Recent Blog Posts
Real Estate Transactions Run in the Family
Everyone complains that the rich get richer while the rest of us work our whole lives for little or no reward. If you have not thought about this for a while, it speaks well of your financial situation, your ability to be content with what you have, or both. It is easier to feel… Read More »
It’s Time to Make Will Attestation Parties a Thing
When you were young, friendship was beautiful and pure. The highlight of your day was riding the school bus after school, sitting next to a friend who wasn’t in any of your classes and didn’t get off the bus at the same stop as you, singing, “We Will Rock You” and laughing until you… Read More »
Don’t Forget to Write Formerly Estranged Relatives Back Into Your Will
You know you are old if, when you were a teenager, you had a poster of David Cassidy on the wall of your bedroom. Like so many child stars, Cassidy grew up to be an adult whose life has the same ups and downs as any other adult’s life does, including several marriages and… Read More »
In Praise of Trust Fund Kitties
If you want your beloved pets to benefit from your generosity after you are gone, that is your prerogative. What you do with your estate is your business. Since animals cannot be beneficiaries of a will in their own right, you will have to word your will in such a way that your pets… Read More »
Everyone Wins When Landlords Help Tenants Boost Their Credit Score
Despite the fact that home ownership is becoming unaffordable for an increasing number of people, the economics of residential rentals please no one, regardless of whether it is a mom-and-pop landlord renting out a finished basement or a large company managing a building with hundreds of units. The rent payments that landlords collect from… Read More »
What Is Legal When It Comes to Screening Prospective Tenants?
Vacancies are a landlord’s worst nightmare, so why is housing so hard to find in Washington, D.C.? Prospective tenants must demonstrate to the landlord that they will consistently be able to make rent payments; this usually means showing proof of employment and income. Sure, every landlord forms a first impression about how much or… Read More »
Is Delaying Retirement a Good Estate Planning Strategy?
Everyone’s bucket list is unique, but it is unlikely that anyone’s bucket list contains an item that says “outlive my savings.” Monthly Social Security checks are getting smaller for subsequent classes of retirees, and many middle-aged adults have little or no retirement savings, despite having been in the workforce consistently since they were in… Read More »
Everyone Loses When Landlords of Unlicensed Properties Try to Collect Rent
Rent is prohibitively expensive these days. To be approved to rent an apartment in a building managed by a reputable company, you have to be so wealthy that, 15 years ago, your income level would have gotten you approved for a home mortgage. The safest rental agreements are the ones where the landlord and… Read More »
Yikes! Maryland Is Among the Top 5 Most Expensive States to Retire
Unless your goal is to create generational wealth or to use it as an income-generating asset, then selling your empty nest and moving somewhere more affordable makes the most financial sense. There is no reason to live inside the Beltway, where the housing prices are astronomical, once you have retired from your inside the… Read More »
Skilled Nursing Facilities and Your Maryland Estate Plan
If you have never had to think about the differences among a nursing home, an assisted living facility, a memory care facility, a skilled nursing facility, and hospice care, consider yourself lucky. It means that you are young enough and healthy enough not to have suffered a medical issue where the best-case scenario is… Read More »
