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can be a very rewarding experience. But, when the writing involves trying to turn a subject as complex and tedious as the Living Trust into (one hopes) a lighthearted and entertaining romp, it can also be exasperating. No one thinks of the estate planning attorney as a tortured artist; but, after multiple occasions of spending hours on a single paragraph attempting to be informative and witty, I felt I was Van Gogh.

      With the three editions of my other book and this second edition of the Living Trust Advisor, this is the fifth opportunity I’ve had to publicly acknowledge in a real book the important persons in my life and the ones who were integral in producing this book. Such mentions just don’t seem as special and permanent in social media, do they? On the Internet, anyone can acknowledge anyone for anything. Just the other day on Facebook I posted my congratulations to my mother’s dog, Molly, for successfully jumping off the couch. Just too easy (both the posting and the couch-jumping)! But when folks see their name in print in a real, old-fashioned book that they can see and feel, that must be a thrill for them, yes? Well, at least it’s still a thrill for me to have this platform.

      In keeping with my lawyer-like penchant to compartmentalize, I shall break my acknowledgments into three separate and distinct categories.

      For Those without Whom This Revised Edition Wouldn’t Exist

      Stacey Rivera and Tula Batanchiev. Stacey is my manuscript editor at Wiley, and Tula is the acquiring editor who originated and championed the idea of this revised edition of Living Trust Advisor. Both are not only brilliant and industrious, they are masters of the lost art of editor-author diplomacy. Painful cuts and edits in my precious manuscript and rejections of my inspired cover design ideas (such as a Pomeranian sitting on a wad of cash) were almost a pleasure with their pleasant and engaging manner. From now on, whenever bad news about anything has to be delivered to me, I want Stacey and Tula to be the messengers.

      For Those Who Happen to Be My Children

      I have previously used my acknowledgments to impart awesome and incredible fatherly advice to my three children, Bradley, Hayley, and Carly. Why should this one be any different? So if you happen to be a child of Jeffrey Condon, listen up (read up?) to this Top Ten List of Things You Need to Do, Not Do or Know:

      1. A gift is for the giver.

      2. In any non-life-threatening heated discussion or argument with anyone, think before you speak and stay on point.

      3. Don’t text and drive.

      4. Conduct all your interactions and interpersonal relations with the Golden Rule in mind.

      5. Although it was really cool to see Han Solo and Chewbacca back in action, Star Trek STILL RULES over Star Wars.

      6. Do not loan money to a friend, and do not borrow money from a friend. The money relationship will end the friendship.

      7. When I die, don’t sell my comic book collection. It’s worth more than the three of you combined. Preserve and protect it.

      8. As Coach used to say: If you can’t do what you want, do what you can.

      9. Do some kind of athletic activity every day. Getting the blood pumping energizes you and makes a tangible difference in how you approach and handle the day. Don’t wait until you feel like it because no one ever feels like it.

      10. I love you all.

      For Those Who Made the Cut

      In all of my prior acknowledgments, I had fun mentioning everyone with some connection to me. It was fun to see their reactions to their names in my book, especially when they had no reason to expect to ever see their names in my book. Distant relatives. Friends. Acquaintances. My children’s friends. My children’s friends’ parents. My children’s coaches and teachers. If I saw somebody once a week who had even a small role in my existence or the lives of my children, they made it in.

      Now with my children grown and gone, those old social spheres have disappeared, and I have practically no connection to most of those people. Which leaves the ones who remain whom I am fortunate to have. These are the most meaningful and important people in my life.. and who made me a happy (or at least, pacified) camper during the arduous process of writing this revision. So if you happen to see your name here, congrats! You made the cut!

      My fun, beautiful, charismatic, cookie-pushing, and just plain nice girlfriend, Kimberly Klaskin, and her daughter, Jenna. Best of luck to both of you in your next adventure – life with Jessie!

      My closest buddies since elementary and middle school: Bret Donnelly, Brad Wheeler, Mark Beede, Milton Stumpus, Eric Fonkalsrud, and Paul Cooke.

      My old law school buddies: Kenneth Aslan and Anthony Caronna.

      My secretary, Marbelis Garcia.

      My Atlanta cousins: Phillip and Gilda Franklyn, and the majority of their four reasonably well-behaved daughters, Stephanie, Rachel, Sarah, and Julia. I’ll leave it up to them to figure out which one did not make the cut. And with regard to Stephanie’s and Rachel’s upcoming nuptials, please inform your respective fiancés that your top wedding-day priority shall be the care and comfort of your Uncle/Cousin Frizz.

      My lovely, venerable, and age-defying mother Esther Condon.

      The First Quarter

      Establishing Your Living Trust

      If you have picked up this book, my hope is that you are finally at the point where the concept of actually establishing your Living Trust has entered the combined minds of you and your spouse. No more procrastination or excuses for not getting to it. You’re here! You can’t get more here than right here.

      This is the beginning of your Living Trust training. Do you want to cross the goal line, spike that football, and revel in the roar of the crowd? Well, you know the drill. You first have to learn what a football is. To get to point Z, you must get to – and through – point A, which is getting you to understand what the Living Trust is, what it does, and how it works.

      I wish I had the ability to get you through your Living Trust training in a 30-second workout montage, à la Rocky. But with this being real life, I can only offer you this mundane instruction: Turn the page and introduce yourself to the various components and players that make up your Living Trust.

      CHAPTER 1

      How You Established Your Living Trust Without a Clear Understanding of What It Is and How It Works

      Or, You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know about Your Living Trust

      Before your real Living Trust training begins in Chapter 2, I feel the need to address a point that is somewhat obvious, which I will state in your first person: “I already have a Living Trust. Why do I need your training session on the Living Trust when I have already received that information?”

      In the Pregame Warm-Up, I made the bold and very broad assumption that you do not know much about your Living Trust, even if you have one. How did you react to such a presumptive assertion? Did you nod your head in recognition? Or did you fling this book across the room (or the bookstore) in disbelief and anger?

      Let me tell you how I came to the assumption that you know very little, if anything at all, about your Living Trust, the document that your lawyer prepared, or you drafted yourself with LegalZoom and that you believe you already know all about.

      What Does It All Mean?

      I am an estate planning attorney. I am in the business of putting together inheritance plans. In the old days, you would have set forth your inheritance instructions in a will. Nowadays, those instructions will be set forth in a Living Trust. In effect, this makes me a Living Trust lawyer.

      I learned this business from my father, Gerald M. Condon, who, in the early 1970s, was perhaps the first lawyer in the United States to conduct Living Trust seminars. This was a real homespun family operation. I manned the check-in table, my father gave the talk, and my mother made the brownies that the attendees devoured

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