When you give an individual power of attorney , you allow that individual to make legal, financial, or other decisions in your stead. If you choose to grant power of attorney, you may opt to turn over decision-making immediately, or only under certain circumstances. Health care power of attorney is a document that allows a person you trust to make decisions on your behalf in terms of health care and treatment options if you are unable to communicate or make these decisions for yourself. Without this document, health care decisions will fall to family members in an order specified by state law. You can find out more about granting health care power of attorney in this informative video; if you have other questions about this document or about any other aspect of estate planning or will writing, contact your lawyer in Baltimore for personalized answers and advice.

When you hire an estate planning attorney in Baltimore , it is important to ask the right questions so you can make the best choices for yourself and your heirs. There are many different things to consider when make an estate plan, so it can helpful to prepare your questions in advance so that you don’t overlook anything. Consider adding these questions to your list for your meeting.

What kind of experience do you have?

Estate law can be extremely complex, and it changes frequently. It is important to hire an estate lawyer with experience in the field, rather than an attorney who is simply willing to make a plan for you. The advice and information you get from an experienced attorney is invaluable, and by working with an experienced estate lawyer, you can feel better about the decisions you’re making and how they will impact your heirs.

Can you help me with a trust?

Not all estate planning attorneys are willing or able to help you establish a revocable or irrevocable trust, so if this is one of your goals, ask your prospective attorney up front if he or she can manage your request. There are many advantages to setting up a trust and using it in place of a will for some families, so ideally, your attorney will help you decide if a trust is right for you and assist you in setting it up.

Is it possible to avoid probate?

Many people who are making plans for their estate wish to avoid probate for their heirs if it is possible. Going through probate is time-consuming and costly, and can cause conflict within the surviving family members. Ideally, an estate planning attorney can guide you towards options, like trusts, that can limit the probate process. If it isn’t possible to avoid probate, ask your attorney if he or she will be available to guide your heirs through the process.

During the estate planning process, it is important to consider the implications of estate taxes. If you have a sizable estate, estate taxes can command a significant portion of your assets. Fortunately, an estate lawyer in Baltimore can help you plan to reduce or avoid the burden of estate tax on your beneficiaries.

Watch this video to learn more about the estate tax. This tax is levied on an estate that exceeds that year’s benchmark at the rate that is in effect that the person’s time of death. These rates are changed frequently by the government. Through careful estate planning, you can distribute your estate in your will in a way that protects your loved ones from this tax and preserves your resources.

Wills are legally binding documents that state your wishes regarding issues such as the division or inheritance of your personal assets and the custodianship of your children. Like wills and trusts, an advanced directive is a legal document designed for use in the future. This document can be created at any time with the help of your attorney in Baltimore .

An advanced directive gives instructions regarding important healthcare decisions. This document is used in the event that you cannot speak or communicate for yourself, whether due to age, disease, or an accident. An advanced directive may be used to give healthcare power of attorney to an individual of your choosing, or may override your family’s wishes if they conflict with yours. This short video provides more information about advanced directives and their function.

Consulting an attorney in Glen Burnie is an essential first step toward forming your business. An attorney can help you work through key questions that inform the structure of your new company. For example, he or she can help you determine whether a partnership, corporation, s-corporation (S-Corp), or limited liability company (LLC) would be more beneficial. An estate attorney can also help you consider how your estate planning needs may change after you open your doors for business, considering life insurance policies to pay debts of the business, buy-sell agreements with business partners in case one partner predeceases the other, and a partnership agreement. Another reason why you should develop a good working relationship with an attorney while your business is still in the planning stage is that your lawyer can help you strategize the resolution of future disputes, such as by going through mediation or making sure your attorney fees are paid for by the customer if you ever need to sue a customer for non-payment.

Businesses are often affected by federal, state, and local compliance requirements. For instance, if you plan to hire employees, your lawyer can walk you through the process of developing a written workplace discrimination/harassment policy. If you plan to offer your employees retirement benefits, you’ll need to provide required notices to you employees and submit certain governmental filings. An attorney can help your company remain in full compliance.

As a business owner, we all must now deal with potential online negative reviews. The question is not if you will get a negative review, the question is when. What is frustrating to a business is often the negative review comes after providing high quality service or product, but the customer or client disagrees and may not understand. It is tempting to considering writing into your contract prohibitions against negative reviews or mandatory liquidated damages should a customer write a negative review. Especially in industries such as medicine and legal where ethics and laws may prohibit responding to a negative review.

The problem with prohibiting a negative review is you can be accused of deceptive trade practices, violation of consumer protection laws, restraint on trade, and potentially other civil (and possible criminal) ramifications. The US Federal Trade Commission has begun this attack by filing a Motion for Restraining Order against Roca Labs who sells a non-surgical gastric bypass product. When you purchase the product, you have two options: 1) pay three times as much and have the right to post as many negative reviews as you like; or 2) pay 1/3 of the price and agree to never post a negative review or tell any potential customer that the product did not work or made you sick. If you elected option 2, you could be facing a breach of contract penalty of $100,000.00.

Companies need to be careful and should consult with a business lawyer in Anne Arundel County that understands the changing landscape of the business world. There are steps to help receive positive reviews and steps to minimize negative reviews. Before responding to a negative review, companies need to understand what can and cannot be disclosed. Before writing a contract that prohibits negative reviews, a business should consult with a lawyer who can provide advice on whether to include a provision and if so help narrowly draft a position to prevent it from being sued by a government agency or private party.