ESTATE PLANNING AND TAXATION: 2003-2004 EDITION W/ CD ROM

by John Bost, Michael J. Hoffman, Nancy Prestopino

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0757500358
• ISBN13: 9780757500350
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Kendall Hunt Publishing
• Length: 1070 Pages
• Weight: 1.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 2.0" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

Very Good Over All,for a Textbook.

Required Textbook for Certificate in Financial Planning from Florida State University. Very readable.Good homework exercises.Good Appendixes.Very Good Glossary.

Wait for the next edition

The paperback book is being used for a graduate level course in an MBA program. It is straighforward and relatively easy for the non-law student to comprehend. There are a few inconsistences that become apparent when working on the homework/quizzes. For example, the term "heir" is defined two different ways. In order to do the homework/quiz for Chapter 9, we had to refer to Chapter 5. I asked the instructor if the homework he gave us came from a different book, but he said "no". The instructor, who is a practicing estate attorney, even wrote to the author and publisher to let them know some of their statements aren't entirely accurate in the real world. He never heard back. Maybe the next one will be better.

Good but not the best for beginners

When I first bought this book, I spent less than 2 hours trying to read it before I was on the net ordering a different Estate Planning textbook. I was preparing for the CFP on my own and found the rather dense layout of the book to be a brick wall to my understanding the subject. Since I had virually no prior knowledge of estate planning, I found Fontaine's Fundamentals of Estate Planning more readable. I almost turned around and sold this book but kept it around for additional background information. I am glad that I did because I now find Bost's discussions of various estate topics to be more indepth and more encompassing than those presented in Fontaine. Bost is a good presenter and includes a large number of examples. The book and the examples are up to date reflecting the estate tax code phaseout although Bost gives me the impression that he thinks there will be no estate tax after 2009 (If that is so then perhaps I can grow 8 inches and play in the NBA). There are questions at the end of each chapter as well as answers to the odd numbered questions. The book includes a CD that includes an excel spreadsheet program for calculating your 2002 estate tax as well PDfs and of IRS forms and Word doc.s of related IRS code. If one wants to be an expert on a subject, one has to read more than one book on that subject and I found this book to be a good follow-up book as someone who is studying estate planning independently. In summary, let me say that the dense layout is more accommodating when one has a basic grasp of the subject and that I found the author's presentation very useful in giving me a better understanding of the subject and methods of estate planning.