Estate Tax Changes Under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

• Related Attorney(s):
• M. David Stallings

• Practice Area(s):
• Estates and Trusts

Effective January 1, 2018, the federal estate tax underwent a massive overhaul with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”), permitting each individual to pass up to $11.2 million at death completely free from federal estate tax.  With proper planning, married couples will now be able to pass $22.4 million to their heirs at the death of the surviving spouse.  To that end, “portability” remains intact such that the surviving spouse can stack the deceased spouse’s unused exemption to his or her own federal estate tax exemption.

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Maryland Healthy Working Families Act: Employer Best Practices to Avoid Traps for the Unwary

• Related Attorney(s):
• Paul M. Finamore

• Practice Area(s):
• Employment Law

The Maryland General Assembly voted to override Governor Hogan’s veto of the sick and safe leave provisions of the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act on January 18, 2018. Niles Barton's Employment Partner Paul Finamore draws attention to the traps in the law for employers as they implement the provisions before February 11, 2018. 

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Increasing Risk of Data Breaches Prompt New Legal Requirements for Maryland Businesses

• Related Attorney(s):
• Paul M. Finamore, 
• Bethany P. Neeb

• Practice Area(s):
• Business and Corporate Law, 
• Employment Law

Although recent data breaches involving large corporations such as Equifax, eBay, Target and Yahoo are well known for their widescale size and impact, there are thousands of other breaches occurring daily. Maryland’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) defines a breach and sets forth the requirements for businesses (which includes any type of business entity, including non-profits) facing a data breach. PIPA has been amended to expand the scope of the statute effective January 1, 2018. 

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GOP Tax Bill Proposes Estate Tax Repeal…Hooray?

• Related Attorney(s):
• M. David Stallings

• Practice Area(s):
• Estates and Trusts, 
• Tax Law

On November 2, the GOP released its tax reform bill, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H. R. 1), which proposes to phase out the federal estate tax, a.k.a. the “Death Tax,” over the next five years and beginning in 2018 increase the federal estate tax exemption to $10,000,000 per person. The proposed repeal of the estate tax - while flashy for headlines – does not impact the overwhelming majority of estates, which will be affected by several important factors: the extent of your wealth, and where you live.

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