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What should I do if I realize that my parents do not have an estate plan in place? | Freilich Law | Michael Freilich | freilichlaw.com | (410) 321-0040

Make an appointment, pack them up and take them to an attorney. Typically, the attorney in advance will send you a list of items he’d like for them to bring with them to the meeting. He will probably ask you to sit in the other room while they do some interviewing.

A frequent question I get is, “Well, my mother’s old and she has part-timers.” That may not be enough in many jurisdictions to disqualify her to make a will. In Maryland, it doesn’t matter if she has part-timers, what matters is at the time she signs the will or the documents, does she have the mental capacity to do it. We check that, if we have a question, by running what’s known the Minnesota Mini question to make sure that they’re oriented five by five. In addition, if it’s questionable, or could be questioned by siblings, we’ll videotape the signing ceremony, and we’ll do it at a time when we know she is mentally competent.