Everybody needs to plan their will at some point in their lives while the legal advisors recommend that you do it as soon as possible. Irrespective of your age or economic status, creating a will is one step you can take right now to assure the distribution of your property to the ones after you when you are gone. If you die without a will for your family or loved ones, the state law will determine what happens to your property. So when you plan on creating a will, make sure that you consider these factors before you write it down.

Executor

The executor is your personal representative who will manage all your estates. You should be able to trust the executor with your property as they will be responsible for organizing everything from paperwork to administration. You should discuss your intent with this person in advance and find out if they are willing to accept the role of the executor. You will also have to tell this person where they can find your important documents, including your will and passwords for online financial accounts.

Property

Your will should cover all your real properties and your personal properties. You will need a comprehensive list of properties to decide who gets what. The real property will include houses, land, and other immovable objects like company buildings. The personal property will include bank accounts, jewellery, collection, vehicles, etc. It would help if you also remembered that you could not write a joint property in your will. You can only write your share of the property in your will.

Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries are the people who will receive your real and personal assets according to your will. These are the people who are closest to you. But you will need to make advanced plans in case of an unexpected event. You should also think of what might happen if you and your spouse die at the same time.

Legal guardian for minors

In case a parent dies, the other parent gets the custody of minor children. But there can be accidents where both the parents die at the same time. At this situation, the custody of children can become a problem. Think about how you want your children to be raised in case something happens to you. You can name a legal guardian whom you can trust for the minors in your will. The more choices you have, the better in case your first option is unable to take the responsibility. You can also write the responsibility for your pets in your will.

Digital legacy

Today there are many social media platforms where we are active. You must consider what happens to your social media account in case you are gone. Some platforms like Facebook have a built-in provision for handling your page where you can select your preferences. You can also let the wishes known in your will so that the executor can take the responsibility of closing down your digital legacy or preserving it.

The employment laws in the US have always been going ahead with a sense of progression ever since the Industrial Revolution. As a result, one needs to understand the path of development that it follows before being employed by an organisation. Since it concerns all employees, they need to know their basic rights to create a comfortable work environment. Hence, to make matters simple, here are some of the basic workplace laws that you need to know.

1. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

The FMLA was put in place to provide workers with the ability to take protected leave from their job to care for a child, parent ill spouse, spend time with a newborn baby or adopted child or even for their own medical conditions. According to the law, an employee is eligible for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave but with continued health benefits. As a result, you need to understand the impact of this law and ensure that your employer follows the same.

2. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Passed in 1938, the Fair Labour Standards Act is another important law that you need to be aware of. Created to improve the working conditions of employees, it came into the picture by the end of the Great Depression. Once it was passed, it brought forward significant changes that stood to cover employees and help them out in different ways. Apart from prohibiting child labour, the law went on to set forth a maximum of 44 hour work week with $0.25 as the minimum wage.

3. Civil Rights Act

Popularly known as a well-known law, the Civil Rights Act tends to cover discrimination in all public places. Moreover, it also banned discrimination by employers and unions during the process of hiring, promoting or firing at the workplace. Due to that, the law came on board to protect everyone and provide them with significant rights and powers as a citizen of a nation. The different amendments that it brought to the table is another aspect that further guarantees benefits to the people.

4. Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)

The high number of workplace deaths that have occurred in the past made it quite clear that we needed a law for the same. As a result, in 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Thanks to its implications and significant effects, the law has been able to reduce workplace hazards and prevent various other situations that either leads to death or injury. Due to that, any worker who is at risk of injury needs to know more about this law and understand all that it stands to offer.

When you have a business that employs more than ten people, you need to make sure that you protect your company from any legal issues that can affect your work process. A business lawyer helps a company to take care of all their legal matters while providing the right assistance while making deals with other businesses. It is not hard to find business lawyers, but finding a business lawyer that holds the expertise for everything you expect from them is a task. Here are the tips for finding yourself a good business lawyer.

Ask people you can trust

Take the help of your friends and family members to get the contacts of the business lawyers that helped them in managing their businesses. You can also check with your social media contacts to get recommendations of good business lawyers.

Review their websites and social media profiles

The business lawyers need to stay with the trends of technology to connect with their clients better. If the lawyer that you are planning to hire has a social media profile on any of the platforms such as Facebook or LinkedIn, it will help you in getting to know more about them.

Do not limit yourself to large firms

The biggest firms do not always mean the best solutions. The firms have a number of attorneys that might feel like the right choice, but you should always be open to small firms who are willing to dedicate their time on you. The big firms will have big businesses paying them millions, and if you cannot afford to pay that much, you will not receive their best lawyers from working for you.

Talk to the people you will work with

When you are contacting a law firm, do not go for their client representatives. You need to talk to the lawyers who will actually work with you on your business matters. You need to build a good relationship with your business lawyer who can understand your needs, and for that, you need to first meet them before hiring.

Ask questions

Never hesitate to clear out your questions or doubts related to the legal aspects of your business. On the other side, if the lawyer is unable to answer all your questions, he or she may not be worth your time and money. A good business lawyer will tell you what you need for your business rather than charging you for anything that you ask for.

Discuss fees

You also need to discuss their fees before hiring them, so you do not land yourself in a legal issue against a lawyer. You should be able to afford the fees of a lawyer and have a budget that you cannot cross. Look for a lawyer who has transparent pricing, so you do not have any confusion later on.

Considering the different kinds of responsibilities of the HR and Legal department, they need to cooperate with one another and move accordingly. Without that, things are bound to fail and the organisation will be able to feel the heat. As a result, we are here with few ways through which this collaboration can be possible. So go ahead and read the following to understand more.

Regular Form of Training

Both the HR and Legal department can always work together by training managers and other employees in numerous ways. Considering the fact that both these departments cover several services, the training program can be held for awareness. One can choose topics and activities that concern workplace harassment, unlawful practices and other kinds of implications. Thanks to the different areas available under their domain, the program can be conducted with ease through the spirit of cooperation.

An Annual Review of Company Policies

One of the more common ways through which this particular collaboration stands to be possible is through the annual review of a company’s policies. Since it has also turned into a matter of safety and concern, it is quite important to conduct a review. By doing so, the company will also be able to disregard old practices that were causing more harm than good. Moreover, this particular review brings in views and opinions of people from different departments and thus tends to be an accurate way of achieving growth.

The Emergence of Data Privacy Regulations

With the inclusion of data privacy regulations, the HR department needs to bring in certain changes without which they will have to face legal actions. As a result, this provides both the departments with another opportunity to work together and frame better policies for their employees. Since federal and state laws have always been going ahead with constant changes, the departments need to work together if they wish to make things right. Hence, the knowledge owned by the legal department and the HR department is equally important for a company.

Broadening the Legal Department’s Understanding of HR Practices

The action of both these departments may not come under close contact but they manage to collide with one another in some way or the other. Due to that, expanding the base of your understanding is an important process that steps ahead with the sign of unity. While specific domains tend to be the sole property of HR, the legal team can always gain more knowledge of the same and help these practices to improve. The significant benefits that arise from doing so will always be essential to the overall functioning of the organization.