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By Family Law Attorney Sara Khaki, founder and owner of Atlanta Divorce Law Group. 

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) made extensive changes to many different aspects of corporate and individual taxation. From corporate tax cuts to increases in the estate tax limit, most individuals felt the impact of the changes in some way or another.

One of the more significantly impacted areas, however, has been divorce and alimony, because the TCJA turned the negotiation of alimony between spouses completely on its head.

“Under the old tax laws, alimony payments were an above-the-line deduction, meaning that for the individual making the payment, it’s as if they never actually earned what they paid out,” said Sara Khaki, an Atlanta Alimony Attorney with the Atlanta Divorce Law Group. “It gave the spouse seeking alimony payments a very powerful tool to argue for a higher alimony payment.”

The spouse receiving alimony had to claim the payment as income, meaning that it was taxed, but because a spouse receiving alimony very often had a low income, the taxation was much less than it would have been in the hands of the higher-earning spouse. This normally resulted in a positive result for both parties — more income for one and less tax for the other.

Under the TCJA, this scenario is reversed. Alimony payments are no longer deductible by the spouse paying, but they are not treated as income to the spouse receiving them. The argument in favor of this change is that the spouse receiving the income will have more spending power, and since it will not get added to any other income the may have, there is more of an economic impact overall for the spouse receiving the funds.

However, what it has also done is give more power to the higher-earning spouse, who is now able to tell the other spouse that because of the increased amount of taxes owed, the actual amount of money available to make alimony payments is much lower. The pot of money from which to make the payment is significantly reduced.

This change should not mean that any spouse should simply take less and be happy with it. There are many other ways to balance out the reduced alimony available in a divorce settlement that can have tax advantages.

For example, the lower-earning spouse may be able to negotiate a larger portion of the other spouse’s tax deferred retirement account by arguing that those are dollars that will be more valuable to the lower-earning spouse in the future, in exchange for lower alimony payments.

If you are considering divorce, you should consult with an experienced Atlanta Alimony Attorney to fully understand what may be available to you from an income standpoint in divorce, and to better understand what other options may be available in negotiation. A good alimony attorney should be creative and attuned to your needs, and use that to successfully negotiate in your favor.

This column is written by Metro DC Houses, a local real estate team serving DC, MD, VA made up of Colin Johnson, the immediate past President for the D.C. Association of Realtors and Christopher Suranna, the current President for the D.C. Association of Realtors.

The question we wanted to answer this month is, “do condo fees negatively impact appreciation if over an average number?”

We chose the Georgetown zip code 20007 and found over the last 10 years the average condo fee for a one-bedroom unit is $514 dollars per month.

Condo fees vary based on services provide in building, so our assumption is condos with higher fees have more services and units with lower fees have fewer services. We didn’t consider anything except bedroom-count and on average we saw fewer units sold with higher condo fees (29 units) and more with lower condo fees (52 units).

There is another thing to consider in this evaluation, borrowing power because condo fees can limit the amount a purchaser can borrow if they are only approved for a certain amount per month.

As an example, if someone is qualified to afford $2000 a month and a condo fee is $500 that purchaser can now only afford debt equal to $1500 per month and obviously interest rates vary with that amount.

Based on our findings higher condo fees do negatively impact appreciation for units that have fees above average over the last ten years. For units that have condo fees below average the properties did appreciated slightly higher. One should also note that units with higher condo fees typically sell at a higher sales price than units with lower condo fees.

In our experience, condo fees do not directly relate one-to-one on value, but it can be concluded that enough consumers did not take this into consideration when conducting comps.

It is likely in some cases a consumer compared a lower condo fee unit with one of a higher condo fee, which typically sells for a higher price and in enough of those situations probably over-valued those properties over the years.

By a Virginia wrongful death attorney with Price Benowitz LLP.

A horrific accident shut down multiple lanes of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in late June after a truck slammed into a boom truck and exploded, killing one and stranding three others underneath the bridge.

The person killed in the wreck was the driver of a tractor-trailer that lost control and slammed into a boom truck and multiple other construction trucks working on the bridge Wednesday, June 20. The accident happened around 11 a.m. and the remaining closed lanes did not reopen until around 11 p.m. that night due to the cleanup and investigation.

The three people rescued were construction workers who were working under the bridge at the time of the crash. They had become trapped underneath due to the fire above them on the bridge. The three workers did not suffer any injuries.

The accident happened on the outer loop lanes, according to Denny Chatel, the assistant fire chief for Prince George’s County. All told there were four vehicles involved in the fatal wreck, three of them construction vehicles.

The workers under the bridge were in a bucket that was being extended from a work truck when the crash occurred. The operator of that truck, the boom, did not suffer any injuries.

“There was one bridge worker on the boom truck operating the boom with three workers in the boom truck operating underneath the bridge. All in all we had eight patients that we evaluated — all but one was treated and released,” Chatel said.

A witness who happened to be working at a nearby park said he heard the first explosion. He walked closer to the bridge and as he got to within 300 yards he heard three or four more explosions.

“The death of a loved one is incredibly painful. However, if the death was caused by the negligence of another party you very well could have a claim for compensation.” A Virginia wrongful death attorney with Price Benowitz LLP said.

The police marine unit for Prince George’s County was patrolling the Potomac River at the time of the crash. The patrol boat was able to help rescue the three construction workers in the bucket under the bridge. Four jurisdictions sent police, firefighters, and EMS personnel to the scene totaling more than 100 first responders in more than 40 vehicles.

By Criminal Defense Attorney Peter G. Billings, founding partner of Billings & Barrett, LLC.

Many states around the country took steps towards tougher gun laws following the February shooting at a Florida high school.

It did not take long for states, including Florida to respond to the shooting that took the lives of 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

One of the first states to take action was Rhode Island, where Governor Gina Raimondo signed legislation that created a new policy for at-risk people. The policy would take the guns from people who pose a risk to themselves or to others. Since signing the legislation, many other states have followed with similar bills, including Connecticut, Oregon and California.

Rhode Island also joined a brand-new coalition that is aiming to create a database that will track guns that have been used in crimes or have been transported across state lines in an effort to intercept them. The coalition also includes New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Governor Rick Scott of Florida recently signed legislation with various sheriff’s deputies by his side. The legislation will provide $450 million in aid to school districts throughout the state for security and an additional $50 million in funding for mental health. He also noted that a police officer should be present in every school in the state.

The state of Oregon passed new measures the day after the Parkland shooting. These measures prevent those convicted of domestic violence and people who have restraining orders against them from possessing weapons.

“More and more states are toughening their gun laws and other laws that regulate weapons and ammunition in the wake of the Parkland shooting,” Peter G. Billings, of Billings & Barrett, LLC, said. “Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey will not be too far behind either.”

On the other side of the spectrum, South Dakota decided to loosen its gun laws. The state’s House of Representatives passed a new measure that is being viewed as self-defense measures. It would allow people to carry guns on church and school grounds.

The Senate is also exploring a bill that would repeal the requirement to have a concealed carry permit if the person abides by the laws.

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The Hamlin is a brand-new 18-unit apartment building located in DC’s neighborhood of Brookland near Catholic University at 1715 Hamlin Street, NE.

The building includes a total of 18 units comprised of one bedroom, one bedroom plus den, two bedroom and two bedroom plus den apartments with rents ranging from $1,500 to $3,000.

The residences are conveniently located near a number of local restaurants, coffee shops and bars such as Fox Loves Tacos, Busboys and Poets, Primrose, Zeke’s Coffee, Menomale and many more. The Rhode Island Avenue and Brookland Metro Stations are within a short distance.

Each apartment features large floor-to-ceiling windows, stainless-steel appliances, central air conditioning, quartz countertops and spacious closets. The building includes an entry system, bike storage, on-site car share service and on-site laundry (in-unit laundry is available in select units). Green features include a green roof, solar panels, NEST thermostats and energy efficient appliances and fixtures.

Be one of the first to live in this brand new building! Open house this Saturday, August 4th, from 1-3PM. Please RSVP by visiting here. To schedule a tour and view floorplans and pricing information, visit here or contact the leasing team at (202) 237-8488. Developed by Lock7 Development.