American Bar Association Guide to Wills and Estates, Fourth Edition: Everything You Need to Know About Wills, Estates, Trusts, and Taxes

by American Bar Association

The American Bar Association Guide to Wills & Estates ,  Fourth Edition , is the user-friendly guide that contains everything you need to know about planning an estate and preparing a will. It is organized in easy-to-follow chapters with sidebars containing tips, checklists, and key information, encouraging you to begin the process quickly and easily.

The ABA Guide to Wills & Estates  will help you:
• Determine what to put in an estate plan
• Decide whether to prepare a will, trust, or living trust
• Avoid or reduce estate taxes
• Transfer property without a will with substitutes such as life insurance and joint tenancy
• Understand the benefits of living gifts and life insurance, among many other topics
 
The Fourth edition features new and updated topics, such as:
• Life-threatening and chronic illnesses
• Incorporating your religious beliefs into your estate plan  
• Assisted reproduction and its resulting estate planning implications
• Civil unions and same-sex marriages
• Elder abuse and care
• Information about Roth IRAs in estate plans
• The impact of digital assets on estate planning

Genres: Law, Nonfiction

416 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 1995

Reviews

[YourLovelyMan]

Definitely a version aimed at the lay person wanting to know how it works, not for a lawyer, and certainly not for a lawyer already familiar with the law.

As a lawyer who doesn't focus in this area, I was looking for drafting strategies, like how to set up a life estate. No dice here--the book describes what they are, but does not say how to set them up. All it says (albeit accurately) is that they're more trouble than they're usually worth.

Not a bad read for a non-lawyer who wants to how it all works. And it certainly won't steer you wrong. But if you're looking for drafting techniques and probate strategies, you won't find them here.

[Megan Polley]

I was hoping this book would be more geared towards paralegals and attorneys in the estate planning field, but this book seems to be more geared towards the general public. Regardless, it was informational and establishes a nice foundation of knowledge on the topics.

[C. Woody]

10

[Sue]

Thorough, but dry.

[Danielle]

A good overview of estate planning. A little confusing at times (trusts are awesome but you probably don't need one?).

Overall, fairly easy to understand, good advice, and a lot of topics covered.