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In the January issue of the McMillan Metro Alert, we advised our clients that the State of Maryland had carved out a limited exemption from the 10% inheritance tax for the devise of an interest in a principal residence jointly owned by domestic partners to the surviving partner along with the requirements for qualifying for the exemption. Because of this change in the law, domestic partners may want

Earlier this year, the Maryland Attorney General (“AG”) issued a long awaited opinion regarding the treatment in Maryland of same sex marriages validly created in other jurisdictions. While the AG’s opinion did not constitute a change in the laws of Maryland relating to the rights of same sex couples in Maryland to marry in the state, the opinion created quite a furor among the opponents of same

Because domestic partners in Maryland presently have no legally recognized relationship to one another, when one domestic partner dies, the devise of his or her estate to the other is subject to the Maryland inheritance tax at the rate of ten percent (10%). This is one of the greatest costs for which unmarried couples must plan, either by purchasing sufficient insurance or otherwise. The Maryland

There are two things you can count on - death and taxes! Both of these issues can be addressed in a Will. If you die without a Will, the assets of your estate will be distributed according to the laws of intestacy in the state of your domicile. In Maryland, distribution of assets owned by a decedent without a Will is as follows:

• If you are survived by your spouse and have no children

The need for a divorced individual to look at all of his or her beneficiary designations on his or her retirement plans was made clear this week in a unanimous Supreme Court decision which upheld the beneficiary designation set forth in a retirement plan over the waiver of rights to the retirement plan under a divorce decree. In Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings and Investment Plan,