Maryland Estate Planning Attorney
Guiding Maryland Families Through Life’s Most Important Decisions
Legal Services
Wills
A will expresses a person’s wishes regarding the distribution of their assets and property after death, and appoints an executor to carry out those wishes. A will can also designate guardians for minor children. When a person dies without a will, they die “intestate,” meaning the state determines how their estate is divided according to its own laws, which may not reflect what the person actually wanted.
Advance Medical Directives
An advance medical directive outlines a person’s healthcare wishes in advance, specifying what medical treatments they do or do not want if they become unable to speak for themselves. It can also designate a trusted person authorized to make medical decisions on their behalf. If a person becomes incapacitated without one, doctors and hospitals must rely on next-of-kin to make decisions, which can lead to family disagreements, court intervention, or medical treatments that go against what the person would have wanted, potentially prolonging suffering or creating emotional and financial strain on loved ones.
Durable Financial Powers of Attorney
A durable financial power of attorney designates a trusted person to manage your financial affairs, such as paying bills, managing investments, filing taxes, or handling real estate transactions, if you become incapacitated. If you become incapacitated without one, no one has automatic legal authority to manage your finances, not even a spouse in many cases. Your loved ones would likely need to petition a court for a guardianship or conservatorship. This process can be expensive and time-consuming, with a judge ultimately deciding who controls your financial life rather than you making that choice yourself while healthy.
Living Trusts
A revocable living trust allows you to transfer ownership of your assets into a trust while you are alive, naming yourself as trustee (so you retain full control while alive) and designating a successor trustee to manage and distribute those assets after your death or incapacitation. Unlike a will, a living trust avoids probate, the often long and expensive court proceeding to validate a will and distribute an estate. Your assets can pass to beneficiaries quickly and privately. People choose a living trust over a will for several reasons: probate can take months or even years and eat into the estate through legal fees; wills become public record upon death, while trusts remain private; and a trust also provides a smoother mechanism for managing your assets if you become incapacitated, without needing court intervention.