The Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") gives "eligible employees" of "covered employers" the right to take unpaid leave of up to 12 weeks for the birth of a child. Not every employee is covered under this law. You may wish to talk with your HR department and/or an... View More

Generally speaking, how a bank account will be disbursed will depend on how the account was titled. If, for instance, an account is titled as tenants in common, then a portion (typically 1/2) will need to go through an estate while the remaining portion would not. On the other hand, bank accounts... View More

Hi. Handling a deceased person's property all depends on how they were listed on title. Depending on how the deed is titled, sometimes this requires opening an estate, sometimes the people remaining on title have immediate sole ownership, allowing them to sell or otherwise deal with the... View More

Suicide is often a recognized criminal offense. "Illegal" means something is against the law and the likelihood of prosecution does not generally change the nature of the action.

If the question is "can an individual make a loan to a business they own," the answer is "generally, yes." The individual would of course need to report any interest income received. If the question is "can a business make a loan to an individual who owns the... View More

A business owner in Maryland generally has the option of either purchasing Workers Comp for themselves or waiving it. Naturally the business must provide workers comp for all its employees. Typically the LLC members are not true "employees." Any workers compensation carrier should... View More

Generally any available name can be registered so long as it is not "misleadingly similar" to an existing name.

Employees not paid wages generally have two options: file a complaint with the Dept of Labor and let the government investigate or file suit. Maryland law specifically allows an employee to recover up to 3x the amount of unpaid wages plus their legal fees if they win a case against the employer... View More

It is possible to start litigation (i.e., file a lawsuit) to force a sale of jointly owned property. This type of litigation is called a sale in lieu of partition action. However, litigation entails not only attorney fees and court costs but also the fees of the trustee who would be appointed to... View More

The law generally allows people to agree to whatever terms they chose, whether "reasonable" or not. Maryland has usury laws which prevent excessively high rates of interest. The presumptive "legal rate" of interest in Maryland is 6% but there are numerous exceptions to this... View More

Generally speaking an estate must be opened in the deceased person's name to transfer property out of the estate. To clear up title that has been in the name of a deceased person for >100 years one will almost certainly need to file an action to quiet title. All of the interested persons... View More

To have clear and marketable title a Seller must make good on all perfected liens before selling. In some cases (rare) a buyer might take title "subject to" existing liens. However, the Settlement / title company should reach out and ask for a pay-off. It is not their job to calculate... View More

Generally speaking interest is a function of market rates so long as it does not violate usury laws. There are caps on the amount of interest a private party can charge. The IRS publishes minimum long-term interest rates (loans at lower rates may be classified differently) which at last check were... View More

Generally speaking only the borrower(s) who signed is/are personally responsible for debt, although obviously the lienholder / mortgage company has rights to take back the property if the loan isn't paid. At times, however, relatives "assume" a mortgage, in which case they step in... View More

The Operating Agreement should describe how the owners ("partners") vote on decisions in a particular LLC and also explain what % vote is necessary to pass a resolution. If an LLC does not have an operating agreement it would be wise to create one. Maryland does have some default... View More

The city (or county) does not change title, so unless the family opened up an estate the title would remain in the deceased person's name.

Anybody can redeem the property before the tax sale foreclosure case awards judgment to the tax sale purchaser. As you point out, however,... View More

There are 3 places to look. First, every condominium files a "declaration" in the Land Records with rules governing the use and operation of the condos. While not "law," these rules legally bind the owners. Second, the Maryland Annotated Code, Real Property article, has... View More

An attorney would need to look at the deeds to answer your question. Being listed on the tax bill may or may not have anything to do with being on the deed. Oftentimes in Maryland the first name (or possibly two) will be listed on the tax bill. To figure out if a deed was filed you may want to... View More

Your question asks about capital gains. Generally speaking, under IRS rules, if you live in a home as your principal residence for 2 of the 5 years before you sold it, the first $250,000 of gain may be excluded from income. The IRS' website has a detailed publication on the topic of capital... View More

"Good standing" means that the corporate entity has filed its annual personal property returns each year. The annual $300 filing fee is waived for non-stock corporations but the entity still must file its returns. The State Department of Assessments and Taxation can give you the... View More