Appendix: Some Sample Estate Plans

• Library: Estate Planning Basics (Nolo) (2022 Ed.)

APPENDIX: Some Sample Estate Plans

Leslie and Martin: A Couple in Their Late 50s

Michelle: A Single Mother in Her 40s

Randy and Lisa: A Prosperous Older Couple

Gail and Nick: A Young Married Couple

Richard: A Single Man

Clemencia and Pierre: A Couple in Their Second Marriage

Sometimes it's helpful to take a step back and look at the big picture of estate planning. His appendix contains some sample estate plans for a variety of families. Hese fictional plans aren't designed to describe every detail or step involved in estate planning, but they should give you a good sense for how these families approach and tailor their estate plan to meet their unique needs.

Leslie and Martin: A Couple in Their Late 50s

Leslie and Martin are married and have three adult children, ages 31, 27, and 19. Hey live in Washington, a community property state. He couple's major assets, all community property, are: their house in Seattle, worth $900,000, almost all equity; various retirement accounts; a savings account with roughly $100,000; a modest stock portfolio. Heir net worth is roughly $1.3 million.

Leslie and Martin's Goals

He couple does not have to concern themselves with estate tax. Heir combined estate will almost surely be under the amount exempt from federal estate tax. He couple wants the surviving spouse to inherit all property of the deceased spouse. After both spouses have died, the couple wants their property to be divided equally among their three children, with specified possible exceptions. He couple has loaned money to each of their oldest two children. Heir youngest is currently in his second year of college. Having paid for the oldest two children's college, the couple feels that their estate should first pay for their youngest's college costs, in the unlikely event he is still in college when both die. He couple also wants to avoid probate. And finally, each wants to be sure that the other has full power to act for him or her in the event of incapacity.

Leslie and Martin's Plan

The couple creates a living trust, the centerpiece of their plan. They transfer their house, the savings account, and the stock account into their trust. Each also names the trust as alternate beneficiary for her or his retirement account. (They've each already named the other spouse as the beneficiary.)

They name each of their children as the final beneficiaries of the trust, to receive one-third of the trust property after both spouses have died. However, a specific limitation to this equal division is imposed in the trust, providing that the amount left to each final beneficiary must be adjusted by the amount provided on a schedule attached to the trust document. On that schedule, the couple lists the amount of money to be deducted from each of the older two children's shares—the amount each child owes the couple. The schedule also provides that if the youngest child is attending college full time when both parents have died, he shall receive $25,000 a year until he finishes college and that this adjustment shall be made before division of the trust property into three shares.

If, as the couple hopes, each...