Articles

What’s in a Title? What Massachusetts Homebuyers Need to Know About Deeds, Titles, and Searching for Both.

Know Before You Buy When buying a home, especially if this is your first time, you may feel overwhelmed by all the new terms entering your vocabulary, terms which seem interchangeable to you but may have very different legal meanings. This is perfectly normal. In this article, we will set out for you the difference between a title and a deed in residential real estate sales. Additionally, we will cover the process of searching for and

When Does a Text Message Become a Contract?

Group Chats, Emoticons, and Breach of Contract: When Does a Text Message Become a Contract? New Technologies, Established Obligations New media and technology have transformed the way we do business as compared not only to twenty years ago, but even as compared to ten or five years ago. Emails, social media posts, and even text messages were important tools for marketing and negotiating before the COVID-19 pandemic upended the ways in which we conduct business. Now,

When To Use A Special Needs Trust

Special-Needs Trusts: An Overview of a Useful Estate-Planning Tool In planning one’s estate, one seeks to make one’s passing easier, financially, logistically, and emotionally, for loved ones. In planning for the future, you likely have given special consideration to loved ones who would not be able to provide for themselves if you were gone, such as minor children. While children eventually grow up, some conditions and disabilities that prevent a person from working or living independently

The Art of Bill Paying

Paying bills is an inevitable part of everyday life, but that doesn’t mean it has to be stressful. Here are some ways to get control of your budget and perfect the art of stress-free bill paying. Make a budget. Knowing what you are making and what you are spending is essential to proper bill paying. First, find out how much you are making every month and then subtract the static items such as rent or mortgage

Taxes: These Basics are for Everyone

Understanding how our tax system works can be tricky for anyone. Whether you’re an adult who never paid much attention to the taxes being withheld from your paycheck or a kid who just got his or her first job, understanding the basics can help refine and define questions you may have. Many schools don’t teach these tax lessons. This results in many people entering life with a pretty incomplete picture of how taxes work, unless someone

Building a Fortress Balance Sheet

The best way to weather a storm is often by being prepared before the storm hits. In the case of small businesses, this means building a fortress balance sheet. What is a fortress balance sheet? This long-standing idea means taking steps to make your balance sheet shockproof by building liquidity. Like a frontier outpost or an ancient walled city, businesses that prepare for a siege—in the form of a recession, natural disaster, pandemic, or adverse regulatory

Helping Your Fellow Business Owner

Your firm survived 2020. Now you may be asking yourself when will the economy return to pre-pandemic levels? Will it be this fall? A year from now? Longer? Until the economy fully emerges from the pandemic, small businesses can help one another stay afloat. By collaborating with other like-minded firms, your business can find creative ways to strengthen local markets and encourage consumer loyalty. Consider the following ideas of how you can help each other: Partner

Tax History Trivia!

With the IRS moving tax day back for all U.S. filers for the second time in as many years, it’s time once again for a fun diversion by looking back at tax history! Test your tax knowledge using these questions to stump your friends and family. In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln enacted a flat tax on wages above $800 to help pay for the Civil War. What was the tax rate? 3% 5% 12% 17% a.

Home Improvement Contracts: What Does Prompt Payment Mean?

Believing Before Seeing? How You Can Handle Home Improvement Contractor Payment Disputes Home Is Where the Legal Liability Is As the old saying goes, a man’s home is his castle—or a woman’s home is her castle, as the case may be. A home is also the largest single investment most of us will ever make and the most valuable asset we will ever own. What goes on in our homes is uniquely our choice, but also

Tips for DIY home remodeling projects

As people spend more time at home, DIY projects are on the rise. But even if you’re trying your hand at doing it yourself, you need to meet certain local requirements. A permit for any remodeling project is issued by the local building department. If you’re doing the work on your own, you should request the permit. If you’ve hired a contractor, they should request it as they are responsible for compliance. Whether you need a

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