Timothy P. Leahy, Maryland & Washington D.C. Attorney, can be contacted at (703) 850-7055.

We do our Wills, Powers of Attorneys, and other Estate Documents to care for our loved ones after our deaths. However, if you become mentally incapacitated you won’t be legally competent to do that Planning. The result can be family fighting over control of you, your financial assets, and result in court litigation.

People make the mistake of putting off their Planning until it’s too late. Often this occurs after they have diminished capacity. That doesn’t mean completely incapable, it means not as capable as you once were. This can be a result of trauma or disease such as dementia.

When a person with diminished capacity creates legal documents those documents may be challenged and result in the family fighting and litigation you were trying to avoid.

The solution is easy. Plan now while you are inarguably competent. If you have diminished capacity have your Doctor examine you and write a report indicating you were capable enough to execute legal documents. Your attorney can record an interview with you as competency evidence. You can never prevent all litigation but you can take common sense steps to minimize the chances of litigation and, in the process, save your family from strife.

Maryland recently passed an amendment to their speed camera law that makes clear that jurisdictions can’t contract with vendors to pay a Bounty for every speed camera citation issued. The new law will close the loophole that allows localities to claim they are exempt from the original ban on paying per-ticket bounties to speed camera contractors by using a verbal trick. However that ban was always in place as the original statute prohibited the bounty. The jurisdictions simply took the legal position that their contractors weren’t “operating” the speed camera system.

So. Is it a guarantee that the bounties will end? No. The problem is that the statute allows self-enforcing by the governments. Since no attorney general has gone after the towns for violating the statute before, on the bounty or the requirement to have a law enforcement officer review the tickets, the jurisdictions can act with the knowledge that the penalty provision isn’t likely to be enforced. This is especially true as the jurisdiction will still have a financial incentive not to return the collected money.

The lesson? The bounty will end when we elect local government who serve the people and obey the spirit as well as the letter of the law.

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/44/4427.asp

The Senate voted March 20, 2014 to approve legislation to”allegedly” tighten the rules under which local governments can use cameras to enforce speed laws, adding “new” protections for drivers against wrongly issued tickets. The law would bar localities from signing new contracts with vendors under which the companies get a “bounty” for each ticket issued. However this is more of a reminder to our elected officials as the law, Md. Transportation Sec. 21-809 (j), already prohibits a contractor who operates a speed camera system for a government from being paid on a per paid ticket basis.

Although the proposed legislation is a nice and gentle reminder any legislation needs teeth – penalties against elected officials – who have already shown a willingness to ignore what the law already says.

I’m a big fan of Christmas in April, and the hard work they do, and have been doing for as long as I can remember. It is inspiring to see a community come together, to literally work together, and to transform a home to help out our neighbors who can’t do it for themselves. As a parent I’m proud to see my children joining in this spirit.

Every charity needs funds. Christmas in April raises money to buy the home improvement supplies necessary to fix homes. Christmas in April for Prince George’s County is having  a lunch/diner fundraiser on March 27th, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Old Line Bistro in Beltsville. If you mention Christmas in April a portion of your bill will be donated to  Christmas in April for Prince George’s County. Any support will be appreciated, not just by Old Line or by Christmas in April, but by our whole community.