Archive for May, 2010
Legal Rights in a Living Together Relationship
This article is intended for anyone involved in a long-term, committed relationship, who has never been formally married, and wants to know his or her rights. Whether your relationship recently ended, it’s in crisis, or you just want to know whether being formally married makes a difference in this day and age, you’ll probably be surprised by what the law provides.
One common misconception is a belief that there is little legal difference between marriage and living together. This sometimes arises out of the mis belief that after a period of cohabitation (frequently believed to be seven years), a living-together relationship is instantly metamorphosed into a common law marriage. This myth, though it has the persistence of urban legend, is pure fiction. In truth, you cannot enter into a common law marriage within the boundaries of New York State. And, common law marriage has become less and less favored across the nation over the past hundred or so years.
According to my most recent research, there are only ten jurisdictions that continue to recognize common law marriage (Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and the District of Columbia), and five others that do so, but only if the relationship was established prior to a certain date (Pennsylvania, Georgia, Idaho, Ohio and Oklahoma). There are a few countries that also recognize common law marriage, or a status similar to common law marriage.
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Successful Retreat Information Law Firm
A law firm retreat is a valuable management and marketing tool even for the solo practitioner. I would say especially for the solo practitioner. The larger the firm the more imperative it becomes for at least an annual meeting to provide direction to the process of running your business. Spike Lee made a movie called “Get On The Bus” and that is what a retreat is about. Getting folks on the bus and moving in the same direction so the firm is moving with more velocity toward desired goals. It sends a message to the whole firm that you are leaders and mangers who plan and work the plan.
What are some of the reasons for having a law firm retreat? Well, that is an “it depends” type of question. You can use these meetings for proactive purposes or for reactive purposes. By proactive I mean you meet to determine what your management and/or marketing priorities are for the next year and who is accountable for each priority as well as by when each priority will be in place. The proactive retreat is usually held in the last three months of your current fiscal year. By reactive I mean a law firm retreat that is held usually as a reaction to some form of crisis like the need to deal with revenue short falls, partner conflicts or profit distribution issues. Naturally, the reactive type of retreat happens when they need to happen with probably less pre-planning. Training retreats can be either proactive or reactive. You can even mix in some training time with any type of retreat. Read the rest of this entry »