Legal-Ease: Good buy-sell agreements address four questions

While some may assume planning for a business’ end means that the business owners are expecting the business to fail, it really means that the business is prepared. One of the most important tools to have in place when entering business ownership is a good buy-sell agreement. 

A good buy-sell agreement is effective when it answers these four questions: 

Legal-Ease: Estate planning can be an amazing gift to others

Estate planning can be one of the best gifts you leave behind for friends and family. Not only can you decide what gifts you will leave your loved ones through estate planning, but having an estate plan in place usually saves family or friends time and money. 

From a practical standpoint, here are the four estate planning documents that should be prepared before death: Last Will and Testament, a power of attorney for finances, a power of attorney for healthcare, and a living will. 

Generally, the best estate plans are prepared by local attorneys. Documents that are prepared based upon information found online often cause more difficulties for friends and family post-death. 

Legal-Ease: Married, with property

Married people may be surprised to find out that when selling property their spouses must sign the deeds, even if the spouse’s name was never on the property. This is required as part of “dower” law. Dower is a collection of rights possessed by a married person.

Dower’s purpose is sometimes explained through two sexist, historical situations. First, historically women couldn’t own property, so when a couple married, all property belonged to the husband. Second, in the past some men didn’t want their wives to inherit property from them. Today, dower applies to all married people in Ohio. 

Legal-Ease: Leaves, trees and branches

Every fall we can look forward to raking leaves, and often you might find that once you’ve finished cleaning up your own leaves, a neighbor’s leaves have blown into your yard. While some communities may have rules on leaf collection, most leaf and tree law is governed by Ohio law. 

Generally, leaves, acorns, small twigs and other items that naturally fall from trees do not need to be raked or removed. If the items blow over to a neighbor’s house, the neighbor may not force the tree owner to remove the leaves. 

What may cause issues, though, is if a tree falls on a neighbor’s property. Ohio has a handful of laws that sort out liability when a tree causes damage to a neighbor’s property.