Montgomery County Trusts and Estates Lawyer

A Montgomery County trusts and estates lawyer is passionate about helping individuals plan for the road ahead. An attorney’s trusts and estates practice focus on planning as well as estate and trust administration. They do not believe there is such a thing as a “cookie cutter” trust or estate.

Skilled and accomplished lawyers carefully tailor their approach to help people at every stage of life get prepared for the future. Working with a trusts and estates lawyer in MoCo could help provide peace of mind and comfort when it comes to making important decisions about your future and the legacy you will leave behind.

Trust and Estate Legal Services

The practice area of trusts and estates encompasses a wide variety of legal services. The particular services that an individual may want or need will vary depending on several factors including the complexity of a trust or estate, the nature of the assets and the parties involved. A Montgomery County trusts and estates attorney concentrates on the following practice areas:

• Estate planning
• Estate administration
• Court filing of probate matters
• Trust administration
• Fiduciary services
• Charitable giving
• Non-profit organizations
• Special needs planning
• Litigation
• Tax planning and preparation
• Simple and complex trusts
• Guardianship and conservatorship
• Business succession planning
• Entity formation

What Types of Documents does Estate Planning Draw?

A comprehensive estate plan involves multiple documents that take into account different situations that people may encounter during their lifetimes. An estate plan typically includes a last will and testament, a trust, giving power of attorney and medical power of attorney, establishing a health care proxy, and HIPAA authorization.

Each of these documents can be drafted to cater toward different needs and situations. Together, these documents can effectively manage an individual’s financial affairs and healthcare needs during life and provide a dispositive scheme for the distribution of their assets after their death.

Without an estate plan, the disposition of an individual’s estate will be determined by the intestate succession laws in MoCo.

Tax Planning

Potential tax liability should always be considered when it comes to dealing with trusts and estates. In some circumstances, there is a tax imposed on the transfer of wealth upon death. In order to preserve and pass down as much wealth as possible to future generations, careful planning should be implemented.

A trusts and estates lawyer in Montgomery County could prepare documents to help reduces taxes that may be owed upon death. This is often accomplished by utilizing many flexible estate planning tools.

If an estate tax return is required to be filed upon death, a lawyer could also help make this determination and assist with the preparation and filing of the return.

Who Becomes the Estate and Trust Administrator, and What Are Their Duties?

When a person passes away, the assets they leave behind are referred to as their estate. Some estate planning documents like a power of attorney or health care proxy are operative during life, while other documents such as a will become effective upon death and require administration at that time.

Estate administration usually involves filing a probate proceeding which will ultimately lead to the gathering and distribution of the estate assets. Similarly, trust administration involves management of trust assets and distribution of trust assets in accordance with the terms of the trust.

Consult with a Montgomery County Trusts and Estates Attorney

A Montgomery County trusts and estates lawyer is here to help you with what you need. This team is dedicated to making sure that you are satisfied with how your documents are drafted and eventually implemented.

Find out more about the trusts and estates legal services from one of the experienced MoCo attorneys by calling today.