Legal-Ease: New tools to help initiate home ownership

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Years ago, buying a home was pretty straightforward. A buyer would pay a 20% down payment and pay off the remaining 80% over time. But as the demand for homeownership grew, more people without the 20% down payment wanted to purchase homes. Private mortgage insurance began to be used in the homebuying process. 

In the years right before the housing crisis, people made assumptions that home prices would continually and aggressively increase every year. Lenders saw this as an opportunity to help more people who hadn’t saved the 20% down payment. 

Legal-Ease: Sorting through trust types to create the irrevocable grantor trust

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To help try to simplify legal ideas, they’re often generalized into broad categories to help make them easier to navigate. However, trusts shouldn’t be generalized when it comes to nursing home and long-term care planning. 

Trusts are typically categorized as revocable and irrevocable. Revocable trusts can usually be amended, and completely irrevocable trusts cannot be either amended or revoked. As with many parts of the law, the title of the trust is much less important than the substance of the trust rules. 

Legal-Ease: What are all these numbers on my real estate tax bill?

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There are four major pieces of Ohio real estate taxes that can help clarify the numbers on a real estate tax bill. Real estate tax calculations are like a long algebraic equation. 

First, each parcel of land is appraised. Second, the value for agricultural parcels will have its values adjusted each year. Third, the value is multiplied by 35 percent. Finally, there are certain credits that decrease the final tax bill on some parcels. 

Legal-Ease: Personal relationship tools applied to business and law

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According to Gary Chapman, everyone has a dominant method of giving and receiving love. The five methods are gifts, time, words, service and touch. 

This thesis can also be applied to business, especially when it comes to family businesses being passed down. A classic example of this is farm succession planning. 

Legal-Ease: House in the country is no walk in the park

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Many people in our area dream of buying land and building a new house in the country. But many people don’t realize how difficult it actually is to make this dream a reality. 

First, you need to find a landowner willing to sell land for a house. It needs to be confirmed that the acreage from the lot can legally be divided. 

Next the buyer needs to purchase a soil analysis. Then the contractor may increase the minimum of the acreage needed depending upon the layout and design of the home and its placement. 

Legal-Ease: Don’t shoot family over long-term care

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The idea of facing being relocated to a nursing home or other long-term care facility can be very daunting. Recently it was reported that a woman shot and killed her son because he was planning to move his mother to an assisted living facility. 

This can be a difficult situation, and it’s important to remember that the reality of facing relocation is not a decision made by family. Rather, circumstances such as age, life experience and medical need are forced upon families. 

Legal-Ease: Displaying the flag this Independence Day

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Many people will be displaying American flags this week for Independence Day, and there are a series of federal laws that govern how to properly display the flag. 

The series of federal laws was initially passed in 1942, and the series is commonly referred to as the “Flag Code.” 

Most of the Flag Code has not been enforced, so it’s similar to a handbook on flag etiquette. However, some aspects of the Flag Code have been enforced. 

Legal-Ease: ‘Good as new’ real estate documents and files

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When it comes to real estate and its history of ownership, there’s no such thing as “new” documents. So the best that can be done with real estate documents and files is “good as new.” So the best we can do is file updated documents. 

Attorneys use multiple tools to try to clean up real estate documents and files. 

Legal-Ease: Rules for golf carts on streets

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Recently, golf carts have become more popular on our city and village streets in Ohio. Operation of golf carts on Ohio streets are subject to unique rules. 

Under-speed vehicles like golf carts can use public Ohio roads in certain circumstances, depending upon the location, the condition of the golf cart and the golf cart’s registration.