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. 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

Q. Can my mom buy a house in MD, but put only my name on the title?

April 22, 2025

A: At least 2 other options would avoid probate without triggering the need for a gift tax return and without losing the stepped up basis as would happen with an outright gift purchase. One such option is to hold the property in a Revocable Living Trust, the other would be to hold through a life estate deed with full powers. A third option would be owning as joint tenants with right of survivorship, which would require a gift tax return for 1/2 of the value but which would at least provide a partial stepped up basis.

The original post mentions the existence of a living trust though it isn’t clear why the existing trust wouldn’t be utilized to acquire title to the new property.



If for whatever reason the intent was to deal with this specific home separately from the existing trust, a life estate deed may provide a very straight-forward transfer option that allows the property to stay your mother’s principal residence and transfer the property outside of probate by operation of law at her death.

Your mom is strongly encouraged to talk through the specifics with an attorney before making the purchase. While responses on this online platform are not legal advice, I hope this response helps. ... Read More

Q. Steps to transfer a home from a trust to a single beneficiary in Maryland.

April 12, 2025

A: The post mentions both an executor, an estate and a trust. While it might be tempting to think of all of these things as the same (they all help pass property from the person who died to the beneficiaries), from a legal standpoint they are quite different. If the property is in a Trust, it will not come into the Executor (Personal Representative)'s hands. Instead the Trustee of the Trust would control and distribute. On the other hand, if the home is handled by the Executor of the probate estate, it would need to be described on an accounting filed with the court and the Personal Representative could distribute to a single beneficiary upon filing an agreement of heirs with the accounting.

If the home is in the Trust and the Trustee is managing it, the Trustee will usually need to distribute as per the Trust instrument (many Trusts will restrict the right of beneficiaries to assign). This would be by means of a deed. It is not uncommon for family to agree on an alternate distribution. In that case, an attorney will often prepare and file back to back deeds to accomplish the agreed-upon result. Whether or not any taxes apply depends heavily on the circumstances.

Inheritance tax in MD only applies if the beneficiary is not an immediate family member or descendant. So if the intended beneficiary is a child or grandchild of the person who died, inheritance tax would not apply, while if they were a niece or nephew for example it would. Besides inheritance tax, Maryland also has a "death tax" that applies to large estates and the federal government has additional death taxes that apply to very large estates. Additionally, transfer and recordation taxes may or may not be assessed on a deed depending on the situation (usually transfers out of an estate or trust to an exempt person are exempt from transfer tax).

Our firm regularly handles estate and trust transfers, as do many other firms, and usually a 10-15 minute conversation can clarify the exact steps necessary. A deed would be required, but the other steps will vary. I note that while another post mentions "disclaimers" that is a very precise legal term and sometimes by disclaiming heirs accidentally and unintentionally complicate things (a disclaimer acts as though the person disclaiming died first, it is not the same as as assigning an interest from one heir to another). Bottom line, family agreeing that one person gets the house is a relatively common scenario but one that would be best navigated with legal counsel.

The above is intended as helpful general information and not a substitute for legal advice. ... Read More