Synopsis
Sharing years of experience on wills, trusts, estates, and inheritances, the financial advisor to the wealthy and famous provides informative, examples from the lives of the rich and tells how to be financially secure during life and beyond. 30,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo. Tour.
Reviews
Numbering among his clients Doris Duke and some Rockefeller and Chrysler heirs, New York City lawyer and estate-planner Zabel here explains tax-avoiding (not evading) measures available to the very rich in all the technical complexity of a modern democratic society's financial legalities-including certain confidential notions the IRS "need not be troubled by." He deals plainly with common wills, trusts and annuities, and expertly with more sophisticated maneuvers like intrafamily gift deductions, "defective grantor trusts" and "foreign asset protection" in the Isle of Man-along with such devices as adopting one's mistress or companion. Interesting anecdotes abound: family havoc wrought by the intestate Abraham Lincoln and Pablo Picasso, and nuggets supporting the value of precise language from Shakespeare, Donne, Wilde, Shaw and more. Fans of Jackie O. will find a complete breakdown of her sensible estate plan. So if you expect to die rich... Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Zabel is known for providing financial guidance and trust and estate planning advice to the rich and famous (though having the prodigal Doris Duke as a client may not necessarily be one's best recommendation), and his long, two-part 1991 article "Thy Will Be Done" in the high-toned Town & Country was nominated for a National Magazine Award. Here Zabel attempts to adapt his advice for anyone in any tax bracket even though not everyone needs to be concerned with secret provision for one's mistress or offshore trusts or cohabitation agreements. Illustrated with lively examples from the social pages and Hollywood tabloids as well as with New Yorker-ish cartoons. David Rouse
Zabel is a trust and estates attorney whose clients have included such luminaries as Doris Duke and members of the Rockefeller and Chrysler clans. Although he claims that his advice applies to all income brackets, most of it will more likely meet with success if followed by rich, sophisticated individuals with competent legal help. Average readers concerned about having enough to retire on will enjoy this book chiefly for its tales of the estate problems of the rich and famous. They will also derive a vicarious thrill from its coverage of topics like providing secretly for a mistress. While there is sound advice for the less-than-wealthy, the book does not offer the technical prerequisites that would enable most readers to do their own estate planning. An appendix gives forms and legal information on living wills and powers of attorney for healthcare. Recommended where interest warrants.
Sue McKimm, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, Ohio
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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