There are a variety of planning tools someone can use to name beneficiaries while keeping power to freely change those designations. Perhaps, if your grandmother got good advice, the deed is a life estate deed with full powers still vested in the planner. If so, she could change it freely by a... View More

An online post cannot fully answer specific questions about a specific estate, but generally speaking one way or the other the mortgage needs to be paid and in nearly all scenarios this legally is treated as an estate expense.

If an estate lacks liquid funds (cash) to pay the mortgage,... View More

When a house has a mortgage on it, the mortgage will need to be paid one way or another. Either the estate will pay off the loan with other cash and deed the house free and clear, the house will be sold and the loan paid at closing or the house will be conveyed to heirs "subject to" the... View More

This question comes up quite often.

Most of the time the person making the trust will be the initial trustee and designate others to serve after their death or incapacity. Whether hiring a professional trustee is feasible or not depends in part on how long you want/need trust oversight.... View More

Federal law requires reporting to the IRS information on all real estate sales. There is no way around this and no matter which title company is handling a closing SSNs will need to be supplied.

If one is incorrectly named in a lawsuit the typical response is to file a Motion to Dismiss.

However, as with any legal matter, it would be prudent to sit down with an attorney to go over the specific lawsuit filed against you. While not legal advice I hope this general information helps.

You may wish to post this in South Carolina so that attorneys barred in that jurisdiction can answer you. A Maryland attorney cannot explain South Carolina law.

It isn't clear what the post means by "I also have a fiduciary one in Maryland"? Perhaps consider re-posting... View More

You may want to reach out to the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), headquartered in Maryland, for resources.

While not legal advice I hope this helps.

Yes, one would generally want to update the deed itself to preserve rights in the property. Otherwise if the spouse owning property predeceases the property would go through their probate estate and then it would require asserting claims against the estate. Doing nothing to outline the rights now... View More

Thanks for your post. One beneficiary/heir buying out the other(s) presents a fairly common scenario.

When an estate has enough other liquid assets, then to eliminate transfer taxes it often makes sense to distribute the real estate entirely to the child who wants to acquire it and... View More

An attorney would first need to know what you mean by "wholesale" -- do you intend to try and sell the property without ever coming into title? Or do you simply mean that you intend to buy property in bulk and once you have acquired same in your / your business name, resell to third... View More

Great question! In many situations, a new deed will trigger the "due on sale" clause in loan paperwork and require immediate repayment of the mortgage in full (for example if someone deeds all or part of their home or attempts to sell the house without paying off the loan).

A... View More

Most real estate lawyers should be able to assist with such a transfer and the applicable deed affidavits and forms.

The transfer you describe (from a general partnership to 2 corporations owned by different owners than the general partnership) sounds like it would be subject to... View More

Generally speaking Maryland law does not give anyone the right to demand an inheritance going to anyone else, even their spouse. That said, depending on how planning documents are drafted and order of death, sometimes people do wind up with an inheritance intended to go their spouse.... View More

Hi and thanks for posting a real estate question.

The first variable is whether your father's wife is still living. This appears to be a life estate to your father's wife, with the life estate ending if the life tenant moves out or remarries.

You describe a position... View More

Whatever informal arrangement might exist, formal custody is determined by the courts. You're asking questions that really would benefit from sitting down and consulting with a family law attorney who can go over all the specifics of your situation and the options to seek formal guardianship... View More

The law prevents attorneys from "price fixing" or agreeing to charge a uniform fee for services so this is not the place to get an answer on fees. That said, I can understand your desire to get a sense of what costs might be involved before you retain an attorney. Some firms might... View More

Generally speaking the right to get out of a lease is set by the lease.

That said, Maryland offers a procedure called "rent escrow" when a landlord refuses to repair serious issues. Although the landlord may not voluntarily let a tenant out of a lease early, if the conditions... View More

First, if you are homeless with children the immediate need would seem to be to secure housing for your family. A variety of government and non-government agencies are available to help. The local Department of Social Services may be a good place to start, or you may want to reach out to an... View More

The code section you reference applies to ratio billing systems (in other words utilities that are not separately metered but instead allocated amongst tenants by the landlord). According to the code, certain information about same must be provided to prospective tenants before a lease starts.... View More