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Lee Carpenter has extensive experience with estate planning and probate, trust administration, and general business and corporate law. He strives to create a welcoming environment where clients of all backgrounds can feel comfortable discussing their legal needs. Lee’s mission is to be an active listener, an effective strategist, and a trusted adviser.

A well-crafted estate plan can help you manage financial and health-related matters during a period of incapacity. It can ensure the efficient transfer of your assets upon your death. And it can bring you peace of mind. With these goals in mind, Lee prepares comprehensive estate plans using wills, powers of attorney, advance medical directives, real estate deeds, and other planning tools. He may also create trusts to help avoid probate, minimize estate taxes, provide for young children, or care for someone with special needs.

When someone has died, Lee can help navigate the complexities of the probate process and trust administration, acting as either the attorney or personal representative/trustee.

For couples considering marriage, Lee can explain the legal benefits of tying the knot, and the potential drawbacks. He can also suggest steps to take in connection with getting married, such as preparing a prenuptial agreement.

Lee’s practice includes a special emphasis on the unique needs of same-sex couples and other members of the LGBTQ community. As an active member of the community himself, he has testified before the Maryland General Assembly in favor of pro-LGBTQ legislation. Lee is also a board member and pro bono attorney at FreeState Justice, which provides free legal services to Maryland’s low-income LGBTQ residents.

For several years, Lee has taught Estates & Trusts at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law as an adjunct professor. He is a frequent author and lecturer on topics related to estate planning and LGBTQ law.

For more information about LGBTQ estate planning, please visit https://mdlgbtestateplanning.com/.

 

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Bar Admissions

  • Maryland
  • Supreme Court

Education

  • J.D., University of Maryland School of Law, 2006
    • Dean’s Fellow
    • Editor in Chief, Journal of Business & Technology Law
    • William P. Cunningham Award for distinguished service to the School of Law
  • B.A., University of Maryland - UMUC, 2003

Associations

  • Episcopal Diocese of Maryland Planning Giving Task Force
  • Maryland State Bar Association Estate and Trust Law Section Council, LGBTQ Bar Association
  • Walters Art Museum Planned Giving Advisory Council

  • Awarded the Accredited Estate Planner® (AEP) designation from the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils

  • Baltimore Community Foundation Professional Advisors Recognition Society
  • FreeState Justice Board of Directors, Policy Committee, pro bono attorney
  • Baltimore Estate Planning Council Board of Directors
  • Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Chair, Planned Giving Advisory Council
  • Author of a monthly estate planning column for Baltimore Out Loud.
  • “The Inheritance Tax and the LGBTQ Community,” MSBA Section of Estate and Trust Newsletter, Spring 2021
  • “LGBTQ Estate Planning,” Maryland Bar Journal, 2020
  • “Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples,” Maryland Bar Bulletin, February, 2016
  • “LGBT Estate Planning & Same-Sex Marriage,” Baltimore Barrister, February 2015
  • Adjunct Professor of Law, Estates & Trusts, University of Maryland Carey School of Law, 2017–present
  • “Working with Members of the LGBTQ Community,” MSBA 2021 Legal Summit, June 2021
  • “Advantageous to All: Simple Strategies for Giving at Year’s End,” Baltimore Symphony Orchestra panel discussion, October 2020
  • “Estate Planning for the LGBTQ Community,” MSBA Estates & Trusts Study Group, January 2020
  • “Working with the LGBTQ Community,” lunch-and-learn events in Baltimore, Chicago, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, and Washington, 2019–2020
  • “LGBT Estate Planning & the Benefits of Marriage,” Baltimore Community Foundation, April 2018
  • “LGBT Estate Planning & the Benefits of Marriage,” Society of Financial Service Professionals, November 2017
  • “Trusts from A to Z” (CLE), July 2016
  • “Estate Planning for Couples, Married or Not,” Frederick Community Foundation, May 2016
  • “Nuts & Bolts of Estate Planning,” Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, April 2016
  • “Estate Planning Basics,” Maryland Marine Club, April 2015
  • “Estate Planning from A to Z” (CLE), December 2015
  • “Estate and Tax Planning for Same-Sex Couples” (CLE), September 2014