For Marylanders, the summer travel may be done but fall trips to Annapolis, Ocean City or St. Michaels are still on the calendar. We hate to believe it, but the holidays are just around the corner... well, almost. But first we ask you to finish something meaningful before December 31. If your estate plan has not been reviewed since you bought, refinanced, or inherited real estate, here are five items worth handling this fall. Or if you don't have an estate plan, NOW is the time to get one.
One: Read your deeds, not just your will. Whose name is on the deeds?
Real Estate attorney Kensington MD This surprises people. Your will does not control property that passes by title. If your Bethesda or Maryland home is titled as tenants by the entirety with your spouse, it goes to your spouse regardless of what the will says. If a rental in Silver Spring is titled in your name alone, it lands in probate no matter how carefully the will was drafted.
----->Pull every deed you own, note exactly how each one is titled, and compare that to what you think your plan does. Mismatches between title and intent are the single most common flaw we see in otherwise solid plans.
Two: Decide whether a revocable trust earns its keep
Estate planning attorney Montgomery County MD Not every Maryland property owner needs a trust. But if you own real estate in more than one state, if you own rental property, if you value privacy, or if you want your family to avoid a court supervised process during a difficult season, a revocable living trust is usually worth the conversation. --->Owning property in Maryland and a second home in Delaware or Florida means two separate probate proceedings without one. A trust consolidates that into a single administration.
Three: Take inventory of your assets
This gets complicated, but a good trusts & estates attorney can help you with this. An unfunded trust is an expensive binder. If you signed trust documents years ago and never recorded new deeds transferring your properties into the trust, the trust does not control them. This is genuinely common. Fall is a good time to inventory which assets were retitled and which were quietly left behind.
Four: Who can act in your place if you cannot.
Real estate ownership demands continuous decisions. Leases get signed, insurance claims get filed, repairs get authorized, taxes get paid. A durable financial power of attorney lets a person you choose handle those things if illness or injury takes you out of the picture. Without one, your family may need to petition a Maryland court for guardianship of the property, which costs more, takes longer, and puts your finances into a public record. ------>Maryland has a statutory form of power of attorney that banks and title companies are required to accept and using the right version matters.
Five: Run the Maryland tax math. We know, it can get complicated
Most don't know this, but Maryland's estate tax exemption sits well below the federal threshold, which means families who feel comfortably middle class on paper can still owe state estate tax once real estate appreciation is counted. Add the Maryland inheritance tax for beneficiaries outside the exempt family categories, and the numbers move again. ---->Property values across Montgomery County have climbed enough over the past decade that plans built around older assumptions deserve a fresh look.
A practical note on timing...it always takes longer than you expect.
Did you know that deeds, trust funding, and beneficiary updates all take longer than clients expect, mostly because title work and recording move on their own schedule. Starting in September rather than mid-December gives you room to finish cleanly by year end.
The Law Office of Brian Gormley works with Maryland property owners on estate plans built around what they actually own, including homes, rentals, land, and family businesses. If your plan predates your current portfolio, reach out and let's make this the fall you get it settled.
