November 25, 2016February 27, 2023

What You Should Have in Your Estate Plan

There are a few things that every single estate plan needs to have regardless of the exact legal instruments that you end up using as your primary estate planning tools.

Estate plans can take a variety of shapes. Some estate plans are small and simple. Other estate plans are large and contain many complex legal instruments. However, there are a few things every single estate plan needs to have.

Recently, the Catholic Register discussed what is necessary for all Canadian estate plans in “The must-haves of estate planning.” In the U.S. most of the same things are also necessary. They include:

Someone needs to be appointed as the executor of your will. Even if the primary instrument to distribute your property is a trust, your plan should still include a pour-over will for which you need to appoint someone trustworthy as an executor.
Your estate plan needs to include some basic tax planning, especially if you live in a state that has an estate tax of its own. Both Maryland and the District of Columbia do, so you need some basic tax planning in both these states.
If you have any dependents, then your estate plan needs to provide for their care. While you have some flexibility in your estate, you cannot simply disinherit a spouse or a minor child. Maryland and the District of Columbia, like other states, allow disinherited spouses to claim an elective share of the estate, regardless of an intent to disinherit.
Your estate plan should also include powers of attorney so you can appoint someone to look after your interests if you become incapacitated.

If you have an experienced estate planning attorney create your estate plan, then it will contain all of these things and much more that will make your estate plan as effective as it can possibly be. Schedule a consultation with Profit Law Firm to get the peace of mind that comes with proper estate planning.

Reference: Catholic Register (Nov. 6, 2016) “The must-haves of estate planning.”

November 22, 2016February 23, 2026

Do You Want a Will or a Trust?

One of the first things that people have to decide when they start thinking about estate plans is whether they want to use a will or a trust. Both have their advantages.

If you start asking your friends and family or look on the Internet for estate planning advice, then you are likely to receive a lot of conflicting advice. Should you get a will or a trust? Nearly everyone seems to have an opinion one way or another. You can find out more about the basics of estate planning on our website.

Normally, the opinion of non-attorneys is rooted in which of the two options was best for the person giving the advice. It may or may not be the best advice for you.

To help decide the better option to use as the primary legal instrument in your estate plan it is helpful to know the basic differences between the two.

This was the subject of a Motley Fool article titled “Will vs. Trust: What’s the Difference?”

A will determines who gets your possessions after you pass away. It has no legal effect until then. It is a roadmap for what you want to happen later. The rules for wills vary from state to state, but they need to go through probate court and the details are made public. For people with small estates they can be cost-effective.

Trusts, on the other hand, have legal effect as soon as they are executed. Property is placed in the trust while you are still alive. While trusts can be more costly to obtain and maintain, they do not ordinarily have to go through probate after you pass away and the details are not made available to the public. Trusts are normally preferred to wills for larger estates.

If you are uncertain whether a will or trust is a better option for you, that is okay. You probably should not decide between the two before talking to an estate planning attorney who can help you make the decision. Schedule a consultation if you would like to learn more.

Reference: Motley Fool (Jan., 2026) “Will vs. Trust: What’s the Difference?”

November 14, 2016July 3, 2023

Using a Pour Over Will to Fund a Trust

When you get a living trust from an estate planning attorney you will likely also get a pour over will that is designed to bequeath any assets you have when you pass away into your trust. It is important not to rely on that will as the sole means of funding your trust.

Getting a trust to avoid having your estate go through probate is only effective if you fund the trust. That means your assets need to be transferred into the trust. Any assets held in the trust when you pass away will then be used and distributed according to the terms of the trust instead of having to go through probate.

At the same time, you will also likely get a pour over will.

These are simple wills that dictate that any assets you had at the time of death that are not in the trust should be placed into it via probate.

Do not let that fool you into thinking you do not need to transfer assets to the trust now and just rely on your will as the Green Bay Press-Gazette points out in “Estate Planner: Importance of funding your trust.”

While the exact rules vary from state to state, it does not take a lot of assets to require an estate to go through probate.

If all of your assets remain outside of your trust, then your executor has to probate your pour over will. By relying on the will you would have essentially defeated the purpose of getting the living trust in the first place.

If you do not know how to transfer assets into your trust or need assistance doing so, then talk to your estate planning attorney to get more information about what you need to do. We help clients, who want Maryland living trust fund at Profit Law Firm.

Reference: Green Bay Press Gazette (Oct. 31, 2016) “Estate Planner: Importance of funding your trust.”

November 2, 2016

Get a Will at Walmart?

Legal services can be expensive, which leads many to seek out cheaper options than traditional attorneys. Now, some people can get a will in Walmart, but should they?

If you are reading this, then you probably know there are several services that allow you to purchase and download a form you can fill out to create a will. While doing that is cheaper than going to an estate planning attorney, it is also risky.

If the form is not correct or if you do not fill it out correctly, then chances are it will be very expensive for your family to handle your estate in probate and your wishes regarding what happens to your property might not be followed.

In some places, there is now an intermediate option between a downloadable form and an estate planning attorney according to KY3 News in "Now get a divorce, other legal services at Walmart."

Wills and other legal services are now available at three Walmart locations in Missouri. The company behind these new services, The Law Store, hopes to offer the services nationwide eventually.

It is not clear how good the wills are that are being made available, so they should not be dismissed out of hand.

However, the best way to get a will or other estate planning documents is still to contact an estate planning attorney directly. It may cost more now, but it will save money in the long run.

Reference: KY3 News (Oct. 14, 2016) "Now get a divorce, other legal services at Walmart."

October 6, 2016

What Is Your Estate Planning Attorney Talking About?

Estate Planning Attorneys talk about a lot of different legal documents. You need to know what those documents are.

When you visit with an estate planning attorney, the attorney is likely to mention the names of several different legal documents. If you want to understand what the attorney is talking about, then you will need to know what those documents are.

Most attorneys would be happy for you to ask if you do not know. Answering questions is what the attorney is there for. However, if you are not comfortable asking basic questions, then you should learn some basics beforehand.

Recently, the Ventura County Star published a list of basic estate planning documents and what they do in "Get to know estate planning documents." The list includes:

Advance Directive – Tells doctors and other health care professionals what procedures not to perform if you are terminally ill and have no chance of recovery.
Asset Inventory – A list of all of your assets to let your estate executor know what you have after you pass away.
Beneficiary designations – Life insurance, retirement accounts, and other financial accounts you designate to go to a specific person after you pass away.
Power of Attorney – Allows for someone else to handle your finances if you are incapacitated.
Power of Attorney for health care – Allows for someone else to make medical decisions for you if you are incapacitated.
Record of Locations – A list of where your heirs can find all the important financial and legal documents after you pass away.
Trust agreement – A method of passing assets to others while having those assets maintained by a third person.
Will – The most common estate planning document that says how assets should be distributed after you pass away via probate.

A qualified estate planning attorney can help you decide the best legal documents to use for your unique circumstances.

Reference: Ventura County Star (Sept. 17, 2016) "Get to know estate planning documents."

September 28, 2016March 27, 2024

What is a Simple Will? When do you need more?

The term “simple will” is often used to describe a certain standard type of will that many people get. Before getting one for yourself, you need to understand what it means.

Estate planning attorneys are used to clients saying they just need to get a simple will. Many people are told by others, long before they visit an estate planning attorney, that a simple will is what they need to get. However, what a client might mean by a simple will is not necessarily what the attorney thinks it is.

Estate planning attorneys use the term to normally mean a particular type of will that has standard features.

Recently, the Courier Journal explained what those features are in “Thank You and Simple Wills.”

A simple will normally refers to a relatively short document the primary feature of which is directing that all of the testator’s assets should go to a spouse. In the event the spouse has predeceased, then a simple will almost always directs that all assets be shared between the testator’s children in equal shares. A simple will might also include basic information about who should be the guardian of any minor children the testator has.

That is normally all that a simple will contains, but there might be a few more basic provisions in some circumstances.

It should be obvious that a simple will is not the appropriate estate planning document for everyone. Particularly in Maryland and DC, which are among the minority of states with either a state estate tax or an inheritance tax a simple will does not reduce tax liability or defer taxes. In the District of Columbia which has an estate tax of $1 million and in Maryland which has BOTH an estate tax o $2 million and an inheritance, an individual may need more protection that simple will provides. Middleclass homeowners, for instance, based on the value of their house and insurane or IRAs, often exceed these thresholds and need more complex wills and/or trusts to reduce state tax liability. Consult Profit Law Firm, for a consultation to see if a simple will provides enough protection for your heirs.

Essentially, before telling an estate planning attorney you need a simple will, tell the attorney what you hope to accomplish with your estate plan. The attorney can then help direct you to the proper legal instrument for your needs.

Reference: Courier Journal (Sept. 13, 2016) “Thank You and Simple Wills.”

September 26, 2016February 15, 2024

Basic Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid

If you would like to make sure that your estate goes to the people you want it to go to, then it is important to avoid making some basic estate planning mistakes.

It is impossible to avoid making mistakes in every aspect of your life. No one can always be perfect at everything. Estate planning is no different.

CNBC recently wrote about some of the common estate planning mistakes we can avoid in “Don’t drop the ball when planning your estate.”

They include:

Many people do not make a will. Without a will, then you cannot decide who gets your property. Every estate plan should have a will of some sort.
After making a will some people never update it. This is a mistake as a will should be changed whenever there is a significant change in circumstances to make sure the will reflects the new circumstances.
It is a mistake to not consider how your heirs will handle their inheritances and whether they are capable of being responsible with anything you leave them.
It is a mistake to not consider getting a trust, especially if your heirs have the potential to be irresponsible. A trustee can oversee the inheritance and make sure it is used appropriately.
Finally, it is a mistake to not think carefully about who to appoint as an executor of a will or as a trustee.

If you realize that you need a will or trust, call Profit Law Firm for a consultation.

Reference: CNBC (Sept. 13, 2016) “Don’t drop the ball when planning your estate.”

September 22, 2016

You Actually Do Need a Will

Some people today suggest that not everyone needs a will because of the many other methods of transferring assets. However, everyone would benefit by at least having a simple will.

There are many different ways to transfer assets after you pass away. You can create all sorts of different trusts. You can title property as joint owners. You can make financial accounts payable on death.

These are all ways to transfer assets that would override any will that you write. Because all these different tools are available, some have suggested that not everyone needs a will today.

In response, however, Forbes notes in “Do You Really Need A Will?” there are still many reasons to have a will.

Anyone with minor children should have a will because, in most jurisdictions, it is the document through which you can appoint the guardian of choice for your children. Other instruments can be used to provide assets for a child, but only a will is available to state who should take care of the child.

Even if you do not have a child, you probably have personal property that is not easily handled in other legal instruments. If you want to have a say in who gets that property, then a will is necessary to do so.

That there are other ways to transfer assets after you pass away is wonderful and an estate planning attorney can help you navigate through the ways to find the best options for your unique circumstances. Call Profit Law Firm to find the best way to transfer assets for your family.

Nevertheless, a will is still necessary for things that cannot be included in those documents. For that reason expect your estate planning attorney to prepare a will for you, even if it is a very simple one.

Reference: Forbes (Aug. 31, 2016) “Do You Really Need A Will?”

September 2, 2016October 25, 2023

You Can Plan for the Unexpected

Estate planning is one of the few things that you can do to legitimately plan ahead for the unexpected.

In most walks of life it is almost impossible to plan for the unexpected. Even when you can, it is often a waste of time. No offense to Doomsday preppers, for example, but it is almost impossible and most likely a waste of time to plan for the zombie apocalypse. The chances of such an event happening in our lifetime are exceedingly slim and we do not really know everything we would need to survive such a thing.

Even in business it is often difficult to plan for the unexpected. If a business person does not expect something to happen, it is a waste of resources to plan for it. It is usually better to spend those resources growing the business.

However, as WXOW points out in “Planning ahead for the unexpected with a will,” estate planning is different.

With estate planning we can plan for the unexpected and it will never be a complete waste of time. Most of us do not expect to die anytime soon, but we all know that we will die someday.

If you get an estate plan now, you have not wasted your time even if you do not pass away for decades. At some point the estate plan will be used.

By estate planning long before you expect to need it, you hedge your bets just in case something unexpected does happen tomorrow, but you also plan for the inevitable.

Getting an estate plan does not have to be a difficult process.

If you hire a qualified estate planning attorney, then the attorney will do most of the heavy lifting. You can get an estate plan that will be good should you need it next week or sometime later this century. Get a head start with Profit Law Firm, a law office that focuses on estate planning.

Reference: WXOW (Aug. 5, 2016) “Planning ahead for the unexpected with a will “

August 19, 2016February 12, 2024

Estate Planning Documents You Need

Everyone needs an estate plan, and every estate plan will contain a mix of different documents depending on the complexity of the estate assets and individual preferences. However, there are a few documents that everyone needs.

Estate plans come in all shapes and sizes. Some are extraordinarily complex and contain thousands of pages of legal documents. Other estate plans contain only a few basic documents. One of the interesting things about estate plans is the documents that make up the simplest estate plans are also part of the most advanced plans. These documents are the basic framework of estate plans. The Chicago Tribune recently discussed what these basic documents are in “Documents you need before you die or become incapacitated.” They include:

Will – At its core a will is simply a legal document that declares how a deceased person’s property that is not disposed of by any other legal means should be handled.
General Durable Power of Attorney – A standard document that allows a person to determine who should handle his or her finances in case of incapacity.
Health Care Power of Attorney – Similar to the other power of attorney, but it allows for someone else to make medical decisions for an incapacitated person.
Living Will – Gives prior instructions to medical personnel about what means should be used to prolong a person’s life in the event that the person is terminally ill with no chance of recovery and unable to give instructions at the time.

Meet with an estate planning attorney at Profit Law Firm, PLLC to determine what additional documents you may need.

Reference: Chicago Tribune (July 25, 2016) “Documents you need before you die or become incapacitated”

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