Estate & Trust Administration For Dummies (Paperback)

Margaret Atkins Munro (Author), Kathryn A. Murphy (Author)

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Product Description

Executing an estate or a trust fund is a big responsibility. Estate & Trust Administration For Dummies contains advice for handling estates and trusts of any size. It offers solid pointers on reading and interpreting a will and other documents, and helping heirs avoid paying too much (or too little). It also shows you how to take care of a loved one’s estate in the event that a will or trust was never created.

This authoritative, plain-English guide helps you understand and follow the rules that govern estates and trusts, ensure a smooth transfer of property, and manage fiduciary affairs in an orderly manner. You’ll get help choosing and assembling a team of professional advisors, settling debts and paying bequests, operating a revocable or irrevocable trust, and making sound trust investment decisions. Discover how to:

• Understand executors’ and trustees’ duties
• Read and interpret important documents
• Properly execute an estate or trust
• Handle estates both large and small
• Get familiar with the probate process and estate taxes
• Identify different types of trusts
• Follow the deceased’s wishes — and the law
• Notify insurers and employers of a death
• Follow the steps for closing an estate
• Establish, fund, and change ownership of a trust
• Keep proper trust records

Yes, you can do the job and do it well. All you need is a little help from Estate and Trust Administration For Dummies.

From the Back Cover

Easy-to-follow guidance on administering an estate or trust

Administering an estate or a trust is a big responsibility. This practical, authoritative guide contains advice for handling estates and trusts large or small, offering solid advice on reading and interpreting documents, and helping anyone involved in an estate or trust avoid paying too much, or too little, tax and other administrative expenses. It also shows you how to take care of a loved one’s estate in the event he or she never created a will or other estate planning documents.

• Understand and follow the rules — administer estates and trusts to ensure a smooth transfer of property and orderly management of fiduciary affairs
• Assemble a team — choose the legal and financial experts, and know when to use them
• Navigate the probate process — move efficiently through each step, whether your decedent had many assets or just a few
• Identify and liquidate estate assets — whether owned outright, jointly, or in a trust
• Settle debts and pay bequests — from paying funeral expenses and administration costs to segregating and distributing named property
• Operate a revocable or irrevocable trust — understand a trustee’s duties, responsibilities, and limitations
• Make sound trust investment decisions — diversify holdings and meet beneficiary needs
• Comply with income and estate tax regulations — from the decedent’s final Form 1040, through the estate’s Form 706, and the estate and trust’s Form 1041

Open the book and find:

• An overview of executors’ and trustees’ duties
• Reviews of the probate process and estate taxes
• Tips on finding and managing professional help
• Advice on notifying insurers of a death
• Steps for closing an estate
• Rules for establishing and funding a trust
• Essentials on estate and trust record keeping
• Fundamentals of preparing federal estate tax and estate and trust income tax returns

Product Details

•             Paperback: 384 pages

•             Publisher: For Dummies (November 24, 2008)

•             Language: English

•             ISBN-10: 0470286172

•             ISBN-13: 978-0470286173

•             Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1 inches

•             Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds

•             Amazon.com Sales Rank: #45,927 in Books

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