Archive: Estates and Trusts

The most common reason why young families reach out to Bulman Dunie for estate planning is because they want to ensure that their children are protected should anything happen to them. An estate plan offers several mechanisms to protect and care for your children should you pass away when you still have minor children. Nomination...

At Bulman Dunie, we regularly assist clients, review their planning documents, and implement changes to their documents. Clients understandably want to limit the costs of these changes. And we share that objective! But there are times when an entirely new instrument, as opposed to a mere amendment, might be in order. When we guide clients...

In a Nevada court, a drama is playing out over – of all things – an irrevocable trust. But this isn’t any irrevocable trust. It is the family trust established by Rupert Murdoch to control his media empire, including Fox News. The Background The proceedings have not been open to the public, so we don’t...

Every day, the estate and trust team at Bulman Dunie assist clients who serve as “Personal Representatives” (a/k/a “Executors”) of an estate in navigating the probate process. Probate can be complicated, but there are some easy steps that can be taken from Day 1 to make probate easier (and less expensive). Here are five tips...

Last month, my wife and I signed our own trust. Just like nearly all of my clients who create trusts, my wife and retitled our home into our trust. In retitling our home into our trust, we signed a deed conveying title to the property from our names to the trust’s name. This deed was...

Maryland is one of the few states that charges “inheritance tax”. We’ll start with the good news before you read on—fortunately, most conveyances of property are exempt from inheritance tax. However, it is important to be aware of inheritance tax as you consider bequests from your will, trust, or transfers via beneficiary designation. What is...

Many clients come to an estate planning consultation with a belief that a Last Will and Testament is the tool that disposes of their assets after they have passed away. Assets that transfer to your heirs via a Will must go through the court-supervised process called “probate”. Probate takes – in its most streamlined form...