Includes index

How you established your living trust without a clear understanding of what it is and how it works, or You don't know what you don't know about your living trust -- What does the living trust do, and how does it do it?, or The best explanation of the living trust you will ever get -- Do you really need a living trust? or, Don't let someone sell you something you don't need -- Establishing your living trust, or No better way to get started-- than to get started -- Who should you select as the lifetime agent of your living trust? or If you become incapacitated, will your lifetime agent manage your living trust for your benefit, or for his -- You can select your children as your after-death agent, but will they carry out your living trust's inheritance instructions? or "That was our parent's wish, but it ain't our wish" -- The second quarter : living with your living trust during the lifetime of you and your spouse -- Functions of your living trust while both you and your spouse are alive, or Don't quite forget about your living trust after you have thrown it into your safe deposit box -- The five concerns about the real estate you transferred to your living trust, or You still own your house! -- Should you tell your children about your living trust? or Don't dismiss the chance to have a family inheritance meeting especially if the lawyer won't charge you -- The third quarter : living with your living trust after the death of your spouse -- Will you divert your deceased spouse's half of the living trust assets from your offspring? or how to make your children fret and hope that you will do the right thing -- The power to change your deceased spouse's inheritance instructions, or not! or, How to lord over your children with threats of changing your living trust -- Dealing with your living trust if you remarry, or The battle royale : your second spouse vs. your first children -- Splitting the living trust assets after your spouse dies, preparing your spouse's estate tax return, and other tax stuff that you would rather just ignore, or As much as you want to, don't skip this chapter! to prevent estate taxes after your death, you must deal with estate tax matters after your spouse's death -- The fourth quarter : dying with your living trust -- Distribution of your living trust after both you and your spouse are dead, or The inheritance arena is not for the fainthearted -- Don't intentionally leave your children unequal inheritances, or So what if one needs it more than the other? -- The accidental unequal inheritance, or If you think you have treated your children equally by leaving them an equal inheritance, I have some news for you! -- Don't make a child who owes you money a debtor to your other children, or An unforgiven and unpaid loan to a child can wreak havoc after your death -- Do not leave your child an outright inheritance, or I'm not kidding! don't leave your child an outright inheritance -- Using your living trust to force your child into a conventional lifestyle, or If the twig is bent, will force do anything to straighten it out? -- The success of the third party irrevocable protection trust (PUPPET) depends on whom you've selected as the third-party, or Try not to appoint one private person to hold and manage money for another private person -- Who are your grandchildren? or Do you really want your living trust assets to ultimately wind up with your son's second wife's kids from her first marriage? -- The IRS is back! and this time, it's for real! or Sorry about your parents' deaths. that will be $200,000 please? -- Who pays the estate tax? or Don't make one person pay the estate tax on living trust gifts that go to another person -- Post-game : review and lessons learned -- Question and answer time! or Take the opportunity to ask your questions to this expensive lawyer for no charge -- A random sampling of cautionary tales from the inheritance arena, or Read about, and learn from, my previous mistakes and the mistakes of my clients -- About the author, or An invitation from the author to contact him for no charge