Synopses & Reviews
A breakthrough approach to wills and estates, designed to help you make the hard decisions while keeping your family happy In the world of wills and estate planning, tax saving and asset protection are typically the paramount goals; family dynamics, emotions, and leaving a meaningful legacy are secondary considerations at best. The result, predictably, is often bickering, backstabbing, unmet expectations, and even litigation after the will is read.
Creating the Good Will focuses on the issues that most books in this category miss but that matter most in the end. As a former estate planning attorney and now as a coach, Elizabeth Arnold has dedicated her career to helping people develop wills and estate plans that create harmony, not havoc. She puts the emotional well-being of loved ones ahead of clever tax- saving structures and teaches readers how to protect their relationships and values as much as their hard assets.
In this unique book, Arnold explains how to deal with the emotional baggage and communication blindspots that can undo even the most iron-clad legal document. Filled with resonant anecdotes from her personal and professional life, along with practical information about wills, estate plans, guardianship agreements, trusts, and more, Creating the Good Will is a priceless resource for anyone who wants to leave a legacy of warmed hearts, not heated heads.
Review
If you are estate planning for your familys well-being, this is the most holistic and human approach I have ever seen. With this practical book youll leave much more value and legacy behind than just a checkbook! (Stephen Pollan, author of
Die Broke)
Easy to understand and more importantly, easy to use, this book is a must for all of us who think about the future of our loved ones and the variety of things .we wish to leave behind.(Kathy Wiseman, Georgetown Family Center)
Elizabeth Arnold is a trustworthy guide for showing us how to solve all the human and financial choices that must be made. (Grace Gabe, M.D., author of Making Adult Stepfamilies Work)
Synopsis
This guide presents a breakthrough approach to wills and estates, designed to help readers make the hard decisions while keeping their family happy. It's filled with anecdotes from the author's life and practical information about wills, estate plans, guardianship agreements, trusts, and more.
Synopsis
Leave your family peace of mind with this new approach to wills and estates Whenever Elizabeth Arnold tells people her specialty, they usually share their own family dilemmas. Maybe Dad left behind a misguided or inadequate will. Maybe Aunt Sue nabbed the vase that wasnt in Grandmas will and Aunt Pat hasnt spoken a kind word to her since. Maybe Sis cant decide who should get the kids in case of a tragedy, so she doesnt have any will at all. Such tales of woe have nothing to do with legal or tax problems. The real issues behind wills gone wrongor wills that never get off the groundare the human ones.
Creating the Good Will tackles the important human dimensions that most books about wills fail to address. Arnold teaches her readers that wills are not just legal documents but also heartfelt emotional tools.
About the Author
Elizabeth Arnold is the founder of Sowing Seeds, a consulting firm that offers clients an innovative approach to wills and estate plans. She has a law degree from Harvard University, an LLM in taxation from New York University, and a BA in religious studies from Yale. Arnold has been quoted by The New York Times, USA Today, Time, Better Homes and Gardens, and many other media outlets.