Welcome!
You see before you the first monthly
newsletter from Widett and McCarthy. Each
month
we'll bring you a useful and digestible bite of practical
legal advice, designed to help you run your small
business more efficiently and effectively.
We begin with a simple recommendation, which if
followed may one day save you $300,000! I'll explain
what a "Declaration of Homestead" is and why you
should have one in place.
I hope to hear from you as we move through the year.
Tell me what you want us to cover; I'll do my best to
satisfy special requests (other than "two all beef
patties, special sauce, cheese, lettuce on a sesame
bun").
Cordially,
Marijo McCarthy, Esq.
President,
Widett and McCarthy, P.C.
P.S. This newsletter is being sent to you because you
have a previous relationship with Widett and
McCarthy. If it was sent to you in error, or you'd
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| Protect Your Home With a Simple Form |
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This is a good time of year for goals - not just
setting
them, but actually accomplishing them. I always
feel
better when I cross something off my personal "to do"
list in the first quarter - it just starts the year off
right. I have a suggestion for how you can do the
same.
Most of my small business clients operate within a
corporate or limited liability company structure. These
business owners prefer the entity structure to protect
them from personal liability for their business acts.
What few realize however, is that this protection is
a
hurdle, not a wall, and as such does not necessarily
protect assets from any occurrence.
Despite the
entity structure you have in place, and depending on
the situation, someone can indeed attempt to take a
piece of your personal assets.
Given that for most of us our most valuable personal
asset is our home (after family and Bruins tickets!), you
want to make sure you've done all you can to protect it
from outsiders. Despite the fact that you may still
have a sizeable mortgage, the equity in your home may
also be significant. This equity is what someone
will
want to get to.
A Declaration of Homestead offers
protection of up to
$300,000 per family for your home (i.e.
your "homestead"), and twice that number if you and
your spouse are both over the age of 62. For your
primary residence (not a vacation home), you can
protect that much equity from someone who sues you
and tries to attach your home to recover a judgment
against you. There are certain exceptions of course,
with federal and state taxes, as well as your home
mortgage topping the list, however in general it's a solid
form of protection.
All it takes is the filling out of a simple form at your
local Registry of Deeds. Just follow these simple
steps:
- "Visit" your Registry of Deeds on-
line. Don't know which Registry your home is in?
Make your first cyber-visit to
www.state.ma.us/sec and, just below and to
the left of Secretary of State
Bill Galvin's smiling, helpful face, click on "Registry of
Deeds" in the listing of divisions of his office. Next
click "City/Town to Registry Guide" and find out
what
Registry of Deeds you are in.
- Locate and print the Homestead form. As
an example, let's assume you live in Dover and you
discover that you're in the jurisdiction of the Norfolk
County Registry of Deeds. Go their web site at
www.norfolkdeeds.org and click on
"Registry
Guide;"
then click on "Homestead" along the right hand
side of
the page. Scroll down and select the form (go ahead
and print it out).
- Fill out the Homestead form. Here's
the information you need:
* Your name (okay, so far so good)
* Your address (by now, you're batting a 1000)
* Recording information (ah, ha, now they've got you!)
Don't worry, if you can't put your hands on your Deed,
the helpful staff at the Registry will help you find that
information when you get there.
- Take it to the registry. Find a notary
there to notarize your signature; make an extra copy;
ask the Clerk to stamp it for you (so you have evidence
of filing); pay the filing fee (currently $35) and you're
done.
The homestead law is intended to protect you
against
the unexpected and, in our litigious society, that's quite
a lot, indeed. Each of us is entitled to file for this
protection and so many of us - like all of those New
Year resolutions we love to hate - never get around to
it until a problem intervenes and panic strikes. Follow
these simple steps and you'll have done something very
important for yourself and your family. And look at
that, it's only February!
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| Things We Like. . . |
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Many entrepreneurs know all too well that it's lonely at
the top, so they cast their net for a resource to fill in
the gaps. The smart ones find the Smaller Business
Association of New England.
SBANE provides opportunities to create business
relationships in a variety of networking forums,
cutting-edge educational programs, government
advocacy with
the small business owner driving the agenda and people
helping people succeed.
Follow this link for more SBANE information
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| About Us |
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Widett and McCarthy helps small business owners
start, grow, acquire and sell their businesses.
We
serve as "in-house counsel" . . . on-call when needed,
but not part of the company overhead. Our best
clients understand that the relationship between lawyer
and client is a two-way street, built on information
sharing and problem solving.
For more information regarding
how we can help you, click here.
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Legal Tidbit
of the Month!
In 1682, Sir Edward Coke, one of the most eminent
English jurists of his time,
wrote that "a man's house is his
castle," and never has a quote quite so well
embodied the heart and soul of the modern-day
Homestead Act.
But we didn't leap directly from 1682
to 2004. Rather, offering motivation to the pioneers
upon whose passion and hard work our country was
founded, President Abraham Lincoln signed into
law in
1862 the first Homestead Act, offering any citizen
the opportunity to claim 160 acres of surveyed
government land for building a house and growing
crops.
And thus the first declaration of homestead was
born.
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| Widett and McCarthy,
P.C.
1075 Washington Street
West Newton, MA 02465
Telephone: (617) 964-5559
Facsimile: (617) 964-5529
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