Maryland Last Will and Testament Services

Everyone should have a Last Will and Testament. If you are a Marylander and you are over 18, you should have one. Like most states, Maryland has fall-back provisions in its laws for so-called intestate (no-Will) estates. Those laws may – or may NOT – fulfill your wishes regarding your last legal act – possibly giving property to a family member who shouldn’t get the property, even a separated spouse, etc. In addition, family members whom you do wish to receive property may NOT receive your gift if you don’t have your Will prepared properly.  It’s a BIG DEAL.

Don’t let Annapolis make the last decision in your life; you and the qualified attorney of your choice should make those decisions together, with you in charge and your attorney acting as your technical adviser and drafter.

In addition to having a Will drafted, you should review your will annually and update your Will if any of the following occur:

1. You want to update the Will for any reason
2. You become married, separated, divorced or widowed
3. Your child is born, dies, reaches age 18 or becomes disabled
4. You or your spouse become disabled
5. You receive an inheritance over $5,000 or any inheritance involving real estate in Maryland or especially elsewhere
6. You begin funding a life insurance policy or a 401k/403b/other retirement program
7. You or your spouse reach retirement age
8. You buy or sell a piece of real estate
9. Your taxable estate appears likely to exceed $1,000,000 (assets plus insurance proceeds)
10. Any member of your immediate family changes in citizenship or immigration status
11. You start or sell a closely-held business
12. You or your spouse declares bankruptcy

My firm charges the following flat fees for basic estate planning services:

Consultation for Will drafting or editing: $90
Joint consultation for Will drafting – legally married couple: $126.00

Will Drafting – simple will (defined below): $144.00
Will Drafting – simple wills for legally married couple: $234.00 total for both Wills
Complex Will and Trust Drafting – $180/hour for review of supporting materials and drafting of estate documents.
For all Wills: $20.00 cost deposit for special Will papers and supporting materials (waivable at client request)

A Simple Will is a will involving no trust drafting, suitable for taxable estates below $500,000 in assessed value including life insurance policies, and with no more than eight named beneficiaries and no more than 10 specific bequests of personal property. A Complex Will is any Will that is not a Simple Will.

The uses of trusts for estate planning are more complex than can be reasonably covered in this brief post but may include:

1) Minimization of federal taxes
2) Avoidance or simplification of probate procedures (less of a concern in Maryland than in some states like Florida and California)
3) Simplifying real estate administration for property in multiple states
4) Privacy (e.g. assets of a private or controversial nature not to be published in a probate court’s records)
5) Preventing the young, foolish or reckless from being young, foolish or reckless to their own harm
6) Assisting in the care of a disabled child or adult
7) Protecting assets from some creditors in some specific situations

My office will perform trust drafting services per above upon request and client’s fully informed consent.  My office strongly encourages consideration of less expensive, less formal tools than trusts for estate management in many cases. Sometimes trust are “sold” by some attorneys as a Swiss Army Knife® of estate planning; many estates will not benefit from formal trust drafting or will not benefit enough to justify the costs both initially and continuously in terms of handling the costs of maintenance (e.g. annual trust tax returns in some cases, making efforts to include all property within the trust, maintaining trust records, in some cases paying a professional trustee, etc.)  But for clients who do need this service, my office is happy to assist at a reasonable fee.

In addition, my office will prepare a Maryland Advance Medical Directive for any Will client for a nominal fee. I note that basic forms for Advance Directives – including both the Part  I appointment of a health-care agent and the Part II “living will” – are available in many places. Maryland law is very liberal and flexible when it comes to Advance Directives. Using this official and free form from the Maryland Attorney General’s Office is often a very good idea but clients may wish to use other language or formats and Maryland law will honor alternative forms as long as they are reasonably clear.

Please feel free to contact my office at 410-561-6061 (Baltimore area) or (301) 531-4355 (Washington Metro/Southern Anne Arundel County) with any questions regarding our Will drafting services.