A lawyer and award-winning journalist makes readers more comfortable addressing a stressful topic. This book can educate clients before and after they meet with advisers. Estate Planning Smarts stands out from other books on this subject by:

• Explaining complex principles in simple terms
• Humanizing estate planning, with anecdotes about the estate plans of Paul Newman, Michael Jackson and others
• Including an action-oriented “to-do” list at the end of each chapter
• Recommending against a do-it-yourself approach, encouraging readers to seek professional advice and offering suggestions about how to find it

Here’s what reviewers have said about this wonderful resource:

“A terrific guide for people who are just beginning to grapple with estate planning, as well as those who have (or think they have) their affairs in order.”
– The Wall Street Journal

“This is a category killer: a book so good there’s no need for anyone else to cover the same material.”
– Kaye Thomas, tax lawyer, author, founder of Fairmark.com

“Simple—but not simplistic— this is a book you can feel comfortable giving as a business generating action oriented holiday gift.”
– Steve Leimberg’s Estate Planning Email Newsletter

While the estate tax is in flux, Estate Planning Smarts has another virtue: Jacobs issues updates that can be downloaded from the book's Web site, www.estateplanningsmarts.com, and tweets at http://twitter.com/djworking.

LIMITED TIME OFFER! NAEPC members may purchase this book at 20% discount from the list price of $24.95.

Please login as a member for special pricing and ordering links.

Estate Planning for the Sandwich Generation: How to Help Your Parents and Protect Your Kids, debuted as the #1 Amazon bestseller in new releases for Wills/Estate Planning. It features 10 estate steps to create an estate plan, why it is critical to use an estate planning attorney, and 5 talks to have with your parents about the future.

This book addresses frequently asked questions, walks clients through the estate planning process, and affirms the clients’ decision to work with an estate planning attorney. Additionally, the book highlights 5 important discussions to have with aging parents regarding finances, medical concerns, aging, end-of-life care, and death.

Help your clients Disinherit the IRS

In today’s competitive financial services industry, you need more than just a license to sell insurance, securities, and investment products.

• Who did mom want to deliver her eulogy?
• Where is the safety deposit box? Key?
• Who is her trustee?
• How is the house titled? The stock accounts?
• What about passwords for Facebook and her computer accounts?

As estate planners, you know all too well that these are just a few of many questions that quickly arise after someone dies or is incapacitated. Most troubling, the answers and wishes, unless clearly articulated ahead of time, can undermine even the most well thought out estate plan. Now, with The LastingMatters Organizer, estate planning professionals have a tool to help their clients collect and outline critical information and these very important “wishes.”

With the Organizer, your clients will have at their fingertips a comprehensive easy-to-use resource that will inform and guide their families and heirs during a time of transition. The graphics, the direct questions, and its thoroughness make The LastingMatters Organizer an effective tool to supplement an estate plan – from the basic to complex – and help collect and clearly articulate a client’s wishes on all aspects of their financial, personal, and online lives.

The Charitable Planning Desk Reference for Advisors® (CPDR), now in its 5th edition was created by Strategic Philanthropy, Ltd., in collaboration with estate planning attorneys and wealth advisors. The Desk Reference is a practical resource designed to help legal and financial professionals more effectively engage their clients in conversations about their philanthropic intent, options and opportunities. The 5th Edition includes new chapters and an expanded resource section. It is the first such comprehensive tool developed specifically for the advisor community to support their integration of philanthropy as a value added and revenue opportunity in their practice.

Some of the topics in The Desk Reference cover: