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Many of us spend a lifetime building wealth and accumulating
assets, but fail to properly plan how all of this will be passed on
once we are gone. And while dealing with complex financial issues
such as inheritance and estate taxes forces us to face our own
mortality, making these difficult decisions is something we all
need to do.

Living trust attorney and bestselling author Jeffrey Condon is
extremely familiar with these types of situations and understands
the importance of a living trust in an increasingly uncertain
world. Now, with The Living Trust Advisor, he skillfully discusses
the various aspects of this document and details how it can provide
a seamless transfer of assets to your spouse, children, and other
beneficiaries after you are gone.

Written in a straightforward and accessible style--and
peppered with Condon's trademark humor--The Living Trust
Advisor puts the living trust in perspective and walks you through
the four life phases associated with it. Page by page, this
practical guide will help you:

* Address the numerous issues that should be considered before
first meeting with a living trust lawyer and other key players in
this arena

* Establish and manage your living trust over the course of your
life as well as prepare it to carry out your financial wishes once
you and your spouse have passed on

* Identify potential inheritance problems now, so you can build
solutions into your living trust before it's too late

* Distribute living trust assets to future generations and
protect those assets once the transfer is complete

* And much more

Throughout the book, Condon provides you with real-world
examples that illustrate key points or clarify particular concepts.
While many of these examples are drawn from Condon's professional
relationship with clients, some anecdotes are associated with his
personal experiences in this field.

If you've picked up this book, then you're probably thinking
about putting together a living trust. Or, perhaps you already have
a living trust and you're looking to revisit it. Whatever your
reasons, this reliable resource contains the straightforward advice
and practical insights you need to create and maintain a living
trust that will ensure your final financial wishes are carried out
in full.

JEFFREY L. CONDON, ESQ. has practiced in trust, estate, and probate law since 1987 at the law offices of Condon & Condon in Santa Monica, California. With his late father, Gerald M. Condon, he is the coauthor of Beyond the Grave: The Right Way and the Wrong Way of Leaving Money to Your Children and Others, the bestselling inheritance planning book in American publishing history, which the Wall Street Journal called the best estate planning book in America. When not tending to his clients, Living Trusts and inheritance matters, Jeffrey enjoys swimming 3,000 meters daily with Southern California Aquatics, dining with his lovely girlfriend, Kim, listening to 70s and 80s pop music, getting together with his lifelong friends, and finding opportunities to spend quality time with his grown children.

Many of us spend a lifetime building wealth and accumulating assets, but fail to properly plan how all of this will be passed on once we are gone. And while dealing with complex financial issues such as inheritance and estate taxes forces us to face our own mortality, making these difficult decisions is something we all need to do.

Living trust attorney and bestselling author Jeffrey Condon is extremely familiar with these types of situations and understands the importance of a living trust in an increasingly uncertain world. Now, with The Living Trust Advisor, he skillfully discusses the various aspects of this document and details how it can provide a seamless transfer of assets to your spouse, children, and other beneficiaries after you are gone.

Written in a straightforward and accessible styleand peppered with Condon's trademark humorThe Living Trust Advisor puts the living trust in perspective and walks you through the four life phases associated with it. Page by page, this practical guide will help you:

• Address the numerous issues that should be considered before first meeting with a living trust lawyer and other key players in this arena
• Establish and manage your living trust over the course of your life as well as prepare it to carry out your financial wishes once you and your spouse have passed on
• Identify potential inheritance problems now, so you can build solutions into your living trust before it's too late
• Distribute living trust assets to future generations and protect those assets once the transfer is complete
• And much more

Throughout the book, Condon provides you with real-world examples that illustrate key points or clarify particular concepts. While many of these examples are drawn from Condon's professional relationship with clients, some anecdotes are associated with his personal experiences in this field.

If you've picked up this book, then you're probably thinking about putting together a living trust. Or, perhaps you already have a living trust and you're looking to revisit it. Whatever your reasons, this reliable resource contains the straightforward advice and practical insights you need to create and maintain a living trust that will ensure your final financial wishes are carried out in full.

Acknowledgments xxi

The First Quarter: Establishing Your Living Trust 1

Chapter 1 How You Established Your Living Trust Without a Clear Understanding of What It Is and How It Works
Or
You Don't Know What You Don't Know about Your Living Trust 3

Chapter 2 What Does the Living Trust Do, and How Does It Do It?
Or
The Best Explanation of the Living Trust You Will Ever Get 10

Chapter 3 Do You Really Need a Living Trust?
Or
Don't Let Someone Sell You Something You Don't Need 14

Chapter 4 Establishing Your Living Trust
Or
No Better Way to Get Started . . . Than to Get Started 21

Chapter 5 Who Should You Select as the Lifetime Agent of Your Living Trust?
Or
If You Become Incapacitated, Will Your Lifetime Agent Manage Your Living Trust for Your Benefit . . . or for His? 31

Chapter 6 You Can Select Your Children as Your After-Death Agent, but Will They Carry Out Your Living Trust's Inheritance Instructions?
Or
"That Was Our Parents' Wish, but It Ain't Our Wish" 41

The Second Quarter: Living with Your Living Trust during the Lifetimes of You and Your Spouse 51

Chapter 7 Functions of Your Living Trust While Both You and Your Spouse Are Alive
Or
Don't Quite Forget about Your Living Trust After You Have Thrown It into Your Safe-Deposit Box 53

Chapter 8 The Five Concerns about the Real Estate You Transferred to Your Living Trust
Or
You Still Own Your House! 65

Chapter 9 Should You Tell Your Children about Your Living Trust?
Or
Don't Dismiss the Chance to Have a Family Inheritance MeetingEspecially If the Lawyer Won't Charge You 73

The Third Quarter: Living with Your Living Trust after the Death of Your Spouse 81

Chapter 10 Will You Divert Your Deceased Spouse's Half of the Living Trust Assets from Your O…