AUDIENCE: Middle-class or affluent baby boomers who are thinking about estate planning (making a will or living trust) People helping their parents with estate planning (and making it easier to collect their eventual inheritance) People who have a will but have heard they should avoid probate REASONS TO BUY THIS NEW EDITION: Most people don't realize that most of their property won't pass through their wills. Instead, it will go to joint owners or beneficiaries they name. This book helps people get joint ownership and beneficiary designations right, so assets will go to the right people. Everybody can get something from this book. For example, anybody with a bank account can--for free--easily make sure it won't have to go through probate. No other inexpensive, plain-English book puts all these simple steps into one place, where people can pick the probate-avoidance methods that suit them best. No other book has detailed, up-to-date, state-specific information about which options are available. According to one study by MetLife, boomers stand to inherit upwards of $8.

4 trillion.