Estate Planning

What is a Will?

The most prevalent form used in Estate Planning is the Last Will and Testament, also known as the Will. The Will is a document executed by a person to dispose of their assets upon death. Wills provide for the designation of the Personal Representative of the Estate and distribution of assets as dictated by the deceased.

Why do I Need a Power of Attorney?

The General Power of Attorney deals with the handling of financial affairs once a person is unable to handle those responsibilities for themselves. The Power of Attorney is generally appointed to handle all financial affairs including, but not limited to access to bank accounts and other matters concerning the disabled’s financial affairs. The primary importance of a Power of Attorney is to avoid the expense and time of a Court Ordered guardianship and allows for a person to appoint their caretaker.

What is an Advance Directive?

The Advance Directive is a document that allows a person to make their end of life medical choices choices regarding medications, nutrition, and hydration under various circumstances of illness should they become unable to make those decisions for themselves.

Estate Administration

Our attorneys can help you when a family member passes. It is a great comfort having someone assist in dealing with the paperwork and administration of an estate during this time of grief. The attorneys at Weinkam & Weinkam, P.A. will take that burden off your shoulders by collecting and managing the estate and distributing property to the heirs in accordance with the last will and testament of the testator.

Arranging for us to administer the estate allows your family to handle their loss and not be overwhelmed with administrative details.

Guardianship

Often a person will delay their Estate Planning and will not have a Power of Attorney or Advance Directive drafted to dictate their future issues and needs . When that occurs, it is often necessary to obtain a Guardianship so there is someone to take care of those important needs and decisions. Weinkam & Weinkam, P.A. has extensive experience in bringing these matters forward and serving in the guardianship capacity.

Currently, we are appointed as Department of Veterans Affairs Fiduciary attorneys and have been appointed numerous times by the Judges of Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Howard County, and Anne Arundel County to serve in this capacity.

Elder Law & Medical Assistance

The cost of long term care services is complicated. It is necessary to plan for this life event. If you or a loved one is facing an admission into a nursing facility, our attorneys can guide you through the maze of paperwork and help you to preserve your assets to the maximum amount allowed by law.

The attorneys at Weinkam & Weinkam, P.A. are well versed in the procedures and techniques to achieve the smoothest transition possible during this difficult time.

Services include, but are not limited to:
Nursing Home Admissions
Long-Term Care Planning
Spend Down Provisions
Medical Assistance

Weinkam & Weinkam, P.A. stands ready to protect your hard-earned assets.

Young Family Plan

Over the years we discovered that most families with young children need certain basic documents for their estate planning. The problem was that the various documents that needed to be completed were done at different times and that the cost to do so for many people was beyond what they could afford or wanted to pay.

Therefore, the law firm of Weinkam & Weinkam, P.A. developed the Young Family Plan or families with young children. By combining all of the documents needed at one time, we are able to reduce costs and present these plans at a price more affordable to most people.

The Young Family Plan includes:
• Wills for husband and wife with trust clauses for minor children
• Powers of Attorney for husband and wife
• Advance Care Directives for both spouses
• Guardian consent documents in the event the parties were to leave their children in someone else’s care should they travel out of state.