Yours, Mine & Ours
Yours, Mine, and Ours: Estate Planning for People in Blended or Stepfamilies, written by L. Paul Hood, Jr., is a resource to assist those in remarried or stepfamilies to protect their estate. The author first starts out by mentioning a couple of anecdotes where the family innocently thought their assets would be protected but ended up with legal trouble. This leads the author to pointing out why estate planning is crucial. L. Paul Hood, Jr. notes that there isn’t enough attention given to blended families when it comes to estate planning, which is what inspired him to write this book.
The first part of the book can be utilized by anyone, whereas parts two and three are targeted for blended families. The author provides a list of goals and considerations that can assist the reader with pinpointing what they want included or protected based on their own circumstances, such as if one has children with special needs or elderly parents. One chapter is solely focused on what leads estates to fail, for the purpose of helping the reader avoid common pitfalls. The author notes this is one of the more crucial chapters. With each example of failure the author also provides a section of how to make it a success.
While I do not know much about estate planning (specifically with blended families), I do think the book is a good resource. It is designed in a way where one can just open the book and go to whatever section has the information they need. The book, as a whole, contains a lot of information. Lawyers and legal-related matters can be very intimidating. The author explains the matters well and really drives the point to the reader as to why estate planning is crucial for all families but specifically blended families. One of the hardest parts of estate planning can be simply to find a lawyer or representative. The author provides several pages of questions that can help one interview and pick a lawyer.
Overall, I think all families can benefit from the information from this book, even if it speaks directly to blended families. The abundance of information makes the book helpful and also conveys the seriousness of estate planning. I would recommend all folks who are looking into making an estate plan to first read this book in order to get a deeper understanding of their goals.
The first part of the book can be utilized by anyone, whereas parts two and three are targeted for blended families. The author provides a list of goals and considerations that can assist the reader with pinpointing what they want included or protected based on their own circumstances, such as if one has children with special needs or elderly parents. One chapter is solely focused on what leads estates to fail, for the purpose of helping the reader avoid common pitfalls. The author notes this is one of the more crucial chapters. With each example of failure the author also provides a section of how to make it a success.
While I do not know much about estate planning (specifically with blended families), I do think the book is a good resource. It is designed in a way where one can just open the book and go to whatever section has the information they need. The book, as a whole, contains a lot of information. Lawyers and legal-related matters can be very intimidating. The author explains the matters well and really drives the point to the reader as to why estate planning is crucial for all families but specifically blended families. One of the hardest parts of estate planning can be simply to find a lawyer or representative. The author provides several pages of questions that can help one interview and pick a lawyer.
Overall, I think all families can benefit from the information from this book, even if it speaks directly to blended families. The abundance of information makes the book helpful and also conveys the seriousness of estate planning. I would recommend all folks who are looking into making an estate plan to first read this book in order to get a deeper understanding of their goals.