When the owners of a party store received an offer to purchase not the entire property, but only their liquor license and fixtures, they accepted the offer, but on the condition that their attorney approve the deal. Before the attorney’s review of the first offer, the owners received a better offer from another potential buyer, … Read more
Normally, capital gains are recognized and taxable upon the sale of property. The Tax Code provides an exception to this rule for certain exchanges of property. If all requirements are met, any gain from the exchange is not taxed, and any loss cannot be deducted. Gains or losses will not be recognized until the person … Read more
If you have heard of generation-skipping trusts (GSTs) at all, you probably think of them as a way for wealthy families to shield their fortune from estate taxes. That is true as far as it goes, but GSTs can also have benefits for the less well off by protecting assets from ex-spouses and creditors and … Read more
A jury has returned a multimillion-dollar judgment for the plaintiff in a case that is likely to make for strained relationships for one Michigan family. The winner, Richard, was the retired founder of a large automobile dealership. The loser was his daughter, Gail, to whom he had sold a controlling interest in the dealership. The … Read more
A condominium association adopted a rule forbidding the placement of any signs or symbols on doors or in hallways outside condominium units. When a Jewish resident placed a religious symbol on the doorpost of her unit, the association had it removed without her consent. The resident sued the association under the federal Fair Housing Act … Read more
Where parties have entered into a contractual relationship and damage occurs occasioning merely economic losses, the economic loss rule bars the complaining party from asserting tort remedies and limits that person to the contract remedies that were bargained for and agreed upon. Economic losses are distinguished from physical harm or damage to property other than … Read more
A family hired a moving company to pack up their belongings in their home and move them to a new house in another state. The mover packed up everything, but failed to come back for the loading and moving. This was more than merely inconvenient, because the family’s sale of their old house was contingent … Read more