Living Trusts Made Simple: A Plain-English Guide to Creating Your Living Trust, Avoiding Probate, and Funding It Right — Step by Step, Asset by Asset (The Peace of Mind Series Book 2)

2026 EDITION — fully updated, with the current rules for all fifty states. "Brings real honesty to long-term financial security... the perfect roadmap to lock in your estate and protect your family's legacy." — Robert Collier III, Readers' Favorite (5 stars) The trust was signed. The house was never put into it. That one gap sends the family to probate anyway. It happens constantly. A couple pays four figures for a binder with a gold seal and puts it on a shelf. Nobody ever changes the deed. Years later the house goes through the very court process the trust was bought to avoid — full fees, full timeline, public file. Living Trusts Made Simple is the book that does not stop at the signing. It explains every decision in plain English, and then walks you through funding the trust, one asset at a time. It also answers the question nobody selling you a trust will answer straight: do you even need one? For a lot of people the answer is no, and this book says so plainly instead of talking you into a product. Written to be used, not just read. Every chapter closes with the exact list to settle for yourself — so you finish the book with a funded trust instead of a stack of good intentions. The guide — sixteen short chapters: What a living trust actually does — and the three things it cannot do, whatever the seminar promised An honest checklist: who genuinely benefits, and who is better off with a will and a few beneficiary forms What probate really costs and how long it takes — by the mechanism, not by scare story Trust or will? Why you need both, and what the pour-over will does not protect you from Real 2026 prices — attorney, online service, or DIY — and the decisions to settle before you sign, not at $400 an hour The funding chapters, the heart of the book: your home, bank and investment accounts, life insurance, business interests, and valuables, step by step What deliberately stays out: retirement accounts, cars, HSAs — and the costly mistake of moving an IRA in The nursing home question, answered honestly: a revocable trust protects you from none of it — and what actually might The yearly review that keeps it working, and the letter your successor trustee will one day open Your state at a glance: a 50-state appendix with small-estate limits, transfer-on-death deed availability, community property rules, and state estate taxes — the tables generic guides skip. Written for 2026, with the source for every figure listed at the back. Every title in the Peace of Mind series is refreshed each year. The planner — one tool in every chapter, walked through step by step: what you own · your probate estimate · the trust-or-will comparison · the honest scorecard · five questions for an elder law attorney · who does what · the cost comparison · the decisions to settle before you sign · the document checklist · your funding status · a property checklist · your accounts · the beneficiary review · the valuables inventory · the annual trust checkup · the letter to your successor trustee.