Planning for the future often means thinking about more than who receives your property. You may also care about how much information becomes available to others after your death.
If privacy matters to you, a revocable living trust may help. In Maryland, the Register of Wills handles probate, and estate case records are available for public access. A trust may offer a more private way to transfer certain property when it is properly created and funded.
How a trust may reduce probate-related public exposure
This approach may help your family protect sensitive details, including:
- The names of people or organizations receiving transferred assets
- Information about certain accounts, homes, land or other holdings
- Family instructions that you may not want included in a public probate file
- The financial structure you created for children, grandchildren or other loved ones
Probate generally involves property that remains in your sole name when you die. During that process, court filings may identify interested persons, assets and other details needed to administer the estate.
A trust works differently. You transfer legal ownership of certain property to a trustee, who manages it for the benefit of the people or organizations you name. The trustee can distribute those assets according to the plan’s terms instead of sending them through probate.
However, this arrangement does not automatically keep every detail private. If an asset remains outside the plan and has no beneficiary designation or survivorship arrangement, probate may still be necessary. Privacy does not mean secrecy from legitimate creditors or tax authorities, since they may still consider trust property when reviewing creditor claims or Maryland estate tax issues.
Keeping the trust connected to your plan
You get the most value from this tool when you coordinate it with your broader plan. You may need to retitle real estate, update certain account records and review beneficiary designations. These steps help ensure the document holds the property you intended it to manage.
You may also need a pour-over will, even if you create a trust. This type of will can direct property left outside the plan into it after death. However, those assets may still need to go through probate before reaching the trust.
Seeking legal guidance can help you decide whether a trust fits your goals, your family’s needs and your concerns about privacy in Maryland.