The Law Office of Shannon Gahs

08/28/2026

Such a tricky transition point in life. This group gets it.

There is usually no single moment when the roles begin to shift with aging parents.

A confusing medical bill.
A missed payment.
A scam text that almost got clicked.

When and how do you step in without taking over?

The goal is not to take control.

The goal is to make sure helpful people, information, and safeguards are in place before decisions have to be made under pressure.

One potential conversation starter you could try…

“We are reviewing our own estate documents and realize we should understand where everything is.”

Sometimes, that is enough to open the door.

The families who tend to feel best about how this chapter goes are the ones who approached it as a proactive exercise rather than a response to a problem.

We are glad to be part of that process at whatever stage a family is ready to begin.

08/25/2026

Revocable Living Trusts get a lot of mileage online but are actually overkill for a lot of Maryland residents. There is nothing wrong with using a well-drafted Will for your estate planning, especially for families who don't have property outside of the state, who aren't looking at more than $5M in assets, and who don't have concerns about fraud or manipulation.

In my opinion, a lot of the pressure to have a Trust is fear mongering, and that's just not how you treat people.

Let's have a quick conversation about whether a Will or a Trust fits your specific family needs best. We offer Free 15-Min Phone Consultations every day. shannongahs.com 443-686-9781

08/24/2026

Caring for someone with dementia can be at the same time fulfilling and loving and also isolating and overwhelming. The Alzheimer's Association has a free 24/7 Caregiver Hotline. If you need to talk with someone who knows what you're going through and can help you get the resources you need, call anytime. 800.272.3900

08/21/2026

What can you do to decrease your risk of dementia? It's easier than you might think. In addition to what's listed here, check your legal health before loss of capacity is even a possibility. Every adult should have a Power of Attorney and Medical Advance Directive. Alzheimer's Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s Free consultations at shannongahs.com or 443-686-9781

Daily physical activity is one of the important steps to building h...

08/19/2026

"I'm so sorry, let me know if there's anything I can do." No thank you.

When someone dies, it's hard to know what to say. We feel for them, but we often resort to the phrases that everyone says and no one really knows what they mean. "Thoughts and prayers." "I'm sorry for your loss." "Let me know if there's anything you need." It's a nice sentiment, but the first two end the conversation with that comment and the third puts the grieving person in a position to need to figure out: what they're not doing, who could do it, and to be in charge of reaching out to ask for someone to do them a favor. In those awful depths of fresh grief, it's too much.

What can you do that's better? Here are some ideas that make you the most wonderful, supportive friend:

1- Order groceries to be delivered. Things that the grieving person or their children will eat, maybe even that have some nutritional value. Bananas, cheddar popcorn, fig newtons, mango smoothie in a bottle, awesome. Bringing a dinner is great too, just don't ask a lot of questions about their preferences. Prep it so that it's fewer than three steps from delivery to table.

2- "I'm going to come over for an hour. I can take your trash out, sort the mail, wash your dishes, fold the laundry. We don't have to talk, I'll just take care of you guys and go. Is Saturday morning ok?" When life is upside down, these things still need to happen, but can sap so much energy. Having a house guest also takes energy, even a well-meaning one. Don't make them care for you. It doesn't matter if you fold the tee shirts wrong.

3- Offer to make the announcement phone calls to the circle of friends that you share. Answering questions about what happened on repeat can be hard.

4- Ask when you can come over to take the kids outside to play for an hour. The grieving parent might need to make calls without little ears around, or just rest, or take a shower. They might want to keep their kids close; knowing they're nearby and that someone trusted is caring for them for a short period is great.

5- Be supportive if your plans together change. Sometimes they think they can handle something and then they can't. Don't tell them how disappointed you are. Don't talk about why they need to change plans. Just adjust.

6- If you work together, cover for them. The work world keeps turning even when we're away. If you can sub in for them for a group meeting, awesome, take good notes. If you can delay deadlines for non-urgent matters, that's great. If you can turn on their OOO message or prepare what they were assigned for the presentation, do it. Send them a copy to see if they want to provide edits.

7- Don't avoid the topic. Even if you're not talking about it, they're still thinking about it. This is true months or years later. If you hear a song/taste a flavor/see a mutual friend/go to a place that makes you think of the person who died, send the family a text. It's nice to hear that memories of their life, not just their death, carry on in the minds and hearts of others.

08/06/2026

We’re so honored to sponsor Sandwich Stock ‘26 and Vagabond Sandwich Company’s work to help get band instruments into the hands of local students. Stop by and see us at the festival!

07/27/2026

Caring for someone with dementia or Alzheimer's can be overwhelming, defeating, heartbreaking. The Alzheimer's Association offers caregiver supports, completely for free. You dont have to do this alone.

Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia requires a support system. Get comprehensive Alzheimer’s and dementia care resources and caregiver tips.

07/27/2026

It's renewal time for our membership in the Maryland Women's Bar Association. Some people ask, why do we need a Women's Bar Association anymore, isn't that like a dated tea party society? Just be a part of the Maryland Bar Association.

1- we do both, and 2- I'll never give up the WBA membership.
Why? I'll tell you.

It's because when I graduated from law school, women made up a little less than 50% of law students, but only 30% of practicing lawyers.

In most of the courtrooms and board rooms I stepped into in my first ten years of practice (and I'm only 42), I was the only woman, sometimes with 20 men; the oldest woman, with no women mentors. The requirement was to remove femininity from your clothes, your voice, your interests, or expect that the others would dismiss you as not a real professional.

Judges, even in the 2010s, told me that they couldn't begin the hearing until the attorney I worked for arrived. Many women dropped out of the profession early, having little support, few female friends in the law, difficulty explaining why it was so hard when it seemed challenging, but doable, for male friends.

The attrition rate of women in legal professions remains painfully high in 2026, where women are now nearly 50% of new law firm associate attorneys, but still only 28% of partner-level attorneys. Few mentors, less leadership, no voice in the Board room setting expectations for younger lawyers or how to support female associated in ways that male associates might not have needed.

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The Women's Bar Association creates a network of older women helping younger women, the same as older men have mentored younger men professionally for generations.

It gives women who are in leadership a place to collaborate on how we're running firms, creating opportunities, improving the profession, serving our communities.

The Association's studies and publications are taken seriously in continuing male-centric systems of creating and enforcing laws, both those that surround the work we do and those that govern us as lawyers.

Improving work-life balance, exploring training methods that result in less burnout, alcoholism, and divorce are good for all members of the profession, but have not been a focus of gender-agnostic Bar Associations.

I value the male lawyers I work with and their contributions to the profession. They are no less worthy, but they're also no more worthy, of opportunity, growth, support.

The Women's Bar Association improves our profession so that the women in it have the same opportunities as the men have always had.

Suffs Musical National Conference of Women's Bar Associations

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07/27/2026

Job opening! Paralegal/legal assistant. Needs to be super smart, exceptionally friendly, with the ability to keep track of multiple deadlines (we have a system that helps), to keep yourself organized, to ask for help when needed, be interested in learning new things, and have good writing skills. Needs some comfort with talking about death, money and family, you get used to it.

The job is in our Ellicott City office, not remote, potential for part time or full time, to be negotiated. Non-standard schedule is probably ok.

It's ok if you haven't worked in law before, and note that I didn't mention any specific certification or degree. We can teach the skills, we can't teach integrity, genuine care for others, a fit with our team, work ethic, sense of humor, willingness to get creative to solve a puzzle, practicality.

If you know of someone who might be a good fit, send me a message!

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