Estate Planning Questionnaire
(Married Client) (MD)

Summary

This estate planning questionnaire template assists a married client in gathering the information necessary to create a comprehensive estate plan. It is intended for use in Maryland. If possible, the questionnaire should be completed by the client prior to the initial client meeting. This template includes practical guidance and drafting notes. The questionnaire not only raises issues related to the creation of a will, such as personal representatives and beneficiaries, but also issues related to health care decisions and who should act in the event of the client's incapacity. Combined, all of these issues can overwhelm a client, and often leads to the client putting off the process of setting up estate planning documents. For this reason, you should be flexible about when the client fills out the questionnaire. You may find it helpful to tell a prospective client that filling out the questionnaire in advance of an initial meeting often results in a much more productive initial meeting, and that the information provided will be vital in your preparation of draft documents, but that if the questionnaire is going to delay the beginning of the estate planning process, then you and the client can walk through the questionnaire together during the initial meeting. However, regardless of which approach you take, it is important to at least raise all of the issues covered by the questionnaire and to collect as much information as you need in order to adequately meet the client's needs and goals. To download a client-ready Word version of the questionnaire without the summary or drafting notes, you can click the "Open Form in Word" link on the right side of your screen or select "Word Document with No Annotations" if you are using the Download function. For general, non-jurisdictional information about estate planning, see Estate Planning Strategies and Devices and Estate Planning Goals, Client Considerations, and Tax Exposure. For Maryland-specific basic will templates, see Will for Single Individual (Basic) (MD) and Will for Individual with Spouse or Partner (Basic) (MD). For complex wills that may be used in Maryland, see Will for Single Individual (Optional Trust(s) for Children) (MD) and Will for Individual with Spouse or Partner (Optional Trust(s) for Spouse and/or Children) (MD).