Thinking like a lawyer requires analyzing situations in the context of laws and deciding whether they do or do not apply to that particular situation. To think like a lawyer requires four main attributes: separating situations into distinct parts, thinking without emotion, using logic, and analyzing situations from different perspectives.
Yearly Archives: 2016
Legal-Ease: Water and sewer service for your new house
When building a new home, water and sewer services are pretty important pieces to have in place early. If the land you choose to build your home on is adjacent to public water and public sanitary sewer lines, some of the initial hurdles are already out of the way. If the land is not near water and sewer service lines, a water source needs to be found, such as a well or a pond. The biggest hurdle, however, is sanitary service. There are strict regulations surrounding sanitary sewer systems, and it’s up to local health departments to fill in the regulations’ gaps.
Legal-Ease: Nursing home planning usually includes Medicaid planning
As Americans are living longer than ever, the need for long-term healthcare continues to grow. Within 25 years from today the cost of living in a nursing home could be as high as $200,000 per year. Many people save money to pass on to their children and grandchildren, but it’s easy for that saved money to be quickly spent on living in a nursing home or assisted living facility. Fortunately, there are some options when planning for a potential move to a nursing home.
Legal-Ease: Clearing brush can lead to permanent government program ineligibility
Landowners who clear brush may be permanently ineligible for some government programs that are administered through the USDA. Before removing anything from their land, landowners should contact their local Farm Service Agency to be certain that the property being cleared isn’t a wetland. Federal law says that any conversion of wetlands to cropland could make the converting party ineligible for participation in all USDA programs.
Legal-Ease: Unmarried people without wills
Ohio law provides rules for people who die without wills. These rules are referred to as the “statute of descent and distribution.” The rules for the distribution process for people without wills is completely different depending upon the marital status of the deceased. If someone dies without a will, even if they’re in a serious relationship or engaged, the significant other will get nothing under Ohio law.
Legal-Ease: Buying and selling houses
If you’ve bought or sold a home, you know that there’s a giant amount of paperwork involved in the transaction. In the years before the 2008-2010 mortgage crisis, many lenders were duped with fake identifies of buyers or fabricated financial statements. As a result, the amount of paperwork involved with buying and selling a home skyrocketed after the mortgage crisis.
Since the mortgage crisis, most home loan closings involve several identity checks, multiple confirmations of financial status and many other checks and balances to ensure that the deal is legitimate.
Legal-Ease: Establishing charities and non-profit corporations
Because some people try to create charities for their own personal gain, the process to create a charity in Ohio for which donations are tax deductible is lengthy and intricate.
Charities are most often organized with the Ohio Secretary of State as non-profit corporations. Ohio has a number of requirements for non-profit corporations, including that the organization must have three directors and that the organization must have an annual meeting for all members of the corporation.
How do I terminate my business entity?
Business entities are usually established to limit liability, keep the business efficient and organize the structure of the entity. It’s fairly easy to establish a business entity in the state of Ohio, and there are essentially three requirements to effectively terminate a business entity’s existence: tell the state, complete unfinished business and tell the IRS.
Legal-Ease: Who should I name as my agent or executor?
General powers of attorney typically are regarding finances, and a principal gives powers to an agent. In each power of attorney, one or more specific people are named as the agents. It can be incredibly difficult for people to decide upon who should be their agent, especially when adult children are involved. Hard feelings can certainly come up, and often principals try to identify their agents while keeping this potential friction in mind.
Legal-Ease: Should I own that or should my business?
It’s necessary that pieces of property must have the ownership clearly outlined. This is true in LLCs (is the property owned by the LLC or the individual?) as well as in partnerships. It’s important to define which assets that a business entity owns and which assets are owned by another entity or personally.