Estate Planning
Elder Law
Special Needs Planning

Client Education, Collaboration, and Compassion

What We Do

Estate Planning

Elder Law

Estate and Trust
Administration

Special Needs Planning

The Elville and Associates Difference

Founded in June, 2010, by President and Principal Attorney Stephen R. Elville, J.D., LL.M., Elville and Associates is an estate planning, elder law, and special needs planning practice. It is our mission to provide practical solutions to our clients’ needs through counseling, education, and the use of superior legal-technical knowledge.

Education and counseling are the foundations upon which Elville and Associates’ attorneys serves its clients, partners, and surrounding community. The firm counsels its clients based on the core principles of the Elville Legacy System — the six steps to perfect estate planning. Mr. Elville has also developed programs for clients who wish to streamline the planning process but still wish to enjoy the benefits of the educational component throughout, including Elville Self-Direct Select and Elville Self-Direct Protect a limited-attorney-assistance client education program for estate planning. The firm also offers an Advisors’ Forum every two months for its planning team partners, an continuing education series that covers the latest topics in the world of estate planning, elder law and special needs planning.

10.0Stephen Ronald Elville
No matter what planning path our clients choose, Elville and Associates firmly believes in the “planning team concept” – a concept that ensures clients’ attorneys, advisors and CPAs work collaboratively on their behalf during the planning process to provide their family peace of mind and confidence. The attorneys at Elville and Associates work with the top Certified Financial Planners, financial advisors, CPAs and other professionals around the country and work to be a reliable partner to them.

Elville and Associates’ attorneys frequently offer free educational workshops throughout central Maryland. Our attorneys are seasoned speakers and share their knowledge over 100 times each year with the communities we serve about a wide range of topics – from our popular “Estate Planning Essentials” workshops, to workshops delving into elder law, retirement planning, estate and trust administration, special needs planning, aging in place versus Continuing Care Retirement Community living, the latest topics of interest in estate planning, and many, many more. Elville and Associates’ attorneys present regularly at financial services firms, libraries, senior centers, employee benefits meetings for companies, expos, special needs organizations, and many more.

The firm also firmly believes in client care and client lifetime maintenance and updating to ensure that planning works as intended. The mission of our Client Care Program (“planning that works”) is to provide our clients with the comfort and assurance that their estate and elder law plans will work no matter how their goals situations may change, and to ensure planning remains consistent with changes in the laws. Elville and Associates is currently one of only a handful of law firms in the country to have an accredited and designed Client Care Program through the Client Maintenance Academy located in Boston.

Elville and Associates – Providing practical solutions to clients in elder law, estate planning, and special needs planning through counseling, education and leading-edge legal technical knowledge.

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Attorneys

Meet Our Team

The attorneys at Elville and Associates engage clients in a multi-step educational process to ensure that estate, special needs and elder law planning works from inception, throughout lifetime, and at final administration. Clients are encouraged to take advantage of the Planning Team Concept for leading edge, customized planning. The education of clients and their families through counseling and superior legal-technical knowledge is the mission of Elville and Associates. Proudly serving clients in central Maryland, the Washington metro area, and the Eastern Shore.

Our Story

ELVILLE AND ASSOCIATES ESTATE PLANNING, ELDER LAW AND SPECIAL NEEDS PLANNING

What is Estate Planning?

Estate Planning is not just for the disposing of assets, it is also a way to pass on your values and ideas – your intellectual capital, as well as lifetime beliefs, possibly multi-generational in nature, the things that you (and your ancestors) hold dear.

What is Elder Law?

Elder Law is estate planning for those persons who are ages 55 or above or for those persons who have a disability or illness. Put another way, generally, Elder Law is estate planning for older adults who do not have taxable estates but who are concerned about asset protection in the “Medicaid” context. An Elder Law consultation helps address older clients’ concerns regarding disability and long-term care planning rather than estate tax avoidance. Our Elder Law clients generally do not have estate tax problems – they have long-term care and asset preservation concerns, as well as incapacity management needs.

What is Estate and Trust Administration?

Estate and Trust Administration is arguably the most important aspect of our work at Elville Associates, as it represents the final phase of the client’s estate planning. It is at this final administration stage of the estate or elder law plan that assets are distributed in the manner chosen by the client – grandchildren’s education trusts are funded, children’s assets protection trusts (Legacy Trusts) are funded, surviving spouses are provided for, special needs children receive their shares in the proper fashion, estate tax elections are made, and much more. Because of the importance of proper estate and trust administration, it is critical not to “go it alone” and, even more importantly, not to ignore the passage of time, as many critical dates and related actions are required after death.

What is Special Needs Planning?

When addressing a special needs planning situation, be sure to speak with an attorney who understands the nuances of the special needs planning process. Elville and Associates’ Stephen R. Elville, J.D., LL.M., Principal, is a member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners and is highly experienced in the special needs planning arena. Contact our office today with any questions related to your special needs situation.

Featured Testimonials

See What Our Clients Are Saying

Bob S

“Elville and Associates have been outstanding! They have handled estate planning, special needs issues and a complex process involving Social Security disability. The Client Care program is very beneficial leaving us with the feeling that we have a partner not simply an attorney.”

John H

We heard about Elville and Associates on WBJC FM. As a musician and music teacher, I appreciated the work that Stephen Elville was doing through his non-profit providing instruments to needy students in the Baltimore area. We found ourselves needing assistance with estate planning, in particular concerning our disabled son, and we were not disappointed! We elected to have a Living trust instead of a will, and also set up a special needs trust for our one son. The education and seminars that Elville and Associates provide helped us make the right decisions. Indeed, after you set up trusts, you need to make sure that you re-align your assets to take advantage of the benefits of your trust. Elville has an associate to help you through, and check on your progress in that process, and she does a phenomenal job. We also have counsel with Elville representing us in a claim against the elusive Social Security Administration, which is ongoing but has left us with more assurance of a future positive outcome. Highly recommend!

Spotlight Articles

Elville and Associates’ Managing Principal Stephen R. Elville and Senior Associate Attorneys Shannon Goodwin, Shannon Werbeck, and Renee Boyd Named to 2024 Maryland Super Lawyers and Rising Stars Lists, Respectively

Elville and Associates’ Managing Principal Stephen R. Elville and Senior Associate Attorneys Shannon Goodwin, Shannon Werbeck, and Renee Boyd Named to 2024 Maryland Super Lawyers and Rising Stars Lists, Respectively

Authored by:  Jeffrey D. Stauffer – Community Relations Director Stephen Elville, Managing Principal and Lead Attorney of Elville and Associates, P.C., has been selected to the 2024 Maryland Super Lawyers List. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in...

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ABLE Accounts in 2024: Save Up to $18,000 Annually 

ABLE Accounts in 2024: Save Up to $18,000 Annually 

For nearly a decade, people with disabilities have had the option to accumulate savings in a special tax-free account – without risking their means-tested public benefits. In 2024, the annual limit on how much money one can deposit into these savings vehicles, known...

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2024 Annual Gift and Estate Tax Exemption Adjustments

2024 Annual Gift and Estate Tax Exemption Adjustments

With the arrival of the new year, revisions to the annual gift tax and estate tax exclusions will be going into effect, as recently announced by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Gift Tax Exemption for 2024 Every calendar year, you can gift up to a certain amount to...

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Client Education. Collaboration. Compassion.