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: Components of a good farmland lease

Many landlords and tenants could benefit from better farmland leases. Sometimes, the seemingly simple act of defining each party may be more complex than one assumes.

More complicated agreements such as “hybrid leases,” which contain elements of cash rent and crop-share, rely on formulating payments based on yield and crop prices. Other basic items such as lease duration or payment schedule could create pitfalls if both parties have not clearly established them. A good farmland lease will address these concerns, among others.

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: Legalities of ‘fake news’

The recent election cycle brought with it the rise of fake news, spread mostly through Facebook. Many people, especially those who may be embarrassed at having spread a fake news story, often wonder why creating fake news is even legal in the first place.

Legal-Ease: Gratitude is never illegal and always helpful

Analyzing a situation with a perspective of gratitude helps us gain peace of mind. In some instances, it also more effectively resolve disputes or puts challenges behind us. Generally, a client is grateful for the work an attorney does, and an attorney is grateful for a client. But gratitude can help individuals get through disputes or legal situations that would normally seem to cause anger or confusion.