Under Limited Scope Representation, an attorney agrees to represent and/or assist a client with part, but not all of their legal matter. Therefore, it could be a way for a party to lower their legal costs. To do this an attorney and a client both must agree that Limited Scope Representation is appropriate for the particular legal matter and/or issue. If the attorney and the client agree, then they will enter into a detailed written agreement (a "Retainer Agreement") that will

When a living trust and a "pour over will" are used, they are typically done concurrently. The living trust is created during your lifetime and assests are transfered into it once it is created. A "pour over will" is executed at the same time for the purpose of transfering any assets you own at your death that have not yet been transferred into the living trust. So a "pour over will" is a catch-all. It transfer all of your assets not yet in the living trust, into the trust a

Collaborative Divorce is a form of alternative dispute resolution in family law whereby both parties in a divorce hire their own attorney who practices in and is trained in collaborative divorce. Throughout this process, the parties getting divorced maintain control of the process and the timetable. They also make the final decisions, all with the assistance of their collaborative divorce attorney and sometimes other professionals. Once you find a collaborative divorce attor

Every state has a different way to calculate child support. Some states only take in account the income of the parent who does not have primary physical custody.  Other states, like Connecticut, take into account the gross income of both parents. The child support calculation in Connecticut is standardized. Every superior court uses the Child Support and Arrearage Guidelines put out by the State of Connecticut Commission for Child Support Guidelines.  The most recent version

A will is typically a formal set of written instructions that outline how a persons assets are to be distributed after their owner's death.  A will that is created in Connecticut must be typed out and properly witnessed for it to be valid. Connecticut does not recognize wills that are handwritten.  Handwritten wills are known as "holographic wills." There are two types of assets that a will can distribute:  real property and personal property.  Real property is fixed or immov

Unlike child support, in Connecticut there is no standard calculation or period of time under which an individual is entitled to alimony.  Therefore, there is no guarantee that an individual will be awarded alimony. So an individual could obtain alimony but whether that occurs, the dollar amount awarded and the length of time alimony will be in place are up to the court's discretion and vary from case to case based on the facts or circumstances. However, this not to say that

Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or in other words, it is a way of resolving disputes between two or more parties with the culmination of a final agreement without having to have someone else (e.g., an arbitrator, a court) resolve the dispute for the parties. Mediation is different from arbitration. With arbitration, an arbitrator(s) decides the issues and the arbitrator(s) decision is binding on the parties. When parties are unwilling or unable to

There are so many types of insurance products out there that it's sometimes hard to determine what they actually are, why it may be important to purchase them, when they are actually available and to whom they are made available. Let’s review some definitions and provide an illustration to help explain title insurance. Let’s start with the basics. What is legal title? In real property law and in very broad terms, legal title is the formal right of ownership to a property. So

The first step in determining whether a Restraining Order is even possible is to determine whether your particular situation would even qualify.  Restraining orders are not available to just anyone.  Under Connecticut law, individuals must have specific types of relationships between them or a restraining order will not be possible.  Also restraining orders are only available in specific types of situations. You can only get a restraining order against "any family or househol