Rushing through the paperwork for business and legal transactions can create pitfalls down the road. While mistakes can happen whenever someone is not diligent and deliberate, certain situations foster the urgency to complete paperwork as quickly as possible.
Category Archives: Business Law
Legal-Ease: Business ownership succession usually includes a plan
Every business should be prepared for when the current leader or leaders leave, for whatever reason. Proper planning allows a business to retain it’s industry experience, despite losing top personnel.
Legal-Ease: Latin words provide legal clarity in accidents
Latin terms and phrases appear in legal discussions for a variety of reasons. One of the common legal areas where one might encounter such a phrase involves determining responsibility between an employee and an employer in the case of mishap.
Legal-Ease: What is in a name?
Choosing a business name is a seemingly simple yet vital decision. The name must be “legally distinguishable,” as determined through a variety of rules and overseen in Ohio by the Ohio Secretary of State. Sometimes, additional trade names are necessary for a business.
Legal-Ease: Common business documents explained
Changes in business ownership or relationships will require a selection of documents that help outline the details.
Legal-Ease: Becoming and remaining business partners
Adding owners to a business venture will almost always require considerations beyond just legal ownership. A variety of “non-legal” issues may include time allocation, value of each individual’s work and other relationships.
It is important to evaluate these considerations and effectively work the “non-legal” aspects into the business documents. This includes updating an entity’s operational requirements, adopting a new resolution, updating bills of sale and more.
Legal-Ease: Planning helps Christmas blessings come true
Many times our luck and fortune are directly related to preparation, and often that preparation includes legal preparation. Good planning rarely comes from a form found online, but rather through working directly with an attorney.
Attorneys can help accomplish goals, protect assets and minimize the devastation caused by long-term nursing home care. Good preparation can help protect assets for heirs as well as limit liability in business and avoid potential future disputes.
Legal-Ease: Impending tax law change impacts family businesses
Before the end of 2016, the IRS is expected to issue a new regulation that will significantly affect gift and estate taxes for many family businesses. Traditionally certain family-owned businesses are considered valuable due to the respective businesses’ synergy. So if one sibling wants to sell his 1/5 share of a $5 million business, his individual share would be worth less than $1 million. This concept is referred to as discounting for lack of marketability and lack of control. It’s often used in farm and business succession planning to keep things fair among heirs as well as to continue the viability of family businesses and farms. But now the IRS will be cracking down on discounts for lack of marketability and lack of control in one area: estate and gift tax calculations.
Legal-Ease: How much does an LLC cost?
It’s often difficult to offer a value to the protection gained from certain legal tools such as an LLC. The actual cost of an LLC includes the $99 filing fee, a detailed operating agreement and the cost associated with creating that, a tax identification number and flowcharts and explanations on how to manage the LLC. An LLC also needs to be funded with assets. In northwest Ohio, establishing an LLC typically costs between $400 and $4,000.
Legal-Ease: Extra insurance or LLC? Both
While it may seem logical to get more insurance rather than establishing an LLC, it’s clearly improper once someone understands the true purpose of a limited liability company. Most businesses should have both good liability insurance as well as a complementary business structure to go with the insurance. It’s best to think of an LLC as being insurance beyond traditional insurance. LLCs offer protection in the worst situations when traditional insurance would cover only part or none of the damage.