Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning

Selecting your agents to handle your financial affairs and health care decisions, and giving your agents the correct authority to care for your interests, can be effectively accomplished by putting in place a Power of Attorney and Advance Directive.

Following death, your assets may pass to others by a variety of means, some planned and some perhaps not so carefully planned. For example, married couples often own assets jointly under a Maryland legal title known as tenants by the entireties. Real estate acquired by spouses typically provide in the Deed the tenants by the entireties designation, which assures that the real estate passes 100% to the surviving spouse as a matter of law effective upon the moment of death. Bank accounts are often titled jointly or use a phrase like “joint with right of survivorship.” Again, any account titled jointly will pass to the surviving joint owner or owners, and the banks will honor the joint designation upon presentation of a death certificate. Retirement accounts and investments are held in IRAs, or 401K plans, for instance, and most people make a specific designation of a named beneficiary, similar to annuities or life insurance policies. All of these methods of passing assets upon death are designed to override and bypass the Will. This is not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, but what is clear is that careful estate planning requires an understanding of what one owns, how it is titled, and how it will pass upon death. In some cases, passing assets outside of the Will can cause serious legal complications, while in other cases, it is an excellent way to achieve one’s goals.

Beyond the Will, your personal circumstances, your family relationships, the location and nature of your assets and debt structures, may warrant the use of Trusts. Estate planning using Trusts can involve Trusts created in a Will, known as a testamentary trust, or stand alone revocable or irrevocable trusts, which are often referred to as living trusts or grantor trusts. Life insurance is at times held in irrevocable trusts known as ILITs for a wide variety of business succession planning reasons as well as estate tax avoidance.

Jim Rutledge welcomes the opportunity to counsel and provide guidance to our clients to find solutions that meet their unique circumstances and personal goals. We recognize the desire of our clients to understand their options and make decisions that are not only efficient but effective.