Maryland

Bethesda and Largo Probate Attorney Explains How To Avoid Conflicts When Passing Down a Vacation Home

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Leaving a vacation home outright to your loved ones can create more family conflict and problems than you might think.

While a vacation home may have been a peaceful haven for you and your spouse throughout the years, your children may not look at the house the same way when it becomes theirs to manage and maintain.

In fact, many heirs of vacation homes are simply unable to afford the yearly property taxes and related maintenance costs.  What mom and dad meant as a blessing actually becomes a burden to the children who were not prepared to assume these new responsibilities.

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How Your Bethesda or Largo Estate Planning Attorney Can Help Protect Intergenerational Wealth Transfers

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A recent article on Forbes.com took a look into the surprisingly high rate at which intergenerational wealth transfers fail.  This is undoubtedly a major issue of consideration for estate planning attorneys in Bethesda and Largo and beyond.  Our goal is for your wishes to be followed both in specific and in the spirit of your intentions.  So, if transfers are failing, it makes sense to examine why and learn how to avoid these issues in the future.

According to research done by Roy Williams and Vic Preisser, intergenerational wealth transfers fail a staggering 70% of the time! The main factor in the failures was that the families themselves did not implement any post-transition planning.  That is to say, the heirs were never prepared to take on the privileges and responsibilities of inheriting the family’s wealth.

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Using Online Tools to Set Up Wills and Trusts In Maryland

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If you are beginning to think about how to manage your estate in the event that you become disabled or die, it may be tempting to turn to some of the many tools available online.  Skilled wills and trusts lawyers will almost always advise against this, and it’s not because they’re trying to get your money.

While it’s possible that some online estate planning tools can work for your situation, it’s much more likely that you’ll end up trying to force your situation to fit their cookie-cutter approach.  The end result is that no one truly gets what they need or want.

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Working with an Estate Planning Attorney to Secure Your Children’s Financial Future

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One of the most important aspects of estate planning is the overall effect it will have on an individual’s or couple’s children.  Whether these are minor children who will need a guardian or adult children who are already on their own, the need for financial planning exists.  A good estate planning attorney in Bethesda or Largo can help you determine what needs there are and how best to go about meeting them.  It’s possible that creating a trust will be the right path for you.

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Do You Need A Trust Attorney With All The Online Options Available?

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Trust lawyers are well aware of the variety of online estate planning tools available to those in Bethesda and Largo and beyond. The variety of products available can create a false sense of security, however, when an individual believes he or she has made adequate plans for the estate. Recent Consumer Reports findings determined that … Read more

Don’t Let Another Year Pass Without Naming Guardians For Your Kids!

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If you’re making New Years resolutions this year and still have minor children at home, don’t forget to add naming legal guardians to the list!

Statistics show that 69% of parents do not have legal guardians named who can raise their kids if something tragic happens to them.  Many assume a family member would step in, or that they can simply “tell” someone about their guardianship wishes, but unfortunately, our legal system does not work that way.

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Elder Law Attorney’s Advice on Helping Parents Create an Estate Plan

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In Maryland, just as everywhere else in the nation, there is a tendency for people to put off estate planning.  Elder law attorneys recognize that there are multiple factors that lead people to procrastinate when it comes to the process.

One of the biggest factors, of course, is that most people don’t want to consider their own mortality, and estate planning forces you to do just that.  When it comes to adult children, we are just as guilty of not wanting to think about the inevitability of losing our parents, and therefore, we choose not to push them.

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Estate Planning Considerations for Single Adults In Maryland

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When we typically think of estate planning, we see grandma and grandpa putting together a will and possibly setting up some trusts for the following generations. It’s all about providing for our offspring, right? Not necessarily. Even if you are single and/or have no children, a wills and estates lawyer should still be in your … Read more