“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.”

Alan Lakein

Since 1998, the MSBA’s Using & Drafting Trusts in Estate Planning has been an indispensable resource for practitioners who advise clients on how best to use available trusts while protecting assets, reducing tax exposure, and protecting beneficiaries. The MSBA is pleased to announce the release of the newly revised Using & Drafting Trusts in Estate Planning (Revised Ed. 2023) to keep Maryland attorneys current in this ever-changing practice area.  

Using & Drafting Trusts in Estate Planning has once again been updated by Maryland attorneys, experienced estate planning practitioners recognized as experts in the field, who continue to build on foundations decades in the making. Its 11 chapters guide the practitioner through the relevant state law issues, various types of trusts and when to use them, the tax implications of trusts, and planning for people with disabilities. The book contains numerous useful forms, from sample clauses that provide the practitioner with options to consider when drafting discrete provisions to full renditions of different types of trusts. 

The 2023 update addresses the impact of several important statutory changes that have taken place since the last update, including changes to Maryland’s spousal elective share (effective October 1, 2020) and The Setting Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act).

Additional significant revisions include:

• Chapter 1, Selected State Law Issues—new discussion of trustee relief from liability;
• Chapter 4, Generation-Skipping Trusts—new discussion on the Tax Act of 2017 (increase in GST exemption and allocation amount);
• Chapter 5, Planning for People with Disabilities—new discussion on the impact of changes to Maryland’s spousal elective share on testamentary trusts; 
• Chapter 7, Charitable Split Interest Trusts—expanded discussion on planning considerations for charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts;
• Chapter 10, GRITS, QPRTS, and GRATS—new section on the Valuation of Assets Transferred into GRAT; and
• Chapter 11, Trust as Beneficiary of Retirement Account Benefits—discussion of the impact of the SECURE Act on required minimum distribution rules, designated beneficiaries, and non-designated beneficiaries; and more. The book also includes updated clauses, rate tables, and tables of cases and authorities.

Every section of Using & Drafting Trusts in Estate Planning contains extensive citations to relevant provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, the Annotated Code of Maryland, and other statutes, rules, regulations, and case law, all brought current through 2023. Using & Drafting Trusts in Estate Planning provides an excellent starting point for rendering advice on estates large and small and will once again prove to be an invaluable resource for attorneys at every level of the practice.  Order your copy here today.