Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Acknowledgments -- What is estate planning? -- Title -- Jointly held property -- Disability -- No estate plan? -- Wills -- More on wills -- Probate -- The federal estate tax -- The unified system -- The gift tax -- The marital deduction -- Community property -- State death taxes -- Step-up in basis at death -- Trusts -- The revocable living trust -- Funding a revocable living trust -- Trustees -- Giving property to minors -- Planning for children -- Per stirpes versus per capita -- Generation skipping -- Disinheriting a spouse -- Planning for a spouse -- Planning for unmarried couples -- Life insurance -- Life insurance: who should own it? -- Life insurance -- The irrevocable life insurance trust -- Life insurance -- The irrevocable life insurance trust -- Some estate planning solutions -- Freezing techniques -- Discounting the value of your estate -- Protecting your assets -- Loans to family members -- Sales to family members -- Private annuities and self-cancelling installment notes -- Personal residence trusts -- Retirement planning -- Special use valuation -- Using assets of a corporation to pay death costs -- Giving it to charity -- An estate planning summary -- Appendix A: Getting organized -- Appendix B: Federal estate and gift tax tables -- Appendix C: Spouses have rights too -- Appendix D: Estate planning history -- Index.