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THE EXECUTOR'S MANUAL by Stephan R. and Charles K. Plotnick Leimberg

THE EXECUTOR'S MANUAL

By

Pub Date: Feb. 21st, 1986
Publisher: Doubleday

The authors of Get Rich, Stay Rich and Die Rich now tell your executor how to manage all those riches after you're gone. Although intended to be both comprehensible and comprehensive (covering everything from selection, probate, organization and taxes through anatomical gifts and distribution to beneficiaries, with a 50-state compendium of death-tax laws), chapters range from complex and overly detailed instructions for filling out tax returns to simple-minded and equally unhelpful advice on collecting government and fringe benefits. Even more frustrating are rampant disorganization and repetition: instructions and a form to determine whether farm or business real estate qualifies for current use valuation appears twice. Although the authors raise the spectre of executor's liability in almost every chapter, concrete examples are scant. Complex issues of estate planning and will interpretation (best left to professionals in any case) are briefly and confusingly presented. The authors' best advice is to consult a lawyer and an accountant; this book will send the hapless executor scurrying for both.