Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Do Commercial Tenants Have a Duty of Care to Protect the Leased Property from Arson by a Third Party?
Negligence is a central issue in many civil lawsuits; the plaintiff is suing the defendant for compensation for financial losses the plaintiff suffered because of something irresponsible the defendant did, or else something reasonably cautious that the defendant failed to do. In order for a plaintiff to win a lawsuit about negligence, you must… Read More »
Maryland’s RELIEF Act Includes a Sales Tax Credit for Small Businesses Adversely Affected by the Pandemic
Spring is almost here, the snow is melting, and everyone is starting to panic about tax season. Filing business taxes is never easy, and even the most well-organized small business owners often get an unpleasant surprise when they meet with a tax accountant about their business taxes. Clickbait authors know that headlines about quadruple-digit… Read More »
How a Business Law Attorney Can Help You Prevent Business Litigation
Many small business owners only contact a lawyer when they have a big problem. A former client or former employee is threatening to sue the company, a bigger company is giving you the choice of letting it buy you out for a paltry sum or else putting you out of business through heavy-handed competition,… Read More »
How to Claim an Elective Share of Your Spouse’s Estate If Your Spouse Had Complex Business Interests
Maryland law allows married people to leave as much or as little property to their spouses as they choose in their wills. This means that, just because you are married, you can still choose to leave your entire estate to your siblings, your children from a previous marriage, a favorite charity, or anyone else. … Read More »
Blockchain Could Make Real Estate Transactions Safer and Less Expensive
When many of us hear the word “blockchain,” the first image that comes to mind is that of shady dealings in mysterious cryptocurrencies that are linked to no precious metals, no banknotes, and no governments. The only identities are pseudonyms and alphanumeric codes long enough even to confound people who know hundreds of digits… Read More »
Be Careful How You Word Your Declaration of Trust
Even if you are very early in the research and brainstorming phase of your estate planning process, you have probably given more than a passing thought to setting up a trust. Living trusts, which are set up during your lifetime, and testamentary trusts, the establishment of which is provided for in your will, make… Read More »
Beyond PPP: The New Stimulus Bill Contains Other Forgivable Loan Options for Small Businesses
The new COVID-19 pandemic relief bill is thousands of pages long, but a few aspects of it have attracted the lion’s share of the media coverage. Which individuals will get another round of direct stimulus payments? How much money will these payments be, and how soon will they be in people’s bank accounts? Small… Read More »
Good News for PPP Borrowers: A Simplified Loan Forgiveness Application and a More Streamlined Application Process
The COVID-19 virus may be here to stay, but 2021 is a new year that provides new opportunities to confront the pandemic from a public health perspective as well as an economic one. So far, there are reasons to be optimistic, as several vaccines have been approved and, across the DC area, many people… Read More »
Should Your Business Go into Hibernation for the COVID-19 Winter?
Some businesses have hibernation (or estivation, as the case may be) built into their business model. The ice cream parlors and fudge shops in seaside towns virtually anywhere north of Ocean City are only open in the summer. Likewise, ski slopes are only open in the winter, as are glass-roofed hotels in Arctic regions… Read More »
What Happens If a Maryland Resident Dies Without a Will?
As another decade begins, your New Year’s resolutions become less and less like the ones you used to set in your youth. Remember your resolution in 1999, when you resolved to brush your teeth every day, or your 2005 resolution to always get up before noon? If you are old enough to read a… Read More »
