How To Make Sure Your Legacy is Passed On

The idea of estate planning can seem overwhelming at first, but it’s important to not put it off. An estate plan is necessary to ensure that property and other assets are distributed to the intended beneficiaries or heirs. To make sure your assets gets transferred to the people you wish to have them, consider these tips:

Make a list of assets.

To start your estate plan, it will be a good idea to have an organized list of your assets, both tangible and intangible. Examples of assets include homes, vehicles, artwork, pensions, life insurance, stocks, household items, jewelry, sentimental items, and more. Most of us have an idea of what assets we have, but by composing them into a list it will be easier to designate which of your beneficiaries will receive them.

Draw up a will.

Unless you want your estate to go through probate, you should write a will. Probate is when the court handles a deceased person’s assets and distributes them based on state intestacy laws. Without a will, an estate may get caught up in probate court, where the court will ultimately decide how much and to whom receives your assets. 

Talking with beneficiaries.

Depending on the size of your estate and types of assets, you may want to discuss your plans with beneficiaries. How much information you share with beneficiaries will be up to you. Some people prefer to share their estate plan with those closest to them, so these loved ones can help ensure the estate is carried out how the decedent would have wanted. 

As an estate planning lawyer from Klenk Law would agree with, anyone with tangible and intangible assets can benefit from having an estate plan. It doesn’t matter how small or large your estate is, since it will essentially be your legacy that is passed onto future generations.

When people start their business, they probably don’t give much thought to legal issues. However, many business owners run into some kind of legal dispute at some point. That is why it is important to have an experienced lawyer on retainer. Here are some common causes of commercial litigation from our friends at Brown Kiely, LLP.

Breach of Contract

As a business owner, you can expect to enter into multiple contracts with business partners, vendors and employees. All parties are expected to follow all the terms of the contract. If one party, however, breaches the contract, a dispute can arise. For example, if a vendor doesn’t believe that you fulfilled your duties in a contract, they may sue your business.

Intellectual Property Disputes

If an organization has accused your company of stealing their logo or other property, an intellectual property dispute may arise. Likewise, if another business has stolen intellectual property from your company, you may bring a lawsuit.

Employment Disputes

When your business hires employees, it is important to educate yourself about the employment laws in your state, such as wage and hour rules, anti-discrimination laws and safety rules. If you don’t, you may find yourself in legal hot water. For example, an employee who is experiencing harassment in the workplace and you don’t do anything to stop it, that employee may file a lawsuit against your business.

Shareholder Disputes

Businesses can also face shareholder disputes. These disputes can arise for many different reasons, including misuse of company funds, management and hiring decisions, breach of fiduciary and conflict of interest. If shareholders don’t agree with the way you’re running the company, they may decide to file a lawsuit.

An effective way to avoid these disputes is to draft agreements to let everyone know what is expected of them.

Negligence Torts

This type of dispute comes about when a company creates a hazardous situation that injures another person. For instance, if a grocery store owner neglects to clean up a liquid spill for hours and a customer slips and falls and gets injured, that customer can file a personal injury lawsuit. The grocery store owner may be liable for the customer’s medical expenses and lost wages.

If your business faces litigation, it is a good idea to consult an experienced lawyer for commercial litigation in Maryland about your situation. A lawyer can assess your case and offer legal advice.

Most of the time, both commercial and residential real estate transactions proceed without any major disputes developing along the way. However, when exceptions to this general rule arise, the financial, practical, and legal consequences of a contentious situation can be truly significant. It is, therefore, very important to be proactive when a real estate dispute begins to brew. By speaking with an experienced real estate attorney in a risk-free consultation setting, you can both build the strongest possible case on your behalf and potentially mitigate the consequences stemming from this situation generally.

It is important to remember that attending a risk-free consultation means that you’re asking a lawyer questions and seeking guidance with no strings attached. Meeting with a lawyer in this way neither obligates you to work with that individual moving forward, nor does it obligate you to pursue legal action if you determine that you are uninterested in doing so. As an experienced real estate litigation lawyer – including those who practice at Eric Siegel Law – can confirm, all too often, those affected by real estate disputes shy away from exploring their legal options until they absolutely have to because they are unsure of what a consultation entails. Just as you would consult with a surgeon about a cosmetic procedure with no strings attached to that informational session, so a risk-free consultation with a real estate attorney is offered with no strings attached as well.

Preparing for a Real Estate Litigation Consultation

Whether you’re thinking about filing a lawsuit or are being named as a defendant in another’s legal action, you’ll want to accomplish a few things in preparation for your legal consultation. If you haven’t already spent some time on the website hosted by the firm that you’re meeting with, do so now. You won’t be able to ask the firm informed questions about their approach to representation until you have a strong sense of how they conduct business.

Next, gather any and all documents that may help the attorney with whom you’re meeting get a better sense of the unique nature of your dispute. It is difficult to provide personalized legal guidance if the attorney assessing the situation doesn’t have access to all of the facts and the details/context linked to those facts.

Finally, take time to physically write down or type out any and all questions you may have about your legal situation. Don’t rely on your memory to champion your concerns in the moment. Everyone forgets things when they are stressed and it is important to know that you have all the information you need to make a decision about your situation once you’ve left your consultation.

If you are hoping to come forward to challenge or dispute a will, you may not realize that you have a difficult road ahead of you. Challenging a will is not a simple task and you will quickly find that you need solid evidence when coming forward. Courts often see family members threaten to contest a will when they have felt slighted or feel hurt over something that another family member received in the will that they did not. While it is true that this can be a very hurtful thing, this is not necessarily grounds for contesting a will. It is important to understand that contesting a will not only takes time, but can also be expensive. If you believe you will want to contest a will, it is important to reach out to a lawyer as soon as possible so that you can start off on the right foot. 

Who can come forward to contest a will? 

Not just anyone can come forward to contest a will. The people who can contest a will are: 

• Children
• Spouses
• People who are mentioned in the current will
• People who were mentioned in the previous will

What are the steps in contesting a will? 

If you believe you have grounds for contesting a will, the first step is to start working with a lawyer, like an estate litigation appeals lawyer from a law firm like Klenk Law. Next, your lawyer will want to evaluate why you plan to contest a will. You could contest a will because: 

• The testator did not have the mental capacity necessary when signing the will in the first place. 
• The testator was signing the will but did not have the witnesses’ signatures that were necessary at the time of signing.
• You believe that the testator was coerced or forced into signing the will. 
• There was fraud involved when your loved one signed the will. 

If you successfully contest the will, then there are a few ways this could proceed. The court may throw out the current will. If there is a previous will, then the court may say that the previous will must go into effect. When you are hoping to come forward to contest a will, it is important that you understand the process you are getting into and work with a lawyer to ensure you have the law on your side. If you need any additional help, you should reach out to a local law firm for more information. 

Estate Planning Lawyer

If you’ve been researching all things estate planning, then you likely have heard limitless tips on how to make the task easier for you. Planning for both life and death is something each person will have to do eventually, and if you don’t have your matters in place, it can make things harder for loved ones who will be grieving your passing, and probably won’t be in the mood for a legal issue. 

Here are estate planning tips that you need to know, but may not have heard yet:

Start your estate planning right now

Many people think that you have to be in your retirement or senior years before you need to consider an estate plan. However, this isn’t true, because at any age you are going to have valuables that you want protecting from thereon out. Furthermore, you don’t need millions of dollars in the bank to benefit from an estate plan. Essentially, writing your wishes in a legally-binding document ensures that your legacy is passed down to future generations as you prefer.

Safely share your login and passwords

Within your estate plan, consider writing a page that lists your login and passwords for important accounts such as bank accounts, social media, email address, and any other accounts that your beneficiaries could use. After you pass on, your closest loved ones may need to access your accounts to retrieve family photographs, pay bills, contact specific parties, and more. 

Know what happens if you don’t write an estate plan

If you do not have a properly written estate plan, then the government will be responsible for how and to whom your assets are distributed. As most people would probably agree with, the idea of having the court system handle your legacy is terrifying enough, so taking action now to protect your assets is imperative. 

As our estate planning lawyer friends at Klenk Law can agree with, starting early on planning for the future can prevent issues related to your assets and legacy from arising later on down the line, and prevents the courts from handling it for you

Business Lawyer

Ownership of an LLC is a bit more complicated than ownership of a corporation. Often, owners do not have “shares” and so their ownership is only catalogued in the Operating Agreement of the LLC. This makes selling and buying of LLC ownership complicated for most people to manage without an Attorney.

How to set up ownership of an LLC?

Setting up ownership of an LLC can be done in many ways. Within the operating agreement, an LLC can specify a certain percentage ownership to the various owners. This is the most common practice but not always the best option. For example, an Operating agreement could say something like “Bob owns 49% of the LLC and Sarah owns 51%”. In this scenario, in order for Sarah to become 100% owner, she would have to purchase Bob’s 49%. Another way to set up an LLC is to refer to ownership as a collection of shares. In this scenario we would say something like “LLC shall have 2000 shares” and “Bob is issued 900 shares and Sarah is issued 1100 shares.” This method is more preferable simply because it makes the division of ownership simpler. Instead of having multiple owners having decimal percentages, all owners will have a whole number of shares which then can be valued individually and transferred as needed. 

How to buy and sell ownership of an LLC?

Each LLC may be different and require a careful examination of the Operating Agreement to determine how ownership can be bought and sold. For instance, you may have restrictions in your ownership agreement preventing you from simply selling your ownership to someone on the street. However, if the restrictions allow it, oftentimes all that is needed is a purchase agreement, some sort of valuation of the ownership, and an amendment to the Operating Agreement, reflecting the new ownership.

Should I consult a Lawyer before buying or selling Ownership of an LLC?

The short answer is yes. If there are mistakes in the process of transferring the ownership of an LLC, it may result in the transfer being voidable by a Court of law or ignored by the LLC itself. For example, if you fail to follow the proper restrictions of transfer, an LLC can legally ignore your purchase of ownership and refuse to update their Operating Agreement to reflect your ownership. Alternatively, if your transaction does not have the proper consideration, it can be attacked in court for the transfer to be voided. In this scenario, if you buy 50 shares of an LLC for $1 when in actuality those shares are valued at $1000.00 each, the previous owner could attack the transfer and try to get it struck down as a void transaction due to the failure of consideration.