In a very early post, I discussed how earlier this year the Maryland General Assembly recoupled the state estate tax exemption with the federal estate tax exemption. Recoupling is tying Maryland’s state estate tax exemption back to the federal estate tax exemption, something that has not happened since 2001. Over the next 5 years, Maryland’s estate tax exemption will be gradually increased beginning in 2015 and each year after until the state’s exemption is equal to the federal exemption in 2019. This will have ramifications on existing estate plans in the state.
To help Maryland residents understand this change and the estate planning process, Lori Lynch and I worked to update the Estate Planning for Maryland Farm Families fact sheet. This publication was originally developed by Lori and Wes Musser, provides a general overview of many of the tools utilized in estate planning, and discusses potential tax implications. The updated publication is available here.
Besides this fact sheet covering the basics of estate planning and tax issues, we also have a fact sheet discussing using conservation easements in the estate planning process available through the Center for Agricultural and Natural Resource Policy; to see that publication click here.
For other publications by the Agricultural Law Education Initiative, please see the publications library.