Politics and Government

Business and Economics

Living Trusts, Wills, and Estate Planning Essentials

A practical guide to organizing your estate and protecting your family’s futureBy Russell A. Bancroft

Listen with Sir Michael Caine™ and 1,000+ voices

Get for $8

Length11h 2m

About this audiobook

Picture your family in mourning, then stuck for a year fighting a confusing court process and losing thousands of dollars, simply because the right documents were never in place. This step-by-step guide walks you through every major decision a complete estate plan requires: choosing the right kind of trust, naming a trustee and executor who will actually do the job well, protecting a child's inheritance, and coordinating retirement accounts with the rest of your plan. Sixteen chapters move from foundational concepts through living trusts, wills and probate, tax-aware retirement strategy, and family protection, each one ending with a practical, easy-to-follow checklist you can return to again and again. Inside, you'll find clear, jargon-free explanations paired with original worksheets that turn abstract legal concepts into decisions you can actually make, the same way an experienced advisor would walk you through them in person: •Fund your trust correctly using a complete asset-by-asset walkthrough, so it actually avoids probate instead of becoming an empty shell that does nothing for your family •Choose a trustee and executor with confidence, using a structured comparison of what each role really requires •Protect a child's inheritance from creditors, poor financial decisions, or a future divorce, using the right kind of trust structure for your specific family situation •Navigate required retirement account distributions and Roth conversion timing without overpaying in taxes •Nominate and prepare a guardian for minor children, including a personal letter of intent template •Avoid the costly mistakes that trigger family disputes, will contests, and probate delays •Communicate your plan to your family clearly, so nobody is left guessing later Stop putting off the conversation that protects everyone you love. Start today, build your plan one clear decision at a time, and give your family the clarity, direction, and peace of mind they deserve when it matters most.

Family Protective Hero

Audiobook details

GenrePolitics and Government, Business and Economics

Length11 hrs 2 mins

Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices

FormateBook with Audio

Publish dateJun 21, 2026

LanguageEnglish

1Introduction: How to Use This Book

2Chapter 1

3Why Estate Planning Matters at Any Age

4What Estate Planning Actually Looks Like at Each Stage of Life

5What Happens When There Is No Plan

Mostrar todos os capítulos

6When Your Family Structure Doesn’t Match the Default Assumptions

7What Incapacity Actually Means, and Why It Is Not Only an Old-Age Problem

8The Real Cost of Waiting

9The Excuses That Keep People Stuck, and Why They Don’t Hold Up

10The Four Pillars of a Complete Plan

11Practical Takeaways

12Chapter 2

13Trusts, Wills, and Probate, Untangled

14The Trust Family Beyond the Basics

15When a Trust Becomes Irrevocable Without You Choosing It

16How Long and How Public: The Practical Realities of Probate

17Why a Trust Does Not Avoid Estate Taxes by Itself

18Who Can Contest a Trust or a Will, and Why

19Chapter 3

20Building Your Personal Estate Planning Roadmap

21A Closer Look at the Assets People Forget

22How to Talk to the People You’ve Chosen

23Special Considerations for Single Parents

24Step Four, Match Tools to Goals

25Practical Takeaways

26Chapter 4

27What a Living Trust Actually Does (and Doesn’t Do)

28A Revocable Trust and Your Own Creditors

29Trusts and Business Ownership

30Capabilities and Limits, Side by Side

31Practical Takeaways

32Chapter 5

33Funding Your Trust, A Complete Asset-by-Asset Walkthrough

34Real Estate: The Deed Transfer Process

35A Note on Attorney Involvement During Funding

36A Quick Word on Funding Costs

37When a Successor Trustee Discovers Incomplete Funding

38Chapter 6

39Choosing, Compensating, and Working With Your Trustee

40What to Do If You Are Asked to Be a Trustee

41Co-Trustees in Practice: How Day-to-Day Decisions Actually Get Made

42Practical Takeaways

43Chapter 7

44Special-Purpose Trusts for Complex Family Situations

45A Note on Cost: Specialized Trusts Are Not Free

46Trusts for Unmarried Couples: Why Explicit Planning Matters More

47Trusts for a Beneficiary Facing Substance Use or Mental Health Challenges

48Practical Takeaways

49Chapter 8

50Writing a Will That Actually Works

More from Politics and Government

RiggedMollie Hemingway12h 48m4.6 (4.2K)$23 · $0.00

SledgehammerDavid Friedman8h 21m4.7 (589)$26 · $0.00

Citizenship in a Republic (Annotated)Theodore Roosevelt2h 44m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00

No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m4.6 (809)$28 · $0.00

Always FaithfulThomas Schueman, Zainullah Zaki12h 12m4.6 (977)$29 · $0.00

UnthinkableJamie Raskin15h 8m4.5 (9.3K)$8 · $0.00

My Fourth Time, We DrownedSally Hayden13h 59m4.6 (2.9K)$23 · $0.00

A Revolution of Common SenseScott Jennings9h 29m4.6 (528)$29 · $0.00

Statement From the Dock at the Rivonia TrialNelson Mandela2h 18m4.6 (1.3K)$1 · $0.00

Lessons from the EdgeMarie Yovanovitch17h 11m4.5 (5.9K)$40 · $0.00

To Rescue the American SpiritBret Baier10h 12m4.5 (2.7K)$8 · $0.00

StonewalledSharyl Attkisson15h 19m4.5 (4.3K)$33 · $0.00

The World According to Orwell: 1984 & Animal FarmGeorge Orwell15h 42m4.6 (1.1K)$1 · $0.00

Basic EconomicsThomas Sowell18h 32m4.5 (29.3K)$28 · $0.00

To Rescue the RepublicBret Baier, Catherine Whitney11h 42m4.5 (8.6K)$29 · $0.00

Modern WarriorsPete Hegseth7h 10m4.5 (4.7K)$24 · $0.00

Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey (Annotated)Marcus Mosiah Garvey4h 42m4.5 (1.7K)$1.99 · $0.00

A Plague Upon Our HouseScott W. Atlas MD10h 37m4.5 (3.4K)$20 · $0.00

One Bright MoonAndrew Kwong12h 21m4.5 (813)$29 · $0.00

CredibleDeborah Tuerkheimer8h 5m4.6 (551)$26 · $0.00

View all

More from Business and Economics

Never Split the DifferenceChris Voss, Tahl Raz8h 7m4.4 (277.7K)$26 · $0.00

The Intelligent Investor Rev Ed.Benjamin Graham17h 48m4.3 (191.5K)$40 · $0.00

The Hard Thing About Hard ThingsBen Horowitz7h 57m4.2 (134.3K)$26 · $0.00

Boundaries for LeadersHenry Cloud7h 36m4.3 (3.6K)$26 · $0.00

The Secret Door to SuccessFlorence Scovel Shinn2h 25m4.5 (2.1K)$1.20 · $0.00

This Is Going to HurtAdam Kay5h 47m4.4 (444.7K)$24 · $0.00

Big TrustShadé Zahrai, Fayçal Sekkouah8h 36m4.6 (406)$26 · $0.00

The Intelligent Investor Third EditionBenjamin Graham, Jason Zweig20h4.4 (156.6K)$46 · $0.00

Bottle of LiesKatherine Eban14h 25m4.4 (12K)$33 · $0.00

The Antiracist Business BookTrudi Lebrón6h 10m4.6 (275)$17 · $0.00

The FormulaJoshua Robinson, Jonathan Clegg10h 41m4.4 (6.9K)$29 · $0.00

Let Them LeadJohn U. Bacon7h 10m4.5 (1.4K)$24 · $0.00

Secrets of the Millionaire MindT. Harv Eker5h 11m4.4 (301.4K)$24 · $0.00

The Person You Mean to BeDolly Chugh9h 6m4.4 (7.2K)$29 · $0.00

BoundlessNick Kostov, Sean McLain9h 17m4.5 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00

Everyday DharmaSuneel Gupta5h 2m4.5 (761)$20 · $0.00

Let's Talk Mutual FundsMonika Halan7h 5m4.4 (2.4K)$16 · $0.00

Secret PowerDwight Lyman Moody3h 7m4.4 (1.4K)$1.20 · $0.00

The Law of Success in Sixteen LessonsNapoleon Hill2h 39m4.4 (17.2K)$2 · $0.00

Barbarians at the GateBryan Burrough, John Helyar3h 3m4.4 (52.7K)$18 · $0.00