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What You Should Know About Creating a Maryland Revocable Living Trust
You don't want your beneficiaries to struggle to get their inheritance after your death. That is why you should put a perfect estate plan in place to ensure your heirs get your estate quickly and easily and, if possible, avoid the lengthy and expensive probate process. A Living trust is an essential estate planning tool you will need to realize this. Here are more details about creating a Maryland revocable living trust.
What is a Maryland Living Trust?
A Maryland revocable living trust is an estate planning arrangement where you put your estate or assets in a trust, which will be distributed to your beneficiaries after you die. The living trust has the list of beneficiaries and how the trust assets will be distributed to the mentioned beneficiaries.
The living trust must also have the name of the successor trustee who will manage and distribute the assets to the heirs according to your terms (or terms in the living trust). The successor trustee takes over after your demise. But you will be free to use and manage the assets in the trust during your lifetime.
Please note that a Maryland revocable living trust can be changed or revoked by the grantor (owner of the estate) while alive. Ideally, this gives you the power to change how you distribute your estate in the trust.
But if you are certain you won't change your mind, you can create an irrevocable living trust. This living trust cannot be modified or revoked – it is cast in stone.
Do You Need a Living Trust in Maryland?
Creating a Maryland living trust is essential, as it ensures that your estate is distributed to your beneficiaries according to your terms after you die. Even better, it gives you control over your assets while alive. A living trust provides privacy and protects you in case you become mentally incapacitated.
Additionally, having a signed and notarized revocable living trust form can help your trust assets avoid the probate process. The probate process is lengthy and expensive and will delay the distribution of your assets to the rightful beneficiaries. But with a living trust in Maryland, your beneficiaries will get their inheritance immediately, saving time and money.
If your estate is valued at $50,000 or less, your estate will go through a simple and short probate process. And a living trust may be optional. Also, if your assets are valued at $100,000 or less, and your spouse is the only beneficiary, you may not need a living trust to bypass the probate process. Even still, Maryland has fully enacted the Uniform Probate Code to simplify the probate process for small estates.
Can a Revocable Living Trust Help Reduce or Avoid Estate Taxes in Maryland?
Probably not! Note that Maryland does not apply inheritance taxes if your estate goes to lineal descendants or close relatives of a deceased person. But if your estate is valued at over $12 million, you are supposed to pay federal estate taxes to the government. However, you can create an AB trust to help your beneficiaries avoid estate taxes. This living trust transfers your assets in a trust to the surviving spouse. Maryland is the only state in US that collects both inheritance tax as well as estate tax.
How to Create a Maryland Living Trust?
You can use an online PDF template to create a Maryland living trust. All you have to do is choose a reliable provider offering revocable living trust templates, fill out the form, and download and print it. You should then sign it before a notary.
If you want to create a Maryland living trust, Forms.legal forms can help.