Over 65 Years of Estate Planning Experience
For over 65 years, the experienced Maryland Estate Planning Attorneys at Frame & Frame have been serving the legal needs of our community. Estate planning is a very personal matter. It not only affects you and your loved ones, but perhaps your legacy and future generations. For these reasons, the Maryland estate planning lawyers at Frame & Frame can help you carefully consider the importance of having a will or estate plan that is structured for your specific needs.
Get Started Today!
Estate planning does not have to be an expensive or complicated process. For about the cost of a weekend getaway, most families can have the peace of mind and assurance that their needs will be handled, in the event of a crisis. Get started by downloading one of our free legal guides or scheduling a consultation.
Do You Need a Will or Trust?
A will or trust is important for everyone – regardless of age, marital status, financial status, in good or poor health with the legal documents they need to protect themselves and their loved ones, because accidents and unexpected illnesses can happen to anyone.
Many people do not understand the difference between a Will and a Trust, or unknowingly, may think that one costs substantially more than another. The most common misconception is that a trust is only for wealth families. However, there are many instances where a trust can better serve your needs, while you are living, and after you pass. The Maryland estate planning attorneys at Frame & Frame discuss your specific situation and make recommendations on which tools would best serve your unique needs.
Although a will can serve some needs, the estate planning attorneys at Frame & Frame Attorneys at Law are able to help you consider a wider variety of possibilities that may arise and ensure your wishes are carried out, in the event of incapacitation or death. Our attorneys will help you understand the difference between a will and a trust and determine which legal instrument will best serve your needs. We can also help you avoid some of the most common estate planning mistakes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Your attorney will serve as your legal guide and trusted advisor to answer all of your questions. In addition, we also have a list of the most commonly asked questions about estate planning, along with an entire video library you can review, at your leisure, to get answers to your estate planning questions. View this video to get answers to the most common questions about estate planning.
A Wide Array of Estate Planning Services
At the law firm of Frame & Frame, our dedicated Maryland Estate Planning Attorney advocates regularly assist clients in Maryland with a wide variety of estate planning needs. As a matter of fact, our firm received the “Maryland Attorney Advocate of the Year” award for these services. We assist with a wide array of estate planning services, including but not limited to:
- Asset Protection
- Guardianship
- Elder Law
- Estate Administration
- Special Needs
- LGBTQ Planning
- Trust Administration & Fiduciary Services
- Long-Term Care Planning
- Medicaid Planning
- Maryland probate process
- Trusts
- Wills
Our free legal guide to Estate Planning Essentials is a great way to begin to educate yourself on the important factors you should consider, before executing a will or estate plan.
Easy Estate Planning Process
Since we have been providing estate planning services for over 65 years, we know how to make estate planning easy for you and your family with our customized Easy Estate Planning 4-Step Process. In addition, we also offer an easy way to keep your family informed with our proprietary ePlan365 tool which utilizes the latest secure HIPAA-compliant technology to provide your family with the documents and resources they need, in any crisis.
Basic Estate Planning
A very basic estate plan provides important legal documents for your family, in the event of your incapacitation, sudden illness, or even death. These documents allow you to control the distribution of your assets, who will administer your estate, and who will care for your children and their inheritance. You place your assets, your children, and your family at risk without proper planning. The Maryland Estate Planning Attorneys at Frame & Frame help you create a plan that will protect and provide for your loved ones.
It’s important to have, at the very least, the basic estate planning documents to protect you, and to help your family and heirs manage your affairs in the event of your illness, hospitalization, incapacitation, or death. Our basic estate planning services provide you:
- Last Will & Testament or Trust
- Healthcare Power of Attorney
- Financial Power of Attorney
- Advanced Directive/Living Will
In Maryland, there can be serious consequences if you become incapacitated or die without a will. Here are some examples:
- If you are incapacitated, your loved ones will require certain documentation to act on your behalf for financial matters,
- If medical decisions need to be made, Health Care Powers of Attorney ensures that your wishes are carried out and to help give your loved ones some direction when making important medical decisions to take the weight off their shoulders.
- After your death, the probate process, taxes, and other factors may absorb much of the inheritance you hoped to pass on to loved ones.
Your Estate Planning Consultation
During your initial estate planning consultation, you will personally meet with one of our experienced lawyers who focus on estate planning, to discuss the best options for you and your unique situation. This personalized approach provides you valuable legal guidance and allows your family to have a trusted advisor, during a crisis. During the estate planning process, we can provide guidance on any of the following:
- Drafting a will
- Developing a healthcare power of attorney
- Developing a durable (financial) power of attorney
- Creating a living will
- Asset protection
- Medicaid planning
- Creating revocable living trusts
- Creating irrevocable trusts
- Creating special needs trusts
- Estate administration
- Probate
Special Circumstances for Estate Planning
There are also specific circumstances, based on your unique situation, which make estate planning even more important. In these cases, your lawyer can help you determine which legal instrument is best for your unique situation. Our Free Guide to Estate Planning discusses the special circumstances that may need to be considered, such as:
- Families with Children
- Blended Families
- Families with Special Needs
- Families with Substantial Wealth
- Single People & Unmarried Families
- LGBTQ Families
Estate Planning, Probate, and Maryland Taxes
It is particularly important for Maryland residents to understand Probate and its impact on estate planning since Maryland has both an estate tax and an inheritance tax. Why does this matter? In brief, many other states simply tax based on either system as opposed to both. For this reason, Maryland residents must consider the probate process, their exposure (and that of his/her relatives) to taxation through estate and inheritance, and any legal strategies to reduce exposure.
If you are planning to leave assets to your family members and to organizations that you support, you may also need help learning about ways to minimize liabilities under these two systems of taxation. The Maryland estate planning attorneys at Frame & Frame can evaluate your situation to assist in creating strategies that will help. In addition, if you lose a loved one, our probate attorneys can help you navigate the complex probate process.
Long Term Care & Medicaid Planning
Long-term care planning or Medicaid planning is not the same as estate planning. Does your estate plan protect your assets from the substantial costs of long-term care? Is your legacy and children’s inheritance at risk? Will your spouse be properly cared for, or will your assets be subject to government restrictions? Your estate plan should include a strategy for long-term care and only an experienced elder law attorney can assist you with these considerations. Download the free legal guide to Long Term Care planning.
Unfortunately, many people think that if they’ve done an estate plan, they have covered long-term care or Medicaid planning issues. Nothing could be further from the truth! Long-term care or Medicaid planning is not estate planning and only an experienced Elder Law attorney can properly guide you through the pros/cons of why you may or may not need Medicaid planning, in addition to an estate plan. The attorneys at Frame & Frame are also experienced in Elder Law, so we can advise you simultaneously on the important considerations that may impact your estate plan and long term care strategies.
Trusts and Other Estate Planning Matters
There are many types of trusts that can be created to serve your unique needs. Trusts are not just for wealthy families. In fact, many younger families benefit from a trust, much more so than a simple will. With minors, in particular, the needs of your children must be considered during the estate planning process to determine if a will or trust would better serve your family’s needs.
In some cases, individuals have children with special needs for whom they will have to set up a particular type of trust. In other situations, a Maryland resident may want to establish a trust to help children and other family members to pay for college or other necessary educational expenses.
Given that there are many different kinds of trusts, it is important to seek advice from an estate planning lawyer. You will also want to ensure that if you establish a trust, it is funded and revisited, as life changes over the years. Our Maryland estate planning attorneys can help you evaluate the best options for your situation and take the weight off your shoulders.
ePlan365™ puts the Plan In Your Hand™
If an unexpected crisis or tragedy occurs, your loved ones will be focused on solving the challenges, making decisions, and dealing with the family’s emotions. There will likely be many questions and decisions to be made, depending upon the circumstances. The biggest question of all… “What’s the plan?”
At Frame & Frame, we’ve helped people, for over 65 years, face the challenges and questions that arise. We have seen families struggle to locate important health care or legal documents, argue over the intentions or wishes of a loved one, and try to access financial accounts to continue to pay mortgages and other bills. That is why we have invested in technology that makes all of this easier on you and your family.
Today, we are one of the only estate planning firms that offer our clients a proprietary platform so that every decision, document, and resource is available to your loved ones instantly. You can pre-determine when and how the documents are accessible, based on the crisis, events, or circumstances. Our ePlan365™ puts the Plan in Your Hand™. Learn more about this unique service we provide exclusively to our clients.
Get Started Today!
Estate planning does not have to be an expensive or complicated process. For about the cost of a weekend getaway, most families can have peace of mind and assurance that their needs will be handled, according to their wishes. In addition, our Maryland estate planning attorneys serve as a legal guide to help your family navigate the legal, healthcare, and probate issues that may surround any crisis. Get started by downloading free legal guides or scheduling a consultation.
Estate Planning FAQ’s
- You determine how your estate is distributed:
A Will is a legally binding document that allows you to direct who receives your assets upon your death. You may leave your assets and property, both real and personal, to anyone you choose, subject to certain statutory rights of a surviving spouse. Without a Will, the law determines how your assets are distributed. For example, when a person dies without a Will and has no spouse and no minor children, their estate is divided equally between the deceased person’s adult children and his/her surviving parents. This may not be how you want your estate to be distributed among your heirs. - You decide who will handle your estate:
Probating and settling an estate can be a very complex task. You want someone who is honest, responsible and well organized to handle your estate matters. In your Will, you name a Personal Representative, or Executor, to probate your estate and to ensure that your assets are distributed according to your wishes as stated in your Will. Your Personal Representative is responsible for opening the estate, filing an inventory of the estate assets, paying debts or claims of the estate, managing or selling real property in the estate, filing tax returns on behalf of the estate, and making the final distributions from the estate, just to name a few. If you do not have a Will, the Court will appoint a person to handle your estate. That person may not be the person that you would have chosen and could, in fact, be one of your creditors. - You decide who will care for your minor children:
If you have minor children under the age of eighteen (18), you will want to name a guardian and trustee or custodian for your children. The guardian is the person with whom your child will live and who will care for your child on a day to day basis. The trustee or custodian is the person who will hold and manage the child’s inheritance until such time as the child reaches an appropriate age, determined by you and stated in your Will. The guardian and trustee or custodian may be the same person but does not have to be. In certain instances, the person who will best care for your child may not be the best person to manage their money. - You can set up a trust for minor children or special needs children:
If you have children under the age of 18 or a special needs child, you may want to consider including a trust. A special needs child who is receiving governmental benefits may lose those benefits if they receive an inheritance directly from your estate. Additionally, a minor child would receive their share of the estate upon reaching the age of 18 (the age of majority in Maryland). A young adult may not be responsible for handling and managing large sums of money and you may want to spread the distribution out over several years or throughout the child’s lifetime. You can appoint someone, called a Trustee, who will hold and manage the child’s money for them. You can instruct that the funds be used strictly for certain purposes, such as college or the purchase of a house. - You can disinherit family members:
Unfortunately, there are instances when you do not want certain heirs to inherit your property or funds. If an heir is subject to judgments, has filed for bankruptcy or is receiving government benefits, you may choose not to include that person in your will. There may be an estranged child that you do not want to receive part of your estate. In your Will, you have the right to leave your estate to whomever you choose and might include provisions to avoid having your Will challenged by an heir. - You can avoid arguments and hostility among family members:
When you have a Will, you make your intentions clear. You state who you want to handle your estate, how the funds are to be distributed and when and on what conditions those distributions take place. Without a Will, there can be arguments among family members as to who gets what and who should be responsible for opening and handling the estate. A Will can avoid many arguments and misunderstandings among family members by clearly stating your wishes. - To give you peace of mind:
You will have greater peace of mind knowing that your family is taken care of when you are no longer here to care for them. By having your estate plan in place, you take away some of the stress placed on your family, who will already be going through an extremely emotional and difficult time.
In order to contest or challenge a provision in a Will, the person contesting or objecting must have “standing.” This means that either they are named as a beneficiary in the Will or they would stand to inherit from the estate if the Will were declared invalid or if the decedent died intestate (without a Will).
If a person has standing, then they must have a basis upon which to object to or contest the Will. One common reason for contesting a Will is if the testator (the person who wrote the Will) was incompetent at the time that the Will was executed. If the decedent did not understand what they were signing or had been declared incompetent prior to signing the Will, then the Will may be voided in its entirety or in part. If the Will is declared null and void, then the most recently executed Will controls. If there is no previous Will, then the estate is distributed as if there is no Will, in accordance with the laws of intestacy in Maryland.
If a person has been diagnosed with advanced dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, more than likely they were not competent to sign a legal document, such as a Will, and the Will can be declared void. Another ground for challenging a Will is if the testator was unduly influenced or persuaded to write their Will in a certain way. Often elderly people are taken advantage of by neighbors or relatives who are manipulating the testator at a time when they are vulnerable and easily influenced. This ground is often difficult to prove.
A second common basis for contesting a Will is when a spouse is disinherited. In Maryland, a surviving spouse is entitled to receive a portion of the estate and has a right to contest or caveat the Will to request their statutory share. A Will contest can be very expensive. Often times the litigation can use up the funds that would have otherwise been distributed from the estate, as the legal fees paid to the attorney representing the estate are paid from the estate assets. When a Will includes a special provision, called a “no contest clause,” if a person named in the Will challenges the Will and is unsuccessful in overturning the Will, they inherit nothing. A Will contest can bankrupt an estate, so you should consult an experienced estate planning attorney to review all of your circumstances and prepare an estate plan best suited for your needs to avoid Will contests.
A Power of Attorney is one of the most important documents that you should have and one should always be part of your estate plan. In the event that you have an accident, or are otherwise incapacitated, and you are unable to manage your financial affairs, you should appoint a person who you trust to manage your financial affairs for you. A Power of Attorney can be a temporary document, such as if you leave the country for a period of time, or it can be a long-term document, whereby your Power of Attorney manages your financial affairs if you become incompetent or are otherwise unable to take care of your affairs on your own. Your Attorney-in-Fact (Power of Attorney) can write checks, pay bills, file tax returns, manage property, file suit on your behalf, manage investment accounts and take any other actions that you could if you were not incapacitated. If you are disabled or rendered incompetent and do not have a Power of Attorney, a guardianship would need to be filed with the court and the court would appoint a guardian to manage your affairs for you. The person appointed may or may not be the person that you would have chosen and the process can be lengthy and very expensive. The costs of a guardianship proceeding is paid from your money or assets. A Power of Attorney can save you and your estate thousands of dollars.
Although not everyone needs a trust, a trust is a very useful estate planning tool and should be considered. Just a few of the benefits of a trust are:
- PRIVACY: A trust is private and confidential. Unlike a Will, a trust is not filed with the court. When an estate is opened, your will gets filed with the court and becomes public record. Additionally, your entire estate and assets are inventoried and reported to the court. The public has access to your estate documents, the value of the estate and how it was distributed. A trust, on the other hand, is completely private. It is not a public document and only the trustee and the beneficiaries are entitled to information about the trust.
- FLEXIBLE: A trust is a living document, especially a revocable trust. You, as the trustee, may modify and change your trust as your circumstances change. You have the right to amend or terminate a revocable trust at any time.
- CONTROL: A trust provides greater control of your assets after death. Unlike a will, which has certain limitations, you can control your assets even after death with a properly prepared trust. A trust gives you the ability to direct how your assets are used and to whom they are distributed for as long as you direct. You can put conditions on distributions and you can direct that property or money held in trust only be used in certain ways and for certain purposes.
- AVOIDS PROBATE: Having a trust avoids probate, as it is not filed with the court and, if all of your assets are held in trust, there would be no estate to probate. Nevertheless, you still need a Will to ensure that any other property held in your name is added to the trust and distributed according to the trust documents. This is commonly referred to as a “Pour Over Will.”
- IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO FUNDS: When a person dies and their assets are held in a trust, the trustee (or successor trustee if the decedent was the trustee) may make immediate distribution of the trust assets in accordance with the trust document. If assets are passing through a Will and going through probate in Maryland, the estate may not make distribution for at least six (6) months and, only then, upon approval of the court.
CAUTION: A trust is only effective if it is property funded, which means that all property must be transferred to the trust.
As part of our services, when preparing a trust we assist with the transfer of all assets to the trust to ensure that it is property funded in order to accomplish the goals and purposes of the trust.
You may say, “I trust my doctor, so why do I need one?”
A Healthcare Power of Attorney is a form that designates an agent to make health care decisions for you in the event you are unable to make your own decisions. Without an agent, a doctor would most likely turn to whichever family member is present and ask for consent for the procedure they recommend. If that family member does not know your wishes then they could deny treatment that you would have wanted or consent to treatment that you would not have wanted.
Living wills, also called Advanced Directives, determine what, if any, life sustaining medical procedures you wish to have in three situations:
- When your death from a terminal condition is imminent, despite the application of life-sustaining procedures;
- You are in a condition of permanent unconsciousness, called a persistent vegetative state; and
- You have an end-stage condition, which is defined as: a.) a condition that is advanced, progressive, and irreversible; b.) which has caused severe and permanent deteriorationas evidenced by both incompetency and complete physical dependency (unable to perform activities of daily living independently); and c.) to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, treatment of the irreversible condition would be medically ineffective. Examples of an end-stage condition could be advanced Alzheimer’s disease or rend-stage renal disease.
A prime example of what can happen when a person does not have a Living Will/Advanced Directive is the case of Terry Shiavo, a woman in an irreversible persistent vegetative state. Her husband (and legal guardian) and her parents fought in court for over 15 years regarding her end-of-life care and what she would have wanted. Had she had a Living Will/Advanced Directive, more than likely, there would have been no legal proceedings.
If you do not have a Living Will/Advanced Directive, then your healthcare provider will provide you with medical care that THEY believe is in your best interest, even if it is not something you would have chosen. A Living Will/Advanced Directive is effective even when photocopied and is portable, meaning that you should have it filed with all of your doctors, hospitals, and medical providers who will render you treatment. You should carry this document with you in your vehicle and on vacation, in the event of an emergency.
Under Maryland law, a personal representative is responsible for the following:
- Probate the Will, and any codicils, with the Register of Wills, obtaining a federal tax identification number to open an estate account and hiring the appropriate professionals to assist him/her.
- Ascertaining and appraise all assets of the estate.
- Paying the debts of the estate.
- Arranging for safekeeping of personal property.
- Managing assets, collecting life insurance proceeds and retirement distributions.
- Filing tax returns and paying the required income inheritance and/or estate taxes.
- Filing the necessary pleadings with the Register of Wills, including Petition to open the estate, Inventory and Administration Accounts.
- Distribute assets of the estate to the appropriate beneficiaries, account for all estate assets and expenses and close out the estate.
A personal representative is entitled to receive compensation, or commissions, for the work that they perform on behalf of the estate. The maximum allowable commissions in Maryland is 9% of the first $20,000.00 plus 3.6% of the assets in excess of $20,000.00. A personal representative has the right to waive commissions. If the personal representative hires an attorney to assist him/her with the handling of the estate, the attorney is paid from the allowable commissions. A personal representative is a fiduciary and has a fiduciary duty to the estate. This means he/she has an obligation to do what is best for the estate and to protect the assets for distribution to the heirs. The personal representative is prohibited from self-dealing or commingling estate assets with his personal assets. If a personal representative has breached his fiduciary duty to the estate, he can be held personally liable to the estate or the beneficiaries for any losses.
It is important that you choose a responsible and trustworthy person to act as your personal representative or executor, as improper handling of the estate assets can lead to expensive probate litigation and can destroy family relationships in the process.
The answer to your question depends on many factors, especially the complexity of the issues involved. Estate litigation can be very expensive to both parties. Generally, though, the contesting party pays for their attorney’s fees and expenses from their own resources, whereas attorney’s fees for a Personal Representative who is defending a will or an estate may claim those fees and expenses as an estate expense. In most cases, the Personal Representative is not personally responsible for those attorney’s fees. A word of caution, make sure to get prior approval from the Court before paying any attorney’s fees or expenses in defending the litigation. Generally, this can be done by filing a Motion with the Orphan’s Court requesting approval to retain an attorney on behalf of the estate. It is the duty of the Personal Representative to preserve and protect the estate assets for the benefit of the heirs or legatees and it may be a breach of that fiduciary duty not to defend the estate. As your case may involve these complex issues, I strongly suggest that you hire an attorney who handles estate and probate administration and litigation.
Pursuant to Maryland Rules of Civil Procedure section 2-121, the Defendant must be served in person. A person over the age of 18, other than yourself, may deliver the pleadings to him at any place, including his home or workplace. He may also be served by leaving a copy of the summons, complaint, and all other papers filed with it, at the individual’s dwelling or usual place of abode with a resident of suitable age and discretion. Lastly, he may be served by sending the pleadings to him by certified mail, restricted delivery, meaning that he would have to sign for the certified mail. Once he has been “served” by one of these methods, an Affidavit of Service would be filed with the Court advising the Court as to how and when the Defendant was served. At that point, the burden is on him to respond accordingly.
I am not sure what the question is, but if there is a will and the decedent owned assets in his/her name at the time of death, then, more than likely, an estate must be opened in the county where the decedent was domiciled. The assets are inventoried and eventually an accounting is filed with the Register of Wills, showing all assets, all expenses and how the net assets are to be distributed (either by a will or by law). Once approved by the Court, the assets are distributed by the Executor of the estate and the estate is then closed. I recommend that you consult with an experienced attorney who handles probate and estate administration to assist you with this.
If you have already filed a final account with the Register of Wills showing distribution of the real property to you as the beneficiary under the will and the account has been approved by the Orphan’s Court, then it is time for you to transfer the property from the estate to you. You should contact either an estate/probate attorney or a real estate attorney. Either should be able to prepare a deed transferring the property from the estate to you as the sole heir and beneficiary.
Contact an Experienced Maryland Estate Planning Attorney
Meeting with an estate planning attorney can help you and your family plan for the future. Contact Frame & Frame today to learn more about how we can help with serve as your legal guide for thoughtful planning or during times of crisis.