Report from Counsel In 2004, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) put in place new rules for insurance coverage of living trust accounts in FDIC-insured institutions. A living trust, sometimes called a family trust, is a formal revocable trust. Its owner specifies who will receive the trust assets when the owner dies. During his or her lifetime, the … Read more
In banking as in so many other areas, the trend is clear: We continue to move steadily away from traditional paper transactions toward high-tech means of conducting our business. It will not happen overnight, though, and even the most technophobic among us should be assured that there are some federal laws and regulations in place … Read more
The wisdom of making a will is well settled as sound legal advice, and rightly so. Less talked about, but equally advisable for many people, is the use of gifts during one’s lifetime as a method for estate planning. Apart from the intangible benefits that flow from the fact that, as the saying goes, it … Read more
In the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA), Congress required the adoption of rules for the proper disposal of consumer report information and records. The legislation was prompted by the growing risk of consumer fraud and related problems, including identity theft, that arise from the improper disposal of consumer information for which … Read more
A business hired architects for a renovation project involving a parking lot, a retaining wall, and a loading dock. The plans, as drawn up by the architects, did not call for a guardrail along the top of the retaining wall. A construction firm completed the project according to the architects’ plans. The contractor had not … Read more
If you spend time in any given year in residences in different states, somewhere in your travels you also may want to schedule an appointment with your professional tax advisor. One topic for discussion would be the legal concept of domicile.In simplest terms, a person’s domicile is the place where he or she intends to … Read more
An Internet marketing company provided a free software application that keeps track of computer users’ activity on the web in order to deliver targeted advertising for its clients. The software uses an unpublished internal directory with thousands of website addresses and keywords for particular interests of consumers. When the computer user types in particular terms … Read more
There may be some finality to the formerly unsettled picture on federal regulation of junk fax transmissions. Since the first federal legislation on the subject, in 1991, there has been an “established business relationship” exception allowing the sending of commercial advertising by fax under certain conditions. In 2003, the Federal Communications Commission issued a regulation … Read more
Unless an employee falls within an exempt category of workers, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires the employer to pay the employee overtime at a rate of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay, for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week. To be exempt is to be ineligible … Read more
Joyce had nothing against golf or golfers. In fact, she was a regular golfer herself and a member of two different golf clubs. But when her home in a subdivision adjoining a private golf course was continuously pelted with errant golf balls, she and a neighbor with the same predicament eventually took the matter to … Read more