Estate planning
The attorneys of Lerch, Early & Brewer’s Estate Planning & Probate group provide comprehensive legal services in all aspects of estate planning, probate, and estate and trust administration.
The Benefit of Thoughtful Estate Planning and Administration
Estate planning involves much more than simply drafting a will or trust agreement. A proper estate plan establishes the mechanisms and procedures for managing and disposing of one’s assets during life and after death. The thoughtful use of a will, a trust, or a combination of the two can help to ensure that your property benefits the family members, friends, and/or charities who matter most to you while minimizing or deferring the impact of state and federal transfer taxes. Proper estate planning also includes provision for one’s incapacity by stating your treatment preferences and naming the person who should make decisions. In the absence of an estate plan, state law determines who makes health care decisions for an incapacitated individual, how one’s property will be managed and ultimately to whom it will pass – frequently with results that directly contravene the wishes of the incapacitated or deceased individual.
Estate and trust administration is the implementation of one’s estate plan – or the state-imposed intestacy provisions – with the ultimate goal of gathering and distributing the deceased person’s property in the most time and tax efficient manner possible. There are often post-death opportunities to minimize or defer state and federal transfer taxes imposed on the deceased person’s estate.
Sophisticated, Experienced, and Comprehensive Representation
Whether it’s designing an estate plan or administering an estate, our attorneys are hands-on and are fully involved in every step of the process. We don’t simply fill out forms – we get to know you, your family, your assets, your business, and all other important aspects of your life that will guide our preparation of your estate plan. We work with you to create estate planning solutions to foreseeable problems, whether tax related, interpersonal, or financial, to afford the highest possibility of avoiding discord and litigation as your plan is implemented. All of the principals in the Estate Planning & Probate group have attained masters’ degrees in the laws of taxation, and are well trained to devise the most tax-efficient strategies to plan or administer your estate or trust. Over the past 30 years, we’ve developed processes that minimize attorney time and related costs for our clients. When appropriate, we tap into the knowledge of attorneys in the firm’s other practice areas, such as Family Law and Real Estate, to provide you with the benefit of their experience. We also work with our clients’ accountants, financial planners, insurance representatives and investment advisors to fully integrate the knowledge and expertise of every professional in whom our clients have placed their trust.
Estate Planning to Fulfill Wishes and Minimize Taxes
Our attorneys help clients develop plans to manage and distribute their assets with the maximum benefit to beneficiaries. The foundation of any well-designed estate plan is the will or revocable trust, as well as a financial power of attorney, health care power of attorney and living will or advance medical directive. We developed a comprehensive questionnaire that allows us to see each client’s complete financial picture so that we can create a plan that takes into account all assets, from bank holdings to real estate to retirement funds. We combine our experience in taxation, probate and trust administration law to develop, implement and administer comprehensive estate plans that enable our clients to grow their assets, obtain protection from the claims of creditors, and ultimately distribute the assets according to the plan while minimizing or deferring the impact of state and federal income and estate taxes. We are experienced in preparing estate plans for clients with modest assets as well as those with multimillion-dollar estates.
We are also are experienced with the special issues involved in preparing estate plans for married couples in second marriages, as well as unmarried couples and same-sex couples. We represent foreign nationals, and are experienced with the unique estate planning and tax issues that they face. Additionally, we assist the families of persons with special needs by establishing special- needs trusts to protect the trust assets for the benefit of the disabled persons while preserving his or her eligibility for government benefits. We also are experienced with the use of family limited partnerships, life insurance trusts and “dynasty” trusts, as well as all of the other available options to reduce or defer state and federal estate taxes.
We have worked extensively with clients seeking to achieve charitable objectives through the use of charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts and private foundations. We understand the tax issues involved in the proper coordination of retirement benefits – such as individual retirement accounts – stock options, and deferred compensation into an estate plan. Our professionals are also familiar with the range of complex legal and tax-related issues that real estate owners, heads of closely held companies, executives of publicly traded companies, and self-employed individuals and professionals face in the day-do-day operation of their businesses as well as business succession matters.
Probate, Estate & Trust Administration to Fulfill Fiduciary Responsibility and Avoid Unnecessary Taxes
Our attorneys advise personal representatives and trustees on all aspects of estate and trust administration, including the court-supervised administration of a decedent’s estate known as “probate.” In addition to being experienced with the probate and trust rules of Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia, we regularly counsel personal representatives and trustees – sometimes called fiduciaries – so that they can fulfill all of their legal responsibilities in the administration of the estate or trust.
At our first meeting with an estate or trust administration client, we begin developing a blueprint for administering the estate or trust. This serves as the foundation for gathering and managing the estate or trust assets, all tax reporting, dealing with potential creditors, and ultimately the distribution of the estate or trust assets to the intended beneficiaries. Our initial analysis and blueprint ensures that we address every detail and every foreseeable contingency.
We advise fiduciaries about the proper identification of lawful heirs and beneficiaries, as well as assisting in dispute resolution between rival claimants of property. We assist in the sale or disposition of property administered as part of an estate or trust and, in conjunction with our firm’s real estate attorneys and paralegals, can prepare all documents necessary for the transfer of good title.
Essential to the efficient administration of any estate or trust is the avoidance of unnecessary federal and state taxes, including income, inheritance, estate and gift taxes, as well as less-familiar excise and transfer taxes such as the generation-skipping transfer tax. Over the past three decades, we’ve learned the small details that can have big tax impacts.
We also have experience in representing beneficiaries, executors and trustees in probate and trust litigation. While we generally avoid the expense and delays involved in litigation whenever possible, our attorneys are skilled in the use of the judicial process to resolve administration controversies such as will disputes or alleged breaches of fiduciary duties.
