Estates Introduction

Estates are a fascinating study. One of the hallmarks of personal freedom is the right and actual ability to own things. One of the hallmarks of human nature is to want some of what you own, sometimes to the point of grabbing it. (See Deuteronomy 5:19, 21)

There are some in government (we used to call them public servants) who honestly believe that everything you think you own actually belongs to the government and that you should be grateful if they let you keep some of it. The amount they allow you to keep is referred to, inside the “beltway,” as a “tax loss.”

It has also been my experience that greed knows no bounds when someone dies. They will make various justifications, but it all comes down to the fact that they want what you had.

Estate planning is simply the structuring of your ownership of assets in such a way that:

  1. You can keep them.
  2. You can manage them the way you want to manage them.
  3. The ownership will arrive in the hands of the people you intend to get your stuff.
  4. The assets will suffer as little diminution as possible due to taxes and other government grabs and due to contests with people you either didn’t consider or considered less than they thought your should.

Here are some explanations of the principles, tools and patterns we use in developing estate plans.

  1. Will This Describe Your Widow? Edgar A. Guest
  2. Estate Plan Checklist
  3. Estate Planning Primer

    4. Table of Contents
    Introduction
    Suppose You Die Without an Estate Plan
    Some Special Components of an Estate Plan (The Overview)
    Trusts – The Base of Your Estate Plan
    The Continuing Importance of Your Will
    The Global Approach to Asset Control Structures
    Costs

  4. Capacity Checklist
  5. Changes that Require a Review of Your Estate Plan
  6. A Document Locator
  7. Instructions for Management of Your Estate Plan
  8. What Happens when a Shareholder Dies?