About Anthony
Anthony Kratz is a Maryland estate planning attorney with Lewicky, O’Connor, Hunt & Meiser, based in Maple Lawn. He helps individuals and families create and maintain comprehensive estate plans designed to protect their assets, provide for their loved ones, and carry out their wishes.
Anthony advises clients on a wide range of estate planning, estate administration, and trust matters, including:
- Wills and testamentary planning
- Revocable and irrevocable trusts
- Powers of attorney
- Advance health care directives
- Estate and gift tax planning
- Asset protection planning
- Probate and estate administration
- Trust administration
- Estate planning involving business interests and intellectual property
By nature, Anthony is a careful listener, detail-oriented, and respectful of privacy. He enjoys getting to know his clients and their unique family circumstances. He is equally comfortable working with individuals and families of modest means with relatively straightforward estates, and those with complex assets and high net worth. His technical, government, and intellectual-property background makes him particularly well-suited to work with federal employees, entrepreneurs, technology professionals, executives, inventors, artists, business owners, and families whose estates include business or intellectual-property assets.
Anthony’s goal is to explain complex legal subjects to clients in easy-to-understand language so they can make informed decisions. He strives to balance tax minimization, asset protection, and personal needs to create an individualized plan. Whether a client needs a basic will and powers of attorney, a comprehensive trust-based estate plan, tax and asset protection planning, or assistance administering an estate or trust after a death, Anthony works to develop practical solutions tailored to the client’s circumstances and objectives.
Anthony serves clients throughout the Baltimore/Washington region, primarily in Howard, Montgomery, Baltimore, Prince George’s, and Anne Arundel counties.
Professional Background
Immediately prior to joining Lewicky, O’Connor, Hunt & Meiser, Anthony was an in-house legal advisor for a technology startup company. In previous roles, he represented clients in all phases of federal court litigation and advised them on patent, trademark, and intellectual property matters at an AmLaw100 law firm. Additionally, Anthony gained valuable experience working in the federal government for eight years.
Education
Anthony received his Juris Doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center, and his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland, where he was a Francis Scott Key Scholar.
Civic Involvement
Anthony resides in Howard County with his wife and two sons. Being an active member of the community is important to Anthony. He enjoys volunteering as a firefighter/emergency medical technician and for his homeowners’ association. Over the years, Anthony has contributed to several pro bono legal matters, including Wills for Heroes, which provides basic estate planning documents for police, firefighters, EMS, and other first responders.
Licensure
Anthony is licensed to practice law in Maryland, and he is admitted to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.
Trust Administration and Estate Administration
Here are a few examples of Anthony Kratz providing trust administration and estate administration services for clients:
Estate Administration: Anthony represented a client in the administration of her mother’s estate, which involved probate in Maryland as well as ancillary probate for real estate located overseas.
Estate Administration: Antony served as personal representative of the estate of a client’s spouse, which involved managing the sale of real estate, liquidating investments, working with an accountant to complete tax returns, filing appropriate documents with the court, and distributing assets to the beneficiaries.
Estate Administration: Anthony represented the personal representative of an estate with substantial assets, but no apparent heirs; assisted with locating and liquidating assets, selling real estate, conducting an international heir search to locate distant relatives, and ensuring all taxes and legitimate creditors were paid before distributing the estate.
Trust Administration; Estate Administration: Anthony represented a personal representative and trustee in the administration of an estate and trust involving a dispute with a sibling.
Estate Administration: Anthony assisted a family with probate of two estates in order to properly transfer title to the family home, which had been titled in the name of a family matriarch who passed away several decades ago.
Estate Planning
Here are a few examples of Anthony Kratz providing estate planning services for his clients:
Estate Planning: Antony represented a retired married couple in updating their existing estate plan, including a trust, pour-over Wills, Advance Medical Directives, Powers of Attorney, and other ancillary documents.
Estate Planning: Anthony represented a newlywed couple in establishing a comprehensive new estate plan, including provisions addressing the potential birth or adoption of children.
Estate Planning: Anthony represented a multi-generational high-net-worth family in developing a trust-based estate plan that will manage and eventually distribute a multi-million-dollar estate involving complex assets, charitable giving, and tax-efficient provisions for future generations.
Estate Planning: Anthony represented a widow in updating an estate plan for a multi-million-dollar estate to provide for a child with special needs, other family members, and several charitable organizations.
Estate Planning: Anthony represented a recently divorced parent of young children in updating estate planning documents, including removing a former spouse from the documents.
