ESTATES AND PROBATE LAW

The Law Offices Robert M. Stahl LLC, can assist you with all your probate, estate planning, estate administration, trust creation, trust litigation, guardianship administration, will contests and fiduciary litigation needs. Attorney Robert M. Stahl has more than 30 years of experience providing estate planning and estate administration services to clients throughout the Baltimore, Maryland, area.

ESTATE PLANNING

Our estate and family wealth planning practice focuses on maximum conservation and protection of our clients’ estates and related assets – with minimum taxes and other adverse consequences.

We handle the administration of trusts, estates and other related family entities, the drafting of wills and estate plans, and the creation of succession plans for privately owned businesses. In all such transactions, our expertise includes sophisticated structuring of alternatives involving taxes, generation-skipping issues and redirection of legal liability risks.

PERSONALLY TAILORED ESTATE PLANNING STRATEGIES

By their nature, estate planning services are tailored to the individual requirements of each client. Depending upon the client’s needs, our attorneys can counsel on a single estate planning issue or can advise on a broad range of personal and business goals, and implement the steps necessary to achieve them.

TAX IMPLICATIONS

The minimization of taxes is a major objective of our estate planning services. Income taxes, estate taxes, gift taxes and generation-skipping transfer taxes all have a significant impact on the accumulation and disposition of our personal assets. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, with its complex changes to the tax code and phasing out of the estate tax and generation-skipping tax, has made such tax considerations even more important for estate planning.

We understand the complexities of such a change and make sure our clients are protected.

We counsel business clients regarding transfer of ownership and liquidity issues. If divorce proceedings complicate the planning for ownership transfer, we have the knowledge and experience to ensure that the business owner’s wishes remain paramount.

PROBATE LAW

Our probate representation involves both the administration of estates as well as probate-related litigation. Whether the primary estate planning document of the decedent was a will or trust, disputes among beneficiaries and those people named as the executor in a will or the trustee in a trust often develop.

The fiduciary relationship between the executor of a will or trust and the beneficiaries carries the highest legal duties, and claims of misconduct can result in serious legal penalties. We provide legal representation to individuals whose rights have been wrongfully affected by such fiduciaries, and we also defend fiduciaries against charges of improper conduct.

WILL CONTESTS

A will can be challenged or contested on a number of different grounds, including lack of proper formalities, lack of capacity and undue influence.

We also handle contested guardianships, contests regarding the validity of trusts and transfers to certain trusts, as well as disputes involving transfers of property effective at the time of death, such as life insurance, annuities, joint tenancy with rights of survivorship accounts and IRA’s, and transfers regarding United States saving bonds, among others.

CONTACT LAW OFFICES ROBERT M. STAHL LLC

Get the help of an experienced estate planning and administration lawyer. Call 410-825-4800or contact us online. You can also text us at our office.