Blog

I have been contacted on multiple occasions by prospective clients who learned after a loved one’s death that they would inherit nothing from the deceased person (decedent). This can be a very painful discovery, particularly if the decedent and the prospect were...

My sister inspired this blog article when she noticed a trend in the knitting world.  She saw several social media posts where knitters saw a design they liked, reverse-engineered it, and then gave away the pattern or offered it for sale. She asked me about the...

Estate Administration Basics: What To Do After a Loved One Dies Losing a loved one is one of the most emotional times a person can go through. Dealing with their material possessions (i.e. the estate) shouldn’t be an additional burden, but it frequently is. Most...

When Should I Register My Trademark? Before jumping into the details of trademark registration, it’s important to remember what a trademark is and why having one is important. A trademark serves as a source identifier in the marketplace, so buyers know who they’re...

I see a lot of confusion regarding defamation, libel, and slander. People usually know the terms are related, but they’re not sure how or what they actually mean. Let me break it down. Defamation is the spreading of false facts (i.e. lies, but lying sounds bad, so...

Most of my estate planning clients own property, so I see a lot of Grant Deeds. Sometimes a married couple owns property as community property, and sometimes they own property as joint tenants. I’ve had several clients tell me they have no idea what the difference is...

Author-Illustrator Contracts Most people who write a book that requires illustrations (such as children’s or botanical books) aren’t artists. When self-publishing their book, these authors will need to hire someone themselves to create the necessary artwork. They may...

Many of my prospective clients ask me what they need to do or bring before their estate planning consultation. While it’s certainly acceptable to simply walk into an attorney’s office without any advance preparation (for me anyway; I can’t speak for other attorneys),...

Now and again, I get a client who owns property in a foreign country. Unsurprisingly, they want to know how to incorporate this property into their estate plan successfully. Since every country has a different set of laws, and some countries may not recognize a U.S....