Family Law

• Divorce
  Divorce and Family Law partner Linda Ravdin is Vice-President of the Board of Trustees of the Bethesda-based Round House Theatre. Round House is a critically acclaimed performing arts institution that has been a valuable member of our community for over 35 seasons. Its mission includes the production of classic and contemporary works for the stage as well as the development of community-based education programs.  Pasternak & Fidis, PC is proud to have sponsored seven productions since 2010 including the world premiere of
• Child Support
  Scope.  Parties can agree to submit any existing or future family law dispute to binding arbitration, including division of property, a claim for spousal support, custody and child support, a claim of breach of a marital agreement or a dispute about how to implement the terms of such an agreement.  A party who entered into an agreement to resolve a future child-related dispute by… MORE >
• Adoption
• Premarital Agreement
  The American Bar Association recently published the latest update to partner Linda Ravdin’s respected book, Premarital Agreements: Drafting and Negotiation, Third Edition. This work builds on the work she did in the first and second editions of the same title.
• Guardianship
  Partner Morriah Horani recently presented at a conference put on by the Maryland State Bar Association’s Estate and Trust Section and Continuing Legal Education Department entitled Fiduciary Litigation: Contested Wills, Trusts, Inter Vivos Transfers and Guardianships. Together with Clinical Psychiatrist Dr. Guillermo Portillo, M.D., Morriah spoke on the topic of “Mental Capacity: Standards, Nature and Evaluation of Testing.”
• Spousal Support
  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.

Criminal Law

• Juvenile Crimes
  “No News Is Good News: Validity of Premarital Agreements and Cannon v. Cannon,” Family Law News, Section of Family & Juvenile Law, Maryland State Bar Association (March 2005)

Immigration Law

• Citizenship and Naturalization

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning
  Best Lawyers, a peer-reviewed publication, and U.S. News have named several Pasternak & Fidis attorneys as the “best” in Maryland for 2025.  In Family Law and Family Law Mediation, Linda Ravdin and Vicki Viramontes-LaFree took top honors. Anne Coventry and Stephanie Perry were named among the best Trust & Estates attorneys in Maryland.  Congratulations to our Best Lawyer award winners!
• Wills
  Are electronic wills coming?  Of course they are.  Last year in Australia, an unsent text message was accepted for probate as someone’s last will and testament.  (Unsent!  With an emoji in it!)  In July of this year, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court decision to accept for… MORE >
• Trusts
  When is an irrevocable trust not irrevocable? Answer: Pretty much all the time. That is, perhaps the irrevocable trust cannot be revoked per se but, with a little creative thinking and cooperation, it may be possible to modify, decant, or terminate an irrevocable trust. This is not the kind of news that makes headlines (except in our newsletter), but great changes are afoot in trust planning.
• Power of Attorney
  What happens to your online accounts and electronic information at your death? Email, social media accounts, online purchasing accounts, photo albums stored in the cloud—advances in technology can create a legal quagmire when the account holder is gone, whether or not the username and password are preserved. Anne played a leading role in the effort to enact legislation in Maryland that gives legal authority to appointed fiduciaries (personal representatives, trustees, agents acting under a power of attorney, and court-appointed guardians) to access and manage online accounts and other digital assets.
• Probate
  Super Lawyers – Estate Planning & Probate Law (Maryland and DC 2015-2024); Top 100 Attorneys in Maryland (2018-2024); Top 100 Attorneys in DC (2019-2023); Top 50 Women Attorneys in Maryland (2018-2024); Top 50 Women Attorneys in DC (2019-2023)

Finance Law

• Bankruptcy
• Tax Law
  Partner Adam Swaim participated in a panel at Round House Theatre on Tuesday, June 26, discussing recent tax law changes, legacy planning, and the advantages of charitable giving. Other panelists included Michael Beriss, Private Wealth Advisor, Ameriprise, and Brad L. Mendelson, CPA, MST, Mendelson & Mendelson, CPAs.