MEET OUR TEAM
At The Wright Firm, our top priority is to achieve your peace of mind. Our team will advise and empower you to achieve your estate planning and asset protection goals through creative and customized plans designed to fit your family, resources, priorities, and needs.
Richard T. Wright, Attorney at Law
Richard T. Wright is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University and holds a Juris Doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center. For over 40 years, Mr. Wright has worked extensively in estate and business planning, drafting wills and trusts, estate and gift tax planning, elder law, and estate and trust administrations. Mr. Wright is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a national organization of 2,600 lawyers elected by their peers for demonstrating the highest level of integrity, commitment to the profession, competence and experience as trust and estate counselors.
Mr. Wright has a Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rating™ of “AV Preeminent” and is included in the current editions of both Maryland Super Lawyers and Baltimore & Washington DC’s Best Lawyers. He has also received an Avvo rating of 10.0 for Top Attorney and Estate Planning. Mr. Wright is the author or co-author of numerous estate and trust bills enacted by the Maryland Legislature, including, Title 5 of the Maryland Trust Act (dealing with creditors’ claims and discretionary and spendthrift trusts), the Maryland General and Limited Power of Attorney Act, and Maryland legislation enabling state-only QTIP trusts and Maryland Marital Asset Protection Trusts. He also regularly writes and speaks on topics related to estate and gift taxation and family asset transfer and protection planning.
Mr. Wright is a Past Chair of the Section Council on Estate and Trust Law of the Maryland Bar Association and the Anne Arundel County Bar Association Estate and Trust Law Group. He is also a member and former Section Council Member of the Maryland Bar Association Section on Elder Law and Disability Rights. Locally, Mr. Wright is a member of the Annapolis Rotary Club and is a founder and member emeritus of the Executive Committee of the Anne Arundel Estate Planning Council.
Mr. Wright is married to the former Marcia Roeder. Mrs. Wright is a retired Maryland CPA employed by the Wright Firm as the staff accountant and coordinates its estate and trust accounting and income tax practice. Richard and Marcia have three children: Matthew, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy who now serves as an aviator and is a Captain in the U.S. Navy; Brandon, a graduate of Dartmouth College who is now the regional director of a national commercial real estate development company; and Lindsay, a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and the holder of an MBA from the University of Maryland Smith School of Business, who now works as a Contract Specialist with the Federal Government.
Contact: RWright@thewrightfirm.net
Richard T. Wright is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University and holds a Juris Doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center. For over 40 years, Mr. Wright has worked extensively in estate and business planning, drafting wills and trusts, estate and gift tax planning, elder law, and estate and trust administrations. Mr. Wright is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a national organization of 2,600 lawyers elected by their peers for demonstrating the highest level of integrity, commitment to the profession, competence and experience as trust and estate counselors.
Mr. Wright has a Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rating™ of “AV Preeminent” and is included in the current editions of both Maryland Super Lawyers and Baltimore & Washington DC’s Best Lawyers. He has also received an Avvo rating of 10.0 for Top Attorney and Estate Planning. Mr. Wright is the author or co-author of numerous estate and trust bills enacted by the Maryland Legislature, including, Title 5 of the Maryland Trust Act (dealing with creditors’ claims and discretionary and spendthrift trusts), the Maryland General and Limited Power of Attorney Act, and Maryland legislation enabling state-only QTIP trusts and Maryland Marital Asset Protection Trusts. He also regularly writes and speaks on topics related to estate and gift taxation and family asset transfer and protection planning.
Mr. Wright is a Past Chair of the Section Council of the Maryland Bar Association Section on Estate and Trust Law and the Anne Arundel County Bar Association Estate and Trust Law Section. He is also a member of the state bar association’s Section on Elder Law and Disability Rights. Locally, Mr. Wright is a member of the Annapolis Rotary Club and is a founder and member emeritus of the Executive Committee of the Anne Arundel Estate Planning Council. He also serves as an advisor to the Annapolis Rotary Club Foundation, Wellness House, and the Anne Arundel County Community Foundation. Mr. Wright is married to the former Marcia Roeder. Mrs. Wright is a graduate of Ursinus College and is a Maryland Certified Public Accountant. Mrs. Wright is employed by the Wright Firm to coordinate its estate and trust accounting and income tax practice. Richard and Marcia have three children: Matthew, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy who was previously a Naval pilot and is currently a squadron commander in the U.S. Navy; Brandon, a graduate of Dartmouth College who is now the regional director of a national commercial real estate company; and Lindsay, a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and holder of an MBA from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business who works as a Contract Specialist with the Federal Government.
Contact: RWright@thewrightfirm.net
Marcia R. Wright, CPA
For almost 30 years, Marcia R. Wright has served as The Wright Firm’s staff accountant concentrating her practice in the field of fiduciary accounting and the preparation of federal and Maryland estate and fiduciary income tax returns. In this capacity, she has a broad and varied experience preparing probate and trust accountings, valuing probate and trust property, analyzing financial issues faced by Maryland personal representatives and trustees, and preparing federal income tax Forms 1041 and Maryland Forms 504 and federal estate tax Forms 706 and Maryland Forms MET-1.
Marcia is a recently retired Maryland Certified Public Accountant and member of the Maryland and Anne Arundel County Associations of Certified Public Accountants.
She is a graduate of Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in History. Following college, she worked in the United States Senate for two U.S. Senators, Roman Hruska (Nebraska) and S.I. Hayakawa (California), first as a Caseworker and then as a Legislative Assistant following Commerce Committee legislation. Marcia retired from the Senate in 1979 to become a stay-at-home Mom raising the Wrights’ three children: Matthew, Brandon, and Lindsay. While at home raising three children, she took accounting, finance and related courses at Anne Arundel Community College and the University of Maryland to become eligible to pass the Maryland CPA exam.
Contact: MWright@thewrightfirm.net
Lisa Martin, Funding and Settlement Coordinator
Lisa Martin is The Wright Firm’s Funding and Settlement Coordinator. In this role, she handles estate and trust asset retitling and funding for our clients, as well as coordinating these transfers with banks, brokers, insurance agents, and other financial professionals.
Lisa’s engaging personality and varied background in business administration and accounting provide a perfect foundation for the services she provides to our clients. She is a native of Anne Arundel County and graduated from Chesapeake High School. After high school, she worked for the F.B.I. in Washington, DC and attended the Anne Arundel County Police and Corrections Academy. She now has an Associate of Arts Degree in Business Administration from the Anne Arundel Community College’s School of Business and Law.
When Lisa isn’t working, she enjoys life spending time with her daughter, going outdoors, and pursuing her interests in photography and pyrography.
Contact: LBechtel@thewrightfirm.net
Vanessa Cortes-Palma, Legal Assistant
Vanessa Cortes-Palma is the Legal Assistant at The Wright Firm. She performs administrative tasks including answering the phone, scheduling appointments, recording deeds and helping to coordinate clients with paperwork prior to their appointments. With an extensive background in customer service, Vanessa guides our clients to find the assistance they need.
Vanessa graduated from Annapolis High School in 2020 and is working towards opening her own company. She enjoys spending time outdoors, being with her family, and playing softball.