When you plan to create a trust in Maryland, your main concerns are that the trust serves a bigger estate planning purpose and that it protects your loved ones from unnecessary conflict or issues.
The creation of a trust means that you have taken an important step in protecting your assets and ensuring the smooth transfer of your assets to your beneficiaries either over the course of your life with a revocable living trust or after you pass away. Only certain individuals have the standing to bring a dispute against a trust. This person typically has to begin such a case by proving that they have the standing to issue a challenge against the trust. Such a person should probably have a consultation with an experienced probate dispute attorney.
As a person creating a trust now, you might be wishing to look ahead and figure out ways to minimize the possibility of a trust conflict. Since each state has specific rules that must be followed when drafting a trust, having an estate planning attorney who has gone through this process for many others can give you some confidence that your trust is relatively unlikely to become the subject of a trust dispute.
A trust can be challenged if the person who created it was not 18 years of age at the time the trust was created, if there are allegations that fraud was involved in the creation or execution of its provision, or if the trust was set up to result in the performance of an illegal act. All of these issues could potentially come up in the form of an estate planning conflict. Doing your due diligence and partnering with a knowledgeable estate planning lawyer to craft your trust at the outset can minimize the possibility of disputes down the line. Schedule a consultation today with an estate planning attorney to learn more- our Maryland law office is here to help.