Making gifts or loans to your children? Mention this in your will

Many parents make gifts or loans to their children. Often they give more money to one child than to others, perhaps because one child has a greater need.

If you do make a significant gift or loan to one of your heirs, you should modify your will to address it.

The reason: If something happens to you, it might be unclear to your heirs what the effect of the gifts or loans should be on their inheritance. In some families, this kind of uncertainty can lead to family battles and even a legal challenge to the will. But even if this doesn’t happen, some children might be quietly offended or simply uncertain, and you probably want to avoid that if possible.

So if you are leaving some children more assets in your will than others as a result of gifts made during your lifetime, it’s a good idea to explain your reasoning in your will. If you’re leaving all your children equal shares in spite of having given some of them more gifts than others in your lifetime, you should say that as well – so there’s no question whether the lifetime gifts should be treated as an “advance” on their

inheritance.

What if a loan is outstanding at the time you die? You might want to make clear that any such loan doesn’t have to be repaid, and doesn’t affect the distribution in your will. On the other hand, if you want the loan to be treated as an advance against an inheritance, you should make that clear.

If you want a loan to be repaid after your death or to be treated as an advance against an inheritance, then you should have a written loan agreement with your child. You might also want to specify in the agreement that any forgiveness has to be in writing, so your child can’t claim after you die that at some point you forgave the loan.

Cities and states can be sued for dangerous roads

Most people know that you can sue another driver for causing an accident, but not many people know that in certain cases you may be able to sue a city or state if an accident is caused by a dangerous condition of a road.

The law varies from state to state, but governments often have a legal duty to keep a road safe.

Sometimes an accident is caused not by driver error but by poor maintenance. For instance, street lights or traffic signals might not be working properly, or trees and bushes might have been allowed to grow to the point where they obscure warning signs.

Sometimes the problem is poor design, such as a curve that’s too sharp for the type of roadway.

An unusual lawsuit of this variety occurred recently in California. A motorcyclist was riding at night on scenic

Highway 1 near Carmel when he struck a pack of wild pigs. He sustained massive head injuries, was in a coma for several months and is confined to a wheelchair.

He sued the state, claiming it had repeated notice of the serious danger posed by feral swine and had never put up fences or otherwise acted to protect motorists.

A jury found that the state acted carelessly and created a dangerous condition that led to the accident.

At trial, half a dozen other motorists testified to their own terrifying, late-night run-ins with the pigs.

The motorcyclist produced evidence that a pig on the highway at night is invisible until it is about 80 feet away – which gives a driver less than a second to respond.

Check the zoning rules before you buy a property

It can be a great idea to buy a “fixer-upper” – as long as you’re sure the local zoning rules will allow you to actually fix it up.

Unfortunately, many people have bought a home or other property with the idea of remodeling it to their tastes, only to discover that what they had in mind is against the law.

For instance:

• If you’re thinking of removing trees to enhance your view, is this permitted?

• If you want to create a rental unit on the property, do the local zoning rules allow for rentals? If they do, what restrictions apply?

• If you want to fill in a low-lying area,

will this violate environmental regulations?

• What if you want to build an additional building, such as a garage, guest house, or even a shed? Is this allowed?

• If you want to add on an additional room, will this violate rules against building too close to a property line?

Of course, if the building is on a list of historic homes or is part of a homeowner’s association, other rules will apply as well.

In general, if you’re thinking of buying a property with an eye toward improving it, check the rules first. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Did you know you can trademark a sound?

When most people think of trademarks, they think of names of things – or of words, phrases, logos or images used to promote a product in the marketplace.

But did you know you can also trademark a sound? You can, if it’s distinctive enough, it’s tied to your product, and you meet other requirements.

Consider these sounds, which are protected by trademark law:

• The roar of the MGM lion.

• “Hello, and welcome to Moviefone!”

• “You are now free to move about the country.”

• The Pillsbury Doughboy’s giggle.

• NBC’s three chimes.

• “AF-LAC!”

• The Jolly Green Giant’s “ho, ho, ho.”

• “You’ve got mail!”

• Homer Simpson’s “D’oh!”

Other odd – but true – trademarks include the color pink for Owens-Corning fiberglass, the smell of a sewing thread, and the shape of Toblerone chocolate bars.

On the other hand, the Campbell Soup Company tried – and failed – to trademark the use of the color red on one-half of a soup can.

A current lawsuit involves rival companies that operate tours in amphibious vehicles and give tourists kazoos that make a quacking noise. A company called Ride the Ducks says it owns the rights to the noise made by its “Wacky Quacker” device, and is demanding that a company called Bay Quackers stop handing out similar kazoos.