Of Interest
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...
Website Compliance Under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
Recently, there have been a plethora of “professional plaintiffs” filing lawsuits against clients under the ADA based upon “website compliance;” this is a follow-up by the same professional plaintiffs who filed dozens of ADA lawsuits last winter against some of our clients. The purpose of this article is to advise you to ensure that you ask your web designer if your website is compliant with the ADA. Note: This article does not reflect compliance standards under local laws. For example,...
Secure Act 2.0: Changes To Retirement Plans Are Coming Your Way
If you are a business owner or an employee, your retirement plans may have changed following Congress’s bipartisan $1.7 trillion spending bill, Secure Act 2.0. Inside the bill, which is headed to the President for signing, are provisions directed toward increasing retirement savings and access to 401(k) and other individual retirement accounts for low- and middle-income workers. Some of the key retirement provisions of the legislation include: Starting in 2025, many businesses must enr...
PPP at 8 or PPP at 24 Weeks … Which Best for You? Read this First
Under new PPP regulations, borrowers with loans dated June 5th or earlier can elect to use either the original 8-week schedule or the new 24-week schedule to spend their PPP funding while still qualifying for forgiveness. Meanwhile, later borrowers are automatically subject to the 24-week period. For those early borrowers, there can be significant consequences - and benefits – depending on their decision – read on. Tempted at 24 but maybe 8? Although many borrowers might be tempted...
HOW TO GET READY FOR “PPP FORGIVENESS” MAKING IT HAPPEN!
So your business received PPP funding and you meet all the qualifications of forgiveness… What happens next? At the end of the covered period, you will need to work closely with your lender to begin the forgiveness process. Although your lender should be experienced and prepared to walk you through the process and although regulations are still in flux, this article is meant to give businesses an idea of what to expect when it comes time to apply for loan forgiveness. Have your documents r...
BREAKING NEWS: How Relaxation of PPP Guidelines Affects You and Answers to Your PPP Questions
On June 5th, The Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act became law after it was signed by the President – having received nearly unanimous support in both the House and Senate. This new law relaxed some of the regulations, and many businesses may be wondering how this affects PPP funding. Although the regulations are still in flux, the purpose of this article is to provide a concise snapshot of how PPP funding can be used to qualify for forgiveness. Because self-employed individuals and ...
IS YOUR INVESTMENT IN BANKRUPTCY? WHAT IS CLAWBACK AND SHOULD YOU BE CONCERNED? DON’T THROW IN THE TOWEL IF CLAIMS ARE MADE FOR CLAWBACK
Giving Back What You Got? Federal bankruptcy and state insolvency laws permit a bankrupt or insolvent company to “claw back” or recover payments made to investors and third parties. Most understand bankruptcy laws – but beware that all states have some kind of “insolvency laws” which is similar to bankruptcy laws but only applicable to a particular state’s proceedings. Both procedures claw back money and assets in these cases for a variety of reasons. Most important is that, i...
D.C. Wage Payment: Pay the Right Amount and Stay Out of Trouble
If you are an employer in the District of Columbia, your employees are owed certain compensation. To avoid wage disputes and substantial fines, make sure your employees have been properly paid for their work. How much and when do you need to pay your employees? Under the District of Columbia Minimum Wage Act, most employees within the District of Columbia are protected and must be paid the minimum wage. The minimum wage in the District increased to $16.10 per hour on June 1, 2022. Ti...
EMPLOYMENT HANDBOOKS → EMPLOYMENT CLAIM INSURANCE
Clients are overwhelmed with government regulations in business operations and oftentimes overlook one important tool that can provide some insurance against many employee claims: the employment handbook. With the “welcome mat” that most courts give employees for just about any grievance against employers, the employment handbook can be a valuable defense shield against many of these lawsuits. When weighed against the significant dollars that a single employee lawsuit can cost, the employme...
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...