In the News
A Changing Landscape: How Tax Reform Has Modified the 1031 Exchange Process
Are you selling a piece of real property and looking for a way to defer the capital gains taxes owed on your investment? Due to the recent 2018 tax reform and the resulting changes made to Section 1031 of the tax code, new issues have arisen that smart sellers and buyers must take into account before deciding that a “1031 Exchange” is wise decision. To put it simply, a 1031 Exchange allows an investor to “defer” paying capital gains taxes on a property when it is sold, as long another ...
The New Maryland Trust Act Allows Spouses To Protect Marital Assets From Creditors After Death While Still Avoiding The Estate Tax.
Only married couples may own property jointly as tenants by the entireties. Whenever possible, it is advisable for them to do so. This is because this form of ownership gives each spouse full rights to the property, including the right of survivorship, but does not allow creditors to seize the property if the property is used as collateral for a loan and the spouse who put up the property as collateral dies without paying off the loan. Traditionally, one drawback to this estate-planning appr...
Federal and State Overtime Rules – Don’t Get Snagged!
Federal and local law regulates overtime pay and hourly wage minimums of certain classes of employees; other laws require employees paid either twice per month or every two weeks. There are severe penalties for not following these laws. Do you comply? Are you exempt from overtime laws based upon the status of the employee? If you pay employees hourly, the employees must be paid overtime. Even if you have employees on a salary basis, their classification as “managerial” or “overtime-exemp...
Paid Sick and Safe Leave Now Required In Montgomery County, MD
If you are a business owner in Montgomery County, MD and have more than one employee who works in the County, you must provide your employee(s) with paid sick and safe leave unless: the employee does not have a regular work schedule, contacts the employer for work assignments and schedules work within 48 hours after contact, has no obligation to work for the employer unless he/she initiates the contact AND is not employed by a temporary placement agency; the employee regularly works less than ni...
Legal Tools all Employers Should Consider: Importance of Employment Releases and Arbitration Clauses
Quite some time ago, the young attorney mentioned to his mentor that “the laws must have been so much easier on business when you were young.” Replied his mentor, “sure, that’s what I said to my mentor!” For employers, the law keeps moving away from the employer to the employee. However, there are still a few tools left that all employers should consider. These tools are the employment release forms and carefully-drawn employment handbooks containing mandatory arbitration clauses. ...
Limiting Employer Liability: The DC Wage Theft Prevention Amendment Act of 2014
This past DC Council Session, the Council passed The Wage Theft Prevention Amendment Act of 2014 (“Act”); following the Congressional review period, the Act became effective last year. The Act amended several DC wage and hour laws, greatly increased employer obligations and expanded the potential for employer liability.1 Accordingly, employers must review this article to learn how to mitigate liability under this new law. Generally, the Act requires employers to document pay for al...
WARNING: Your Employees May Become Your Competitors
Employers who fail to plan properly will find out that former employees can quickly become their direct competitors. Unless you have in place “non-competition/non-solicitation agreements”, your ex-employees will be free to poach your customers or clients – and you will be powerless to prevent it. Take the case of Allan M. Dworkin, D.D.S. v. Blumenthal, 77 Md. App. 774 (1989): A dentist hires a young dentist to work for him at his practice. The young dentist leaves and takes the cli...
New Survey Standards – Don’t Just Rely On Certifications!
February 23, 2016 was an important date for the real estate industry when the new 2016 ALTA/NSPS* Survey Standards went into effect – long and short, this 8 th revision of the survey standards mean that owners and lenders should no long assume that a “recertified survey” is just as good as a new survey! Every few years, the industry clarifies and updates standards. Standards change and title insurance coverage changes. If the owner or lender want to be assured that the survey exception ...
Why Form Your LLC In Delaware?
Often, we are asked why you should form a limited liability company (LLC) in Delaware rather than somewhere else. Although there are duplicative annual filing fees and registered agents fees (add another $500 – $800 per year), there are some important and beneficial reasons why the decision should be made to form the LLC in Delaware. Consider the following: REASON #1 – BUSINESS EXPERIENCE. For many decades, Delaware has been the go-to venue for business; courts routinely deal with busi...
“Discretion” Matters in Leases – Mandate Arbitration
Commercial leases call for the landlord’s discretion in many instances; three of these instances are very important to all tenants: Any changes to the premises The “use” clause for the premises Any change in the makeup of the tenant(s) All of these require a quick and efficient answer without the tenant spending time, money, and other resources waiting for a court to determine if the landlord was reasonable or acting properly under the lease. Too often, attorneys overlook these pro...
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