Often, the plaintiff’s lawyers gather a group of people together into a class and file a class-action lawsuit. This is generally because the damages to one individual are not significant, but when you group together many individuals who were in the same situation and faced the same problem, the damages add up and become significant.…
Estate planning is an important life step, especially once you have children or gain assets, as it helps give your loved ones clarity about your wishes after your death. An estate plan can direct the care of your children, ensure your spouse is comfortable, and leave a legacy to a charity or institution that is…
Millions of emails fly around the world every day between parties stating what each person wants and will do. However, can something written in an email be taken to be a legally binding contract? The answer: it depends. Contracts 101 A contract is defined as an agreement between two or more parties where there is…
Utah is one of 17 states that has a type of trust that allows you to place assets into that trust and protect them from creditors in some fashion. A Utah Domestic Asset Protection Trust or UDAPT trust is irrevocable, so once you place assets into the trust, you cannot remove them. The trust provides…
Non-compete agreements are signed between business partners and between businesses and their employees. They give the business assurance that, once trade secret information is shared or proprietary formulas are developed, the people working with the business will not then take that information and know-how and directly compete with the company. When to Sign a Non-Compete…
Most people who have assets want the opportunity to direct how those assets will be handled after their death. Whether you want to make sure your children are educated, provide for grandchildren’s enrichment, leave a house to a niece, or leave a legacy to your favorite charity, you get to decide. With proper planning, you…
Civil lawsuits cover many different areas and each area has a different statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is the time frame within which a party can bring a lawsuit. So, for example, if you’ve been injured in some way, you have a fixed period of time to bring your complaint. You can’t wait…
If you don’t work in the field regularly, the different estate terms and types can get confusing. These distinctions matter, though, because they control how easy or hard it is for your heirs to manage and distribute your assets after your death. While some larger estates are, of necessity, complex, good planning can help you…
As more and more documents and transactions are handled completely electronically, tech companies have stepped up to provide a variety of ways for people to ensure that the digital signature they’re making is just as fraud-proof, and perhaps even more so, than a signature in pen on a document. But, do these signatures hold up…
The approaching specter of death is something people often avoid, either by not making an estate plan or not updating their estate plan. Then, when it is near, it suddenly becomes necessary to make updates or changes to the plan. Often, these changes are due to family circumstances (those kids your last will left in…