It’s a widespread and fairly well-known practice that one “benefit” of hiring a law student as a law clerk is access to free WEXIS legal search. However, under Westlaw’s “Educational Purposes” and Lexis “Academic Purposes” licensing agreement clauses with law…
Posts Tagged ‘clauses’
Court Compels Arbitration Clauses Against Students
Here’s a story that makes one stop and think. The Chronicle of Higher Education (premium content subscribers) is reporting on a federal case where students in Colorado sued Westwood College there for allegedly misrepresenting its tuition costs, accreditation status, and…
What Happens If You Die Without a Will?
In truth, you have a will whether you know it or not. Note, the government does not take your property, this is a common misconception. However, if you never made a formal will, your state government made one for you. It is located in statutes commonly referred to as the laws of intestate succession. In Ohio, it is located in Title XXI of the Revised Code, Chapter 2105. You can see exactly what it says here. In a nutshell, your estate would be distibuted to your next of kin as defined in the code. To get a good idea of how your property would be distributed, here is a valuable resource to calculate that for you.
This only applies to probate assets. What probate assets are and how to avoid probate will be the subjects of future articles.
If you do not like that distribution, you will have to prepare a will to ensure your estate is distributed the way you want it. Even if intestate succession does distribute your property to your liking, there are other reasons to have a will. Often there is question as to whether you had a will, which can lead to arguments and complex litigation among family members. This is especially true if one or more family members were under the impression that you were leaving them something (or lie and say you did). Your will would clarify that. Also, you can put other dieing wishes in your will such as who you want to raise your children and your burial wishes. While these clauses may not be enforcible, at least your wishes will be known (again subjects for future articles).