Author Archives: ligitsec

Estate Planning – The Life Estate

Estate Planning - The Life EstateThe life estate is something every first year law student learns about when they study the arcane and often bizarre history of property law that harkens back to the days of English knights, lords and serfs, and the transfer of property through the ceremonial throwing of dirt clods with oaths of duty to accompany. The life estate is about as old as they come as instruments of wealth transfer go and students love it, because it is relatively easy to understand. Apart from what students love and what is easy to remember, however, the life estate still has practical value today in your estate planning and assets management schemes.

The basic idea of the life estate is that a person can be left a piece of property for life, and upon their passing, the property in question can go to whoever is designated to receive that property afterward. The individual or group who receives the property after the life-tenant passes is called the remainderman or remaindermen, which is useful only in that it helps one to remember that the person who remains gets the property. If, for example, one wants to leave a family estate that has been with the family for many generations to their spouse and then have it immediately pass on to their children or another relative who will maintain the estate for the generation to come, then a life estate might be the perfect vehicle to do so. Another example is the same family estate, left to a surviving spouse until the surviving spouse either dies or remarries. Again, the aim is to ensure that the estate stays in family, a contingency which is threatened by the remarriage because that creates a new marital joint-tenancy, absent any other provision. Often the life-estate was used to keep assets, like the family home, headed down a single line of familial ownership.

However, the life estate has other uses, for example, it can leave an asset to be owned by one person until the death of third person. If an older relative has become incapacitated, such that it is difficult for them to make decisions for themselves, then the asset can be left in the care of another for the incapacitated person’s lifetime. An example might be, that Blackacre (the fictitious name for a piece of property used in law schools everywhere) is left in the care of cousin Tilly, until great aunt Nelly’s death. Thus, Tilly is allowed to make Nelly comfortable at Blackacre (the family home) until Nelly passes on. In this instance, Nelly’s life is what is called, the measuring life of the life estate, and Tilly’s ownership ends when Nelly is gone.

On the whole, the life estate may be falling out of use for a number of reasons and being replaced by the much more fluid instrument of the trust. But, the life estate still captures, from time to time, our instincts regarding how property is to pass from one generation to another and that is why it is still relevant even for an estate planner who uses it very rarely. It helps us to ask and to get the answer to very difficult questions, which is part of the act of estate planning. Both the client and the attorney must face tough questions, and the life estate (even if it is sometimes regarded as a legal relic of the past) tells us how people used to answer questions of intra-generational wealth transfer and why. We may use different instruments to bring about our legal ends (or we may not), but even if we do, the life-estate still has relevance in helping us think about the questions that underlie the choices to be made in estate planning.

Claiming Compensation for Accidents at Work

Claiming Compensation for Accidents at WorkIf you are involved in an accident at work, it will be necessary for you to show that your injuries were caused by the negligence of your employer. Your employer is also responsible for the actions of work colleagues who cause accidents involving injury. Please remember that you have an obligation to make your employer aware of any accidents, which occur whilst at work. This information should be properly recorded in the Accident Book. Please note, your employer cannot terminate your employment if you make a claim for compensation. If you are in any doubt or concerned over this, we recommend that you consult us immediately.

If you are an employer, self-employed or in control of work premises you are required under RIDDOR to report some types of work-related accidents and accident at work, diseases and dangerous occurrences.

Reporting accident at work and ill health at work is a legal requirement under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. The information gathered helps the Local Authority and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to identify where and how risks arise and to prevent reoccurrence and prevent further pain and suffering to employees.

You must report all of the following:

  • A death
  • A major injury
  • An over-three-day injury (this is when an employee or self-employed person has an accident at work and is unable to work for over three days, but does not have a major injury);
  • A work-related disease
  • A dangerous occurrence
  • Where a member of the public is taken directly to hospital

How Soon Do I Have To Report The Incident?

All time limits for reporting accident at work vary depending on the severity and the guide below should be followed.

  • Where the accident has resulted in someone’s death or a major injury we need to be notified immediately
  • Over 3-day injuries need to be reported within 10 days.
  • As soon as possible after the doctor diagnosis a work related disease.
  • Dangerous occurrences need to be reported immediately

Have you suffered an accident at work? If so, you may well be able to claim compensation from your employer’s insurance company.

Work injury can be defined as any accident at work that could have been avoided. And if the work injury were not your fault, you’re entitled to reasonable financial compensation.

Estate Planning – Changing A Will

Estate Planning - Changing A WillI am taking you out of the will,” or “I am going to disinherit Gregory and leave all my money to Steven,” are statements that seem far more like they belong in an Agatha Christie novel than in a serious discussion of estate planning.

Although the world is not filled with conniving relations who maneuver endlessly to gain the favor of a truly despicable older family matron or patron who uses their wealth to control them all until it culminates in murder most foul, this model is instructive regarding how changing a will can cause hard feelings between family members and create legal difficulties. The chief legal difficulty created by changing a will is that sometimes the two wills look like sequels to a movie and are literally called (Will I) and (Will II).

When this happens there will be, just as in the Agatha Christie mysteries, a group of relatives and friends who are favored by the first will (Will I) and not by the second (Will II). These relatives realize that if they can challenge and get rid of Will II, Will I will take its place, and they set out to get rid of Will II after the deceased is gone and can not take further action. Of course there are also the relations or friends that are favored by the revised will (Will II) and fight to keep it valid in the eyes of the law. There are many ways to attempt to invalidate a will that can be the subject of another article. The point of this article is to make it clear that changing a will by substituting it with another will drafted later in time is an exercise fraught with peril.

A better way to go is to expressly change from one will to the other or to expressly repudiate the first will. An express change is a change in writing. For example, if you want to get rid of the first will write that, “I hereby repudiate the first will with this writing and all of its provisions hereby are to be considered void.” It is difficult to get around the fact that you intend to get rid of the first will entirely if you fail to make such a claim in writing. Once that is settled, then you can begin the second will by stating again that you made another will before and that it is entirely void and does not in any way reflect your desires with respect to your property. And finally, include in the second will that it and it alone are a reflection of what you want when you are gone.

Another good way to go is not to let anyone, other than your attorney, know you are making a will or replacing an old will with a new one. People cannot fight over what they have no idea exists or has existed. This is a good way to keep the elements of an Agatha Christie novel regarding wills out of your life and the lives of your heirs. The fictional tyrant who rules the family with their notions of inheritance or disinheritance is the kind of person who has people fighting over their will because they are always blabbing about it. With wills it is best to adopt the policy that loose lips sink ships when it comes to your relatives fighting over what you meant after you are gone. This is not what anyone wants for their families and, with a little discretion and a lot of planning, it is easily avoided.

Estate Planning – Protecting Your Furred Friend

estate planningThe whole concept of estate planning has a couple of primary aims: 1) making sure that your assets are distributed where and how you want them to be, and 2) ensuring that your loved ones are cared for and able to comfortably live out their lives after you are gone. If you consider your pets as part of your property, to whom do you leave them – and the obvious answer is to someone who won’t immediately haul them to the nearest shelter and drop them off.

Providing for your beloved pets may be more complicated than it sounds. There is much to be considered. For example, who will take your dogs and cats in and provide for them with the same loving care you have shown them? Who will develop the same kind of close relationship that your animals are used to sharing with you? Your son may not want a cat that insists on sleeping on his head or your daughter may abhor a dog that sheds all over her chic apartment.

Choosing an appropriate caregiver requires some careful thought and planning. First, you must make certain that whoever is going to care for Bootsie or Fluffy or Shadow, actually likes them and wants to have them around. Sure, a few thousand dollars to provide for Spot’s care over the next 15 years is a huge incentive – big enough to have all kinds of people professing their love and admiration for your friend in fur. While your next door neighbor may genuinely care for Callie the cat and all of her progeny into perpetuity, what happens when the kitty litter budget runs out? If you leave Fergus the dog to your cousin Harold, along with $10,000 to provide Fergus with the best of everything, what’s to guarantee that Harold won’t buy himself the best of everything and let Fergus eat cheap kibbles? What if there is simply nobody to leave Callie or Fergus to because you have no children and don’t trust the neighbors?

Pet care businesses are springing up and advertising their facilities as havens for pets with money. It sounds good in print, but what happens when the facility is full, Sparky is getting old and there is still a few thousand left in Sparky’s care account. If Sparky were to depart a little early, there’d be room for another wealthy resident and Sparky’s assets would revert to the care facility.

That’s precisely why, over the past few years, estate planning for pets has taken a whole new twist. Many people don’t consider their cat or dog as property, but as their best friend, not to be subjected to the twisted machinations of those bent on exploitation. Rather than leaving the pets to someone to be cared for from their assets, some pet owners are choosing to leave the assets to their surviving pets, or at least to make certain the pets are cared for throughout their lifetimes through the mechanism of a trust.

In fact, a trust may be the only way of insuring that your pet receives the love and care to which he or she is entitled after you are gone, particularly if the trust stipulates that any money left over after the pet dies is inherited by a third party rather than the caregiver. The caregiver then has sufficient incentive to keep the pet in question alive and well as long as possible.

Several states already recognize and enforce pet trusts and others will inevitably follow. If your aim is to make certain your pets are not just cared for, but pampered just as you would pamper them, talk to your estate planner about setting up a trust specifically for that purpose.

SkyRiver Tech and Innovative Interfaces Seeks Access to “OCLC’s Unlawfully Acquired Database” in Unfair Competition Complaint

In case you missed it and I certainly did until yesterday when I received this emailed statement from OCLC, SkyRiver Technology Solutions and Innovative Interfaces, Inc. filed suit against OCLC, alleging anticompetitive practices in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on July 29th (Docket No. 10-cv-03305-BZ) Download the Complaint here. According to the plaintiffs in this lawsuit, OCLC is “unlawfully monopolizing the bibliographic data, cataloging service and interlibrary lending markets and is attempting to monopolize the market for integrated library systems by anticompetitive and exclusionary agreements, policies and practice.”

Two more snips from the Complaint:

This case is about defendant OCLC’s exclusionary agreements, punitive pricing, unlawful tying arrangements and its refusal to deal with for-profit firms in violation of the antitrust laws in order to maintain its monopolies and to destroy a new entrant in the market for library cataloging services in competition with OCLC. This case is also about defendant OCLC’s entry into the integrated library systems market and its use of its monopoly power over its bibliographic database, cataloging service and worldwide interlibrary lending service to attempt to monopolize the integrated library systems market through unlawful, anticompetitive conduct and anticompetitive agreements that it imposes on its member libraries and its refusal to all for-profit firms to access its database for commercial purposes.
… This action is brought to obtain relief from the injuries suffered by plaintiffs, including access to OCLC’s unlawfully acquired database, and for the benefit of all libraries, their patrons and consumers by assuring that competition exists in all aspects of electronic bibliographic data compilation and library systems and service.

OCLC states in its announcement:

OCLC’s General Counsel, working with trial counsel, will respond to this regrettable action by SkyRiver and Innovative Interfaces following procedures and timetables dictated by the court. This process will likely take months or even years, not days.

In the meantime, we want to assure the OCLC membership and all 72,000 libraries that use one or more OCLC services that these spurious allegations will not divert us from our current plans and activities. These include maintaining and enhancing existing services, pursuing an ambitious agenda in library research and advocacy, and introducing new Web-scale (cloud) services. Indeed, OCLC has been a global leader in providing cloud-based services for libraries since 1971, and the next generation of these services holds great promise for reducing member library costs.

See also Marshall Breeding’s LJ report:

[The litigation] also represents the culmination of concerns expressed by some vendors and librarians that OCLC has used its tax-exempt status to behave not only as a giant library utility but a hard-nosed business.

OCLC Circa Mid-1970s.

Ah, to return to the good old days during the mid-1970s when I first saw OCLC’s cataloging module in action and, as a Serials Technical Assistant in an academic library, was eagerly waiting for Serials to come online. It was something to behold.

Of course, we were also producing printed catalog card records back then that had to be filed but, luckily, that wasn’t my job because I was too busy checking in serials the old school cardex way.

Legal Assistance for the Poor

legal assistanceLegal help enables people who have low family income to get free help and legal advice from an experienced solicitor or adviser. In order to provide Legal consultation, the adviser or solicitor must posses a contract coming from the LSC or Legal Services Commission.

The coverage includes everything that you might ask and legally question to a solicitor most especially if you are preparing for a case gone to court. Some are general thoughts based on legal problems. Your legal adviser can also insert negotiations, getting an opinion from a barrister, writing legal documents or letters, and preparing for a case in a tribunal. Mediation regarding family cases is also covered by legal help. Mediation is a kind of negotiation wherein both parties are being helped by an impartial mediator in order to find a solution that is acceptable for both persons involved.

Against what other people might think legal aid is not responsible for any kind of payment that is put up in court or pay a lawyer for his or her representation in a tribunal or court. On the other hand, you may have the chance to get assistance for situations like these through Controlled Legal Representation, Legal Representation and Help at Court.

What are the probable legal problems that are covered by legal help?

1. Buy and sell of a property. Example would be, if you wanted to buy something or sell your house, legal aid can give you certain advice only if the situations are commanded by the court due to results of divorce, dissolved partnership and legal separation.

2. Law for housing which helps when you have issues against landlords who wants to evict you from the property or if your have arrears.

3. Cases of certain medical negligence.

4. Court procedures like when someone filed a lawsuit against you because you weren’t able to pay them the money that you owe.

5. Cases of personal injury only if the injury is caused by unwarranted abuse and deliberate battery or assault.

6. Law for consumers wherein you have bought goods that are inedible or faulty and can no longer be ingested.

7. Preparation for hearing in a tribunal council like when there is unequal case dismissal although legal aid doesn’t cover any kind of representation during the tribunal.

8. Family issues like when support is neglected after divorce was made and cases of disputes with rightful ownership of children. Advices about dissolution and divorce which is undefended can also be brought up.

9. Adoption matters only if disputes were made.

10. If you have reached the certain age where death is probable, you can get advice on making a will especially during difficult circumstances.

In order to be qualified for legal help, one must be financially stable. You have to meet conditions especially when it comes to financial aspects or if the solicitor believes that you are capable of meeting their standards of giving them the “benefits” in order to continue with the case. Benefits which are sufficient mean that there are greater chances of success when dealing with the case.

The moment you have been granted with the help, rest assured that your case will be reviewed in a regular basis without any kind of lapses and your conditions will be continued on right standards.

Aviation Accidents & Lawsuits

aviation accident lawyerAlthough today’s air travel is one of the safest forms of transportation, aviation accidents still happen and can become a living nightmare for those involved. There are many reasons that aviation accidents happen and they can all vary greatly depending on specific circumstances and problems that occur during the flight process.

Some of the accidents that occur deal with taxi and takeoff, descent and landing, mechanical failures, pilot error, poor weather and fuel mismanagement. Many people believe that aviation accidents can simply be caused by ‘bad luck’, however in many of the cases researched; the accidents could have been avoided all together. If the pilot and flight crew can perform their jobs without and mistakes, an aviation accident is much less likely to occur.

An aviation lawsuit involves a lengthy process which requires an experienced level of expertise. Litigation in the aviation industry generally involves expert witnesses with specific knowledge in certain aspects of aviation such as air traffic control, engine design and mechanics. These lawsuits are generally directed towards pilots or manufacturers of aircrafts, however sometimes pilot error can be blamed for accidents along with defective or malfunctioning machinery. Since planes are mass produced, if there are malfunctioning parts in one of the planes, there’s a chance that all of the models will have this defective part.

Legal Help and Church Matters

Legal Help and Church MattersVery few people hear God’s call and for those who want to establish a new church, you should be aware that it involves strategic planning. Church leaders should be like entrepreneurs because they need to handle things like acquiring capital, attracting faithful church members and possible expansion activities in the future. This is where legal help comes in.

Establishing a church is not an easy task. Have you already looked into incorporation, bylaws, marketing, and giving grants? These are some of the activities in putting up a church which involves some legal matter. It entails preparation of some legal forms and other pertinent paperwork. If you don’t know the needed forms and legal procedures, you will be at a loss.

It is therefore essential to find a lawyer who knows a lot of about the legal matters of the church. You can conduct a local search or you can also search online. It would be an advantage if the lawyer or attorney resides in the local area because you can easily ask for an appointment. It will also be easier to make the consultations at any time because you can contact him or her immediately. However, if you can’t find a local lawyer who is good at handling legal matters of the church, you can conduct an online search. The internet provides a lot of information resources like lawyer listings. You should look into the appropriate listings so that you will find the best lawyer soon.

During incorporation, the church will already be regarded as one of the legal entities. You need to prepare the various rules, regulations, and benefits for incorporation. If you have a lawyer, you will know what to do with the paperwork. It will be much easier to establish the rules or regulations with the aid of the lawyer. Not only that, you will be able to submit the accurate paperwork to the right agency in less time.

Churches are tax exempted and so the lawyer can help you with that task as well. It should be reflected in the bylaws of the church. The bylaws of the church is regarded as the doctrinal statement and it hierarchs the duties, responsibilities, and obligations of the church.

Marketing and grants are important concerns as well. Since the church is new, it should be advertised to the public. There are lots of ways to advertise the church and the lawyer can help you with establishing contacts. When giving grants, a proposal should still be drafted and again it will entail paperwork. With lots of paperwork to take care of, it will take a long time before you can accomplish them without a good lawyer.

Hiring the best and the most knowledgeable lawyer who can handle legal matters of the church should be your primary objective. Once you find a reputable lawyer, your church will be put up vey soon.

Follow God’s call and in order to achieve all the things you want, don’t forget to hire a lawyer to help you with all the legal matters and paperwork. Well of course, you’re expecting the Almighty to guide you in all your actions but with the aid of a lawyer, your efforts will not be wasted and you will surely follow the right path. Get a good lawyer now.

Affidavits Are Also Affirmations

Affidavits Are Also AffirmationsThe affidavit is a written version of sworn statement: a voluntary oath before a notary public, judge or commissioner of deed, all of whom are authorized to administer oaths. Both the affiant and the authorized officer are required to sign the affidavit.

The affidavit is also a useful tool in rectifying inadvertently wrongful data.

A simple example of an affidavit is the “Affidavit of Two Disinterested Persons” purposely to facilitate the correction of another person’s name. These two (2) particular disinterested persons issuing the affidavit are usually older close acquaintances of the other person’s family. The affidavit they swear to will explicitly state that they both know that the person seeking the correction of name is one and the same as that person they know since childhood years, etc. etc.

The notarized affidavit then becomes a very important supporting document; usually as attachment to the correction of name or some other form, commonly used by government or private agencies expressly for the purpose of rectifying erroneous entry of persons’ names.

On the other hand, affidavits are collected and used in the preparation of lawsuits. Preliminary legal proceedings necessitate that affidavits are completed before the filing of a legal action between two parties in a court of law.

A falsely prepared affidavit will result to perjury, which is a criminal offense and is punishable in court. Severe punishment awaits those who dare tamper with facts and figures.

Filing of affidavit should be factual and truthful. People, places and circumstances or events should be accurate contents of an affidavit. The affidavit based on prefabrications is incriminating and will hold the affiant vulnerable to a counter lawsuit by the opposite party.

Affidavits should always be regarded with care and caution. A notarized affidavit is not something to brandish about or to be used as tool to destroy your enemy – perceived or otherwise.

The affidavit speaks for a person and of a person. Depending on the motives by which an affidavit is presented, affidavits can either be moral or immoral. Affidavits can be good or bad.

Affidavits, however legalese it can get, is also an affirmation of a person’s being. An affidavit can actually bares one’s soul for the world to know – better or worse.

The use and abuse of affidavits is common. Affidavits can make or break anyone. Affidavits can build or ruin an empire. Why? Affidavits spin off court litigations, small or great. Affidavit could be that minute cog of the big machine of justice or injustice. Take your pick!

Personal Injury Advice: Can You Benefit?

Personal Injury Advice- Can You BenefitYou can benefit from personal injury advice if you have been hurt and it was somebody else’s fault. You may be able to win compensation to cover your medical costs, other expenses and possibly also an award for pain and suffering. However, everything depends on the individual circumstances of your case.

The first thing to keep in mind is that there has to be somebody to blame for your accident or injury. For example, many personal injury cases result from falls. If you trip on a badly maintained pathway or slip on a wet supermarket floor, you may be able to claim against the owners of the property or more likely, their insurance company. However, if the accident was not their fault (e.g. if your fall was caused by icy weather) then you usually cannot claim compensation.

Personal injury advice is not limited to physical injuries. Of course, these are the most common and usually the easiest to prove. However, there are some other situations that are included in personal injury law.

One is psychological injury. For example, somebody who suffers post traumatic stress disorder is often able to receive compensation. However, not all psychological injuries are as easy to prove as PTSD, and courts as well as insurance companies are very suspicious of these cases. Often, you will be required to show that a physical injury happened at the same time as a psychological injury.

Another situation that falls into the realm of personal injury law is legal malpractice. Here, your case would be that your lawyer was negligent and because of that, you suffered in some way (either financially, or in terms of a prison sentence or other punishment). However, as with medical malpractice, it’s not enough just to be disappointed with the outcome of your case. You have to prove that your attorney was negligent: i.e. that he or she did not act as an attorney should.

If you need personal injury advice, the best option is to contact a law firm in your local area. Many law firms specialize in giving personal injury advice and it is probably best to start with these. You will have a consultation either on the telephone or in person, after which the attorney will be able to tell you whether they can take on your case.

In most cases, you do not pay any legal fees for personal injury advice unless you win the case. This is often referred to as ‘no win, no fee’. This means that you have nothing to lose by consulting a lawyer about your case.

Of course, it also means that law firms will usually not take on cases where the rewards are likely to be small, because they would not cover their costs. So the injury needs to be relatively severe to interest a lawyer. Also, they will only take you on as a client if they think they have a good chance of winning your case.

However, even if you do not think your case has much value, it is still worth speaking with a personal injury attorney. You may want to fight the case yourself and it will be helpful to know how an attorney views your case, even if they do not wish to take it on. For this reason, it is a good idea to make notes during any personal injury advice that you have from an attorney, even in the early stages.