Most people put off estate planning. It feels morbid, complicated, or like something to deal with later. But if you own real property in Maryland, a home, a rental unit, a piece of land, what happens to that property when you die is not optional. Either you plan for it, or the state does it for you. And the state’s plan is rarely what you would have chosen.
The Problem Without a Plan: Probate
When you die owning property in your individual name without a designated beneficiary or proper trust in place, that property must pass through probate, the court supervised process of validating your will (if you have one), paying creditors, and distributing assets. In Maryland, probate is administered through the Register of Wills in the county where you lived. It is public, it takes time, and it costs money in filing fees and potential legal fees. For a family already grieving, it adds administrative burden at the worst possible moment.
If you die without a will, intestate, Maryland law decides who gets your property, in what shares, and on what timeline. Your preferences are irrelevant.
The Will: The Baseline Document
A Last Will and Testament is the foundational estate planning document. It names an executor to administer your estate, designates beneficiaries for your property, and, critically for parents, names a guardian for minor children. A will does not avoid probate; it simply gives the court your instructions to follow during the probate process.
Every Maryland adult who owns property should have a will. It is the floor, not the ceiling, of an estate plan.
The Revocable Living Trust: Probate Avoidance
A Revocable Living Trust (RLT), also called a Living Trust or Family Trust, is the primary tool for avoiding probate in Maryland. You create the trust, transfer your assets into it (a process called “funding”), and name yourself as both Trustee and Lifetime Beneficiary during your lifetime. You retain full control. You can amend or revoke the trust at any time as long as you have capacity.
When you die, the trust does not go through probate. Your named Successor Trustee steps in, follows the instructions in the trust document, and distributes assets to your Residuary Beneficiaries, privately, efficiently, and without court involvement.
The critical limitation: a revocable trust does not protect assets from Medicaid or other public benefits programs. Because you can access the assets at any time, they are fully countable for benefits eligibility purposes. For that level of protection, you need an irrevocable structure.
Powers of Attorney and Advance Directives
A complete estate plan also addresses incapacity, not just death. Two documents are essential:
A Durable Financial Power of Attorney designates someone to manage your financial affairs if you become unable to do so yourself. Without one, your family may need to petition the court for guardianship, an expensive, time consuming process, simply to pay your bills or manage your property while you are alive but incapacitated.
An Advance Medical Directive designates someone to make medical decisions on your behalf and records your wishes regarding end of life care. In Maryland, this document is governed by the Health Care Decisions Act and gives your designated agent legal authority to act on your behalf with medical providers.
Beneficiary Designations
For certain assets, life insurance, retirement accounts, payable on death bank accounts, a beneficiary designation controls who receives the asset regardless of what your will says. These designations pass assets outside of probate entirely. Keeping them current is essential; an outdated beneficiary designation can send assets to an ex-spouse, a deceased parent, or a minor child who cannot legally receive them.
The Bottom Line
Basic estate planning for a Maryland homeowner should include at minimum a will, a durable financial power of attorney, and an advance medical directive. If your estate is larger or more complex, a revocable living trust is the next step, providing probate avoidance, privacy, and a clean mechanism for asset distribution. And if you are approaching retirement age with significant assets and potential long term care needs on the horizon, you need to be talking about irrevocable trust planning before the five year Medicaid look-back period becomes your enemy.
Related pages
Blackridge Advisors LLC handles estate planning for Maryland families at every stage. Contact us to schedule a consultation.
Blackridge Advisors LLC | 7939 Honeygo Blvd, Ste 116, Nottingham, MD | 443-295-3202 | ddouglas@blackridgeadvisors.com
This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it or contacting Blackridge Advisors LLC does not create an attorney client relationship.
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