Estate planning does not have to be complex. In fact, many of my clients are surprised when We complete their estate planning for them and they can see how simple it really was. Below is a simple three-step estate plan that anyone can accomplish through a qualified estate planning attorney.
MAKE A LIST OF WHAT YOU OWN AND WHAT YOU OWE
As reported by the New York Post, a tenant of a famed Bowery flophouse has been banned from suing his landlord. Roland Davis, 65, had already sued the Whitehouse Hotel at 338-340 Bowery 23 times in seven years, losing every time, when Manhattan Judge Kelly O’Neill took the unusual step of barring him from pursuing any more litigation against its past and current owners.
“I am both relieved and excited, not just for me, but for the fact the courts are willing to recognize that nobody should be permitted to use the system as a weapon,” said Meyer Muschel, a former owner of the building who had been sued.
Employers are often covered by federal employment laws that provide certain protections for employees. One of the laws that exist that is applicable to many employers is the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The FMLA is designed to provide certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year. It also requires that their group health benefits be maintained during the leave. Essentially this means that an employee who is covered by the FMLA can take up to 12 weeks of leave, that is unpaid, with an assurance that their job will be open and remaining for them when they return.
The FMLA is designed to help employees balance their work and family responsibilities by allowing them to take reasonable unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons. It also seeks to accommodate the legitimate interests of employers and promote equal employment opportunity for men and women.
I’ve been an estate planning attorney now for nearly two decades. One of the first things I discovered about estate planning when I first began practicing was how flexible estate planning can be. Flexibility in estate planning is really important because a person’s circumstances are changing all the time. Below are three of the basic areas that illustrate how flexible estate planning can be.
OWNERSHIP AND USE OF PROPERTY
Whenever a “Reasonable Modification” has been made to a property rented to a tenant, the issue of restoring the property comes up. In most instances, the landlord has a right to “restore” or to have the tenant restore the premises to the condition they were in before the modification occurred.
So the question arises, it is legal for a landlord to require a tenant to sign a “Restoration Agreement” when a modification is made. The answer to this questions is controlled by language in the Fair Housing Act itself. According to the applicable section of the Fair Housing Act:
9th CCA received today. We successfully defended ISP officer Janet Murakami in a civil rights action under 42 USC, sec. 1983, through State of Idaho Risk Management Program. The opinion holds she was entitled to qualified immunity for a Code 3 call for emergency backup form other officers, who responded, and allegedly used excessive force to effectuate Rice’s arrest. The ruling in favor of Murakami reverses Chief US District Judge Winmill’s ruling denying summary judgment to her for the Code 3 call, which we appealed, and which was reversed. Previously, Judge Winmill had granted partial summary judgment dismissing additional claims for traffic stop and arrest, holding there was probable cause to do so. If the procedural status on appeal is confusing to the reader, recall that an interlocutory appeal of a denial of summary judgment is allowed in such section 1983 actions before trial and final judgment, which is opposite the general rule. Risk Management, ISP, and Officer Murakami, and the AG’s office are/will be very pleased with this favorable circuit opinion in favor of their officer.
Recently there seems to be a trend by my estate planning clients to avoid probate at all costs. It is true that a number of my recent clients have recently moved to Idaho from other states whose laws are vastly different than Idaho’s when it comes to probate. However, there are also a large number of individuals who have lived in Idaho their entire lives who for some reason feel it necessary to avoid probate
I found that when I actually talk to these clients I learn that their desire to avoid probate stems from information they have received from family or friends. I’m sure that these family and friends are well meaning, but I often find that the information they provide to my client is not accurate. It is my belief that there really are only three legitimate reasons to try and avoid probate.
Not all tenants, or potential tenants, are healthy. Many have physical disabilities or handicaps that limit their mobility or ability to function normally. Discriminating against a tenant or potential tenant because of a disability is prohibited by both state and federal law. However, I’ve had many landlord clients who are concerned about what they are required to do when a tenant or potential tenant makes a request for a reasonable modification.
A reasonable modification is a structural change made to existing premises, occupied or to be occupied by a person with a disability, in order to afford such person full enjoyment of the premises. Reasonable modifications can include structural changes to interiors and exteriors of dwellings and to common and public use areas. People with disabilities can ask for reasonable modification.
By Fred Lewis
In Chadwick, VA. Multi-state Electric, LLC. 159 Idaho 451 (2015) the Idaho Supreme Court held that the Claimant had failed to prove that the May 26th, 2012 caused damage to the physical structure of the body and the Claimant had failed to give the employer timely notice of the alleged accident. The Supreme Court pointed out the record was filled with inconsistent evidence from the Claimant in his medical records, recorded statement and deposition in regard to both of his alleged accidents.
But the Idaho Supreme Court held that notice requires notice of and injury and notice that the injury was caused by an accident arising out of and in the course of employment. Notice to the employer that the employee is experiencing pain or that the employee has received treatment for that pain, is insufficient to meet the notice requirement, since injury is defined as “a personal injury caused by an accident arising out of and in the course of any employment covered by the Workers’ Compensation law”. “Injury” and “accident” are not synonymous, notice must be of both, and injury and the cause of the injury.
November 17, 2016 through November 27, 2016 is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)’s nationwide campaign urging motorists to buckle up and ensure that children are correctly restrained in child safety seats. Wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of a fatal injury by 45%.
Seat belt use reduces fatalities by 74% in rollover crashes involving passenger cars and by 80% in rollover crashes involving light trucks. (This effectiveness info from Fatality Reduction by Safety Belts for Front Seat Occupants of Cars and Light Trucks, NHTSA, DOT HS 809 199)
Over Thanksgiving week, millions of motorists will hit the road to spend time with family and friends. It is one of the busiest travel times of the year. More vehicles on the roadways also pose a higher probability for more crashes to occur. An unrestrained passenger is killed every 5.5 days.
Idaho Law Blog
