I am your estate planning lawyer. I am committed to tailoring the estate plan that is just right for you and your family. My goal is to draft estate planning documents to ensure that YOUR wishes are carried out. For you this may mean that you need a simple estate plan package that consists of a will, living will, or a power of attorney. Or this may mean that you need a revocable living trust to easier manage your hundreds of real estate investments. Whatever your needs are, no matter how big or small, there is a one-of-a-kind plan that is just right for you and your loved ones.
What an Estate Plan Should Minimally Cover, and Why
A proper estate plan at a minimum does three things (1) it tells health care providers how decisions should be made on your behalf when you cannot make those decisions (2) says who can step into your shoes and act as you and under what circumstances when you are unable to make decisions and (3) tells the Probate Court how your assets should be distributed upon death.
How Health Care Decisions Should Be Made on Your Behalf
There may come a time when you are permanently, or perhaps temporarily unable to make health care decisions on your behalf. An example of this is the Terri Schaivo case, where Terri Schaivo fell into a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery. Her loved ones disagreed over whether or not she should be kept alive in this State. Arguably her loved one arguing for her to not be kept alive prevailed, after years of legal battles. These battles could have been avoided altogether had Schaivo made the decision herself of how she should be treated with a carefully crafted estate plan drafted by an estate planning lawyer before becoming incompetent. In addition, giving your loved ones instructions can give them peace of mind. Without an estate plan, they may end up with many restless nights or guilt because they made the decision. By making the decision yourself, they can rest assured knowing that your true wishes were carried out.
Who Can Step Into Your Shoes and Under What Circumstances
A properly crafted estate plan allows someone you to appoint someone you trust as your “Attorney-In-Fact.” (An attorney in fact does have to be an attorney at law). Your attorney-in-fact can legally act as you under circumstances that you define. Here is a real situation where an attorney-in-fact would have been helpful. A woman once came to me for help because she was unable to access her husband’s separate bank account after he got into a car accident and was unable to make decisions. He was the primary bread winner and she needed to pay the rent. Had she been his attorney-in-fact, she could have accessed the bank account after showing the bank the proper estate planning documents. However her husband did not have an estate plan, and just because someone is your spouse does not mean that you can access an account your name is not on. Ultimately I was able to help her through the much more expensive and time-consuming adult guardianship process, but with the proper estate planning documents, she could have accessed this account immediately. Other practical examples include appointing someone to step into your shoes to run your business to keep it cash flowing while you are recovering from an ailment.
How Your Assets Should Be Distributed After Death
In one sense, everyone has an estate plan. When someone passes without a will, their assets are distributed by “intestate succession.” A certain percentage of your estate is passed on to your closest heirs. Each state has it’s own intestate succession rules. For example, if a husband dies without a will in Maryland 50% of his estate goes to his wife and 50% is split evenly between his children. If he has two children, this means each of them get 25% of the estate. The problem here is that the default plan may (1) not be your wishes and (2) not be what’s best for your family. For example, you may want for your spouse to receive 100% of your separate property outright because you know that she will take care of your family. Maybe you want you know you have an irresponsible son, so it’s better to put his money in a trust fund for him instead of giving it to him outright to squander. You know what’s best for you and your family, the State does not. Your estate planning lawyer can craft an estate plan in accordance with your wishes.
Advanced Estate Planning – Asset Protection and Tax Planning
I like to break estate planning down into 3 categories. Estate Planning (What I described above), Asset Protection – protecting your assets from people who want to take them, and Tax planning – Donald Trump Millionaire tax avoidance strategies. 97% of people fall into the first two categories. Most people have not acquired millions of dollars worth of assets to distribute and do not need tax planning, but have acquired assets (such as real estate or a business) that need to be protected. I utilize asset protection strategies and tax planning strategies when appropriate each individual plan, to maximize generational wealth for your legacy.
Contact Your Prince George’s County Estate Planning Lawyer, For Your One-Of-A-Kind Estate Plan!
Brian Pendergraft is a Maryland and District of Columbia Estate Planning Lawyer located in Prince George’s County that has crafted many individualized estate plans to protect his clients wishes and estates. Call us at (301) 205-9013 or E-mail [email protected] to schedule a consultation for your one-of-a-kind estate plan.
Facebook Comments