| Acknowledgments | p. ix |
| Introduction | p. xiii |
| Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 | p. 1 |
| Marginal Ordinary Income Tax Rates | p. 2 |
| Capital Gains Tax Rates | p. 3 |
| Educational Provisions | p. 3 |
| Business and Corporate Tax Relief | p. 8 |
| Estate, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Transfers | p. 8 |
| Estate Planning: You Need It-Here's Why | p. 13 |
| What Is Estate Planning? | p. 13 |
| The Benefits of Estate Planning | p. 15 |
| The Nightmares of Poor Planning | p. 16 |
| The Myths of Estate Planning | p. 17 |
| Guidelines for Successful Estate Planning | p. 18 |
| The Estate Tax System: How Much Are You Really Worth? | p. 21 |
| Determining Your Estate Net Worth | p. 21 |
| Understanding the Estate Tax System | p. 21 |
| Your Estate Tax Picture | p. 27 |
| Your Future Estate | p. 30 |
| Overview of Estate Planning Strategies | p. 30 |
| Investment Strategies for Maximizing Estate Growth | p. 32 |
| Growth Strategy with a Safety Net | p. 33 |
| Prioritizing Your Investment Dollars | p. 37 |
| Retirement Planning: Choosing the Best Investment Environments | p. 38 |
| Some Final Thoughts on Investing | p. 46 |
| Retire with Dignity: How Much Is Enough? | p. 47 |
| Your Retirement Requirements | p. 47 |
| You Don't Have a Will? Big Trouble! | p. 60 |
| Property Transfers at Death | p. 61 |
| Transfers via Probate | p. 61 |
| Direct Transfers by Title | p. 64 |
| Other Methods of Property Ownership | p. 68 |
| Choosing the Best Methods of Ownership | p. 69 |
| Setting Estate Planning Goals | p. 70 |
| Where There's a Will, There's Your Way! | p. 72 |
| What Is a Will? | p. 72 |
| Types of Wills | p. 72 |
| Advantages and Disadvantages of Wills | p. 74 |
| Intelligent Decisions Concerning Your Will's Basic Provisions | p. 76 |
| Executing Your Will | p. 86 |
| Where to Store Your Will | p. 86 |
| Other Important Documents | p. 87 |
| Working with Your Attorney | p. 90 |
| When to Review Your Estate Plan | p. 95 |
| Using Trusts in Your Estate Plan | p. 98 |
| The Credit Shelter Trust Will | p. 99 |
| Disclaimers | p. 103 |
| Marital Trusts | p. 104 |
| Spendthrift Trust | p. 108 |
| Standby Trust | p. 109 |
| Other Trusts | p. 109 |
| Understanding the Living Trust | p. 110 |
| Advantages of Living Trusts | p. 110 |
| Disadvantages of Living Trusts | p. 112 |
| How a Living Trust Operates | p. 113 |
| Transferring Property into Your Living Trust | p. 115 |
| Types of Property Likely to Be Transferred | p. 118 |
| Living Trust Myths | p. 120 |
| Transacting Business with Your Trust | p. 122 |
| Using Insurance in Your Estate Plan | p. 123 |
| Life Insurance | p. 123 |
| Using Life Insurance to Replace Income | p. 125 |
| How Much Life Insurance Do You Need? | p. 126 |
| What Type of Life Insurance Is Best for You? | p. 129 |
| Insurance on a Homemaker | p. 129 |
| Insurance on Adult Children | p. 129 |
| How to Get the Best Deal on Term Life Insurance | p. 130 |
| Insurance Warnings! | p. 130 |
| Using Life Insurance for Estate Liquidity | p. 131 |
| How Much Is Enough? | p. 132 |
| What Type of Life Insurance Is Best for Estate Liquidity? | p. 132 |
| The Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust | p. 134 |
| Getting Your Life Insurance into Your Trust | p. 135 |
| Using Life Insurance to Leverage Your Estate | p. 137 |
| About Your Cash Values | p. 139 |
| Long-Term Care Insurance | p. 141 |
| Smart Strategies for Gifting Assets to Family Members | p. 144 |
| The Annual Gift Tax Exclusion | p. 144 |
| Unintended Gifts | p. 145 |
| Filing a Gift Tax Return | p. 146 |
| The Lifetime Applicable Exclusion Amount | p. 147 |
| Outright Gifts | p. 147 |
| When the Donee Is a Minor | p. 149 |
| Other Tax-Free Gifts | p. 152 |
| Family Gifts Utilizing Trusts | p. 152 |
| Grantor Retained Annuity Trust | p. 153 |
| Grantor Retained Unitrust | p. 154 |
| Qualified Personal Residence Trust | p. 154 |
| Taking Advantage of Generation Skipping Transfers | p. 159 |
| Sales to Family Members | p. 161 |
| Loans to Family Members | p. 164 |
| The Legacy Trust | p. 164 |
| Strategic Planning with Charities | p. 173 |
| Outright Gifts to Charities | p. 174 |
| Testamentary Gifts to Charities | p. 176 |
| Gifts Using Charitable Trusts | p. 176 |
| Using Your Charitable Trust for Retirement Planning | p. 179 |
| The Private Foundation | p. 182 |
| Family Limited Partnerships | p. 186 |
| General Structure of the Family Limited Partnership | p. 186 |
| Family Limited Partnership Rules | p. 191 |
| Succession Planning for the Family Business or Farm | p. 197 |
| Special Estate Tax Benefits for Farmers and Closely Held Business Owners | p. 199 |
| Valuing Your Business or Farm | p. 200 |
| Succession or Sale? | p. 201 |
| Succession Planning: Keeping the Family Business in the Family | p. 201 |
| Maximizing Your Business's Value through a Sale | p. 202 |
| Structuring Your Buy-Sell Agreement | p. 203 |
| Types of Buy-Sell Agreements | p. 204 |
| Funding the Buy-Sell Agreement | p. 205 |
| One Final Strategy-The Employee Stock Ownership Plan | p. 206 |
| Asset Protection Strategies | p. 208 |
| The Concept of Fraudulent Transfers | p. 209 |
| A Word about Jointly Held Property | p. 212 |
| Retirement Plans | p. 212 |
| Life Insurance | p. 214 |
| Using Trusts to Protect Assets | p. 214 |
| Using Limited Liability Entities to Protect Assets | p. 216 |
| Use of Multiple Limited Liability Entities | p. 218 |
| Foreign Asset Protection Trusts | p. 219 |
| Domestic Asset Protection Trusts | p. 221 |
| Personal Business Planning Issues | p. 223 |
| Choosing the Right Entity for Your Business | p. 223 |
| Closing Thoughts | p. 233 |
| Importance of a Business Plan | p. 235 |
| Epilogue-Dealing with Parents and Their Money | p. 237 |
| Professional Advisors | p. 239 |
| Estate Planning Terms | p. 243 |
| IRS Life Expectancy Table | p. 248 |
| Index | p. 251 |