Practice Areas

Real Estate
Real Property Transfers
• transfers between family members
• transfers between individual(s) and entity
• transfers between spouses upon divorce

Private Transactions
• Loan Documentation
• For Sale By Owner Transactions

Agreements Between non-Married Persons Purchasing Real Estate
If you are considering purchasing a home with someone not your spouse, we strongly advise you enter into an agreement which describes what happens when the property is sold, or if one or the other party no longer wants to be an owner.

Wills
If you are interested in a will, the procedure is as follows. Our office will forward to you a questionnaire via email or regular mail. Once you have looked that over we will set up a short in-office appointment where we will answer any questions you may have and discuss fees relative to your particular case. We will then prepare the draft documents and send along to you for review. Changes will be made as necessary and then we will schedule an appointment for you to come to the office and execute documents.

Typically when we do a will package for an individual or couple, we also prepare a General Durable Power of Attorney and Health Care Power of Attorney. The powers of attorney provide for the situation where you are incapable of making decisions for yourself. This might be anything from being out of the area on travel, to incapacitated from a car accident or other injury.

The whole process takes about a month, under normal circumstances. If you have need for a faster turnaround we can most likely accommodate you.

Common Questions

The only thing I own of value is my house. Can’t I just add my son/daughter’s name to the deed and avoid the need for a will? You can do that, but there may be tax implications that you are not aware of. I advise clients to check with their accountant regarding in this situation, to make sure they are are not making an expensive mistake. In any event, you should still have a will and powers of attorney, even if you think you have no assets of value.

We would like my sister to care for our children, if something happens to me and my husband, but she is not very good with money. Can you provide for this situation? Yes. In this situation you would appoint your sister as guardian of your children, and name another individual as trustee of the funds left to take care of them.

I have a life insurance policy and several IRAs. How will those be included in my will? Life insurance policy benefits, IRAs and bank accounts pass outside of a will, if you have a beneficiary names. You should consult with your insurance agent and financial advisor to make sure that you have beneficiaries named for all of your accounts.

What is the difference between an “executor” and the person named to have “power of attorney”? The Executor is the person who sees to the administration of your will. This includes details such as funeral arrangements, probate filings, sale and distribution of property and tax filings, all per the instructions written in your will. Your executor should be a person who is capable of these administrative tasks, or is comfortable hiring an attorney to help. The person named as your power of attorney should be a person you trust to make decisions on your behalf when you can’t. The person with your power of attorney has discretion, and an executor is following your instructions in the will. One other difference is that your power of attorney acts when you are still alive, the executor acts after you have passed.

Divorce
Our office handles uncontested divorces. This means that both parties are in agreement they want to be divorced, but simply need someone to help them work out a property settlement agreement and take the case through the court system.

If you live in Virginia and have no children, you are eligible for divorce after six (6) months’ separation if you have a property settlement agreement.

If you live in Maryland, the separation period is one year.

Small Business Matters
We can help with choosing and forming an entity, reviewing leases or other contracts, and other general matters. We urge business clients to form a relationship with an accountant as well, so that we can all work together. If your business is owned by more than one person, we can help you with an operating agreement and a buy-sell agreement.

An operating agreement is for limited liability companies, and it describes the basic terms of your business agreement. For example, it names the person who is authorized to lend and borrow money on behalf of the company, and the percentage interest of each member. A buy-sell agreement describes what happens if one person dies or for some reason no longer wants to be involved in the business.

IRS §1031 Exchanges—Qualified Intermediary
If you are interested in a §1031 Exchange, you should contact our office or other qualified intermmediary well in advance of the sale of your investment property.

Name Changes

Registered Agent Services