As our clients age, they increasingly rely upon the assistance of others for financial matters. Our clients often want to formalize this relationship to ensure that the bank or retirement plan custodian will recognize the authority of a trusted friend or family member to give instructions. When…

You’ve finally crossed that item off your household to-do list. You’re going to meet with an attorney to discuss your estate planning.  What should you expect both before and after the consultation? Before the Consultation — The Intake Questionnaire Prior to your consultation with the…

Estate planning documents are drafted to stand the test of time. That being said, estate planning documents should be reviewed at least every 2-3 years to see if updates are necessary. Here are the 5 things to consider when reviewing your existing documents and determining…

Lawrence “Larry” Bulman, our friend, colleague, mentor, and partner, passed away on April 15, 2022, at the age of 83. Larry practiced law here at BDBF, the firm founded by his father, Joe Bulman, for several decades. Larry lived a long and full life, surrounded…

What does Bulman Dunie partner Jeremy Rachlin have in common with Olympic gold medalist, Dominique Dawes, and Diary of A Wimpy Kid author, Jeff Kinney? Jeremy, Dominique, and Jeff will be amongst the 8 Terrapin alumni receiving honors at A Celebration of Terps—The Maryland Awards on Friday, April…

For many of our probate clients administering the post-death affairs of a loved one, the most vexing issue can be retitling or the disposition of a car. What complicates the post-death disposition of a vehicle? Ownership of your car passes by title. Many couples only…

Most probate and trust clients winding up the financial affairs of a deceased family member focus first and foremost on marshaling assets. Selling real estate, making claims on life insurance, inheriting retirement accounts—these are the transactions that are often on top of mind for our…

“Who should we give copies of our estate planning documents?” Almost invariably, we are asked this question by our estate planning clients at some point during our work with them. The answer is “it depends”. It depends on the documents you have signed. It depends on where you are…

Our estate attorneys frequently receive calls from clients who want to organize their parent’s estate. As they acknowledge their parent’s aging, they want to understand how they can strategize in advance to ease its administration in the future. Unfortunately, our estate attorneys also frequently encounter clients…

Regular readers of our e-newsletter know that, following a tempestuous fall, the federal estate tax seems to be settled for the time being. The IRS recently announced updates to the annual “exclusions” for estate tax and gifting for 2022. The estate tax exclusion is the…