AMD Law

AMD Law ⚖️ AMD LAW
🖋️ Strategic Estate Planning
✨ Keeping your loved ones out of court and conflict

Did you know how differently trusts and individuals are taxed?For 2026, estates and trusts enter the 37% federal margina...
09/04/2026

Did you know how differently trusts and individuals are taxed?

For 2026, estates and trusts enter the 37% federal marginal income tax bracket above $16,000 of taxable income.

A single individual doesn’t enter that bracket until taxable income exceeds $640,600.

That doesn’t mean every dollar is taxed at 37%. The brackets are marginal.

It also doesn’t mean you should remove your trust as your IRA beneficiary.

Your trust may be protecting the inheritance from divorce, creditors, lawsuits, addiction, or poor financial decisions. Giving up those protections to reduce the income-tax rate may not serve the people you created the plan to protect.

The number matters. But it isn’t the whole story.

Read this week’s article before making a beneficiary change based on the tax bracket alone.

https://www.trustamdlaw.com/your-trust-could-reach-the-37-tax-bracket-at-just-16-000

Your will may not control your IRA.The beneficiary form you filled out years ago probably does.That form may still name:...
09/03/2026

Your will may not control your IRA.

The beneficiary form you filled out years ago probably does.

That form may still name:

• A former spouse

• A child outright

• A trust that was later amended or replaced

• Someone selected before the SECURE Act changed the rules

Your retirement account generally passes according to that beneficiary designation, regardless of what your will says.

So you can have an excellent plan sitting in a binder while one old form directs one of your largest assets somewhere else.

This is why beneficiary designations aren’t a separate administrative task. They’re part of your Life & Legacy Plan® and need to be reviewed beside your trust, family circumstances, other assets, and current law.

If your estate plan predates 2020 or your IRA has grown since the form was last reviewed, this week’s article is for you.

https://www.trustamdlaw.com/your-trust-could-reach-the-37-tax-bracket-at-just-16-000

“The lowest-tax answer isn’t automatically the best answer for your family.”Angela Dawkins, Personal Family Lawyer®When ...
09/03/2026

“The lowest-tax answer isn’t automatically the best answer for your family.”

Angela Dawkins, Personal Family Lawyer®

When I review an IRA beneficiary decision, I’m not looking at a tax bracket in isolation.

I’m looking at the retirement account, the trust, your other assets, the people who will inherit, the protections they may need, and what you want your wealth to make possible.

Your CPA, financial advisor, insurance professional, and estate planning attorney may each see a different part of that picture.

My role as your Personal Family Lawyer is to help connect those parts so they tell the same story.

Because this isn’t only about where your money goes.

It’s about helping the people you love receive it with the structure, guidance, and protection needed to become good stewards of what you built.

https://www.trustamdlaw.com/your-trust-could-reach-the-37-tax-bracket-at-just-16-000

“Should I remove my trust as my IRA beneficiary because trusts reach the 37% tax bracket so quickly?”Please don’t make t...
09/02/2026

“Should I remove my trust as my IRA beneficiary because trusts reach the 37% tax bracket so quickly?”

Please don’t make that decision based on one number.

Your trust may be providing protections your family needs.

If it can retain IRA withdrawals, the trust may pay more in income tax. But those assets may remain protected if your child faces a divorce, lawsuit, addiction crisis, or season when receiving the money outright would do more harm than good.

When I review this with you, I don’t look only at the tax rate.

I look at who will inherit, what’s happening in their life, what else they may receive, what protection they need, and what you want this wealth to accomplish.

The lowest-tax answer isn’t automatically the best answer for your family.

https://www.trustamdlaw.com/your-trust-could-reach-the-37-tax-bracket-at-just-16-000

Your trust could reach the 37% federal tax bracket at just $16,000 of taxable income.A single person? Not until $640,600...
08/31/2026

Your trust could reach the 37% federal tax bracket at just $16,000 of taxable income.

A single person? Not until $640,600.

That doesn’t mean your trust is wrong. It means your IRA, trust, beneficiary form, and family goals need to work together.

This week’s article explains what to review before one old form changes what your wealth can do.

https://www.trustamdlaw.com/your-trust-could-reach-the-37-tax-bracket-at-just-16-000

There's a difference between having a will and having a plan. Most families don't find that out until it matters. This w...
08/29/2026

There's a difference between having a will and having a plan. Most families don't find that out until it matters. This week's article is your checklist for what actually comes after you sign.

Did you know that signing a trust and funding a trust are two completely different steps? Most families only do one.Sign...
08/28/2026

Did you know that signing a trust and funding a trust are two completely different steps? Most families only do one.

Signing a trust creates a legal container. But the assets don't move automatically. Your home, your bank accounts, your investment accounts: if those aren't actually transferred into the trust, they're still in your name, not the trust's name. And assets still in your name go through probate, regardless of what the trust says.

This is one of the most common estate planning failures I encounter: a family paid for a trust, assumed they were protected, and found out years later that nothing was ever transferred into it. The trust document was in a folder. The plan never actually happened.

If you received a trust this August, or if you've had one for years and aren't sure whether it's funded, that's the question to ask your attorney this week.

https://www.trustamdlaw.com/is-a-will-enough-your-post-will-planning-checklist

In case you missed it this week, the thing most families discover at exactly the wrong moment.The beneficiary designatio...
08/27/2026

In case you missed it this week, the thing most families discover at exactly the wrong moment.

The beneficiary designation forms on your retirement accounts, your life insurance, and your bank accounts with transfer-on-death elections are the ones that actually control who gets the money. Not your will.

It doesn't matter what your will says. Beneficiary designations override your will completely. And those forms, often filled out at your first job, when you were 22, before your spouse, before your kids, are sitting in a file at the institution right now, with whatever names you put on them then.

A former spouse. A parent who passed away. A child named directly, which creates a court-supervised guardianship of that money until they turn 18.

The fix is straightforward: a review of every designation, a primary and a contingent that reflects your actual life. But it has to be done deliberately. It doesn't happen automatically.

This week's article is the full checklist for what comes next after making a will.

https://www.trustamdlaw.com/is-a-will-enough-your-post-will-planning-checklist

There's a reason most families feel like their estate planning is handled, and then find out it wasn't when something go...
08/26/2026

There's a reason most families feel like their estate planning is handled, and then find out it wasn't when something goes wrong.

They got documents. They didn't get a plan.

Documents are tools. A will is a tool. A trust is a tool. What creates real protection is a relationship with a Personal Family Lawyer® who knows your family, holds the whole picture, and reviews the plan as your life changes, so the gaps don't show up at the worst possible moment.

That's what a Life & Legacy Planning® relationship looks like. Not a transaction. Not a folder in a drawer. A real attorney who knows who your kids are, who the right guardian is today, which accounts need updated beneficiary designations, and whether your trust is actually funded.

If you made a will this month and want to know whether it's actually doing its job, this is a good time to find out.

calendar.trustamdlaw.com/widget/booking/JDAbqicl45eEE3dRRmpb

Q: "I just made a will. Am I actually done?"Not quite.A will doesn't touch your beneficiary designations. Those override...
08/25/2026

Q: "I just made a will. Am I actually done?"

Not quite.

A will doesn't touch your beneficiary designations. Those override your will completely. It doesn't fund your trust if one was created. It doesn't cover incapacity. And it doesn't update itself when your life changes.

The full checklist is in this week's article.

https://www.trustamdlaw.com/is-a-will-enough-your-post-will-planning-checklist

Address

Bowie, MD

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+13014555354

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when AMD Law posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to AMD Law:

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category