Cedulie Renee Laumann

Attorney Cedulie Laumann is the managing attorney and founding member of small law firm in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The firm handles real estate, small business, and estate/trust matters.

She enjoys helping clients reach positive solutions to their legal needs. Her firm employs innovative "flat fee" billing arrangements and fee options outside the traditional hourly based approach.

"Legal Answers & Representation Relevant to YOUR needs!"

• General Civil

• Free Consultation
  10 minute no-cost free phone consult. Call 410-216-7000. We can answer many quick questions for free, or browse our website for common answers to deed, trust and other questions. Or schedule a private, in-depth consultation (1hr - 1.5 hrs) with Managing Attorney (10-20 years experience) for a flat $300 consult fee for most matters. 100% of the paid consult fee is applied towards estate planning
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  Mastercard, Visa, Discover, American Express Credit cards are only accepted for attorney fees, not for any government fees, third party fees or taxes.
• Rates, Retainers and Additional Information
  10 min no cost initial consult by phone or email. Flat fee consultations for up to 1.5 hour attorney meeting. Flat fee billing option for most matters we handle, including Estate Planning (Trusts, Wills, etc.), Business Formation (LLCs, etc.) and Real Estate (Deeds, contracts, etc.) See our pricing guide on our website for representative fees or call us. While all the firm's clients are given clear understanding of fees up-front, this list is not a promise to represent, some situations may require additional work and no attorney/client relationship is formed unless we meet and both agree.

Maryland

Since 2003

managing attorney

Arden Law Firm, LLC

Current

Adjunct Faculty

St. Joseph's University

Current

University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

Honors: Order of the Coif Top 10% of Graduating Class

Maryland State Bar

Member

2003 - Current

Q. What are the tax implications of selling a parent's home in Maryland while they are alive vs after their passing?

June 18, 2025

A: In a word, "yes". There are definitely tax implications and very often differences between selling real property during the original owner's lifetime vs. after their death. An online post cannot analyze what your specific tax consequences would be in either case (it is more of a question to pose to a tax professional familiar with your situation) but a very general outline follows.

Generally, anytime property has gone up in value (especially when property has been held for 50+ years!) capital gains taxes should be a consideration. The "gain" or increase in value is generally taxed at capital gains tax rates. To use a very simple example, if someone has $100,000 in gain and a 20% capital gains tax rate, they would pay $20,000 in capital gains tax.

When children (or others) inherit property, under current law they get a new, "stepped up" basis. That means that the new starting point for figuring out gain (or loss) is the value at the original owner's death, not the original owner's original basis.

In many situations this makes a huge difference for actual capital gains taxes owed, in others not so much. Whether the owner is living is only part of the equation. Under tax law at the time I'm writing this people can exclude $250,000 in gain for their home IF they sell it AND have lived in it as their principal residence 2 of the 5 years before selling. For example, if Mr. Jones lived in his home 20 years and moves in with his daughter 6 months before selling, he likely can exclude $250,000 worth of gain. However, if Mr. Jones moved out of his house 6 years before he sells, that exclusion no longer applies and Mr. Jones pays capital gains on the whole thing.

While it is appropriate to be thinking of these issues and asking questions, to get an answer relevant to your particular situation it is best to contact a professional who can sit down with all the relevant facts. Obviously only the owner themselves or someone with legal authority to act on their behalf can ultimately decide what to do with their own assets after considering all relevant factors. Usually any decent estate planning will at least mention capital gains as well as other considerations (for example the pros/cons of leaving property through probate vs. a revocable trust vs. other planning tools like life estate deeds). Or one could research the IRS treatment of capital gains as it relates to the sale of a residence as well as the rules surrounding getting a stepped up basis. While not legal advice I hope this general information helps. ... Read More

Q. Is a simple living trust enough for our house to avoid issues for our children in Maryland?

June 2, 2025

A: A typical Revocable Living Trust will avoid probate and give the management of property to a designated “Trustee” (the Trustee can be anyone the planner choses, often this is person is selected from among the beneficiaries if there is no need for outside management). A Trust can only control assets in the name of the Trust so it is essential to pair a Living Trust with a Deed conveying the interest to the Trust. (this is something an estate planning attorney would do together)

Your post doesn’t mention the age(s) of the children, but another option to avoid probate and transfer Maryland property seamlessly to adult children is a life estate deed although that tends to work best with a single (or perhaps 2) responsible adult beneficiaries who would co-own the property after the original owners’ passing and make all decisions together.

Discussing these options and figuring out what makes sense in your situation usually occurs in a meeting with your Estate Planning attorney. If you live in one state and have property in another typically you’d do the planning with an attorney in your state of domicile (and then engage other counsel in states where you have property to assist with the transfer of those properties to trust). While I hope the above gives helpful information it is not intended as a substitute for personalized legal advice. ... Read More

Q. Am I responsible for the mortgage if I redeem a foreclosed property with a purchased tax lien?

April 22, 2025

A: Liens have different "priority" depending on the circumstances and what you're asking is basically a question of priority. Tax liens generally have priority IF all proper procedures are followed in the tax sale foreclosure case. However, merely purchasing at tax sale in Maryland does not mean the winning bidder owns the property, nor does it mean other liens are wiped out.

Purchasing a tax lien at the tax sale is just the first step in the process. For that interest to translate to any rights in the property itself it must be followed by a tax sale foreclosure lawsuit (meaning the tax sale purchaser would file a foreclosure case in court after the sale and after the requisite time frames and pre-suit notices). In a tax sale foreclosure, the purchaser must identify and serve any mortgage company as a defendant and that lender has a right to be involved in the tax sale foreclosure proceedings.

Practically speaking, it would be very unusual for a mortgage lender to allow a property in this state to go through tax sale. Almost always the lender will pay the taxes rather than risk loosing their entire interest over a unpaid tax bill. If for some reason the lender wasn't aware of the unpaid taxes (for example maybe it was an atypical loan like a seller held mortgage and not a large national lender who tracks these sorts of things) and didn't fix this before the tax sale happened, the lender would necessarily be made aware in the later tax sale foreclosure case and have ample opportunity to pay the taxes before the tax sale purchaser ever finished the tax sale foreclosur. In the extremely unusual case that a lender made a part of the tax sale foreclosure suit let the tax sale purchaser complete the foreclosure then that loan, if the lender was properly served, would typically NOT be the burden of the tax sale purchaser. But it would be an odd string of events to get there. If for any reason the lender was not properly named then the tax sale purchaser would still owe the mortgage.

Tax sale foreclosures have very exacting and very time sensitive requirements - if you are contemplating tax sale investing I strongly encourage you to seek out an experienced tax sale attorney who can represent and guide through the process. ... Read More