JMT Law, LLC

03/10/2022

Even those of us who don’t do business directly with Russia can help convince others in our sphere of influence who do to stop until this obscene war ends.

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07/20/2020

On this week‘s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, there was a segment from a Fort Worth Texas TV news station where a teacher, saying she and her husband (also a teacher) decided to draft their wills, because they were worried about possibly contracting Covid after they return to school. The woman appeared (behind her mask) to be in her 50s.

And my first thought was, what in the hell are you doing without a will in standard times at your age?

One of the most frustrating things to me about people‘s understanding of estate planning is that it’s something you should do later in life. Absolutely NOT.

Here are situations where it’s important to have a will, plus both financial and health care powers of attorney (and I always tell anyone who will listen that powers of attorney are even more important than a will):

- If you have minor children.

- If you’re a young adult, especially if you’re not married, whether or not you have children or a significant other.

- If you’re responsible for the care of a special-needs individual.

- If you’re responsible for the care of an older relative, or anyone needing assistance.

- If you have a serious medical condition.

- If you ever drive or ride with others in a motor vehicle.

- if you have pets at home.

- If you ever walk outside of your home.

- If you never leave your home.

Get the picture?

Stuff happens. A lot of UNEXPECTED stuff happens. If you don’t have powers of attorney, who’s going to handle all of your responsibilities if you’re incapacitated?

You could have a sudden medical event, or be involved in an accident, whether a motor vehicle is involved, or you just fall, or you’re struck by something thrown, falling, or knocked over, outside or inside. You’re far more likely to be incapacitated if you’re younger than to just drop dead.

Every US state has a law that determines what happens to your stuff if you die without a will. And most states has absolutely NO default provision for how your affairs would be managed if you’re incapacitated and have no powers of attorney.

That means that if you’re incapacitated having no powers of attorney, someone will have to go to court to be appointed as your guardian (an expensive and time consuming process) to take care of your affairs (pay your bills, pay the mortgage, pay the rent, pay for your care, make decisions on your care, take responsibility for your kids, care for your pets). If you’re incapacitated and unable to communicate, you’ll have no input into choosing the person who will take over everything for you.

And though all states have intestacy (no will) laws, those laws are very likely not consistent with the plan you’d make if you had your choice into the matter. For instance, most people assume that if they’re married, and they drop dead, the spouse gets everything. In most states, not so.

Here in Pennsylvania, for instance, if you have children, and you’re married, the spouse and children split anything that you have that isn’t already in joint accounts or joint title (there are different rules as to what your spouse gets if your children are all your spouse‘s children, versus when you have children from another relationship). If you’re married and you don’t have children, but one or both of your parents are living, your spouse and your parents split what you have that isn’t jointly titled. 

If everyone in your family gets along, maybe, just MAYBE, going through the processes of what needs to be done if you don’t have these important documents will go smoothly. But why take that chance?

And perhaps most important of all if you say, “I’m good. I have a will. I have powers of attorney.” Do those whom you’ve selected to exercise your authority know where those documents are? Do they have copies? Or, because of people moving away, passing away, or your level of trust in them has changed, do you need to make any switches in the people you’ve named as your agents or personal representatives? Have you named at least one alternate (preferably two) to your selected representatives, in the event something happens to them between the time you wrote your document and the time it will be needed?

I can’t tell you how many times I get emails from the local or state bar associations that are blasted out to those of us who practice estate planning asking whether any of us has done a will for Mr. X or Ms. Y, because Mr. X or Ms. Y have passed on and, though they told their family members they had a will, no one can find it. Not telling those who need to know where your documents are or, better yet, giving them copies is like flushing whatever money you paid for a state planning down a toilet.

If you haven’t paid any attention to your documents recently, now would be an excellent time to do so. I know how easy it is to put it off; I’ve done it myself (though I updated my powers of attorney last year, I haven’t updated my will recently; I’ll do it this week, before other things make it easy to push to the back of the line again).

Your loved ones will very much appreciate if you take care of it now, before it becomes an urgent need. Thanks.



07/07/2020

Honored to be one of the 20 Pennsylvania attorneys asked to participate in the “Perspectives on the Practice“ article in the special 125th anniversary July/August 2020 issue of The Pennsylvania Lawyer. Hard to believe I've been at this for 36 years (most as a government attorney, with my own practice since 2007)!

04/16/2020

I I just had a client send me a text message about PPP and EDIL loan applications filed with a local credit union, with the intro, “Thanks for nothing, [insert name of CU here].“ The reason for the complaint was that the CU informed the business that it had run out of funds available through the CARES legislation - but that it was still processing applications with the hope that more funding would be coming from the federal government to allow final loan approval.

When I questioned the sentiment, the client offered that other local businesses who applied through a different financial institution said they had been approved “instantly“. Of course, as this particular client wasn’t one of the first applicants, that application would’ve been way down in line.

Undoubtedly the “instantly”-approved businesses were first to file. Any application filed even hours, let alone days, after the start of this process put applicants behind a long line of earlier applicants.

And the SBA keeps changing the loan rules in midstream. The EDIL has a $10,000 cap, with the funds meant to cover general expenses. Then the SBA changed the rules and decreed that the amount of funding would be a grand each, based on number of employees - so if a business has only one employee, it gets $1,000 tops.

I get that people are upset and that this is a trying time, but for Pete’s sake, DON’T blame the financial institutions here! They get their loan money from the SBA through the CARES legislation; there’s nothing the financial institution can do if the number of applicants/requests for funding exceeds the available amounts.

And the businesses who are clamoring for immediate approval of an unchanged extension of the CARES Act aren’t helping themselves, because these problems need to be fixed before a funding increase is enacted. Pushing an increase through without any changes just means these problems will continue.

The people processing the loans at different financial institutions aren’t responsible for the amount of money that they have to loan. And I’m sure they’re under incredible pressure, because everyone wants money NOW, regardless of whether it’s actually available. These loan workers are caught in the middle; don’t blame them.

Were they unprepared? Without question. But that’s hardly the financial institution‘s fault, since this application process was expected to be operational in UNDER 24 HOURS from the time they got any direction at all from the federal government on how to do this.

There’s no precedent for ANY of this. And the government has provided precious little instruction on how to comply with their ever-changing directives on the program.

Put the blame where it belongs: with Congress and the administration. Get on the phone with your senators and representatives to get them to address the problems. And get on the phone with the SBA and the White House to let them know that these arbitrary, constantly changing rules are not helpful. And if you can’t get through on the phone, send emails. if they don’t hear from us, they won’t make any changes.

09/15/2019

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01/30/2019

In another sign that noncompete provisions in employment contracts are not favored in the Pennsylvania courts, the Superior Court recently rolled that a trucking company will not to be able to enforce a noncompete clause in a trucker’s contract because the company provided no additional compensation to the driver for giving up the right to seek other employment, and the driver was basically powerless to get any revision of the noncompete provision.

I’ve long told my clients that, especially in Pennsylvania, noncompete clauses are limited in time and scope and, even with those limitations, difficult to enforce. Drafting something Draconian will not end well for the company - and I will politely decline any client request to do so.

Any attorney who will draft severe restrictions on an employee‘s right to seek other employment after termination is not serving the client’s best interest.

01/25/2019

Although I don't practice personal injury law, it's worth sharing today's PA Supreme Court decision on "stacked" motor vehicle insurance coverage because it is HUGE. This decision reverses DECADES of PA court precedents. And that doesn't happen often.

What does this mean? Well, if you have more than one vehicle in your household insured under separate policies, and you're hurt in a car accident and the person at fault has no or insufficient insurance to pay for your injuries and other damages, you can collect uninsured/underinsured benefits from ALL of your policies unless you have SPECIFICALLY waived "stacking" coverage.

Household vehicle exclusions cannot be used to bar injured claimants from recovering stacked coverage the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled in a decision that breaks with decades of precedent.

11/24/2018

This article is a MUST READ for small business owners - and anyone who thinks taking a loan at above-market rates is a good option. ALWAYS read the ENTIRE loan/purchase agreement, and if there are any terms that cause you concern, contact your attorney for a thorough review. A small investment in legal advice now can avoid thousands of dollars and personal heartache later.

I have a current business client who is in a predatory lending collections matter with a different lender, but pretty much all are the same: they get you into dire straits through contract terms most people ignore, then they come for you with everything they have in their legal arsenal. And because business transactions aren't subject to the same rules as consumer lending, a business owner has limited tools to use in the fight.

As with most legal transactions, a little bit spent to hire an attorney up front can save multiple times that amount - and sometimes your business itself - in the future.

How an obscure legal document turned New York’s court system into a debt-collection juggernaut.

10/27/2018

Business owners, make sure that anyone who is responsible for receiving packages knows these basic rules before opening.

“Protect yourself and your business – learn suspicious package indicators. Do not handle suspicious packages yourself. Call 911 immediately.”

07/30/2018

The PA Conference for Women is sponsoring a free half-hour webinar with Dr. Jen Welter, who has a PhD in psychology and is the first woman to coach in the NFL (for the Arizona Cardinals). If you can't listen live, you'll get an email after the webinar with a link to listen on your own time.

The PA Conference for Women has amazing resources that provide year-round offerings for women in business. This year's live conference in Philadelphia is already sold out (with 10,000 attendees!). But you can still get benefits (free webinars and other resources) at no cost through the website at www.paconferenceforwomen.org.

06/21/2018

Today's US Supreme Court decision may have an impact on your business if you sell online. Its impact on smaller merchants, however, is far from bright-line.

If you'd like to read the actual opinion, here's a link:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/91-0194.ZO.html

The court overruled a 1992 decision that said the Constitution bars states from requiring businesses to collect sales taxes unless they have a substantial connection to the state.