Understanding How Estate Planning Can Benefit Lower Income Clients

Understanding How Estate Planning Can Benefit Lower Income Clients

Room 345:  9:45 AM to 11:00 AM

This is a session meant for non-estate planning services providers to understand the ways in which basic estate planning can prevent many downstream problems such as loss of the client’s wealth and home to creditors upon death, heavy administrative burdens on family members after a client’s death, the need to pursue guardianship through the courts to accomplish basic financial matters in case of a client’s incapacity, family feuds about medical decision-making for an incapacitated client, preventable financial obstacles to passing on a home after death, and avoidable inheritance tax and other burdens for domestic partners. We will dig into what each of the basic estate planning documents in Maryland can do to prevent these and many other problems.

Panelists: 

• Jake Polivka, Frost Law
• Nicholas Pycha, Senior Legal Services
• Muriel van den Berg, Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland

Moderator: Margaret Henn, Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service