Generally, there is no right to get a copy of anyone else's planning documents while the planner is still living. So if the relative who created this Trust is still living (and assuming it is a typical trust), usually it is entirely up to that person to decide what, if anything (or nothing)... View More

I am sorry for your loss. Married couples can hold property a few different ways and how the title reads on the deed affects what you need to do when one person passes.

Usually (but not always) married couples own property as "tenants by the entirety" - if so, then by operation... View More

A Trustee overseeing someone else's Trust is a fiduciary or someone who manages someone else's money/assets. In some situations a Trustee actually manages their own assets for their own benefit in which case their creditors could usually get at such assets. However, when a fiduciary... View More

Maryland law does not set any kind of minimum hours per week for part-time employees. It is up to the employer and employee to determine the schedule. Except for a few limited exceptions, minimum wage is not dependent on the number of hours worked and applies whether an employee works 1 or 40... View More

While it is frustrating to have significant repairs on a vehicle you recently purchased, a used vehicle that is 9 or 10 years old does not have the same warranties as a new car.

Maryland's "lemon law" applies to a NEW passenger car, light truck or motorcycle that has... View More

Business uses are limited in residential districts. What can permissibly be done in a particular zoning district varies greatly by county in Maryland. If a desired use is not allowed in a particular district in your particular county, the only options are to petition for a zoning reclassification... View More

Your post doesn't describe whether your son is the sole owner or whether he is in MD or DE. I presume that he is in MD.

If your son runs this business as a sole proprietorship a financial Power of Attorney should give persons of his choosing authority to manage his affairs,... View More

Maryland law requires that rental units be livable with essentials like heat and running water. Whether a backed up drain makes property unlivable or not would heavily depend on the circumstances. A single slow moving drain probably does not render property unlivable but if there were no working... View More

An attorney cannot realistically analyze the state of a particular title without looking at the estate filings and the deed. That said, I'll try to give some general information below that might be helpful.

"Title" and "Deed" are generally interchangeable terms... View More

Generally speaking co-owners can each freely transfer their interest in real property. However, if there are survivorship rights already in the deed a Will is ineffective to transfer to someone else (because it will go to the survivor in the deed and not be a part of the deceased person's... View More

Property is transferred to a Trust through means of a Deed or Assignment depending on whether the property has a ground rent. Different counties have additional requirements and all deeds require an intake (and in some cases affidavits). While deeds are not terribly complex, there are a lot of... View More

While there is no legal process to "forfeit land" practically speaking if the owner defaults on the annual property taxes it would go into tax sale, and if someone else purchased the property at tax sale it would have the same practical effect as forfeiting. However, a Personal... View More

Without knowing any of the context, yes, an estate may receive real property. You'd naturally want to coordinate this with the Personal Representative. 10 years is an unusually long time for an estate to remain open.

While not legal advice, I hope that this helps.

The situation you describe comes up quite frequently (where someone owns property with their mom and/or dad, gets married and wants to hold the property together with their spouse).

There are 3 different state and county-level transfer taxes that come into play with real property... View More

It all depends on how the deed was written. If the deed gave the co-owners survivorship rights, the surviving owner would own it all regardless of what the Will said (because there would be no interest to pass through the Will as it would have automatically gone to the survivor). However, if the... View More

It really isn't clear what you mean by "next of kin paperwork." Do you mean the attorney is designating you in estate planning documents? While it is very common to request addresses and phone numbers of beneficiaries, it would be quite unusual to ask for a beneficiary's... View More

If you desire to handle the probate process by yourself without paying for an attorney to handle the full estate, you may find that a hour or so consultation with an experienced estate practitioner can help provide very helpful framework and tools. The average probate case in Maryland takes 9... View More

Maryland has several different "death taxes" and it really isn't possible to define the taxes without knowing the full context. If an attorney is assisting with the estate they should be able to discuss these in depth based on the specifics of your situation. However, generally... View More

Hi,

This is a pretty common scenario. What options the family has depends in large part on where you are in the inheritance process. If the property is still in the name of the deceased person, then the Personal Representative usually has very wide discretion to sell the property and... View More

An attorney cannot realistically answer questions pertaining to someone's specific rights in property based on unknown documents without sitting down and looking at the documents in question.

That said, it would generally be "legal" for an estate to ask someone occupying... View More