Whether or not a revocable living trust is the right tool for you depends on your desires, needs, goals, exposure to estate tax and liabilities and capabilities.
One of the most common misconceptions around using a living trust in Maryland is that creating a revocable living trust automatically governs all of an individual’s assets. In order for the provisions of the trust to legally govern those assets, the assets have to be funded into the living trust.
This can require contacting numerous parties, such as financial institutions, brokerage houses, and banks to transfer those assets. For any real estate assets, this involves an additional step of preparing and filing deeds for each individual piece of property.
The lien company or mortgage company should also be contacted to ensure that the real estate transfer has taken the property out of the name of the individual and that this doesn’t trigger a ‘due on sale’ provision.
Proper analysis of your unique situation should be completed by a dedicated Maryland trusts and estate lawyer to help you decide whether or not a revocable living trust is appropriate for your situation and how one should be created and properly funded to give you all of these benefits.