Legal-Ease: I lost a loved one; now what?

The first step to saying goodbye to a family member involves taking your time to suitably grieve and be together with family and friends. One of the practicalities following a loved one passing away is hiring an attorney to help sort through and change ownership of assets.

Legal-Ease: Important documents and where to keep them

Over time, most of us accumulate a variety of important legal documents. Birth certificates, vehicle titles, social security cards, wills, deeds to real estate, life insurance policies, tax returns and other various records begin to pile up. Some of these can be easily replaced. For others, the original holds special legal value and should be kept secure.

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: Long documents a tradition that protect clients

Historically, meaningless words were added to legal documents to puff them up. It is now a cliché that attorneys prepare very long documents, even with all of the extra fluff removed. Legal documents are lengthy because short and simple contracts can leave clients unprotected and work against their interests.

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: Know the laws for snowmobiles in Ohio

As snowmobile season is upon us, some may have questions about the laws surrounding snowmobile usage in Ohio. Using a snowmobile on private property that is owned or leased by the operator of a snowmobile doesn’t require any registration. But if the operator is using the snowmobile anywhere else, the snowmobile must be registered with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Snowmobile registrations can last up to three years. A number of other laws surround the legal operation of snowmobiles in Ohio.