My Estate Planner

Covers everything from the basics about wills and living trusts to sophisticated tax-saving strategies for all estates, large and small.

Most Americans donÆt have a will. They avoid estate planning because they donÆt want to think about death or they think itÆs too complicated. But this easy-to-follow guide takes the mystery out of the process. This book shows readers how easy it can be to plan for security and peace of mind. Readers learn how to write a will, create an estate plan, designate executors, choose trusts, reduce tax liabilities, and distribute their assets. Other features include: A glossary of legal terms Advice for protecting families from creditors Guidance for unmarried partners The important role of charitable giving in your estate plan This book provides sound advice for planning retirement and managing assets at any age and income level. It also includes completely new information on: Updated tax, IRA, and Roth details Charitable giving opportunities for reducing taxes and leaving a legacy Instruction for keeping plans up to date as the readers age An estate planning checklist

The world has gone digital and so have our clients’ estates. Digital assets may simply be electronic records, but they are the digital gateway to our lives. They are our memories, our money, and our records, making technology the new player at the estate planning table. The Digital Executor®: Unraveling the New Path for Estate Planning arms estate advisors, business owners, service providers, and the broader estate and technology industries with heightened awareness of client expectations regarding their digital estates. Everyone needs a will and in today’s age of digitization, estate plans must include your client's digital life. This book is a primer for understanding a client’s personal use case when navigating estate management in the digital age with introductions to technology and the underlying aspects and differences between digital asset classes. With technology being the new player at the client’s estate planning table, estate advisors must be educated, motivated, and prepared, adapting policies and processes for operating in the digital world. Equally, technology and service providers must align with the stars to be integrated partners in estate industry conversations. Sharon’s first book, Your Digital Undertaker: Exploring Death in the Digital Age in Canada, was about digital assets in the context of an individual’s or client’s estate planning life cycle. This follow-up book, Digital Executor®: Unraveling the New Path for Estate Planning is about digital assets in the context of the estate industry. This book draws the reader into the world of estate planning with a digital twist, bringing together how the global estate industry, technology and service providers must address client expectations about their digital assets and the implications of the changing role of the fiduciary/executor. To understand the role of digital assets in the estate industry, we must first understand technology, the client’s user context, and the changing role of the estate advisor. From an estate industry perspective, if today’s executor is a digital executor and today’s fiduciary is a digital fiduciary, then today’s advisor must be a digital advisor.

If you’re like most people, you want to be sure that, once you’ve passed on, no more of your property and money will be lost to the government than is absolutely necessary. You want to know that you’ll be leaving your heirs your assets and not your debts. You want to be absolutely certain that your will is ship-shape, your insurance policies are structured properly, and that every conceivable hole in your estate plan has been filled. And most of all, you’d like to do all of this without driving yourself crazy trying to make sense of the complicated jargon, jumble of paperwork, and welter of state and federal laws involved in the estate planning process. Written by two estate planning pros, this simple, easy-to-use guide takes the pain out of planning for your ultimate financial future. In plain English, the authors walk you step-by-step through everything you need to know to: Put your estate into order Minimize estate taxes Write a proper will Deal with probate Set up trusts Make sure your insurance policies are structured properly Plan for special situations, like becoming incompetent and pet care Craft a solid estate plan and keep it up-to-date Don’t leave the final disposition of your estate up to chance and the whims of bureaucrats. Estate Planning For Dummies gives you the complete lowdown on: Figuring out what you're really worth Mastering the basics of wills and probate Using will substitutes and dodging probate taxes Setting up protective trusts, charitable trusts, living trusts and more Making sense of state and federal inheritance taxes Avoiding the generation skipping transfer tax Minimizing all your estate-related taxes Estate planning for family businesses Creating a comprehensive estate plan Straightforward, reader-friendly, easy-to-use, Estate Planning For Dummies is the ultimate guide to planning your family’s future.

An essential resource to help you plan your estate and protect your assets Praise for previous editions of The Canadian Guide to Will and Estate Planning: “The authors have done a masterful job....This is a shelf reference every Canadian taxpayer and every Canadian family should have.” –THE GLOBE AND MAIL “An informative, practical guide....The authors...cover all the bases.” –THE NATIONAL POST Established as the go-to source of expert guidance, The Canadian Guide to Will and Estate Planning will save you money, taxes, risk, stress, and maintain peace of mind and family harmony. Completely updated to reflect the latest tax changes and with new information on charitable giving, including the donation of certain kinds of life insurance policies, this new edition explains practical strategies to: • Avoid classic pitfalls, family feuds, and spousal disputes • Minimize or avoid income, probate, and capital gains taxes • Protect your digital assets • Astutely deal with vacation properties, U.S. assets, and privately-owned businesses

Stepping Lightly Around the Pitfalls of Estate Planning... Estate planning is one of those unpleasant but really important tasks. Unfortunately, the process is not only hard to get started, it is then easy to make mistakes. Even the most careful and well-intentioned person can slip up along the way. Avoid the pitfalls! The 50 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes outlines the major mistakes and their consequences in an entertaining way-and then proceeds to tell you exactly how to avoid these mistakes. Delivering practical and helpful information in a light tone, the authors help to make these sometimes difficult conversations a little easier. The book's fifty concise chapters are filled with real-life examples, organized under four key areas of mistakes: The biggest mistake of not planning at all Failing to plan for the possibility of mental incompetency Mistakes made during the estate planning process itself And common mistakes made by executors Written by personal finance and estate planning experts, Jean Blacklock and Sarah Kruger, The 50 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes and How To Avoid Them is an essential guide for Canadians interested in planning their estates effectively, with minimal stress on their loved ones.