LLCs, Partnerships, and Corporations: Update Re: Corporate Transparency Act

FILING REQUIREMENT REVISED PER INTERIM FINAL RULE

FinCEN  has issued an interim final rule clarifying its position with respect to enforcement of the CTA.  U.S. domestic reporting companies and U.S. domestic persons are not required to file, though international reporting companies are so required and new deadlines have been set for them.  The interim final rule follows U.S. Treasury’s March 2, 2025 announcement.

How did we get here?

The Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) took effect on January 1, 2024, requiring certain small- and medium-sized corporations, LPs, LLCs, and similar closely held entities “reporting companies” to report certain company information and beneficial ownership information reports (BOIRs) to the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”).

On December 3, 2024, a federal district court in Texas… MORE >

Linda Ravdin Takes a Bow

Linda Ravdin has retired from the practice of law at the end of 2024 after a 50-year career. She hung out a shingle (not literally; she worked from the lawyers’ lounge at D.C. Superior Court) as soon as she passed the bar and began taking court-appointed criminal defense work. Later she switched to family law. After 22 years with Pasternak & Fidis in our Domestic and Family Law Group, countless accolades from local magazines, and a major treatise under her belt, Linda will hang up her law license but retain her honorific as the Grande Dame of Prenups. Linda was an early adopter of alternative dispute resolution in domestic cases: she encouraged clients into the collaborative process or mediation where possible, and she acted as… MORE >

Using Trusts to Negotiate Marital Agreements

Marital agreements – premarital, postmarital, and marital separation agreements – generally provide for the rights of a surviving spouse and, in many cases, for the rights of a surviving former spouse. Parties negotiating such an agreement may find it useful to incorporate provisions for a trust to hold assets for the benefit of a surviving spouse or former spouse. Parties in a blended family may want to balance the economic needs of a spouse, whether the marriage ends at death or dissolution, with the wish to pass wealth to their children. A wealthy party may want to ensure that property he/she inherited from parents or grandparents stays in his/her bloodline and may not want it to end up in the hands of a surviving spouse’s… MORE >

Election’s Impact on Estate, Gift, and GST Taxes

The federal estate/gift tax exemption amount and the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption amount are both $13.61 million for 2024 (a $5 million base exemption, doubled in 2017 to $10 million and indexed for inflation). Under current law, this figure will become $13,990,000 on January 1, 2025, but it is scheduled to drop significantly on January 1, 2026, when the 2017 law that doubled the base exemption sunsets.

Now, however, we know the election results, and they portend a shift of power in both houses of Congress and the White House. Gridlock in Congress would have meant that the sunset would happen by default, but now extension of the higher exemption levels beyond the January 1, 2026 sunset date appears more likely. This may alleviate… MORE >

P&F’s Newest Partner Micah Snitzer

Micah Snitzer became a partner in the firm’s Estate Planning and Administration Group in early 2024, having joined the firm as an associate in 2014. He handles a wide range of estate planning matters, working with individuals and families to prepare wills, trusts, healthcare directives, and powers of attorney. He particularly likes the advisory role, working closely with clients to understand and achieve their estate planning objectives.

Micah grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis and earned his undergraduate degree from Colorado College, where he enjoyed the nurturing academic environment during the week and snowboarding on the weekends. He returned to Minneapolis to work as a legal assistant following graduation to gain insight into the legal profession, discovering that he truly enjoyed the work. Micah… MORE >

Congratulations to our Top Lawyers!

Congratulations to Anne Coventry, Stephanie Perry, and Linda Ravdin for making Washingtonian Magazine list of 2024’s Top Lawyers!

What Your Future Probate Paralegal Would Like You to Know

BY BETTINA RISTAU, PROBATE PARALEGAL

When someone dies, getting down to the business of administering the estate (or trust) can seem like a herculean task, especially while grieving. Below are observations made by the probate paralegal team here at Pasternak & Fidis in response to common client assumptions that we share in hopes of easing that burden for your loved ones when the time comes.

My estate documents are signed – I am all set!

Estate planning does not end when the will and trust instrument have been signed. Your estate planning attorney has created a customized plan for you and your family after considering your family structure, assets, values, and tax planning objectives. Your estate plan is, in effect, a roadmap to ensure that… MORE >

UPDATE: Maryland Divorce Law Reform

The Maryland Legislature has continued a process, begun several years ago, of modernizing Maryland divorce law. Amendments became effective October 1, 2023. The Code changes eliminated fault grounds of divorce, repealed limited divorce, and created another no-fault ground for absolute divorce.

Until the most recent Code revisions, a party filing for divorce could allege both fault grounds (adultery; desertion) and no-fault grounds (separation; mutual consent). One of the major changes is the elimination of fault grounds, bringing Maryland in line with the growing trend towards no-fault grounds as the exclusive basis for divorce. Parties can still allege fault as one of the factors in the determination of property division and spousal support.

With the recent Code amendments, Maryland now has three possible grounds for an… MORE >

Jan White Retires

Jan White retired at the end of 2022 after 50 years of practicing law, 32 of them at Pasternak & Fidis as a family lawyer. In her early years of law practice, she was a trial lawyer at Legal Aid in Durham, NC, and then at Hogan Lovells (then Hogan & Hartson) in DC. She and her husband had moved to DC because of the wealth of legal jobs for them both at a time when law schools had only recently begun to admit substantial numbers of women and there were still questions as to whether women lawyers would be encouraged in their careers.

When the Carter Administration came into office, she joined the Commerce Department as Assistant to the General Counsel, then Assistant to… MORE >

Postmarital Agreements in the DMV— Lessons from Recent Cases

A postmarital agreement is a contract governing property and support rights between spouses who have no immediate intent to divorce; by contrast a separation agreement settles economic issues between spouses who expect to divorce. Some spouses may want to use a postmarital agreement to address property issues during an ongoing marriage. A postmarital agreement may be appropriate when estranged spouses want to attempt a reconciliation but want to know in advance what their economic rights and obligations will be if the reconciliation does not come to pass. A variety of other circumstances may also cause a spouse to seek a postmarital agreement, such as when parties intended to sign a premarital agreement but ran out of time before the wedding.

Recent cases from the District,… MORE >