Category: Estates and Trusts
As we close the book on 2025 and look ahead to 2026, we are on substantially firmer territory than we were at this same time last year when it comes to the federal estate tax. In our local jurisdictions (MD and DC), in December 2024,…
Congratulations! You’ve made it to an estate planning attorney and crossed off that item that has been lagging on your to-do list forever. Your estate planning documents are in order. But now that you have this envelope full of freshly signed documents, which you mostly…
A common misperception of estate planning clients is that estate planning is a “once-and-done” proposition. The reality is, once you overcome the initial inertia and create an estate plan, every estate planning attorney will recommend you review your estate plan every few years to consider…
Recently, we heard from a former client who had a harrowing tale to share. The Sad But True Story Our client’s elderly Father was found unresponsive on the floor of his home by his caregiver. The caregiver immediately called EMS. The caregiver’s next call was…
One of the most frequent topics of conversation among estate planning attorneys in recent years (yes, we are sometimes boring) has now been resolved. On December 31, 2025, like Cinderella’s coach turning into a pumpkin, the federal estate tax exemption was scheduled to nearly halve….
In an area where real estate is a highly valuable—and often appreciating—asset, holding residential properties as income-producing rentals is not uncommon. What should you know if you are thinking of renting out your property from a business planning and estate planning perspective? Liability Considerations At…
Estate and trust attorneys (and our clients) were anxiously awaiting President Trump’s budget proposals on the estate tax. We now have some clarity going forward. Where Do Things Presently Stand Under present federal law, deceased individuals can pass an unlimited amount of wealth to a…
An estate planning attorney expects to turn on HBO Max to escape from the day-to-day issues on which we advise our clients. Yet, in an early episode of The Pitt, a medical drama set in a hospital emergency department, a common estate planning decision took a leading…
In February 2025, we gave an urgent update that Maryland appeared poised to significantly reduce its estate tax exemption from $5 million to $2 million. As discussed in the article, this move would impact thousands of Marylanders and many BDBF clients. However, as we stated,…
As we predicted in our December 2024 e-newsletter, Maryland indeed appears on the brink of significantly hiking the state estate tax imposed upon Maryland residents. Governor Wes Moore’s budget proposal, if passed by the Maryland legislature, would see thousands more Marylanders exposed to estate tax,…
