Anyone who begins a business should strongly consider the benefits of starting a limited liability company (LLC). When you form an LLC, you create a barrier between you and your personal assets. If your business has a financial obligation that you cannot pay, can your creditors come after your home or other assets? The answer to that question depends on your entity structure.  Though you can forgo the formal process Read More

During the due diligence portion of the home-buying process, you will need to verify whether there are easements on the property you intend to purchase. An easement is a legal right to access or use your property for a specific purpose. There are multiple ways to learn about the existence of an easement: Through a title search Through your real estate attorney  By obtaining a survey of the land Regarding easements, Read More

Per the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, 350,150 arrests were made in 2022 for marijuana-related violations. Though you may think that number is high, arrests related to marijuana haven’t been that low since the mid-1990s. In 2008, that number soared beyond 800,000. As more states legalize the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana, there has been a shift in how we view the people who have used it. In March of 2021, Read More

New York is an equitable distribution state. Before your assets get divided, the court is going to consider several factors surrounding your marriage: The assets you acquired as a married couple The assets you acquired separately (e.g., inheritances, businesses you began before marriage, and gifts you received).  The length of time you were married Your age and health  The amount of spousal support you will pay or Read More

Creating and establishing your business took time, and so will dissolving it. Though there are several steps you must take, it is worth it. When you dissolve your business correctly, you are effectively limiting your liability. For example, if you have an LLC, you have annual fees, reports, and other administrative obligations. Unless you dissolve your business by taking the appropriate steps, the IRS has no way of Read More

Traditionally, having a million dollars or more could constitute a high-net-worth divorce. Associating a high-net-worth divorce with a specific dollar amount may be somewhat misleading. For example, the average cost of a home in some areas of New York is well beyond $4 million. Though these people make enough money to afford these properties, that may be where most of their funds are going.  Rather than money, take a Read More

Having a preconceived notion about a future event is likely going to impact the way you view it and ultimately experience it. Imagine that you have an upcoming work conference to attend, and you believe that the guest lecturer scheduled to speak will be dull or uninspiring. Think about what your mindset will be like when you are in the auditorium that day waiting for the person to take the stage.  Our judgments, Read More

Regardless of whether you are in the divorce process or beyond it, there is always a concern that your former spouse won’t follow the divorce decree. Before your divorce could be finalized, there were many details that needed to be sorted. Though there are always unique elements to consider, most people have to agree about dividing marital assets, child and spousal support, and custody.  Either you and your spouse Read More

Medicinal marijuana has been legal in New York since 2014 (and was approved for recreational use years later). That may come as a surprise to many New Yorkers. The ability to access and purchase medical marijuana has been limited. One of the biggest hurdles was the mandate that required patients to buy the drug from a licensed dispensary instead of growing it in their homes.   Seemingly, that doesn’t appear to be an Read More

There may be a general misconception that it is a single document for those who have not begun building an estate plan. In fact, it is a collection of documents that can work for you in various ways. Each one is a tool that has the potential to either protect your assets, protect you, or pass assets to your designated beneficiaries (or both).  Another common error is to think of estate planning as a single event. Read More