Discussion Property, Insurance, Family and Estate Law
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Jan 9, 2024
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Uploaded by DoctorJellyfishPerson6478
Individuals who pursue a career in the legal industry find there are many paths to choose from.
Many attorneys and paralegals may choose to work on tort law and work on contingency fees;
however, other preferred areas, such as family, property, and insurance law, which often
retainers, require an upfront payment. In property law, the law firms assist clients, such as selling
property, tenancy contracts, and drafting agreements for parties. Property can be divided into two
areas: Real Property and Personal Property. Real property is that property is the land, and
materials attached to the ground, often houses, buildings, and trees.
Nonetheless, belonging that can be touched or untouchable, removable, in other words, not
attached to the land, is known as Personal Property. Roger LeRoy Miller & Mary
Meinzinger,
Paralegal Today: The Legal Team at Work
, 16-1 (7th ed. 2022). Personal property is
all those items that one can purchase in person or electronically. For instance, cryptocurrencies
are a form of intangible personal property.
Insurance Law is another law practice for paralegals to build a successful career. As
discussed previously, the law covers many areas of practice. Insurance law usually involves an
agreement between parties to put a financial solution to a possible risk that one party assumes for
the other. Such risk must be openly expressed in writing, explicitly mentioned in an agreement
known as policy, and sustainably offer a solution to the affected party released from the risk.
Roger LeRoy Miller & Mary Meinzinger,
Paralegal Today: The Legal Team at Work
, 16-2c (7th
ed. 2022). Individuals use insurance as they have a personal interest in a property, whether real
or personal, including life. Such insurable interest represents the fear of damage or loss that
represents monetary losses to personal property, often involving a personal relationship to
property. The Malta Independent,
Law Report: The Principles of Insurable Interest
,
https://go.openathens.net/redirector/ liberty.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/law-
report-principle-insurable-interest/docview/2799574307/se-2 (April 12, 2023).
Often insurance contracts require some aspects within an insurance agreement to satisfy
the contract law, such as An applicant must successfully inquire about coverage for the property
they want to insure. Next, once the property is recognized as insurable, the policy must contain
an effective date, which is the beginning of the insurance term and for which the insurer is liable.
Additionally, an insurance agreement can contain clauses. For example, the insurer and insured
can share the risk, and if so, it must be included in writing within the policy the percentage for
which parties are to split the risk. Also, the policy must have an indemnity clause, which
describes the monetary compensation for a loss for the insured or third parties. Another clause is
the insurance subrogation right. Subrogation is the method for an insurance attempt to recover
payments made to the insured that third parties should have covered. Lastly, an insurance
cancellation must be notified by either insured without previous notice; in contrast, the insurer
must adequately inform the insured in writing and within a reasonable time. Failure to provide
proper cancellation notice may cause the insurer to continue giving the insured insurance in the
event of a loss.
Another practice of law that many paralegals find interesting is Family Law. Family law
has many ramifications that often involve the support of legal assistants, such as divorce for
example. However, first, it is necessary to take the preceding steps that lead to a divorce.
Marriage is the first step to a union of individuals that, under the law, a known as spouses. There
is a specific requirement for a marriage to be valid: A person must be over the age of eighteen or
have been emancipated from parent/guardian, must not be related by blood (such as siblings), a
ceremony is often necessary, and obtain a marriage license. Only after the required requirements
have been satisfied can the marriage be registered with the courthouse clerk, and the marriage
becomes valid. Common Law Marriage does not require a ceremony or license; it is recognized
as marriage by mutual consent. Additionally, common-law marriage indicates that spouses must
live within the same household, uphold each other in public, and recognize each other as spouses
for a common-law marriage to be valid. Roger LeRoy Miller & Mary Meinzinger,
Paralegal
Today: The Legal Team at Work
, 17-1b (7th ed. 2022).
Often spouses’ irreconcilable differences lead to a divorce. The termination of a marriage
can be separated into two categories an annulment or divorce. An annulment is the invalidity of a
marriage granted by a judge. However, a divorce is the dissolution of a marriage either by mutual
agreement or contested. Nowadays, many courts no longer consider whether a party has a fault
or no fault in the dissolution of the marriage. A divorce proceeding can be brought to the court
for the following reasons: 1) Marriage is broken, and reconciliation is not viable; 2) Spouses
meet the separation statute requirement of more than six months separated; and 3) Spouses are
no longer compatible or cannot tolerated each other.
Id. at 17-1f
. A divorce requires a complaint
to be filed with the court, present a mutual consent agreement, and be present at a hearing for a
judge to grant the divorce. However, a contested divorce becomes more complex and challenging
due to disputes over marital property, child custody, and spousal support. Spousal support, also
known as alimony, is the request from one spouse to the other to continue financially supporting
them permanently or temporarily.
Id. at 17-1f
Courts often may deny alimony because either
spouse can continue working and make their own money upon the termination of the marriage.
Similarly, during a divorce, the courts grant custody of the children to the most competent
parent. Custody can be separated into legal custody, which means that a person is legally
responsible for a child’s upbringing, decisions, and provides all the child’s necessities. Similarly,
a court can grant Joint Custody, which allows parents/guardians to decide on a child’s upbringing
jointly, housing is shared, and both are responsible for the basic necessity of a child.
Id. at 17-
1g.
Even though a court may grant sole custody to a parent or guardian, some courts sometimes
allow visitation right; this applies to noncustodial parents who can visit the child during special
occasions or weekends. The visitation periods are often discussed within a court mediation.
Id. at
17-1g.
Lastly, when parents separate, each must support the child economically and financially.
Parents who attempt to avoid such obligations are often subject to court involvement to impose
Child Support obligations. The court verified the parents’ income and used standardized
guidelines to determine how much financial support a parent is obligated to support a child’s
necessities.
Id. at 17-1g.
Another law practice is drafting documents such as wills, trusts, and agreements. A Will
is the instrument document of a person’s last will; the person effectuating the will is known as
the testator. A will requires that the testator names a representative or a person responsible for
completing the testator’s last will. A probate court is an authority to acknowledge the validity of
a will and file it until the testator past. Roger LeRoy Miller & Mary Meinzinger,
Paralegal
Today: The Legal Team at Work
, 17-2a (7th ed. 2022). A Trust is a legal instrument that lists all a
person’s assets, property, and sentimental and monetary value to be transferred to a trustee for
distribution to beneficiaries in a person’s will. There are two types of trust. A living trust is used
to maintain control over property while still living in revocable clauses. In contrast, irrevocable
clauses give up the right to control the property and cannot be distributed until the grantor
dies.
Id. at 17-2b
. In addition, once a will or trust is appropriately valid under the rule of the state
file, an attorney can also provide legal service during an Estate. Estate administration is the
procedure of collecting assets and paying the descendant’s debts.
Id. at 17-2d.
The probate court
requires that an executor named in the will duly and responsibly follow the testator’s last will
instructions, such as paying debts, funeral expenses, and distributing assets to beneficiaries.
When a personal representative rejects such an obligation, a probate court assigns an estate
administrator. When a person without a will passes, the probate court manages the estate of the
decedent as intestate, and the court appoints an estate administrator. Estate planning has several
documents, procedures, and requirements that must meet the rules imposed by the state where
the person lives.
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