Regardless of marital status, whether kids are in the picture, health and age, certain key documents are a key part of every adult’s moral responsibility to their family and friends. Many people think they’re too healthy or too young to worry about a will or power of attorney. However, in Lee’s opinion, every adult should have three legal document in place: general power of attorney, healthcare power of attorney and a will.
Yearly Archives: 2015
Legal-Ease: Why judges’ campaigns are so careful
Candidates face rules when campaigning, and in Lee’s opinion, the most difficult office to campaign for in Ohio is judge. Every person who runs for judge must attend a course that goes over all the rules that govern that person’s advertising to be judge. The requirements are strict, and can sometimes the rules can be paralyzing.
Legal-Ease: Keeping up with the Jones’ estate planning
Our neighbors can inspire and motivate us to consider investments, vacations and other improvements for our lives. In addition to discussing potential improvements and purchases, it’s great when neighbors discuss their estate planning experiences to encourage each other to properly identify their wishes for their surviving family and friends. But it’s important to keep in mind that while your neighbor may have what sounds like a great plan in place, your life may be different enough that another model would be a better choice for your estate plan. It’s important to discuss your estate planning with an attorney who can help you make sure you’ve made the right choices.
Legal-Ease: Facilitating purchases and sales
Buying and selling happens constantly in our society. Normally the purchaser gets some sort of documentation from the seller to prove that the purchaser acquired the item properly. A receipt evidences proper ownership for quite a bit of personal property. But for some items, such as items purchased at an auction or from farm implement dealers, the evidence of ownership is called a “bill of sale.” In real estate, the proof of ownership is called a “deed.”
Legal-Ease: Two types of mechanics’ liens
While there are two types of mechanics’ liens in Ohio, they’re not related to each other in any way. Traditional mechanics’ liens happen when a mechanic who works on motor vehicles repairs a vehicle, and the vehicle owner doesn’t pay for the repairs. The mechanic can then keep possession of the vehicle, and this is called a traditional mechanics’ lien. The other type of mechanics’ lien in the state of Ohio is a lien for labor or materials that were provided to an improvement project on real estate or a building. This is sometimes referred to as a real estate mechanics’ lien.
Legal-Ease: Is there a certain attorney that I must use?
Attorneys can normally be fired or hired for any reason at any time in client relationships. Clients can even terminate the attorney’s work in the middle of projects. But attorneys are entitled to be paid for the services they provided, even if the client terminated the relationships in the middle of a project.
Legal-Ease: Eyewitness testimony is sometimes unreliable
Sometimes memories of past events are blurry. While a person may believe they’re being 100% honest, sometimes eyewitness testimony is unreliable. Memories are often inaccurate, and sometimes photographs and other evidence can contradict eyewitness testimony.
Legal-Ease: Misleading or just puffery?
Puffery is the term used to describe the vague statements and opinions found in advertisements. These statements include ambiguous claims regarding certain products being better than others and often include expressions of opinions as opposed to facts. The issue of puffery arises pretty often, especially at this time of year as retailers are vying for our holiday gift dollars.
Legal-Ease: Is a document recorded in the proper chain of title?
Just getting a document to the courthouse with the appropriate fee to file doesn’t ensure that the document affects the property it’s supposed to affect. Every inch of land in Ohio has a unique historical record of ownership. Identifying that history of ownership is done by professional title examiners, who are attorneys like Lee. That history of the property is referred to as the property’s “chain of title.”
Legal-Ease: Texts, trains and automobiles
Northwest Ohio regularly hosts plenty of trains, which many residents joke that they spend a large chunk of their time waiting on. Many people see the opportunity while waiting on train to pick up their phones and text or catch up on social media. In Ohio it’s illegal to text and drive, and this includes while waiting for a train.