Saint Charles Legal Blog

If you are a HOA representative, you probably have experience with Missouri homeowners contesting the rules of your HOA. Even though newcomers may appear to give homeowners’ association rules a good review before they buy a home in a HOA neighborhood, it may not be long before new residents chafe at the requirements. One way to cut down on conflict between homeowners and your HOA is to make sure new homeowners are aware of how your HOA operates and what it requires before they move in.

Per Realtor.com, when a newcomer starts investigating your HOA, it is a good idea for them to learn about the Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions (CC&Rs) of your HOA. Basically, a new home owner should know your HOA rules, what is prohibited, and what kind of changes can be made to a house. If the rules are simple, a prospective new resident may have no problem buying a home in your neighborhood. Rules that are more complex, however, could alienate potential new residents.

Setting up an estate plan can be tricky for different reasons, whether you have difficulty naming beneficiaries or even deciding which type of estate plan you should go with. In some instances, people may even have uncertainty about the very idea of creating an estate plan, or their spouse may disagree with this decision. It is important to approach the estate planning process carefully, and you should discuss relevant matters with your spouse if they will be included in your estate plan.

There are number of reasons why someone may object to their spouse or partner setting up an estate plan. Even though this can be an excellent financial decision, especially when it comes to preparing for the future, some people do not like to think about these issues. Moreover, some people may feel as if estate planning is a stressful process and they cannot handle these concerns at this time. For example, someone may be overwhelmed with work, and they may want to spend more time with their spouse during the creation of a will or trust.

A “green burial” calls to many people as a purer spiritual and fundamentally human experience. These burials avoid the use of embalming fluids, synthetic caskets and excessive resources. But is it possible to do this in line with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church?

As it happens, the two work well together. The complicating factor is the role of individual cemeteries.

In certain estate cases, administration may go far beyond simply detailing who gets what asset immediately after a testator's death. For those estates in Saint Charles that count artistic or intellectual properties amongst their assets, their management may extend for decades. This is something that one should consider when selecting an executor or personal representative. The role could potentially outlive the one it is assigned to, in which case a testator would want to detail the process for which a new executor would be selected. 

A failure to do so could result in contention arising amongst those who are party to an estate. That appears to be what has happened with the estate case of the late blues singer Muddy Waters. His heirs are claiming that they are owed $2 million in royalties from the continued use of Waters' catalog of music. The oversight appears to have occurred after the president of the management company that had administered the catalog (who was also the executor of Waters' estate) died in 2015. Since that time, his widow has failed to appear for hearings in regards to the estate's administration. Due to the lack of action in the case, Waters' heirs asked that its administration be reopened, with his daughter appointed as administrator. This prompted the late executor's widow to file a countersuit, saying the singer's original will barred any of his descendants from becoming administrators.