Getting divorced at 54 is very different from getting divorced at 34. You have fewer working years left to save money for the future, and your estate plan will need big changes. After a divorce, the money that once paid for one household now has to pay for two. Your retirement savings, the people you...
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A divorce ends your marriage, but it doesn’t update your estate plan for you. Maryland law changes a few things on its own when a marriage ends. Everything else stays the way you and your former spouse set it up. That’s where problems start. An old beneficiary form, a trust that names your ex to...
Somewhere in your home, you probably have a folder with your estate planning documents. They likely still have the same names, the same backup choices, and the same signatures from before your divorce. A divorce doesn’t update those documents for you. Some stop protecting you as soon as your divorce case is filed. Others keep...
Many couples sign a prenup or postnup at one point in their lives and make a will at another. Often, different lawyers write each one. Neither document may take the other into account. A marital agreement can have a big effect on your estate plan. Sometimes the agreement controls what happens. Other times, your estate...
Once your adoption is final, your family may feel complete. Most parents aren’t thinking about their will at that moment. But if you made your will before the adoption, it may not match your family anymore. Adoption changes legal relationships in several ways. Some of those changes happen automatically. Others only happen if you update...
Yes, but they are not called a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL). In Maryland they are referred to as a Best Interest Attorney (BIA). Maryland courts in family law cases can also appoint different types of attorneys. The court can appoint a best interest attorney, child advocate attorney, or child’s privilege attorney. Understanding that distinction matters....
When a marriage ends in Maryland, few issues are more important (or complex) than the valuation of marital property. Whether you own a family home in Anne Arundel County, a retirement portfolio built over decades, or a collection of assets that has appreciated significantly during the marriage, the numbers assigned to each item will directly...
When a notice arrives setting the date for someone to walk through your home and weigh whether it fits your child, few visits feel more exposing. The person at your door is usually a best interest attorney (BIA), the role Maryland uses in place of the older guardian ad litem (GAL). Sorting out the Maryland...