Ask Standard Legal: Law Questions & Answers for FREE

If there is no survivorship language detailed in a deed and one of the owning parties in the Deed dies, then the surviving parties may need to open an estate case with the appropriate probate court to permit that court to issue an order transferring the property (since the deceased is no longer able to sign the deed transferring the land). [ Read More… →]

If the soon-to-be husband and wife are concerned about their individual assets entering into the premarital agreement process — or even if they are uncomfortable having financial discussions directly — then the couple should choose to secure individual legal counsel and have the attorneys “negotiate” the document.

(Certainly the bar association would recommend this; that keeps the lawyers working!) [ Read More… →]

Sometimes a person can gain full ownership rights to a home from a Separation Agreement or a Divorce proceeding. But what if the Deed to that home still shows both names of the divorced couple on it, and the newly single owner wishes to sell it? [ Read More… →]

An existing Last Will and Testament is valid until the maker creates a new one.

If you wish to change the listed beneficiaries in your Last Will and Testament because of a Divorce, simply create a brand new Will document then have it notarized.

To easily and affordably create a new Will document without the expense of an attorney, see details about Standard Legal’s Last Will and Testament legal forms software.

Standard Legal is unaware of any state restrictions on the residency of the person named as the “attorney in fact” on a Power of Attorney document.

However, the ability of a foreign-based ‘attorney in fact’ to carry out the wishes of the Grantor could be an issue for any transaction involving the attorney-in-fact and any USA bank, financial institution, local/state/federal government, courts, etc. [ Read More… →]

Short answer, yes: the Trustee administering a bankruptcy case is permitted to take a tax refund that is paid to the debtor from the IRS (as well as any State tax refund).

The theory is that such refund is an asset of the debtor that can be used to pay creditors.

But there is one consideration, however. [ Read More… →]

Remember, ‘Ask Standard Legal’ was created to respond only to ‘questions of fact’ for the legal topics listed at the left. So it follows that we cannot respond with suggestions on how a person might structure something or how to proceed; that’s the very definition of legal advice.

You can certainly create an LLC at your discretion with any members you choose to involve. Details about the formation of an LLC can be found here. You might also wish to review the “BUSINESS LAW AND INCORPORATION ARTICLES” at our Standard Legal Law Library to see if an LLC is the best structure for your needs.

But we simply cannot advise you (or even make suggestions) as to the tax or estate issues related to such a decision, or even whether an LLC would function in a certain capacity. In pro se (i.e. “self-help”) law, these are the very types of decisions that must come from the individual “helping themselves”.

If you want or need legal advice, find an attorney. If you need to have a discussion of options on how best to proceed, find an attorney. Unless YOU yourself are 100% certain of the structure you wish to create and the end results of those decisions, find an attorney. To find a local attorney for FREE who specializes in either Estate Planning or Business Law, visit Standard Legal’s Attorney Finder page.

To consider making such a critical long-term financial decision based on some free advice you receive from a faceless person at a legal forms website truly is a bad idea…

Absolutely. One commonly used phrase in a Will (that may have unintended consequences over time) is: “If one of my children predecease me, then their share goes to his or her siblings equally.” [ Read More… →]

The issue of “residency” is important in determining where a couple may file its Divorce case.

In order to start the No-Fault Divorce process, a couple must agree fully to the terms of the divorce, and then file a fully executed complaint in the proper court — where either you or your spouse lives. [ Read More… →]

A Last Will & Testament becomes effective only upon the death of the person making that Will.  A person who has made a Will has the right to change it anytime prior to his or her death, assuming that the person has sufficient mental capacity to make a new Will.

As such, a Will cannot be “opened” or administered prior to a person’s death in order to determine whether that person’s wishes are being respected. [ Read More… →]

The answer is simple: read the previous lease carefully. If a lease is well-written, it will spell out the exact terms as to what happens when the rental agreement expires. [ Read More… →]

Once one of the listed owners on an existing Deed dies, the ability to transfer ownership of the property by creating and executing a new Quitclaim Deed depends upon the format of the existing Deed. [ Read More… →]

Standard Legal’s Last Will & Testament legal forms software is valid and appropriate for those persons who plan to transfer assets to beneficiaries within the United States and/or have their probate case administered within the United States. [ Read More… →]

What if your spouse is not forthright in disclosing the contents of his or her Last Will and Testament? Can one spouse create a Will that “leaves out” the marital partner? [ Read More… →]

Sometimes a family must make financial decisions on behalf of a person in the last years of life. This can mean the sale of assets that might have been disbursed to a specific person as a part of a Last Will and Testament.

So the question that arises: can a specifically-named beneficiary in a Last Will & Testament request the disbursement of assets from an estate prior to the death of the Maker, in an effort to keep that asset from being sold off prior to death? [ Read More… →]

The filing of a bankruptcy petition will “stay” or stop any garnishment proceedings. If wages are garnished after the Bankruptcy case is filed, the creditor should be required to repay this money to the debtor or to the bankruptcy estate (i.e. the trustee assigned to oversee the bankruptcy case).

Complete information on the Bankruptcy filing process and related activities are described in specific details within Standard Legal’s Bankruptcy legal forms software package.

Standard Legal recommends that a person with a large number of debtors who is filing Bankruptcy create separate continuation sheets for each type of debt, using the stock continuation sheet provided. [ Read More… →]

If the Power of Attorney document is written so as to require the “attorney-in-fact” to disgorge or turn over any and all documents or financial accounting records he or she may have after the dissolution of a POA, then an obligation to act typically will exist.

But if that language is missing from the document, then the answer is not as black and white. [ Read More… →]

A lease agreement is valid, binding and enforceable upon execution by the parties.  Unless the lease agreement provides a specific amount of time for one party or the other to return it after signing, there is no time limit, per se.

However, providing a tenant with a copy of the signed lease agreement as soon as possible is a good idea, so that the tenant is aware of his or her obligation and to make the tenant aware of any rules or regulations that may be associated with the property. [ Read More… →]

Many notaries employ the use of a seal or stamp to make the notarized document appear more “legal”. But the document is no more or less “legitimate” if a seal is placed on the document or not. [ Read More… →]