Can You Sue for a Barking Dog? Dogs are known as man’s best friends. They can also be a nuisance and create major problems between neighbors. But can you sue for a barking dog? If there is one dog barking, it is considered to be private nuisance, but if there are many dogs involved, the […]
It is important for property owners to understand real estate trespassing laws in Washington and their legal rights. The act of trespass and subsequent remedies for property owners are governed by both common law (decisions made by the courts) and by Washington state statutes. Trespass is a tort, which means it is a wrongful act […]
How to classify an independent contractor vs. an employee is an increasingly important issue for businesses. Up to a third of the American workforce may be self-employed full- or part-time. A major question for these individuals and the companies for which they provide work is how many of them are, under the law, employees? Why […]
If you’re thinking about writing a will, you may wonder, do all assets have to pass through probate? Many assets do not. You could structure your estate planning so that all your assets avoid probate, which may or may not be the best option in your situation. Knowing which property is part of the probate […]
If your loved one left behind a smaller estate, you may ask yourself, what is simplified probate? It’s the legal process for settling the affairs of a person who has passed away. Some estates qualify for simplified rules within the probate system. If you want to learn where an estate stands and which kind of […]
Do You Have to Do Probate When Someone Dies? A term frequently heard after someone dies is “probate.” Probate is the legal process used to administer a deceased person’s estate by gathering assets, settling debts, and ultimately providing financial distributions to members of the family. As a judicial process, the probate judge is essentially providing […]
Non-conforming use, more commonly referred to as a “grandfathered use,” is a concept found in zoning and land use law. To understand it fully, one must understand how zoning and land use codes work. State and local government use municipal “zoning codes” to govern how buildings are constructed and how land is utilized. What’s more, […]
By Thomas L. Dickson, Esq. In a highly-charged real estate market, people losing their homes to deeds of trust foreclosure may be surprised to learn they are entitled to cash after the trustee’s sale. Despite the unpleasant fact a foreclosure is taking place, often the equity gained by the fated property substantially exceeds the amount […]
By Thomas L. Dickson, Esq. Used together, a promissory note and a deed of trust embody the most common type of mortgage. The deed of trust is recorded on the borrower’s title securing the note and prioritizing the loan’s position on title. There are only two ways to foreclose on this mortgage: judicially and nonjudicially. […]
By Thomas L. Dickson, Esq. We often hear the expression, “grandfather rights,” when someone’s property is not affected by a land use change while nearly everyone else’s is.In legal parlance,land use attorneys knowthe term is“Nonconforming Use,” defined as ause“existinglawfully before the rezone of the surrounding area and continues or is ‘grandfathered’after the rezone, provided the […]
