“This book provides the reader with an opportunity to look at the estate planning process through the eyes of both Paul Hood and Steve Leimberg – who essentially serve as the reader’s mentor.  Whether you are an attorney, a CPA, a life insurance agent, a financial planner or a trust officer, this book should be on everyone’s bookshelf to serve as a reference regardless of your level of expertise.”  

 

In his commentary, Steve Oshins reviews a new book co-authored by L. Paul Hood, Jr. and Stephan R. Leimberg titled, “The Tools & Techniques of Estate Planning for Modern Families,” a topic that’s in the newspaper headlines almost daily. 

Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) is an attorney at the Law Offices of Oshins & Associates, LLC in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Steve is a nationally known attorney who is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® and has been named one of the Top 100 Attorneys in Worth magazine.  He was inducted into the NAEPC Estate Planning Hall of Fame® in 2011.  He is the author of the Annual Domestic Asset Protection Trust State Rankings Chart at http://www.oshins.com/images/DAPT_Rankings.pdf and the Annual Dynasty Trust State Rankings Chart at http://www.oshins.com/images/Dynasty_Trust_Rankings.pdf. Steve can be reached at 702-341-6000, x2 or at soshins@oshins.com.  His law firm's web site is http://www.oshins.com. 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:  

Paul Hood and Steve Leimberg recently released “The Tools & Techniques of Estate Planning for Modern Families,” a book consisting of 42 chapters and more than 800 pages.

The book discusses the estate planning issues that are unique to blended families, now the largest family segment in the United States. It is targeted to planners and advisers who must become familiar with the unique issues that surround this family type. There currently are few publications written on a high level for the planning/advisory audience that deal with these unique issues.  So Paul and Steve’s new book automatically becomes the go-to book for all estate planners who need to get their practice up to speed in the area of blended families. 

The Table of Contents is comprised of 42 chapters moving from a basic estate planning overview to a discussion of the unique factors of blended families. The book includes extensive discussion on  

· tax issues,  

· premarital and relationship formalization considerations,  

· planning for disability and death,  

· lifetime estate planning options, and 

· post-death issues.   

One of the critical aspects of the publication is the information on the human side of estate planning, as well as some of the ethical and business considerations that planners and advisers will face when working with or representing one or both of the partners in a blended family.

For All Levels of Experience

While many books are written with an eye towards either a beginner-level reader, an intermediate-level reader or an advanced-level reader, one of the great attributes of “The Tools & Techniques of Estate Planning for Modern Families” is that it should appeal to all levels of practitioner.   

The book begins with a discussion of modern families in order to set the stage for the remainder of the book.  It then provides an easy-to-understand overview of basic estate planning concepts, such as methods of ownership, trusts and probate.  For the new estate planner, this commentary is priceless! 

The next portion of the book provides a much more sophisticated, yet still easy-to-understand, overview of the tax system.  These chapters are nearly a substitute for what generally takes dozens of hours of law school study.   

There is so much information that even a thorough book review can’t do it justice.  Skipping ahead to some of the last chapters, there is quite a lot of information related to some of the advanced estate planning tools such as different estate freezing techniques, such as using family limited partnerships and limited liability companies, as well as advanced charitable planning with charitable lead trusts and charitable remainder trusts.   

This book provides the reader with an opportunity to look at the estate planning process through the eyes of both Paul Hood and Steve Leimberg.  The reader is left with the feeling that Paul and Steve served as the reader’s mentor.  Whether the reader is an attorney, a CPA, a life insurance agent, a financial planner or a trust officer, the opportunity to learn from Paul and Steve is one that cannot be missed.  This book should be on everyone’s bookshelf to serve as a reference regardless of your level of expertise in estate planning.

Table of Contents

Perhaps the best way to demonstrate the vast amount of information found in the book is to read through the Table of Contents:

PART I INTRODUCTION TO ESTATE PLANNING FOR MODERN FAMILIES                            

Chapter 1 Modern Families

Chapter 2 Overview of Estate Planning  

Chapter 3 Data Gathering and Analysis and Initial Client Interview      

Chapter 4 The Human Side of Estate Planning

Chapter 5 Ethical and Business Considerations When Working with One or Both Partners in a Blended Family 

Chapter 6 Malpractice in Estate Planning        

PART II OVERVIEW OF ESTATE PLANNING CONCEPTS AND CONSIDERATIONS                              

Chapter 7  Modes of Property Ownership and Transfers     

Chapter 8  Wills

Chapter 9  Powers of Appointment

Chapter 10 Disclaimers

Chapter 11 Selection of Fiduciaries and Estate Planning Advisors 

Chapter 12 Gifts in General   

Chapter 13 Trusts in General

Chapter 14 Probate and Trust Administration   

Chapter 15 Non-Probate Property    

PART III TAXES                      

Chapter 16  Estate Tax 

Chapter 17  Death Tax Apportionment     

Chapter 18  Federal Gift Tax  

Chapter 19  Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax  

Chapter 20  State Transfer Taxes     

Chapter 21  Issues Relating to the Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates         

Chapter 22  Issues in Income Shifting        

Chapter 23  Non-U.S. Persons in the Estate Plan  

PART IV PRE-MARITAL AND RELATIONSHIP FORMALIZATION CONSIDERATIONS                 

Chapter 24 Marriage Contracts and Property Agreements in Blended Family Couples         

Chapter 25 Residential Issues, Children, and Division of Living Expenses      

PART V  PLANNING FOR DISABILITY AND DEATH                     

Chapter 26 Durable Powers of Attorney  

Chapter 27 Advance Health Care Directives/Health Care Powers of Attorney  

Chapter 28 End-of-Life Issues in the Blended Family            

PART VI  LIFETIME ESTATE PLANNING OPTIONS FOR THE BLENDED FAMILY PARTNER                     

Chapter 29  Buy-Sell Agreements and Family Business Issues        

Chapter 30  Estate Division Between Partners    

Chapter 31  Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts     

Chapter 32  Planning with the Family Homes     

Chapter 33  Estate Freezing Techniques    

Chapter 34  Charitable Lead Trusts 

Chapter 35  Charitable Remainder Trusts 

Chapter 36  Family Limited Partnerships and LLCs     

Chapter 37  Planning with Retirement Plans and Individual Retirement Accounts      

Chapter 38  Valuation Planning       

Chapter 39  Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts      

Chapter 40  Planning for Unmarried Partners       

PART VII POST-DEATH ISSUES                          

Chapter 41  Fiduciary Elections and Powers       

Chapter 42  Common Post-Death Probate and Trust Litigation in Blended Family Situations   

Appendix A

Appendix B                            

Glossary                       

Index

You can obtain this terrific resource by calling 800 543 0874 or on the Internet at http://www.nationalunderwriter.com/reference-bookstore/the-leimberg-library.html. 

Steve and Paul have also teamed up with The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc. to put together a special 90-minute teleconference, "Modern Estate Planning for Modern Families" on Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at 11am Central Time (12pm Eastern Time).  For more information and to register...    

PLUS, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A SPECIAL BOOK & TELECONFERENCE REGISTRATION BUNDLE OFFER

You can also register for this teleconference and receive a copy of Steve and Paul's new book, The Tools & Techniques of Estate Planning for Modern Families (regularly $155) for one special low price of just $259 (a $55 savings!). MORE INFO  Your registration includes: Participation on the teleconference (including a live Q&A session) that comes with handout materials, an audio recording of the teleconference and a Certificate of Completion.  If you have any questions or wish to register by phone, you can call The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc. at 1-866-754-6477 or e-mail them directly at events@ultimateestateplanner.com.

                  

HOPE THIS HELPS YOU HELP OTHERS MAKE A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE!  

 

Steve Oshins

 

CITE AS: 

LISI Estate Planning Newsletter #2175 (December 12, 2013) at http://www.leimbergservices.com  Copyright 2013 Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI). Reproduction in Any Form or Forwarding to Any Person Prohibited – Without Express Permission.