Key benefits include avoiding probate, preserving privacy, enabling seamless asset management in case of incapacity, and allowing for flexible amendments. By transferring ownership to a trust, you retain control while ensuring your plan remains aligned with evolving family needs and tax considerations. Our firm supports you through every stage.
A well structured approach streamlines administration by detailing trustee responsibilities, funding requirements, and beneficiary expectations. This reduces friction, speeds distributions, and helps ensure that your instructions are followed accurately across generations.
Choosing us means partnering with attorneys who specialize in estate planning and probate in Maryland. We emphasize practical guidance, thorough document preparation, and transparent communication to help you achieve lasting results with confidence.
Funding assets means retitling properties, accounts, and financial instruments into the trust. Without funding, a trust may exist on paper but not protect or control the intended assets during life or after death.
A Revocable Living Trust is a flexible legal arrangement created during your lifetime that allows you to retain control over assets while you live. You can amend or revoke the trust as your circumstances change, and it is commonly used to simplify asset transfer and privacy while avoiding probate after death. The grantor remains actively involved in managing trust assets while alive.
Yes, in many cases a revocable living trust avoids probate because assets held within the trust pass directly to beneficiaries without probate court intervention. However some assets outside the trust may still be subject to probate. Proper funding and planning are essential to maximize probate avoidance benefits.
The trustee can be a trusted family member, a professional fiduciary, or a financial institution. The key is selecting someone who understands the duties of loyalty, prudence, and impartial administration, and who is willing to manage distributions, accounting, and communications with beneficiaries over time.
Upon your death, the successor trustee administers distributions according to the trust terms. Because assets are already owned by the trust, probate may be avoided. The exact process varies with asset types and local laws, but a well drafted trust provides a clear, private transition of wealth.
Yes. A revocable living trust is designed to be flexible. You can modify beneficiaries, update trustee appointments, and adjust distributions as your life changes. Regular reviews help keep the plan aligned with evolving goals, laws, and personal circumstances without recreating documents from scratch.
Costs vary based on complexity, assets, and required documentation. Initial consultations are typically modest, with ongoing drafting, funding, and updates priced to reflect the scope. Investing in a comprehensive plan often results in long term savings by reducing probate expenses and streamlining asset management.
Transfer of assets to the trust typically includes real estate, bank accounts, investment accounts, and beneficiary designations. Some items may require additional steps or court filings. We guide you through a systematic funding plan to ensure all intended assets are properly titled in the trust.
