Wills and Prenup Agreements

This post was prompted by a conversation by a young man who lost his father recently.  His father passed away intestate, which means, without a will.  With the property and business this man on his death was worth almost a million dollars.  Because he didn't have a will much of this money goes to the government for "estate taxes" and the lawyers that need to probate the estate, plus the man had three sets of children who are fighting amongst themselves for whats left over which adds to the lawyers fees.  They expect to have very little left of this money when the lawyers and government finally settle the estate.

The sad part is that this could have been avoided if the man left a will.  All that he worked for when he was alive will be gone to people other than who he really wanted it left to and his family has been torn apart.  The saddest part is the destruction of the family he left behind. 

Wills and Prenuptial Agreements are not bad things.  They actually prevent bad things from happening and from anger or sadness get in the way.  If you don't have the money to pay for a Will legal aid does have funding for this at least in Ontario, but there is lots of information out there to learn from.  Even if you have to pay for the will in the long run it will be worth the money spent. 

The same applies for a Prenuptial Agreement.  I new a women who worked with her husband to build up his business and after many years of marriage they decided to divorce.  When they got married they did a prenuptial agreement and she said that it was the best thing that they could have done.  It prevent the immediate anger of the divorce from ruining the business and their children because the prenup covered all these situations.  They were given the opportunity to have their anger without ruining their lives.  No divorce is civil.  Even though you try to keep it civil sometimes the hurt and anger rise up and you only think about making the other persons life miserable not about the consequences of the actions you might take. 

That's why you protect yourself, your family and your hard earned money by investing in a will or prenup agreement.  Just a little food for thought, only North Americans call it a prenuptial  and resist doing it but almost every other Country calls it a Marriage Contract, Troussuo, Bride Price and most women within these countries would be insulted if something like this was not provided before the marriage. 

Pricing Your Product

Among my many hobbies I love to knit and crotchet and many times I sell my product. I came across an article from one of my crafting newsletters faves crafts talking about pricing your product, here is the link if you want to check it out. http://www.favecrafts.com/Craft-Business/Basics-of-Pricing-Your-Work/ct/1, By: Maria Nerius, FaveCrafts.com Resident Craft Exper. Small Business and Home-Based business forget that we need to price our work like business to be able to recover our costs and make a profit. This article has the formula for pricing your work and its very simple. The Cost of the Goods you use to make your product + the hours you spend on making your product + overhead = your price. For a service based price the calculation would be Cost of Goods to provide service + time to provide service + your over head =Price. Overhead is your rent,hydro,heat,water even if you are based in your home because part of your home is used for business. So if you use 1/3 of your home a 1/3 of your expenses should be included in the cost of your item or service. Basics of Pricing Your Work | FaveCrafts.com www.favecrafts.com

Home Business Leads

I have a friend on Facebook who is a marketing expert, Deb Bixler.  She has a webpage that provides a lot of interesting information for people whose home based business is hosting parties.  Much of her advice can be applied to any Home Based or Small Business looking for new business.

Deb recently suggested contacting libraries may be an interesting way to obtain leads for your business.  Here is her link I thought would be interesting reading  for those that have small home based business and those that host parties as well. http://www.createacashflowshow.com/building-show-business/home-business-leads-tap-into-libraries.htm                                                            

Enterprise Toronto

Just a short note to my fellow entrepreneurs.  For those of you living in Toronto, ON  check out the Enterprise Toronto website.  They are getting ready for their Annual Showcase in October and are offering sponsorships and vendor spaces.  Might be a good place to display your wares or services.


They've have grant money available for the youth for Summer Jobs.  You need to be going to school, obviously its over for this year but they run it every year.  Might be a good idea to check it out and start preparing.  They provide start up cash to kids that can present a workable business plan for a summer job, plus mentoring.  Something to be able to continue when they finish school and give them extra money.

There is also a program for youth from 18 - 34 if you can come up with a viable business plan, you may be eligible for start up funds and they provide mentoring along the way.  For the young person wanting to start up their own business and have no capital.  If nothing else goo learning experience.

Blogging

Hi Everyone,

I’ve just finished a webinar with BizLaunch talking about the 5 media tools it was hosted by Andrew Patricio. He said one of the most import tools is blogging. Blogging tells people that you are an expert in your field. You should blog at least 2 to 3 times a week. BizLaunch by the way is a non-profit organization based in Toronto, ON that gives out the best business advice for business owner’s home-based, small business or big business. It’s a site I would recommend visiting and participating in. The information available is all tried and tested information to make a business successful. The bonus is that you get to share your experiences with other business owners in all stages of growth from seasoned business owners who have been there done that to people just dreaming about starting a business. The website is www.buzlaunch.com. Most of the services on this site are free, not taking advantage of good free advice in this day and age????? The business information and advice is applicable no matter where you are located. But you have to remember not everything works for everybody and you have to use common sense when applying advice.

I think I side tracked a little bit.(Smile). About blogging if you are not doing it you should seriously think about it. Blogging is the new way of networking with your peers and customer base. There are a lot of free sites that will allow you to blog for free like www.blogger.com and help you create your blog. You don’t need to make it big every time you blog just a few thought s on your business or even pet peeves you have about your particular business or just pet peeves. Let people know you’ve started a blog and put the address on your business cards, e-mail signature, letter head, flyers on anything that bears you name personal or business. You may not see results right away but you’d be surprised as you keep going how many people pass by just to say hello.

Visit other blogs that deal with your product or service and see how they blog and what they are saying it will give you helpful hints while you grow your blog. Leave your blog link where people invite you to. This will invite people back to your blog.

Please share your comments I’m always interested in what people are thinking and creative criticism is appreciated.

Deborah

Purchasing online

What bugs me most is that despite a lot of online alternatives to paying unless you have a credit card most times you can't make a purchase. Mastercard has come up with a prepaid credit card and it works just like a regular credit card except when it starts to get empty you need to refill it.

There are a lot of sites that you can go to one of them is www.mycard.ca this is one of many and before you use you need to check it out. This particular one gives you the locations that you can purchase one from. The last time I check their set up charge was $39.95 plus tax and then you put the amount that you want. They also have their limits so you need to check.

I don't know if they are available in Canada but Money Mart has been advertising them as well.

This is for info purpose only so that if you want to check it out you have a few sources to do it. You must remember to read the fine print because that it where you sometimes get into trouble.

Business and The Divorce

Some things to think about before you get married or move in with each other. When someone is getting married or moving in together I always tell them to get a prenuptual agreement or marriage contract. All this does is protect your future and that of any children that may come along. It does not mean that you don't love each other. If the unforeseen or regrettable happens you have a clearer mind and you can save yourself a lot of heart ache and money in lawyers fees.

Right now you are in love. Your partner is sensitive to your needs. You get married or move in with each other. Life is bliss, you buy a house, start a business together, have children. Now several years pass your bored with each other, because you have children you can't find time for each other, you meet a new person that is more wonderful than your partner (you think) and the worst happens your partner finds out.

So now one of you feels the need to leave and you are in the middle of a divorce and/or separation. You hate your partner's guts and you just want to destroy them. You think you are going to take them for everything they have or your partner thinks that he/she will give you nothing, nothing nothing. Now this is a little bit of a myth other than the nothing part because you could lose everything to the courts, lawyers fees and lots of other expenses that may come up.

The myth here is that not everything gets split down the middle. If you are a spouse and your name is not on the house deed the law prevents the other spouse from selling the house without the other spouses knowledge. But it doesn't prevent them from selling it. If the house was purchased prior to the marriage then the spouse may only get a portion of the sale and if they didn't live in it they may not get anything at all. This applies to a business as well.

If you are living common-law and your name is NOT on the title to the house you are not entitled to it and they can sell it right from under you. This applies to any assests that you purchase together. You may be entitled to get something but you have to prove that you invested into it. If you start a business together operate it as a partnership and get a partnership agreement. It will save you heartache if anything should happen.

A prenuptual agreement or marriage contract will save a lot of this hassle and the expense of a bad divorce or separation can be avoided. You do not need a lawyer to create an agreement but it is advisable or a very good paralegal. A paralegal can provide some services that a lawyer does but at a reduced cost.

This is my opinion and each situation has different circumstances so some of this information may not apply to you. My intention is just to give you something to think about before you go into a relationship and it may not even be to late to explore the possibility after your married or you move in with each other. I live in Ontario Canada so this information is based on the Ontario laws, some provinces have different regulations and if you were in Quebec you wouldn't be able to get married without a legal agreement. Some lawyers and paralegals will give a 1/2 of their time for free take advantage of it. Just because you get an opinion does not diminish the love. It might preserve a friendship instead.