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    Estate Planning for the Savvy Client: What You Need to Know Before You Meet With Your Lawyer
    Estate Planning for the Savvy Client: What You Need to Know Before You Meet With Your Lawyer
    Estate Planning for the Savvy Client: What You Need to Know Before You Meet With Your Lawyer
    Ebook192 pages1 hour

    Estate Planning for the Savvy Client: What You Need to Know Before You Meet With Your Lawyer

    By Mary L. Barrow

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    About this ebook

    Do you want to make sure that the money you spend on estate planning is money well spent?

    Do you have questions about estate planning, probate, wills and trusts but don’t know where to start?

    Or do you have an estate plan but still have unanswered questions?

    Would you like to be well-informed and confident before you consult a prospective attorney, or before you meet with your current attorney?

    With this book you’ll discover:
    •what you need to know to eliminate confusion about estate planning and give you a clear path to achieving your goals
    •how to decide if you really need a will, revocable living trust, power of attorney, or any of the other options available
    •how to choose the right attorney to help you plan your estate
    •how to make the most of the time spent with your attorney by having the knowledge and confidence to ask the right questions

    Sit down with this guide from an experienced, ivy-league-educated estate planning attorney as she answers these and other questions for you in a practical, easy-to-understand way, just as she has done for her clients and students. This book will tell you what you need to know before you meet with your attorney or prospective attorney.

    The Savvy Client is you!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMary L. Barrow
    Release dateApr 5, 2017
    ISBN9781370814817
    Estate Planning for the Savvy Client: What You Need to Know Before You Meet With Your Lawyer

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      Book preview

      Estate Planning for the Savvy Client - Mary L. Barrow

      Estate Planning

      for the

      Savvy Client

      What You Need to Know Before

      You Meet With Your Lawyer

      Mary L. Barrow, Esq.

      Estate Planning for the Savvy Client

      by Mary L. Barrow

      Copyright © 2017 Mary L. Barrow.

      Smashwords Edition

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

      Savvy Client Press

      620 Park Avenue, Ste. 242

      Rochester, New York 14607

      info@savvyclientpress.com

      Ordering Information:

      Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the address above.

      Estate Planning for the Savvy Client/ Mary L. Barrow. —1st ed.

      ISBN print edition 978-0692853061 (available at most online retailers)

      This book is a brief summary only and should not be used as a substitute for the advice of competent legal counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice law in your jurisdiction. You should always consult your attorney before implementing or changing any estate planning strategy. You should never delay seeking legal advice, disregard legal advice, or commence or discontinue any legal action because of information in this book.

      Contents

      About the Author

      Introduction

      Why I Wrote This Book

      What This Book Is

      What This Book Is Not

      Chapter 1 – Basics You’ll Want to Know

      What Is Estate Planning?

      What Does Property Really Mean?

      Other Terms You Should Know

      What Does a Typical Estate Plan Include?

      What Happens if You Don’t Have an Estate Plan?

      What Is Probate?

      What to Expect When You Meet With Your Attorney

      Chapter 2 – The Number One Misconception About Wills

      What a Will Does

      Some Property Does Not Pass by Will

      Property That Passes by Beneficiary Designation

      Property That Passes by Law

      Property That Passes by Will

      Spousal and Contractual Rights and the Like

      Let’s Illustrate These Concepts

      Probate Property and Non-Probate Property

      An Estate Plan Is Like a Puzzle

      Chapter 3 – More About Wills You’ll Want to Know

      What Happens to Your Property if You Don’t Have a Will?

      What Your Will Should Include

      Where Should You Keep Your Will?

      You Need a Will Even if You Think You Don’t

      Chapter 4 – What Happens if You Become Incapacitated?

      What Happens Without Prior Planning?

      Putting Someone’s Name on Your Accounts

      Using a Power of Attorney for Finances

      Making Your Healthcare Wishes Known

      Chapter 5 – Do You Need a Trust?

      What Exactly Is a Trust?

      Why You May Want a Trust

      Two Types of Trusts

      How a Trust Is Created

      How a Trust Is Funded

      What Does a Trustee Do?

      Who Should You Name as Your Trustee?

      Chapter 6 – Revocable Living Trusts

      What Is a Revocable Living Trust?

      Do You Need a Revocable Living Trust?

      Why Avoid Probate?

      Using a Revocable Living Trust to Avoid Probate

      Using a Revocable Living Trust in Case of Incapacity

      Chapter 7 – Working With an Attorney

      Why You Need an Attorney

      How to Choose an Attorney

      Keeping Your Estate Plan Up to Date

      Conclusion

      Index

      This book is dedicated to all of my clients and students over the years.

      You are the joy of my practice.

      Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

      ―Albert Einstein

      About the Author

      Mary L. Barrow has been an attorney for more than 30 years. She has a BA from Brown University and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania law school. For many years she practiced estate planning, probate and trust law, in three different states, both as a partner in a large law firm and as the principal of a boutique trusts & estates firm. She has helped numerous clients to define their goals and objectives, and then implement those wishes as simply and efficiently as possible through their estate plans.

      In 2009 Attorney Barrow was approached by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of South Carolina Beaufort to create a course for its members on the topic of trusts. She was delighted to teach the resulting course for a number of years. Attorney Barrow enjoys speaking to groups of non-lawyers on estate planning topics.

      Introduction

      Welcome to Estate Planning For the Savvy Client. This book is your guide to getting the most out of your relationship with your estate planning lawyer.

      A quick search of any online or brick-and-mortar bookstore will tell you that there are already many trusts & estates books in the world. They cover wills, trusts, probate, and a variety of other estate planning topics. There are do-it-yourself books and technical let’s-learn-everything-from-a-book books. There are guides and templates and checklists. There are in-depth analyses written by experts in the field. But when it comes to planning your own estate, no matter how many books you may read, unless you have a law degree and years of experience practicing trusts & estates law, you’ll benefit greatly from the guidance of a qualified trusts & estates attorney. In the pages that follow, I draw on my extensive experience to help you get as much as you can from your lawyer’s time.

      Why I Wrote This Book

      When I taught a course on trusts for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), I found that many of my students were sophisticated, successful people who had already met with an attorney and obtained estate planning documents, such as wills, trusts, and powers of attorney. But they came to my course because they still had questions or concerns. I understand how this could happen: In the first place, trusts & estates is a highly technical, detail-oriented area of the law. There often simply is not enough time to address all the fine points. Second, people are sometimes reluctant to ask questions that they feel are either too basic (and therefore embarrassing) or too complex. In addition, there is a mindset and a vocabulary in

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