Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #205756 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781600374418
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review

Customer Reviews

A must for parents
Now, I'm not a lawyer. Nor do I play one on TV.

I am, however, a parent who has two daughters she loves more than life itself.

You know what? Sometimes love is not enough. We can't just hug our kids and play with them and go to the beach and read books and do all that fun stuff we love to do.

We have to work to provide. We have to house, clothe, feed, and protect our children. One sphere where we've got to do this -- and one, quite frankly, that I suck at -- is in the legal arena.

That's why when the opportunity to read a review copy of Wear Clean Underwear: A Fast, Fun, Friendly and Essential Guide to Legal Planning For Busy Parents came up, I jumped at it. This is an area I don't know much about, and I wanted to fill the gaps in my knowledge.

Author Alexis Martin Neely delivered -- and then some. She brought up questions I'd never even thought about: what happens if the people you appoint as your kids guardians die? what happens if the guardian you appoint really doesn't want to be the guardian after all? what happens if you have people fighting over your kids? what happens if your kids are left without much in the way of financial resources when you step off this mortal coil?

Neely gets you thinking, first and foremost, and that's critical. Much of what you will read here is the same advice you'll find in estate planning guides -- but rendered comprehensible, in easy to read language. I understood this book -- I didn't feel stupid or poorly educated, trying to figure out what legal terms meant. Neely asks the questions we're all terrified to ask.

There's a choose your own adventure feel to the book: If you decide to do X, go to page 55 and see what happens. I liked this. The choices presented were straightforward: you're going to do X or Y, here's the consequences of both. Are the choices exhaustive? No, but she hit the most common ones, and I'd bet they'd answer 95% of most readers questions.

Neely also wins big bonus points for being cultural aware. Frankly, a lot of guides like this (and I've read a ton of the financial ones and I ghostwrite for Long Term Care insurance professionals) ignore the fact that we don't all live in heteronormative families. We're not all Mommy, Daddy, and 2.2 kids. Sometimes there's Mommy and Mommy. Sometimes there's just Dad. Sometimes there's Mom and Dad and Stepmom and Stepdad and the girlfriend no one talks about. Neely acknowledges this, respects this, and provides at least a starting point for those of us with non-traditional families -- and the assurance that the legal system can work for us too, if we're smart and proactive about it.

Two thumbs up !
I was a little skeptical reading it at first, thinking that it might be too heavy of a topic and filled with too much legal jargon, but I should have known better from the fun title, WearCleanUnderwear! This is a MUST read - quick, intelligent and to-the-point. Alexis sheds graphic light about the necessity of family wealth planning - in a down-to-earth, understandable way. The three parables were enlightening, even for those of us who have worked with her tools and system. She writes her stories elegantly, making them interesting and with options to skip around. I like the way the book folds into itself making it an easy and straightforward read. It is certainly a call-to-action.

What an eye opener!
This book really brings to life questions that are never really asked out loud. You can bet my husband and I will be sitting down to have a heart to heart regarding the hard truths as to what would we do should the unthinkable happen. Thank you for providing some valuable insight into the options available.