Debora E. May, CPA, CFP®

Debora E. May, CPA, CFP® loves to work with individuals as forward-thinking as she is. She also wants those same individuals to understand while she’s helping with their investment strategies, she’s investing in a long-term partnership with them.

An industry-recognized professional whose career has been shaped by helping individuals throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region, Debbie has 45 years of comprehensive financial planning and public accounting experience and nearly 40 years of experience delivering investment advisory services. Her experience in financial planning for individuals and closely-held businesses is supplemented by tax planning and compliance experience and support for divorce planning, which is reflected in numerous collaborations with family law professionals, including attorneys, social workers, and mental health professionals.

Debbie’s divorce knowledge spans collaborative divorce, litigation support, mediations and the negotiation of financial settlements to arrive at satisfactory outcomes in hundreds of client cases. She has also provided expert testimony in numerous divorce and real estate matters and participated in countless mediations. She has served as a financial neutral in more than 300 collaborative divorce cases.

She brings an insightful and compassionate approach to her work, to seek win-win outcomes for both parties in a divorce, when possible, and to seek the best future life options for divorcing individuals.

Debbie has been recognized several times in Washington, DC regional publications including in the Washingtonian and Bethesda Magazines. She was named as a top financial advisor in the October 1994, December 2002, January 2009, November 2012, November 2014, April 2016, January 2018, December 2019, January 2021 and January 2024 issues of Washingtonian Magazine. She was also named as a top financial advisor in the January 2024 issue of Bethesda Magazine based on a poll of the magazine’s readers and named a top financial professional in November 2022 by the magazine.

Debbie co-founded May & Barnhard, P.C., a Bethesda, Maryland-based tax and financial consulting firm that merged into CBM in November 2017. She also co-founded and serves as senior advisor to MBI, LLC, an independent, fee-only financial advisory and investment management firm and a subsidiary of CBM.

When she’s not helping clients seek a peaceful and successful financial future, Debbie enjoys playing golf, traveling with her husband, Jeff, and spending time with her children.