Philadelphia probate law and commercial litigation blog

Should you begin estate planning early?

On behalf of Freedman & Grinshpun, PC on Thursday, July 19, 2018.

As a young individual, you know there are plenty of areas in your life that require immediate attention. Maybe you still have some student debt to pay off, or you are looking to upgrade from an apartment to a house. Based on how you have seen your family or society work, you might have a certain set of expectations on when to place your financials at different points in your life.

However, there are some aspects in life that require long term planning. While there has been more attention placed around saving for retirement, that is not the only part of life that can benefit from early planning. You can also start estate planning as early as your 20s, however most Americans do not practice it. Over half of the country does not have a will or trust in place, and there are only 22 percent in the 18 to 36 demographic that do. The major question asked by millennials is what do they have to benefit from early estate planning.

Do this before starting a business with your spouse

On behalf of Freedman & Grinshpun, PC on Monday, July 9, 2018.

You have a bright idea, plenty of enthusiasm and you make a great team. Why not go into business with your better half?

Going into business with your spouse or partner can be tricky. Before setting up shop, you and your future business partner should have a frank discussion about your new venture. Here are a few things you should keep in mind:

Everyone should have a living will

On behalf of Freedman & Grinshpun, PC on Monday, May 21, 2018.

Wills and estate planning are often regarded as things to get done in your retirement years. Many people procrastinate on starting a will because they think they don't have enough assets, or that it’s too early.

Some even consider it bad luck to start a will too soon.

Can social media posts violate a non-solicitation agreement?

On behalf of Freedman & Grinshpun, PC posted in blog on Friday, April 20, 2018.

Social media sites such as LinkedIn and Ladders have changed the landscape for salespeople and jobseekers alike. Salespeople can reach and develop a larger customer base with less effort, and job seekers can connect with decision-makers in unprecedented ways. But with so much more exposure, salespeople who leave an employer may have to be particularly careful about comments made on social media, especially if the employee is subject to a non-solicitation agreement.

A 2017 ruling by a federal district court in Minnesota exemplifies this notion. The court granted a preliminary injunction preventing a former employee of Mobile Mini, Inc. from soliciting customers through LinkedIn.

Estate planning beneficiary designations for blended families

On behalf of Freedman & Grinshpun, PC posted in blog on Monday, March 19, 2018.

Blended families have become the new norm as the baby boomer generation leads the nation with record high numbers of divorce and remarriage. The modern family dynamic often includes remarried parents, creating a blended family with their children and step children. When considering estate planning options, the question of who will inherit is significant and requires a thoughtful answer.

When deciding how to divide a lifetime of assets, a person will often want to provide for the surviving spouse while leaving a portion of the assets to their children and possibly step children. With multiple people in line to inherit, clear and current beneficiary designations are essential.

Is there debt after death?

On behalf of Freedman & Grinshpun, PC posted in blog on Tuesday, February 20, 2018.

Often, people die with a variety of financial obligations that need to be sorted out and addressed to settle their affairs. The executor of the estate normally pays any outstanding bills with a deceased person’s available assets.

Regardless of whether you have been named as an executor of someone’s estate or are just wondering what your responsibilities are when a family member dies, the prospect of potentially being on the hook for debts is likely to make you uneasy. Here are some questions and answers about various scenarios regarding outstanding credit obligations after death.

Estate planning is for you as well as them

On behalf of Freedman & Grinshpun, PC posted in blog on Wednesday, January 17, 2018.

Writing a will is a wonderful thing to do. It will save your heirs a ton of heartache and the confusion of having the state decide who gets what.

But apart from the satisfaction of doing a nice thing for your family, it doesn’t do that much for you. What three steps can you take that will benefit the person you are most responsible for – yourself?

Accused Of A Breach Of Your Partnership Agreement?

On behalf of Freedman & Grinshpun, PC posted in blog on Wednesday, January 10, 2018.

When you are running a business, it seems that there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that you need to do. If you're accused of a partnership agreement breach you may feel confused, threatened and angry all at the same time.

Businesses small and large go through breach of partnership litigation each year in part because the enterprise has an inadequate or non-existent partnership agreement. Here are some ways to handle your situation if someone claims you compromised a partnership agreement.

3 Reasons To Revise Your Estate Plan

On behalf of Freedman & Grinshpun, PC posted in blog on Friday, December 29, 2017.

If you already have an estate plan, you may feel that you have all of your financial and legal arrangements in place. This may be true, except when there are changes in your life. Here are three types of life changes that make it necessary to revise your estate plan.

Have you thought about what happens to your farm after you die?

On behalf of Freedman & Grinshpun, PC posted in blog on Thursday, October 19, 2017.

You have worked hard to establish your farm and to build up the success. As the success continues, you have to start making plans for your farm's future. One of the things that you should do is to create a succession plan.

A succession plan outlines what is going to happen to the farm when you retire or die. It sets up the protocol for the change of management or ownership. This helps to ensure that all of your hard work isn't lost when you aren't the one who is running the farm. Here are some points to remember about farm succession plans:

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