5 Legal Tips for Everyday Life

Life is quite unpredictable and problems can come from anywhere. In order not to have to deal with the mess you didn’t create for yourself or which is a result of lack of legal planning or leaving things in other people’s hands, you should make use of some general legal tips that can be used in everyday life.

The following list consists of 5 areas of life you should prepare for, either with the help of professionals or with your own research, decisions and actions.

Let’s see what legal tips you can make use of to live a safe and peaceful life:

5 Legal Tips to Simplify Your Life and Business

1. Avoid business bankruptcy.

Are you a small business owner? In this case, you know pretty well that the market is changing, new competitors show up all the time, and not all partners and investors can be trusted.

You can lose your business if you don’t prepare legally for the worst, which is filing for bankruptcy.

To avoid that, follow one or more of these legal tips:

Cut unnecessary business costs;
Find more cash;
Update your business plan – maybe your strategies are outdated and a new approach to product creation or marketing can save your business;
Reduce small business debt – find out how much you need to pay your creditors in order to avoid bankruptcy and make this payment a priority;
Hire a finance specialist to take a closer look at your situation and help you with the next steps.

2. Buy property safely.

There are many risks when buying investment property or your first home. With an old building, for example, there might be hidden damage, the depreciation benefits are low and much smaller returns compared to new property.

If you’re about to invest in a land, you might face problems connected to the use of land, environmental issues, high taxes, and more.

If you’re an individual, couple or family investing your savings in a down payment and making the biggest purchase of your life in the form of a house, then you should be careful and minimize risk. Consulting a lawyer is always a good idea.

An expert can help with legal tips concerning land tax, possession, insurance, a possible price reduction, surveys, and more. This law firm can help with the things mentioned above.

3. Fraud charges in the workplace.

Not being familiar with the law can often cost us a lot. In the workplace, for instance, tens of fraud charges can happen without you realizing.

Whether you’re a worker or an employer managing a team, you could notice:

Unrecorded sick leave;
Using corporate credit cards for personal purchases;
Forgery (someone else signing on your behalf);
Inventory theft;
Embezzlement;
Ex-employees being kept on the payroll;
Falsification of timesheets;

And more.

Make sure that doesn’t happen to you by protecting yourself from fraud charges. In case it does, you will find out it’s difficult to prove who’s guilty in this situation so you will need professional advice from lawyers.

4. Beware of fraudulent claims.

Making a claim ‘on the insurance’ was once seen by some to be a quick and easy way to make money.

Householders would add fictitious items onto a list of things stolen in a burglary or someone injured in a car accident would exaggerate their injuries, all in the hope of increasing their compensation payments.

Some insurance companies were complicit in this, when checks and investigations aren’t as comprehensive as they should be, for example.

Hence the explosion in whiplash compensation claims that we’re seeing now and for which all motorists pay through increased premiums. This is one of a number of insurance industry trends we have seen in recent years.

It’s possible of course that some people are unaware that what they are doing when they make an exaggerated claim is fraudulent.

They may not understand what constitutes fraud and what doesn’t. After all, when you see a constant bombardment of ‘no win, no fee’ advertising on TV and in print, it’s no wonder people are tempted to try their luck with spurious claims especially if they think it isn’t going to cost them anything.

So let’s see exactly what constitutes a fraudulent claim in order to clear up any misunderstandings.

If you claim compensation for personal injury and you have previously failed to disclose all relevant information that you were asked for then that can be construed as fraud, even if you merely forgot to disclose information or you didn’t think it was important.

The provision of material disclosure is a legal requirement. This is why insurers ask so many questions relating to your circumstances and the circumstances surrounding any accident you have.

The most frequent instances of fraud related to the faking or exaggeration of injuries or to things like deliberate arson or faked car crashes – the so-called ‘cash for crash’ cases which have become prevalent.

The Risks of Making a Fraudulent Claim

With the government and insurance companies taking significant steps to crack down on fraudulent claims the consequences for fraudsters have never been more serious.

At the very least an insurance company can massively hike your premiums or even refuse to insure you altogether. A company can even take you to court and sue you for costs involved in any fraudulent claim.

At the other end of the scale, you can face prosecution and a criminal record with the prospect of a prison sentence, fine and an order to repay any monies you have claimed.

The government has recognised the issue of increasing and unaffordable rises in insurance premiums and has issued guidelines for preventing and dealing with fraud.

To this end, they have given insurers more power to issue court proceedings against fraudsters.

Current law gives courts the power to dismiss claims involving exaggeration of injuries whether to a claimant personally or to associates like ‘phantom passengers’.

5. Protect your loved ones.

The legal tips you need for everyday life include protecting the people you love, and that too requires some documentation.

Start by making a will.

Decide who will receive your assets when you’re gone. Name a second beneficiary too.

A financial power of attorney is a document that will help both you and your family. It decides who will manage your finances when you don’t have the chance to (if you’ve been in an accident, for example). Without this, even your spouse won’t have immediate (or any) access to your assets and will have to ask a court to make even a small deposit.

So sign a document like that now to save yourself and your loved ones the trouble in the future.

Pick a guardian for your child. The actual process of choosing one is easy, but picking the perfect match might not be. Take your time to choose the right candidate now and ask them for permission.

There are many more legal tips we should all be aware of. But I believe that even reading this article and considering these 5 aspects of life would be enough to remind you that we might often feel like we’re in control when we actually aren’t.

Planning, researching, and preparing are what can save you time, trouble, your well-being and finances in the future.

What other legal tips do you suggest following?

5 Legal Tips for Everyday Life