Make Your Own Living Trust (2nd ed..) (Paperback)

by Denis Clifford (Author), Mary Randolph (Editor), Mari Stein (Illustrator) "Living trusts are an efficient and effective way to transfer property, at your death, to the relatives, friends or charities you've chosen..." (more)
Key Phrases: shared living trust, individual living trust, personal estate tax exemption, Uniform Transfers, Denis Clifford, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Most of us know that upon our demise, a succession of fees and taxes will eat into our estates--no matter their size--if we don't plan now to protect them. Unfortunately, many of us still postpone this process because we hesitate to summon the outside legal assistance that's traditionally been required. The folks at Nolo Press have made it their mission to provide us with the means to complete a relatively uncomplicated official arrangement like this without lawyers, however, and their third edition of Make Your Own Living Trust offers hope even to the most hesitant among us. With easy-to-follow instructions, helpful worksheets, and all of the forms necessary, attorney Denis Clifford shows both individuals and couples how to avoid otherwise inevitable delays and costs by preparing on their own to transfer their property directly to their designated heirs. Clifford's method involves the creation of a "living trust," which is a basic legal entity that allows property to be simply passed along in this way immediately upon the death of the person who created it. He outlines advantages and drawbacks, and then clearly lays out the entire process. The excuses stop here. --Howard Rothman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"If you think you can prepare your own living trust, an excellent books is Make Your Own Living Trust." -- Chicago Tribune, 9/15/2000

"There are important differences between the trust-mill approach and that of such well-respected products as...Make Your Own Living Trust." -- The Wall Street Journal --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Nolo; 2nd edition (May 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873373057
• ISBN-13: 978-0873373050
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,858,330 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great buy!, May 17, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Make Your Own Living Trust (Paperback)

This book was a god-send! I was skeptical at first because I have no legal backround and I thought that making my own living trust would be complicated at best, impossible at worst. But following a recommendation of a friend I decided to give do-it-yourself law a shot. Boy am I happy I did! I saved a fortune in legal fees and was able to get the job done just as well as if I'd had a lawyer coaching me every step of the way.
Make Your Own Living Trust was easy to use and very accessible. It even has all of the forms you'll need on an enclosed CD-ROM. Thanks to this book I was able to transfer assets such as stocks, real estate and jewelry to my trust, appoint someone to manage the property that I'm leaving my children, and keep control over it while I live. So don't be afraid to do it yourself, you'll save money and get your trust done the way you want it!

130 of 141 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CD present, June 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Make Your Own Living Trust (Make Your Own Living Trust, 4th ed) (Paperback)

I was pleased to see this book has a Mac/Windows CD in a jacket on the inside back cover. Your advertising and reviews did not seem to mention that.

As usual, this book was what I expect from Nolo: the best. Very informative, detailed, and useful.

65 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Make Your Own Living Trust, July 5, 2001

By	Dean A. Palius (Solvang, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Make Your Own Living Trust (Make Your Own Living Trust, 4th ed) (Paperback)

A generally easy to follow and excellent review of the material. However, a shortcoming is the lack of clearly definitive language for determining how to name mutual fund money markey accounts and life insurance policies in order to include in the Trust. For example, do you name yourself as initial trustee or the successor trustee as trustee of children's trusts as beneficiary on life policies? Do you make Trust owner and/or beneficiary of money market mutual funds. One additional crticism is that forms are not set up as "forms" per se. You must eliminate the "fill-in" language such as Name? for each blank.