St. John Law Blog
What is an ‘uncontested’ divorce?
If your spouse has decided they want out of the marriage, you can either contest it or try to work with them for a fair solution. Let’s be perfectly clear: You can’t stop your spouse from obtaining a divorce. No matter how distasteful or wrong you find the whole...
Do you need a legal power of attorney?
You may have heard, while doing your estate planning, that you can use a medical power of attorney. This document appoints an agent to help make medical decisions if you are incapacitated and cannot do so on your own. In the same way, you can use a legal power of...
What is an incentive trust?
When doing your estate planning, trusts offer a lot of control over exactly what happens to your money. Some people use spendthrift trusts to protect heirs from their own spending habits, for instance. Others use educational trusts to pay for college tuition. Today,...
A living will versus a power of attorney
When doing your estate planning, you likely want to consider both a living will and a power of attorney. Both can control decisions about your medical care in the future and give your family the guidance they need. A big part of estate planning, along with accounting...
Avoid fighting in front of your kids: Try these 3 tips
As you go through your divorce, something that is important to you is protecting your children from the disputes and arguments you may have. It’s necessary to help them see that adults can be reasonable and respectful, even when they disagree. You and your spouse both...
Involved in a crash? Get these documents together
Surviving a motor vehicle accident with debilitating injuries changes your life forever. Though you’ve been fortunate enough to live through what could have been a fatal accident, the truth is that you’re still struggling with the changes that have happened. You can...
Include these items in your estate plan
Your estate plan is important because it provides instructions and information for when you pass away. There are also some estate plan components that loved ones may need before your death. Things like the power of attorney designations and the advanced directives are...
Divorce may stem from unmet expectations
The reasons for divorce are too many to name: Infidelity, getting married too young, living with an abusive spouse, running into financial problems, and much more. All divorce cases are different. It’s important to understand what types of issues may lead to divorce,...
Will I lose my separate property in a divorce?
When your divorce goes to court, a judge will decide the best way to divide your and your spouse’s property. But when you have assets like an inheritance or a business that you consider separate property, you may worry that you will lose half to your spouse. While a...
What are the most common causes of semi truck crashes?
Highways are a defining feature of the landscape here in northwest Indiana, with heavy traffic crisscrossing through our state at a continuous pace. With this comes risks, particularly for motorists who find themselves near mammoth semi-trucks. According to the CDC,...
