| Acknowledgments |
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xi | |
| Introduction |
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xv | |
| 1 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 |
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1 | (14) |
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Ordinary Income Tax Rates |
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2 | (1) |
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Capital Gains Tax Rates and Qualified Dividends |
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2 | (1) |
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2 | (3) |
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Business and Corporate Tax Relief |
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5 | (1) |
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Estate, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Transfers |
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6 | (3) |
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Dangers of Relying on Portability |
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9 | (2) |
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Limitations on Deductions |
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11 | (4) |
| 2 Estate Planning |
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15 | (8) |
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15 | (1) |
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The Benefits of Estate Planning |
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16 | (2) |
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The Nightmares of Poor Planning |
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18 | (1) |
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The Myths of Estate Planning |
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19 | (1) |
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Guidelines for Successful Estate Planning |
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20 | (3) |
| 3 The Estate Tax System |
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23 | (14) |
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Determining Your Estate Net Worth |
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23 | (6) |
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29 | (4) |
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33 | (2) |
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Overview of Estate-Planning Strategies |
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35 | (2) |
| 4 Investment Strategies for Maximizing Estate Growth |
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37 | (18) |
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Growth Strategy with a Safety Net® |
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38 | (5) |
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Prioritizing Your Investment Dollars |
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43 | (1) |
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Retirement Planning: Choosing the Best Investment |
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43 | (3) |
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46 | (7) |
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Some Final Thoughts on Investing |
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53 | (2) |
| 5 Retirement Planning: Living Your Dream |
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55 | (24) |
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Your Retirement Requirements |
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56 | (5) |
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Best Retirement Strategies |
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61 | (6) |
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67 | (3) |
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Social Security Strategies |
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70 | (5) |
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Customizing Your Health Care Plan |
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75 | (4) |
| 6 You Don't Have a Will? Big Trouble! |
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79 | (14) |
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Property Transfers at Death |
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80 | (1) |
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81 | (3) |
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Direct Transfers by Title |
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84 | (4) |
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Other Methods of Property Ownership |
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88 | (2) |
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Choosing the Best Methods of Ownership |
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90 | (1) |
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Setting Estate-Planning Goals |
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91 | (2) |
| 7 Where There's a Will, There's Your Way! |
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93 | (32) |
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93 | (1) |
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93 | (2) |
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Wills |
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95 | (2) |
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Intelligent Decisions Concerning Your Will's Basic Provisions |
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97 | (13) |
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110 | (1) |
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111 | (1) |
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Other Important Documents |
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111 | (4) |
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Working with Your Attorney |
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115 | (6) |
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When to Review Your Estate Plan |
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121 | (4) |
| 8 Using Trusts in Your Estate Plan |
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125 | (14) |
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The Credit Shelter Trust Will |
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126 | (5) |
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131 | (1) |
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132 | (4) |
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136 | (1) |
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137 | (1) |
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137 | (2) |
| 9 Understanding the Living Trust |
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139 | (14) |
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Advantages of Living Trusts |
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139 | (2) |
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Disadvantages of Living Trusts |
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141 | (1) |
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How a Living Trust Operates |
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142 | (3) |
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Transferring Property into Your Living Trust |
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145 | (3) |
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Types of Property Likely to Be Transferred |
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148 | (2) |
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150 | (2) |
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Transacting Business with Your Trust |
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152 | (1) |
| 10 Using Insurance in Your Estate Plan |
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153 | (26) |
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153 | (3) |
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Using Life Insurance to Replace Income |
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156 | (1) |
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How Much Life Insurance Do You Need? |
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157 | (3) |
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What Type of Life Insurance Is Best for You? |
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160 | (1) |
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161 | (1) |
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Insurance on Adult Children |
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161 | (1) |
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How to Get the Best Deal on Term Life Insurance |
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161 | (3) |
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What Type of Life Insurance Is Best for Estate Liquidity? |
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164 | (2) |
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The Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust |
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166 | (1) |
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Getting Your Life Insurance into Your Trust |
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167 | (3) |
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Using Life Insurance to Leverage Your Estate |
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170 | (3) |
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173 | (6) |
| 11 Smart Strategies for Gifting Assets to Family Members |
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179 | (40) |
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The Annual Gift Tax Exclusion |
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179 | (2) |
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181 | (1) |
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182 | (1) |
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The Lifetime Applicable Exclusion Amount |
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182 | (1) |
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183 | (2) |
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When the Donee Is a Minor |
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185 | (9) |
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194 | (1) |
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Family Gifts Utilizing Trusts |
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195 | (1) |
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Grantor Retained Annuity Trust |
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195 | (2) |
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Grantor Retained Unitrust |
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197 | (1) |
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Qualified Personal Residence Trust |
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197 | (4) |
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Taking Advantage of Generation-Skipping Transfers |
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201 | (3) |
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204 | (3) |
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207 | (1) |
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Sales to Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts |
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208 | (1) |
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208 | (11) |
| 12 Strategic Planning with Charities |
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219 | (16) |
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Outright Gifts to Charities |
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220 | (3) |
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Testamentary Gifts to Charities |
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223 | (1) |
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Gifts Using Charitable Trusts |
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223 | (4) |
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Using Your Charitable Trust for Retirement Planning |
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227 | (3) |
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230 | (5) |
| 13 Family Limited Partnerships |
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235 | (14) |
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General Structure of the Family Limited Partnership |
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235 | (5) |
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Family Limited Partnership Rules |
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240 | (9) |
| 14 Succession Planning for the Family Business or Farm |
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249 | (14) |
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Special Estate Tax Benefits for Farmers and Closely Held Business Owners |
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251 | (2) |
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Valuing Your Business or Farm |
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253 | (1) |
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253 | (1) |
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Succession Planning: Keeping the Family Business in the Family |
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254 | (1) |
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Maximizing Your Business's Value through a Sale |
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255 | (1) |
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Structuring Your Buy-Sell Agreement |
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256 | (1) |
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Types of Buy-Sell Agreements |
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257 | (1) |
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Funding the Buy-Sell Agreement |
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258 | (2) |
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One Final Strategy-The Employee Stock Ownership Plan |
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260 | (3) |
| 15 Asset Protection Strategies |
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263 | (18) |
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The Concept of Fraudulent Transfers |
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263 | (4) |
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A Word about Jointly Held Property |
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267 | (1) |
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267 | (2) |
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269 | (1) |
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Using Trusts to Protect Assets |
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270 | (1) |
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Using Limited Liability Entities to Protect Assets |
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271 | (3) |
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Use of Multiple Limited Liability Entities |
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274 | (1) |
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Foreign Asset Protection Trusts |
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275 | (2) |
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Domestic Asset Protection Trusts |
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277 | (4) |
| 16 Personal Business Planning Issues |
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281 | (18) |
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Choosing the Right Entity for Your Business |
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281 | (12) |
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293 | (2) |
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Importance of a Business Plan |
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295 | (2) |
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Epilogue-Dealing with Parents and Their Money |
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297 | (2) |
| Appendix A-Professional Advisers |
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299 | (4) |
| Appendix B-Estate Planning Terms |
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303 | (6) |
| Appendix C-IRS Life Expectancy Table |
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309 | (4) |
| About the Authors |
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313 | (2) |
| Index |
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315 | |