Over my many years of practice, I have provided legal services in Estate Planning. Included in these services are the preparation of wills, trusts, powers of attorney, advance directives, estate and gift tax planning, and various elder law matters.
I have also provided legal services with respect to the probate of decedents' estates.
If you need assistance with respect to any of these
matters, contact my office at
301-390-6600
for a consultation.
Estate Planning
Do you need a will?
Many people ask themselves this question at one
time or another but delay, or in some instances, never take the second
step of finding out the answer.
The primary purpose of a will is to provide for the distribution of property
acquired by a person during his or her lifetime. Under Maryland law, a
will must be in writing and may be drafted by anyone eighteen years of
age or older who is legally competent to make a will. A will may be amended
or changed entirely at a later date after it has been signed by the testator,
i.e., the person making the will.
A will is normally drafted to fulfill the desires and wishes of the individual testator. In many cases, a testator may desire to bequeath all of his or her property to the surviving spouse in order to provide for the continued security, comfort, and happiness of the surviving spouse and their children. A testator may, by will, provide that the greater share of his or her property be given to some family members who are in greater need of it than to others who have become financially independent. A testator may bequeath property to some of his children, but not to others, and those children who have been disinherited have no legal right to complain. Also, a testator may provide for gifts to charity in his will to become effective at his death or at some later date thereafter.
