Over the past almost eight years, our team at the Law Office of Lena A. Clark has frequently stressed the importance of preparing an airtight Estate Planning package.
However, we can imagine there are many of you who still cannot picture something happening in your own circumstance. In this series, we will showcase a few Probate and Guardianship scenarios we have handled that were the direct result of poor planning by our clients’ loved ones.
A few years ago, a couple came to our office to prepare an Estate Planning package. Let’s call them Bob and Suzie. Although Attorney Clark strongly advised them to set up Revocable Living Trusts, Bob and Suzie elected to go for a simple Will package.
A few months later, Bob passed away and we represented Suzie in the Probate proceedings. To be sure, his Will made the process much smoother than if he had passed without one.
However, Suzie soon came to realize that she would have to spend significantly more money handling the estate than they would have spent setting up a Revocable Living Trust at the outset.
From getting appointed and approved as Personal Representative, to tracking down any and all assets that Bob had left, all while reporting every last penny to the Register of Wills, Suzie finally saw why we had suggested setting up the Trust.
While we were handling the Probate filing, Suzie wasted no time correcting her own Estate Planning documents. Within a few weeks, she worked with us to set up a Revocable Living Trust. Now, all her assets are either already in her Trust, or will transfer to the Trust as soon as she passes away.
In doing so, she has spared her loved ones the hassle of dealing with the long, strenuous, and expensive process of opening and administering an estate with the Register of Wills.
Please contact us if you would like help protecting your assets and loved ones in the event of death or disability. We work with clients all over Maryland and Virginia! Click on our profile to find our contact data.