Various Estate Planning Arrangements Advanced

Benefits	No Will	Basic Will	Trust Will	Basic Living Trust	AB Living Trust	ABC Living Trust
1. Allows you to select:
a. Beneficiaries of estate	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
b. Executor of will	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
c. guardians for children, and	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
d. trustee of trust	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2. Avoids probate costs.	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
3. Provides asset management for children over age 18.	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
4. Protects estate owner from a conservatorship.	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
5. Designed to save death taxes for couples.	No	No	Maybe	No	Yes	Yes
6. Allows the first spouse to die to determine the ultimate beneficiaries of the estate in excess of $675,000, while still defereing the death taxes.	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes

*Basic Will: Generally passes everything to your spouse, if living, otherwise to your children when they reach age 18.

*Trust will: May contain credit shelter and QTIP trusts or may pass everything to your spouse, if living, otherwise to your children.

*Basic living trust: Designed to avoid probate and provide assest management. Used for smaller estates and single persons.

*AB living trust: Designed to use the unified credits of both spouses. Can often save over $250,000 in death taxes and probate fees.

*ABC living trust: Same as the AB living trust, plus it gives the first spouse to die more control over who will eventually receive his or her assets after the surviving spouse dies. Also called a QTIP trust.

Note: Each living trust is generally accompanied by a "pour over" type of will which picks up assets not put into the trust during lifetime and transfers them after death. Executors/guardians are named in a will.

Some trust wills contain credit shelter trusts designed to save death taxes, while others merely manage assets.

This amount changes each year as follows: $675,000 in 2000 and 2001; $700,000 in 2002 and 2003; $850,000 in 2004.