From Paper to Protection: Make Sure Your Real Estate Is in Your Trust

At Z Family Law, we celebrate every client who has taken the important step of creating an estate plan. Having a will and trust in place means you’ve already done the hard work of protecting your family and making sure your wishes are clear. But there’s one more step that often gets overlooked: making sure your property is actually transferred—or “funded”—into your plan.

Why Funding Your Trust Matters

Think of your trust as a safe. It only protects what’s placed inside. If your home, rental property, or other real estate hasn’t been formally retitled into your trust, it may still be tied up in probate, no matter how carefully your documents were drafted. This can cause delays, extra expenses, and unnecessary stress for the very people you worked so hard to protect.

Placing real property in a trust eases the transfer of ownership from the decedent to the beneficiaries. However, should a trust be utilized, the property must be transferred into the trust.  

Real property is transferred into a trust via a “quitclaim deed.” In Maryland, there is no tax associated with this transfer. A quitclaim deed is simple, with no warranty as the property is merely being transferred from the owners into the trust. 

If the real estate is not transferred into a trust via a quitclaim deed, transferring from the decedent to the heirs can be delayed, trigger unexpected costs, or disputes among heirs. Maryland law requires an appraisal by a professional valuing the property at the date of death. Should multiple heirs inherit the property, the issue of titling the property and how the property will be managed or whether it should be sold can cause familial disputes. 

Common Issues We See

Even with a solid estate plan in place, families sometimes run into:

• Property still titled in the deceased’s name (inherited via a Last Will and Testament)
  
  • Solution: In Maryland, the Personal Representative must obtain authorization from the Orphans’ Court to retitle the property, and then the Personal Representative will file the new deed in Land Records.
• Trusts created but never fully funded with real estate.
  
  • Solution: Ensure all property is transferred via a quit-claim deed after the creation of the trust. 
• Restrictions, like life estates or rights to reside, are not being clearly documented.
  
  • Solution: Knowledge is the key to understanding who has a vested right in the property. It is critical to review the deed of inherited property. All interested parties will be listed on the deed. Should there be a life estate (meaning a person, usually a spouse, parent or child, has the right to reside in the property until their death), the property may not be sold or otherwise used until the life tenancy expires. 
  • All deeds for property in Maryland can be viewed at http://mdlandrec.net 

Staying on Track

You’ve already laid the foundation. The next step is making sure every property is titled correctly and fully aligned with your trust. Our team can review your deeds, confirm funding is complete, and guide you through any updates as life changes.

Your estate plan is only as strong as the steps taken to put it into action. With ongoing care and attention, you can rest easy knowing your plan isn’t just written, it’s working for you and your family.