Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging for the disposal of an estate. Estate planning typically attempts to eliminate uncertainties over the administration of a probate and maximize the value of the estate by reducing taxes and other expenses. Estate planning attorneys advise clients on their options for disposition of real and personal property after death, and create any number of necessary documents pertaining to the estate and finances of the client -- including wills and trusts. Estate planning law attorneys also assist clients in setting out their end-of-life health care wishes through living wills and health care powers of attorney.
Joppa, Maryland in Harford County, Maryland is now a planning region for the county, but there was originally a town at the center called Joppa. Joppa was founded as a British colonial settlement in the early 1700s, and takes its name from the biblical town of Joppa. The town of Joppa, on the Gunpowder River traded internationally in agricultural products, especially tobacco. At its peak, the port was home to about 50 homes, a church, prison, inns, shops, schools, armament factories, and warehouses. However, with the rise of Baltimore and Annapolis, Joppa declined as a port, and was slowly abandoned. By 1815 all the remained were ruins and the surviving Rumsey Mansion. In 1962, Joppatowne, one of the first of a new generation of Planned Unit Developments (PUD) in the United States, was launched by the Panitz Company.