Recently, I was given an opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. for the week of October 8th. When I checked the schedule I was thrilled to learn that the United States Supreme Court WOULD be hearing oral arguments while I was there. I had last visited the Supreme Court in 1983, when I was a college […]
Rodney Dangerfield once joked that “my wife and I sleep in separate rooms, have dinner apart, and take separate vacations - we're doing everything we can to keep our marriage together!” But what if your wife didn't live with you and still wanted to inherit your property after your death? The Michigan Supreme Court recently […]
The Michigan Court of Appeals was recently asked to decide if a completely electronic "will" was valid. The ruling was that it is. Duane Horton was only 21 when he committed suicide. Before his death, he left an undated, handwritten entry in his journal. The journal entry said that his "final note" was on his phone, […]
If you’ve had a family member die recently, you may have been surprised by how quickly you started receiving phone calls from bill collectors. According to a recent New York Times story, some debt collectors are specially trained in all five stages of grief and are paid a commission to collect debts from grieving family […]
Are you using construction liens to your benefit? If you are a contractor, or a supplier of materials to a contractor, you have one of the most powerful collection tools at your disposal – the construction lien. If you are not paid by your customer, the law allows you to place a lien on real […]
The depressed real estate market has caused many people to consider buying or selling a home on a land contract. Before deciding on this type of transaction, it is important to first understand what a land contract is. What is a Land Contract? A land contract is simply a sale of real estate in which […]
Most people have at least one asset that includes a beneficiary designation (i.e, a life insurance policy, 401(k), IRA, annuity, etc.) It is important to remember that a beneficiary designation is the “trump card” and will overrule your will, your trust, or any other document that tries to direct to whom these funds are […]
Do you own your own business? Getting ready to start a new business? Wading through business legal documentation can be a daunting task, to say nothing of writing your own. If you’ve ever downloaded or purchased a CD of legal forms with the intent of drafting your own contract, please proceed cautiously. Many of these […]
Do you do business as a Michigan limited liability company or a Michigan corporation? Did you know that you need to file an annual report with the State of Michigan (and pay a small fee) in order to keep that company or corporation in existence? The State of Michigan sends reminders to business owners […]
