Will Maryland Take My Estate’s Property if I Don’t Have a Will or my Will Is Challenged and Found Invalid?

Many prudent and forward-thinking individuals will engage in comprehensive estate planning to plan for potential future incapacity, their eventual passing, and an array of other inevitable life events. While this type of planning can be difficult, it is necessary for individuals who have certain goals regarding their medical care or disposition of their property. This may include providing for close relatives and other loved ones, supporting a cause or charitable organization or ensuring that your religious or closely held belief are followed.

However, some people fail to draft and executes wills or other estate planning tools. Other people may engage in estate planning, but make mistakes that can open the door to a challenge of your will. Thus, many people are concerned about what will happen if you don’t have a will or if your will is found invalid. For more than 20 years, Maryland estate litigation attorney William S. Heyman has engaged in fiduciary and estate litigation. Call for a consultation.

If Your Property Is In a Trust, It Is Likely that Your Goals Will Be Respected

Some estate plans elect to utilize trusts rather than a will for an array of reasons. In some cases, the use of trusts may be motivated by privacy concerns while in other instances it may be motivated by a desire for privacy. However, regardless of the reasons for placing your assets in a trust, a properly formed and appropriate trust should be able to protect your interests and goals to the extent that assets have been transferred into the trust.

That is, a probate court can generally only address the assets that are part of the estate. Once assets are transferred into an appropriate trust, they will no longer become part of the estate. Therefore, use of a trust can place your assets beyond the reach of a probate court and protect at least one aspect of your estate planning goals.

If You Don’t Have a Will or Your Will Is Contested and Found Invalid, Estate Property will be Distributed According to State Law or an Earlier Valid Will

It is important to understand the consequences of passing away without a will or when a will is successfully contested. Generally speaking, if a party proves that a will is invalid, it does not necessarily mean that they will automatically be awarded a property interest. Rather, an invalid will is treated as if it never existed. This can mean that a previously executed will applies. If there was no previous will, then estate property will be distributed according to state intestacy laws.

In general, Maryland state law will provide for assets to be distributed to the deceased individual’s closest living relatives. Thus, under Maryland intestacy law, a surviving spouse and children have the first bite at the estate property. That is, the spouse will  first take property and, in the event that there is no surviving spouse, surviving children will take equal shares. If there are no children or surviving spouse, then Maryland law will provide for the distribution of property to increasingly distant blood relatives.

However, if you do not have any known blood relatives, stepchildren, or others contemplated by Maryland law, then your estate property may go to the state. The property is typically distributed to the Board of Education located in the city or town where the decedent resided.

Get an Experienced Baltimore, Maryland Estate Planning Lawyer

As one can surmise, a challenge your loved one’s will can open the door to the possibility that their last wishes and goals will be set aside. This is clearly a situation that must be avoided. However, and in contrast, a will challenge can be essential when a caregiver or family member has used undue influence to unjustly place their needs over the goals your loved one held dear. This is also a situation that most family members would find unfortunate, appalling, and unacceptable.

Therefore, when it appears that your loved one’s wishes are not being carried out as they wished, working with an experienced will contest attorney can make all the difference. Baltimore, Maryland fiduciary litigation lawyer William Heyman can fight to protect your loved one’s wishes and goals. To schedule a confidential will contest consultation, call the Law Firm of William S. Heyman at (410) 305-9287 today.