for Attorneys and the general public, located in Washington DC and Maryland
Wills, Trusts, Living Wills,and Powers of Attorney |
The Law Offices of George Teitelbaum, licensed both in DC and MD, can assist in the preparation of any of these documents. To go to his main web site, which has lots of additional helpful information about probate and estates, CLICK HERE .
| Will: |
| A legal document that spells out in detail what should be done with your assets after you pass away. Without such a document, the laws of the state in which you live dictate how your property is to be divided. This document may be simple or as complex as you desire, and should include a trust for minors under 18. |
| Testamentary Trust: |
| A provision in a will that allows you to appoint a trustee to hold funds for a named individual, until that individual reaches a certain birthday or until some other described event occurs. A trust must be used for minors under 18, but it can also be used for a wide variety of purposes. |
| Living Trust: |
| A document that allows you to appoint a named trustee to hold your assets while you are still living. The trustee can
be yourself in a revocable trust (one that can be changed by you), but
must be someone else in a non- revocable or irrevocable trust (one that
cannot be changed by you).
The main advantages of a revocable trust is for ease in disposing of real estate upon the death of the owner, in cases where the properties are located in several different states; for tax purposes in very large estates; and to avoid public disclosure of estate assets which is required in probate. You still control your own assets as trustee, but you may have additional paperwork to manage the trust. The main purpose of an irrevocable trust is to avoid having excessive personal assets for purposes of medicaid claims. The trust must have been set up at least 3 years prior to filing for medicaid. The disadvantage is loss of control of your own assets. |
| Living Will: |
| A legal document that dictates what medical treatment you want or don't want, in the event you are disabled to the point where you cannot dictate your own desires to your doctors. This is particularly desirable in the situation where, because of serious accident or sudden illness, your life is being extended artificially and you do not desire such treatment, which can also drain your family's assets. |
| Health Care Power of Attorney: |
| A legal document that allows you to appoint another individual to make critical health care decisions for you in the event you become incapacitated. This may work together with a living will, which is described above. Some may refer to this as a "Health Care Proxy". Such a power of attorney may avoid needing the Court to appoint a guardian to make health care decisions. The Court procedure can cost thousands of dollars. |
| Financial Durable Power of Attorney: |
| A legal document that allows you to appoint another individual to make financial decisions for you, either after you become incompetent, or at any time you designate. This power may easily be revoked at any time you desire, but without a properly drafted durable power of attorney, the Court may have to appoint a conservator to make important decisions for you, and the Court process can cost thousands of dollars. |