the chapters that do apply, and don’t worry about the rest. You are the expert on what is important to you, and I am here simply to help you identify and process the information that will be most helpful to you and your loved ones. Let’s get started.
CHAPTER ONE
The 8 Portals of Est8Planning
The est8planning process includes eight critical elements, which we will call portals. They are: Learning, Teaching, Gathering, Visioning, Planning, Implementing, Reviewing, and Updating. Although I will introduce the portals in a particular order, they are not necessarily chronological steps. You will find yourself going through some of the eight portals and then circling back to certain portals (though not necessarily all of them) as you create and then refine and improve your est8plan in the process of keeping it current and effective. Let me describe the portals so you can see what I mean.
Portal One: Learning
The first portal of est8planning is learning. You need to discover what you can do to stay in control of your stuff while you are able to be in control, and to assure that your wishes will be carried out when incapacity or the grim reaper catch up with you. (Sorry to rub it in, but you need to acknowledge that at least one of these things is going to happen. Odds are that both of them will.) Certainly, you have views about the kind of health care you want to receive throughout your