Rating: 
Summary: The BEST
Review: This book gives all the answers in clear, easy to understand language. I have spent a lot of time researching the subject and this is the only source I feel I can trust (get the pun?)
Rating: 
Summary: Am surprised it's "popular"
Review: This book is a very long advertisement for the trust-writing services of the man's company, complete with urgings to call their 800 number to find their local agent. Also, everything in the book could have been said in 1/10 the space. It's filled with full page charts that contain no usefull information, and it rambles without reason. And, as long as it is, I still don't know much about living trusts.
Rating:
Summary: Journey into the world of estate settling sans probate/atty
Review: This book provides a great overview on the smooth an painless trasfer of property through a vehicle known as a Living Trust. Abts has been at it quite a while, and certainly knows the ins and outs of the probate system and establishing a contract that has, time and time again, avoided it.Reading this will give anyone a solid foundation on the basic principals and mechanisms of a Living Trust. Don't expect to be able to sit down and draw up your own contract after reading this, but do expect to be able to use the education derived from this publication to find a competent individual that can assist you in establishing a Trust. Contrary to some of the reviews found here - an attorney is not the only person that can provide you with thorough and quality documents (you are free to create your own contract through whatever means) - the Trust Estate can be settled and distributed to the beneficiaries in a matter of weeks or months (depending on the size - I have seen it done many times) - it can be amended after the death of the first Trustor/Trustee, and it cannot be contested the same as a will - both of these depending on IF the Trust is properly worded. IT IS that simple. Do not fall prey to the individuals that are only interested in the very lucrative and old process of probate. Read this and become informed!
Rating:
Summary: Journey into the world of estate settling sans probate/atty
Review: This book provides a great overview on the smooth an painless trasfer of property through a vehicle known as a Living Trust. Abts has been at it quite a while, and certainly knows the ins and outs of the probate system and establishing a contract that has, time and time again, avoided it. Reading this will give anyone a solid foundation on the basic principals and mechanisms of a Living Trust. Don't expect to be able to sit down and draw up your own contract after reading this, but do expect to be able to use the education derived from this publication to find a competent individual that can assist you in establishing a Trust. Contrary to some of the reviews found here - an attorney is not the only person that can provide you with thorough and quality documents (you are free to create your own contract through whatever means) - the Trust Estate can be settled and distributed to the beneficiaries in a matter of weeks or months (depending on the size - I have seen it done many times) - it can be amended after the death of the first Trustor/Trustee, and it cannot be contested the same as a will - both of these depending on IF the Trust is properly worded. IT IS that simple. Do not fall prey to the individuals that are only interested in the very lucrative and old process of probate. Read this and become informed!
Rating: 
Summary: A positive alternative to Lawyers and their own agenda
Review: This book served to warn me of lawyers and the non-objective views they have. Just in time information that is clear. Please read before talking to ANY lawyer. I have seen some real dancing when I questioned advice given. I would have been completely taken by what I thought was in my best interests had I not read the book. Now to find a lawyer that can do the small parts, with out trying to provide for his/her retirement. The book tends to repeat a bit, but perhaps that is the only way to set the information in our minds. The collection of Falicy and Fact is worth the price of the book all by itself. I used it with the lawyer and she acknowledged the correct answers. Too late for her. Trust can't be regained on my nickel.
Rating:
Summary: Am surprised it's "popular"
Review: This is an interesting book. Being a lawyer specializing in trusts, I am, contrary to public opinion, open to new ideas. Generally, this is a very well researched and written book. Is it a manual for the unlettered? Not at all. Is it a book to be used by the moneyed? Not at all. This book contains many of the fundamentals of trusts, estate taxes, and administration of estates. The technical sections are very well done! But, I regret to say the book is flawed. For example, the author makes the assumption that the practices of one state are common to all. The average reader will be uncomfortable in the discovery that some of the title practices, public officials, and even terms to which the author alludes or even states are not in use in the reader's locale. At the same time, the author seems to think that the form is sufficient. Not so! It is the substance of the words, not their form, that is important. I fear that many unskilled readers will prepare their own trusts, leaving out some unconsidered thoughts, only to have the trust fall apart at wrong time, namely after the grantor has died. Finally, I am pleased that the author has had such a successful business selling...trusts. I wish that the book dealt more with trusts, since their common law inception with the Statute of Uses passed during the reign of Henry VIII, and less with the business.
Rating: 
Summary: Information or Advertisement?
Review: This is an interesting book. Being a lawyer specializing in trusts, I am, contrary to public opinion, open to new ideas. Generally, this is a very well researched and written book. Is it a manual for the unlettered? Not at all. Is it a book to be used by the moneyed? Not at all. This book contains many of the fundamentals of trusts, estate taxes, and administration of estates. The technical sections are very well done! But, I regret to say the book is flawed. For example, the author makes the assumption that the practices of one state are common to all. The average reader will be uncomfortable in the discovery that some of the title practices, public officials, and even terms to which the author alludes or even states are not in use in the reader's locale. At the same time, the author seems to think that the form is sufficient. Not so! It is the substance of the words, not their form, that is important. I fear that many unskilled readers will prepare their own trusts, leaving out some unconsidered thoughts, only to have the trust fall apart at wrong time, namely after the grantor has died. Finally, I am pleased that the author has had such a successful business selling...trusts. I wish that the book dealt more with trusts, since their common law inception with the Statute of Uses passed during the reign of Henry VIII, and less with the business.
Rating:
Summary: A Must For Living Trust Salespersons
Review: This work by itself answered every question clients ever raised in my career as a Living Trust Salesperson/Paralegal. The text is easily understood and well presented.
If you are considering a career in the estate planning industry as a legitimate representative of your trade, make an investment in your clients wellbeing and purchase, don't rent (Public Library), this excellent work. Every subject you will face is addressed in this text. If it is not in this text ... it is definately a question worth the $250 an hour a certified Estate Planning Elder Law Attorney would charge.
If this was your parents estate, this is the book you would consult.
Dave
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