Trusts

Do You Have a Backup Plan?

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If you’re like most Americans, your day probably consists of eating, working, and squeezing in a bit of precious family time before you collapse into bed. Then you wake up to do it all over again. Sometimes, when you’re entrenched in day-to-day life, it’s hard to think about the future. For the sake of your … Read more

How Do You Treat Children Fairly When It Comes to Estate Distribution?

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Wills and trusts lawyers in Maryland see just about every circumstance which results from a parent’s death.  Some siblings handle the wills and trusts administration (or estate distribution) gracefully and with dignity, while others turn to squabbling and pettiness.  When we work with our clients, they are often very concerned about how to treat their … Read more

Sharing Financial and Legal Information with Your Family

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Every family has its own approach when it comes to talking about financial and legal information.  Will and trust lawyers see everything from very open and transparent situations to those where discussions of money are considered taboo.  In reality, families which are at the estate planning phase should be having at least some superficial conversations … Read more

The Letter of Intent as a Part of Your Special Needs Planning in Bethesda and Largo

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The documentation that you create with your special needs planning lawyer in Bethesda or Largo will be quite detailed and will take an incredible amount into consideration, but it will likely not cover every possible concern or wish you may have for your child’s future care.  For that purpose, many parents work with their lawyer to create a Letter of Intent.

The Letter of Intent is along the lines of a personal letter, rather than being a more formal legal document.  It is used to supplement the special needs plan to provide additional information.

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Be Organized and Ready When Meeting With Your Trust and Estates Attorney

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To better streamline the Maryland estate planning process, it can be incredibly helpful to do a bit of organizing before meeting with your attorney.

This allows you to feel confident in what you’re doing, as well as minimize the time spent on the task at hand.  Both you and your lawyer will benefit from clear, concise communication, and if anything is missing, it will be considerably easier to discover and remedy the situation up front.  A Bethesda or Largo trust and estates lawyer would advise you to consider all of these things in preparation for your meeting.

First, compile a list of your assets and liabilities.  Doing this in advance, rather than waiting to be directed by your estate planning lawyer can save a fair amount of time.  Again, if you’ve overlooked something, the attorney will likely be able to point it out, but you won’t have to go through the basics during your consultation time.  Some of the assets and liabilities you’ll want to include are:

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Your Trusts and Estates Attorney Can Help Plan for Your Religious Needs

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When it comes to estate planning, most of us are aware of the common things we need to discuss with our attorney.  There are so many financial concerns, legal concerns, and even personal concerns regarding a person’s inheritance and other desires.

However, when it comes down to honoring our deepest religious or spiritual desires, many people overlook the necessity of incorporating such wishes into their estate.  When religion plays an important role in someone’s life, it makes sense that it would also be important in the legacy they leave behind.

Many estate planning attorneys don’t necessarily focus a lot of their expertise on the religious aspects of planning, which makes sense.  After all, there are so many religions that it would be impossible for one attorney to be well versed in them all.  However, if there are religious preferences you would like to see incorporated into your estate plan, a skilled attorney can help you legally document the wishes of your faith.

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4 Reasons You Need a Will Now, According to a Bethesda and Largo Wills and Estates Lawyer

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Of course it makes sense that a wills and estates attorney would tell you to create a will, right?  Our job is to help people plan for what will happen to their estates once they’re gone.  But, having been involved in estate planning in Bethesda and Largo for such a long time, it’s clear that message of proper planning is something more people still need to hear.

That’s why I’ve put together a list of four brief reasons that explain why you need a will…and why it must be created sooner, rather than later.  There are certainly many other aspects to consider, but these can have a great impact on the future of your estate:

Reason You Need a Will #1:  It Saves Money

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