SoMD Estate Planning

Estate Planning Attorneys in Southern Maryland

Trusts

What Is an Irrevocable Trust and When Does It Make Sense?

While revocable trusts get most of the attention, irrevocable trusts serve a different and powerful purpose. Once established, an irrevocable trust cannot be easily modified or dissolved — but in exchange, it offers significant benefits for asset protection, tax planning, and Medicaid qualification that revocable trusts cannot provide.

How Irrevocable Trusts Differ

Unlike a revocable trust, once you transfer assets into an irrevocable trust, you generally give up control over them. In exchange, those assets may be protected from creditors, excluded from your taxable estate, and not counted for Medicaid eligibility purposes. Common types include irrevocable life insurance trusts, charitable remainder trusts, and asset protection trusts. These are powerful tools for families with larger estates or specific protection goals.

At SoMD Estate Planning, we provide personalized guidance tailored to your specific situation. Contact us for a free consultation.

What Is a Pour-Over Will and Do You Need One with Your Trust?

If you have a revocable living trust, you might think you do not need a will at all. But there is a special type of will — called a pour-over will — that serves as an essential safety net for any trust-based estate plan.

How a Pour-Over Will Works

A pour-over will directs that any assets not already in your trust at the time of your death be “poured over” into the trust. This catches any property you may have acquired after setting up the trust but forgot to transfer, or assets that were simply difficult to title in the trust’s name.

Why It Matters

Without a pour-over will, any assets outside your trust at death would pass according to Maryland intestacy laws — not according to your wishes. The pour-over will ensures everything ultimately ends up where you intended, distributed according to your trust’s terms. Note that assets passing through a pour-over will still go through probate, which is why properly funding your trust during your lifetime remains important.

At SoMD Estate Planning, every trust package includes a pour-over will. Contact us to learn more.

Special Needs Trusts: Protecting a Loved One Without Losing Government Benefits

If you have a child or family member with special needs, leaving them an outright inheritance could actually disqualify them from essential government benefits like Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income. A special needs trust preserves their eligibility while providing supplemental support for a better quality of life.

How a Special Needs Trust Works

A special needs trust — also called a supplemental needs trust — holds assets for the benefit of someone with a disability without counting those assets toward benefit eligibility limits. The trustee can use trust funds for expenses not covered by government programs: recreation, education, personal care items, travel, and more. The key is that the trust supplements rather than replaces government benefits.

Types of Special Needs Trusts

A third-party trust is funded by someone other than the beneficiary — typically parents or grandparents — and has no payback requirement to Medicaid. A first-party trust is funded with the disabled person’s own assets and must include a Medicaid payback provision. Each has different rules and applications depending on the situation.

Planning for a loved one with special needs requires specialized knowledge. Contact SoMD Estate Planning to discuss your family’s options.

How to Protect Your Children’s Inheritance from Being Spent Too Quickly

Leaving money to your children is natural — but have you thought about what happens if they receive a large sum before they are ready? Without proper planning, an inheritance can be spent impulsively, lost to creditors, or mismanaged.

The Risks of Outright Inheritance

If your will leaves assets directly to children, they receive them outright at age 18 in Maryland. A trust solves this by letting you set conditions — milestone distributions at ages 25, 30, and 35, or distributions only for education, healthcare, or a first home. A spendthrift provision prevents beneficiaries from pledging their inheritance as collateral and protects trust assets from creditors.

Want to learn more about protecting your children’s inheritance? Contact SoMD Estate Planning for a free consultation.

What Happens to Your Home When You Die Without a Trust in Maryland?

For most Maryland families, their home is their largest asset. Yet many homeowners in Southern Maryland have not planned for what happens to their property when they pass away. Without a trust or other probate-avoidance strategy, your home will go through the full probate process — costing your family time, money, and stress.

Your Home and Probate

When you die, any real property titled solely in your name becomes a probate asset. In Maryland, this means the Orphans’ Court oversees the transfer of your home to your heirs. Your family cannot sell, refinance, or transfer the property until the probate process is complete — which can take six months to over a year.

How a Trust Protects Your Home

By transferring your home into a revocable living trust, you retain full control during your lifetime but ensure the property passes to your beneficiaries immediately upon your death — without probate. Your successor trustee can manage, sell, or distribute the property according to your wishes without court involvement.

Other Options for Homeowners

Joint tenancy with right of survivorship automatically transfers ownership to the surviving co-owner. However, this approach has limitations — especially if you want the property to pass to someone other than a co-owner. A trust provides more flexibility and control.

If you own a home in Charles County, Calvert County, St. Mary’s County, or Prince George’s County, proper planning for your real estate is essential. Contact SoMD Estate Planning to discuss the best approach for your situation.