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: Practical estate planning considerations

While not all of us will have millions to give away upon our death, confusion and discrepancies can arise during the settling of an estate, now matter how substantial its resources. To avoid many of these painful disputes, I recommend a number of practical tips for planning the settling of your estate.

Legal-Ease: Copies or originals

A common question is whether an original is needed or if a copy will suffice for legal needs. Documents that are actually signed are considered to be the originals, and reproduced representations of the originals are referred to as copies. Generally in Ohio, a copy of a document is considered to be as good as the original.