Tag: LegalEase

True love is usually amplified so loudly in the heart of the lover that the sounds of anything else are almost imperceptible.

To be in business is to accept risk in order to secure rewards. Generally, the most successful businesses minimize risk and manage risk.

Boating is unquestionably popular this time of year. There are literally hundreds of state, federal and local laws, rules and regulations governing boating in Ohio and the United States. This column introduces and explains the basics of some commonly recognized boating laws and explains some of the more interesting aspects of the same.

Sometimes, a parent will give money or property to a child or grandchild while the parent is alive. Gifts made while the gift-giver is alive are legally called “inter vivos” gifts.

To assist the growth of agriculture, our federal government has organized commodity checkoff programs, also known as research and promotion programs. Agricultural checkoff programs are industry-specific, such as pork, egg, watermelon and lamb.

The legal system requires that people who are going to testify about what is true or not true should not be flippant or careless about their words. As a result, TV and movies depict witnesses in court who are often asked to “swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me, God.” This recitation of words that is intended to elicit honesty from witnesses is legally called a sworn oath to tell the truth.

A trust is most commonly understood as being a set of rules. Prior to 2013, trusts helped many married people save on estate taxes. Under the current law, in most instances, trusts neither help nor hurt married people’s estate tax obligations, because the trigger/threshold for estate tax obligations to kick in for married people is now almost $26 million.

Nursing homes and other long-term care providers are a crucial part of our society. Their solvency and continued existence is necessary in our lives where, unlike our ancestors, senior family members typically no longer “move in” with their adult children when the senior members who need care for day-to-day living are unable to independently care for themselves.

Probate is the administrative process used to move official ownership of a deceased person’s possessions, known as assets, to other people. When someone dies having signed a valid will, the probate process is called “testate,” and the process is called “intestate” when there is no will.

Earlier this month, the Ohio Supreme Court decided that a person who openly and nonchalantly stole a leaf blower from a garage was not guilty of the crime of burglary, because the thief did not enter the garage by “force, stealth, or deception,” as required in the Ohio Revised Code.