The transgender community is growing, and with that comes unique legal needs. One issue that has come up quite a bit in our practice lately, is a name change of a minor due to a change in gender. About one-third of the people I saw in court for name changes were transgender or transitioning. Having a name you feel connected …
Child support in most states is largely formulaic (i.e., a math equation)– basic support is typically calculated by looking at the income and qualified deductions of each parent. However, for most involved in farming and ranching or other kind of agri-business, finding the numbers for the math equation is anything but straightforward. This figure is also used to help calculate …
Spousal maintenance in some states is formulaic, while others rely on case law. In either scenario, there needs to be a determination of income (not assets). For most involved in farming and ranching or other kinds of agri-business, determining income is anything but straightforward. Typically, a spouse is required to pay for his/her health insurance after the divorce, but if …
Prenuptial agreements are oftentimes viewed as taboo; instead, farmers, ranchers, agribusiness owners, and food entrepreneurs should view prenuptial agreements like an insurance policy for a marriage. Nobody gets on an airplane thinking that it is going to crash, but you still go over the safety instructions. A prenuptial agreement simply notes the safety instructions in case the marriage terminates for …
An Order of Protection is available for parties who are being stalked, harassed, or abused by their partner (physically, verbally, or sexually). It is available not only for romantic relationships (e.g., spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend), but also other family relationships (e.g., between a farmer landlord uncle and farmer tenant niece). Although the procedures for filing and defending against an order of protection …
Most parties going through a divorce do not consider the option of keeping the farm business intact. Everyone’s brains (including the lawyers’) typically go to dividing the farm/ranch assets, along with its inventory. However, there is another option: keeping the business intact. This has several advantages, especially if this is a multi-generational farm family business. This requires careful planning and …
It is uncommon for agriculture producers and business owners to consider estate planning and succession planning for their agriculture operation in the midst of a divorce; however, divorcing farm families should consider this while negotiating the division of marital assets. These assets may include the farm or ranch business and its assets. After all, divorce is one of the Big …
Divorces among farm families inherently have animal issues – not only with live animals but also with genetic material (e.g., embryos, semen). These are important property disputes for some farm families. Depending on the state, companion animals can be treated differently. Companion Animals To begin, companion animals typically include dogs and cats, but can also include some exotic animals and …
