A Living Trust does not guarantee that your successor trustee will immediately take control of your assets
I recently received a marketing brochure for living trusts from a prominent Maryland attorney. His primary reason why a person in Maryland needs a living trust is that when you become incapacitated, the "successor trustee will immediately take control of [your]...
When is a Living Trust appropriate in Maryland
In my prior posts, I have explained that a Living Trust is mostly a lucrative marketing scheme invented by attorneys to pray on the insecurities of senior citizens by scaring them with the words "death, taxes, and probate". ...
If you die without a Will in Maryland, your surviving spouse may NOT inherit your entire estate.
When a person dies in Maryland without a Will, your estate is distributed pursuant to the intestate succession statute. If you are married, your spouse will NOT receive 100% of your property if you have minor child, an adult child, or if you were married less than...
Disadvantages of Living Trusts in Maryland
I have previously discussed that 99% of the population does not need a Living Trust. The reality is that the concept of a Living Trust is mostly a marketing scheme by lawyers who attempt to scare seniors with three words: death, taxes, and probate. Moreover, Living...
Adding a family member to your Maryland bank account via a Special Power of Attorney
One way that families engage in informal estate planning is by making a child a co-owner of a bank account. As a co-owner of the bank account, the child can write checks on behalf of his or her parent(s). However, there are many reasons why it is not a good idea to...
The Hidden Costs of Living Trusts in Maryland
Attorneys in Maryland charge from $2,500 to $5,000 to draft Living Trusts for spouses. If you want to make a simple change to your Living Trust, the law firm may charge you another $1,500. This is a verbatim explanation of why a Montgomery County lawyer charged...
Should a Maryland resident pay $2,500 for an estate plan?
There are many attorneys in Montgomery County that charge $2,500 or more for a comprehensive estate plan, including a Last Will and Testament, Maryland Statutory Power of Attorney, Durable Power of Attorney, and Maryland Advanced Directive. For this fee, the lawyer...
Attestion of a Will in Maryland
For a Will to be valid in Maryland, it must be signed by the person making the Will and two witnesses. Attestation is the act of witnesses in seeing that those things exist and are done which the statute requires. It begins with the testator asking the witnesses,...
Maryland increases its estate tax exemption starting in 2015
The estate tax is a tax on property (cash, real estate, stock, or other assets) transferred from deceased persons to their heirs. Only the wealthiest estates in the country pay the federal tax, because the estate’s value must exceed a specified exemption level,...
Why parents with minor children need a Will
According to the September 2014 issue of Money magazine, 61% of parents with minor children do not have a Will. Without a Will, a judge will decide who will raise the minor children if both parents were to perish. With a Will, the parents can name a guardian and an...
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