Estate Planning in Northern Virginia and Maryland
One of the most caring things you can do for the people you love.
We help individuals and families across Northern Virginia and Maryland create clear, thoughtful plans that protect the people they love, preserve what they have built, and hold up when someone actually needs to use them.
Our approach is personal and practical. We explain your options in plain language, you make the decisions, and we build the plan around them.
The Basics
What is estate planning?
Estate planning is the process of naming decision‑makers and documenting your wishes in case of incapacity or death.
Without a plan, those decisions fall to default rules and, often, to a court. With one, your wishes guide what happens.
A good plan answers
- Who will manage my finances if I cannot?
- Who will make medical decisions for me?
- How will my assets be distributed?
- Who will care for my minor children?
- How do I keep court involvement, delay, and cost to a minimum?
- How do I protect my family’s privacy?
Choosing Your Structure
Will-based plans and trust-based plans
One of the first decisions is which of these fits you. We walk you through the trade‑offs of both so the choice is yours and you understand it.
Will-based planning
Often the right fit for simpler estates, or where most assets already pass by beneficiary designation. Generally includes:
- A Last Will and Testament
- Durable Power of Attorney
- Advance Medical Directive
- Appointment of agents for funeral and disposition decisions
A will does its job. But assets passing under it are generally subject to probate and court oversight.
Trust-based planning
Uses a revocable living trust to hold assets during life and distribute them afterward. A trust‑based plan can:
- Avoid probate
- Handle incapacity more smoothly
- Keep your affairs private
- Allow customized distributions to beneficiaries
- Reduce the administrative burden on your loved ones
Common for those with minor children, blended families, beneficiaries who need extra protection, or anyone who values privacy and efficiency.
Wondering what each of these costs? Our fees are published in full, together with what the fee covers and what makes one plan cost more than another.
Our Approach
A thoughtful plan prepares for four moments.
You never know which one will arrive first — or when. That is why we consider each one as part of the planning process.
Emergency
It could be tonight.
Is your asset and debt information current? Would someone know where to find your instructions? If your children were with a sitter, would that person know who to call?
Incapacity
You are still here.
A thoughtfully drafted power of attorney gives your agent the authority they are likely to need. Your advance medical directive explains what you want and who should decide if you cannot.
Death
The part everyone plans for.
Your will and trust are built around your family, your assets, and what you actually want to happen — then tailored to the decisions you make.
Legacy
Long after you are gone.
An inheritance can pass outright or be held in a structure that may offer lasting protection from divorce, creditors, lawsuits, and other risks. We address these choices during design.
Everything You Receive
An estate plan is not a stack of paper.
Your plan includes more than legal documents. It also includes practical tools, personalized guidance, and ongoing support designed to help the plan work when your family needs it.
Every plan includes
- Your legal documents, prepared around your needs and the plan you select
- The For My Loved Ones Workbook — practical instructions for the people who may need to act
- An Asset Inventory Worksheet — one place to record what you own and where it is
- A Guide for Trustees, Executors & Agents so the people you name understand their responsibilities
- An Emergency Medical Card — a wallet card identifying who to contact if you cannot speak for yourself
- Secure digital access to your plan through our client portal
- A coordinated signing, with the notary and witnesses provided at our office
- Generous attorney time for meetings and plan-related questions
- Cornerstone Client Care at no additional cost — included with every plan
Trust plans also include
- Your revocable living trust, designed around your family, your assets, and how you want your legacy to reach the people you love
- A pour-over will, Certificate of Trust, and Assignment of Assets
- A deed transferring your home into your trust where applicable — prepared and recorded by us
- Your Asset Alignment Guide — asset-by-asset guidance on ownership and beneficiary designations
- A personalized walkthrough so you understand how your plan works
- Your premium binder — organized, tabbed, and built to be used
If you have children under 18
Your plan includes our Kids Protection Plan: standby guardian designations, caregiver instructions, and emergency wallet cards identifying who to call. If something happens tonight, the people caring for your children will know who to contact and what to do next.
The details matter
Clients sometimes come to us with documents that were signed but never fully implemented — a trust that was never funded, an outdated asset inventory, or people named in the plan who would not know where to begin. We focus on the details that help a plan work in real life.
Ready to talk it through?
Start with a complimentary call. Our client service team will listen, answer initial questions, and help you understand the next step.
Our Process
Manageable, not overwhelming
Four stages, and you always know which one you are in.
Understand and educate
We learn about your circumstances, assets, concerns, and goals — and explain the options available to you.
Design the plan
We design it together, shaped around your decisions and what matters to you.
Draft and review
Your documents are drafted carefully, then reviewed with you so you understand what each one does.
Sign and implement
We oversee proper execution and guide you through the steps that make the plan actually work.
Who We Serve
Individuals and families at every stage.
Our clients value clarity, efficiency, and an advisor who takes the time to get it right. If your situation calls for more than a core plan, see Advanced and Specialized Planning.
Simple when it can be. Sophisticated when it needs to be.
- Young families with minor children
- Married and unmarried couples, including same-sex couples
- Blended families
- Single individuals
- Empty nesters, retirees, and those approaching retirement
- Anyone with complex assets or family dynamics
Why Clients Choose Us
Attorney-led from the first conversation to long after the last signature.
Attorney-led planning
Your plan is designed and overseen by an experienced estate planning attorney — never handed off to software or a form.
Clear guidance from beginning to end
Your options in plain English, as many times as you need them. You should understand what you are signing, and why, before you sign it.
A relationship that continues after signing
Life changes, and a plan has to change with it. Every plan includes Cornerstone Client Care, and when the day comes that someone has to use the plan, we guide them through Estate Administration too.
Ready when you are
You do not need to know what kind of plan you need before you call.
Tell us what is prompting you to plan, what concerns you, and what you hope to make easier for the people you love. Our client service team will listen, answer initial questions, and help you understand the next step.
Schedule a Complimentary CallPrefer to learn first? Attend a free seminar.