Legal-Ease: Caution with corporations

Before LLCs were legally able to be established, the practical ways to organize businesses was to establish either a corporation or limited partnership. 

Limited partnerships are cumbersome to maintain are are confusing when compared to LLCs. 

There can be some legitimate reasons for a new business to organize as a corporation instead of an LLC for tax purposes. When organizing a new business, caution should be exercised to be sure that the business is being established in the best way possible. 

Legal-Ease: More than one way to avoid probate

Contracts are typically enforceable in courts if they’re not honored. Generally, a property owner may have a contract that explains what happens to property when the property owner dies. Each properly prepared contract will provide oversight and enforceability in regards to property ownership changes. 

However, without a contract there is no oversight between the people involved in changing the property’s ownership. Without a contract, the court must provide oversight. 

Legal-Ease: Warranties and out-of-business retailers

When a business closes, its commitments are typically canceled along with the business itself. So, for example, a retailer that closes down may have the ability to walk away from its property lease. This applies to contracts with other vendors as well. 

Among contracts that a business may walk away from upon closure are warranties. Warranty liability for closed businesses usually will break out into two categories. 

Legal-Ease: Three tools to use five years before nursing home

Financial obligations for someone who needs to live in a nursing home or assisted living facility can be immense. Even in-home care can cost hundreds of dollars per day. 

The average time of a stay for a person in a nursing home is 835 days. That would translate to a total cost of $250,000, so for many people, it’s necessary to plan for the cost of long-term care. 

Typically, planning for long-term care expenses involves planning to become eligible for institutional Medicaid. 

Legal-Ease: Close enough, legally speaking

In some instances, “close enough” is legally sufficient, especially since perfection is not possible in every aspect of business or life. 

A good example of this is with real estate documents that are several decades old. Names that sound the same but are spelled differently can sometimes considered to be the same.