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A qualified Vocational Expert can provide an opinion in a variety of areas of vocational rehabilitation, vocational and earning capacity, lost earnings, cost of replacement labor and lost ability/time in performing household services.
In a divorce, a Vocational Expert will be hired by one spouse to prepare a report based upon a foundation of scientific principles relevant to vocational standards. These standards include; an analysis of income and employment documentation, test selection, administration, and the analysis of test findings. The end result of the Vocational Expert’s analysis will be an expert opinion of a spouse’s earning capacity. You may be reluctant to add the cost of an expert witness to your mounting divorce costs. However, under the right circumstances, a Vocational Expert can save you significant money in the long run. For example, if your spouse is responsible for child support and/or spousal support but claims a sudden inability to work or reduction of wages, a Vocational Expert can provide an unbiased assessment of your spouse’s true earning ability. It is not unheard of for a spouse to intentionally reduce income to keep support obligations low, especially in instances where the spouse is self-employed. If you are involved in a divorce in Warren County, Butler County, or any Ohio county, where one spouse has recently experienced a significant reduction in income, a Vocational Expert’s analysis will show the Judge what the spouse should be earning. Then, the Judge can impute or assign the additional income to that spouse. The resulting child support and/or spousal support determinations will be based on imputed wages, rather than actual, reduced earnings. Done correctly, a Vocational Expert’s opinion can be highly persuasive in negotiations, during mediation and if necessary, at trial. So, you’re driving down the highway in Butler County, Warren County, Hamilton County, or any Ohio county, minding your own business, keeping a weather-eye out for the local constabulary, when you spy down the highway, a good half-mile away, a state trooper - lights flashing. Surely, he must already have a paying customer in his sights. You adjust your speed accordingly and prepare to gape at the poor schmuck that had the misfortune to run into such horrible luck on such a beautiful, cloudless day. When, seemingly suddenly, the very same state trooper is pointing at you! And motioning for you to pull over to the side of the road! He can’t mean ME?!? Can he???
Well, of course he means you - and of course you’re suddenly the poor schmuck who has run into such rotten luck on such a suddenly gloomy, (but cloudless) day. But how could this happen? You saw him coming, literally, a half-mile away! Unfortunately, you’ve been nabbed by a not so infrequently used sting operation involving the aircraft section of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, with the assistance of a traditionally marked Ohio State Trooper Vehicle unit. Operations such as these have been used by the Ohio Highway Patrol for decades, but because they are so insidious, you probably haven’t been particularly aware of their existence – unless you happen to be one of the unfortunates who come in their crosshairs. The operation works using two time-honored concepts – mathematics and stopwatches. Not your grandfather’s traditional stopwatch (now we’re in the digital age), but instruments of measurement that do the hard math for the officer. Next time you drive on the highway, pay careful attention to the outside lane of the highway. If you’re observant, you may notice a series of five lines, about the width of a parking space line, but only about three to five feet long. It is these series of lines that let you know that you are in an air speed zone. And if you see these markings, be aware that on a clear day, you may run the risk of falling victim to this slightly more sophisticated speed trap. The five white lines are exactly 1,320 feet apart or one-quarter mile apart. By using his digital stopwatch, a pilot trooper can calculate the speed of your vehicle by recording the time it takes your vehicle to cross each white line. Upon determining that a vehicle is speeding, the pilot trooper radios down to his companion in the patrol car who is stationed about a half-mile past the last white line. He describes the vehicle and confirms with the vehicle trooper that he has identified and stopped the correct vehicle. From there a ticket is issued and you are on your way to paying a fine and potentially incurring points on your driver’s license. If you find yourself in a traffic situation such as this, speak to an attorney to see how best to deal with the circumstance. The attorney may have some ideas to improve the outcome for you – beyond just paying out the ticket. In Ohio, employees generally cannot be fired simply because they become pregnant. The Ohio Revised Code provides that it is an unlawful discriminatory practice:
For any employer, because of the race, color, religion, sex, military status, national origin, disability, age, or ancestry of any person, to discharge without just cause, to refuse to hire, or otherwise to discriminate against that person with respect to hire, tenure, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, or any matter directly or indirectly related to employment. R.C. § 4112.02 Federal Law may also protect pregnant employees via The Pregnany Discrimnation Act of 1978. ttps://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/pregnancy.cfm After childbirth, a woman may also be entitled to time off, if she qualifies for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). Moreover, upon returning to work, employers must provide nursing mothers with a private room with a lock, that is not a bathroom, to pump breast milk. Your employer cannot discriminate or retaliate against you for requesting accommodations to pump milk. In short, the law does have protection for pregnant employees. However, those protections are routinely tested by employers around the State. AWK Legal is happy to announce that Attorney Jesse Bowman has opened an additional office in the historic Rentschler Building, 6 South Second Street, Suite 508, in downtown Hamilton. The building is conveniently located across the street from the Butler County Probate and Municipal Courts and a short walk away from the Butler County Common Pleas and Domestic Relations Courts.
The new location was needed as Jesse continues to increase his work serving the people of Butler County and will provide his clients with a closer location to their homes. Jesse will continue to work primarily at our Mason office, and will be available by appointment in his new Hamilton office. Earlier in the year, we provided a post about Transfer on Death (“TOD”) Affidavits. Today, we wanted to touch on a particular type of TOD Affidavit for an asset that is often overlooked. For many, a car is one of the most valuable assets that they own. Often the only time we look at our car title is when we are at the dealership either buying or selling that vehicle. However, if you pass with the title to the vehicle still solely in your name, it is going to have to go through probate.
Probate is a legal proceeding where the validity of a will is established, and an "Executor" is appointed to manage the estate. This includes resolving claims from creditors and distributing assets in accordance with the will. If a person dies without a will, the court appoints an “Administrator" to perform a similar function, without the added benefit of the will's provisions to determine who gets what. The State of Ohio makes that determination for you. In order to avoid your vehicle having to go through probate, a simple but effective mechanism is to create and file a TOD Affidavit with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Using this affidavit, you can designate a beneficiary of your motor vehicle (also, your watercraft or outboard motor) then when you pass, your named beneficiary has the ability to transfer ownership without going to court. To discuss creating a TOD Affidavit, contact Jesse Bowman at AWK Legal (513-228-1100). This information is intended to provide broad, general information about the law and is not intended to be legal advice. Before applying this information to a specific legal problem, readers are urged to seek advice from a licensed attorney. AWK Legal is proud to announce that Jesse Bowman was recently awarded a Certificate of Recognition from Judge Timothy Tepe at the Fourth Annual Warren County Veterans Court Recognition Breakfast for his work as a Peer Mentor in the program. The Warren County Veterans Court is a specialized docket of the Warren County Common Pleas Court under Judge Tepe and is an intensive program reserved for Veterans who require more services than traditional community control can provide. Peer Mentors are Veterans themselves that serve as an ally and advocate for the Veterans in the program. Jesse is proud to serve as a Peer Mentor and thankful for the Warren County Veterans Court and the work it does for our Veterans.  In numerous posts, we have highlighted different estate planning documents and other mechanisms to create a plan for when you pass. However, an equally important question is what happens when someone passes without creating an estate plan, or in this post, without a will. When this happens, and dependent upon whether you have probate assets (assets you own individually at the time of your death), an intestate estate may need to be opened.
An intestate estate is administered in probate court in accordance with the laws of the State of Ohio and your assets are distributed in accordance with Ohio Revised Code 2105.06 (Statute of Descent and Distribution). Please note that instead of you deciding who gets what, the State of Ohio has already decided this for you. Depending upon your wishes, this may lead to unintended consequences. For detailed information on what happens if you pass without a will, please visit this link to this Ohio State Bar Association’s Law Facts article. This information is intended to provide broad, general information about the law and is not intended to be legal advice. Before applying this information to a specific legal problem, readers are urged to seek advice from a licensed attorney. For further information, please contact Jesse Bowman at the law office of Alexander, Wagner & Kinman (513) 228-1100 or Jesse@AWKLegal.com. A frequently asked question that we get here at AWK Legal involves how Ohio assesses "points" for traffic violations. This is a fair question because points affect both insurance rates and, if enough are accumulated, can result in license suspension.
If you are charged with a traffic violation, consulting with a licensed attorney is always a great choice because a knowledgeable attorney can advise you of your options. Depending upon the circumstances, such options include challenging the citation, or possibly negotiating a plea deal that will result in either fewer points or even no points at all. For detailed information on traffic violation points, please visit this link to the Ohio State Bar Association's Law You Can Use article. An effective estate planning tool is the Transfer on Death Designation Affidavit (“TOD Affidavit”). If you own real estate, you can use a TOD Affidavit to name who or whom you want your property to go to upon your death. There are several benefits to using a TOD Affidavit:
This information is intended to provide broad, general information about the law and is not intended to be legal advice. Before applying this information to a specific legal problem, readers are urged to seek advice from a licensed attorney. For further information, please contact Jesse Bowman at the law office of Alexander, Wagner & Kinman (513) 228-1100 or Jesse@AWKLegal.com. During a typical commute, it is not uncommon to see other drivers texting, putting on makeup, talking on a phone, playing air guitar, shaving, or some other form of distracted behavior. We all are guilty of some form of this; however, a little-known law just went into effect in Ohio that is cracking down on such behavior.
Ohio House Bill 95 went into effect October 29, 2018. This law enhances moving violations where law enforcement officers determine: (1) an offense occurred; (2) the driver was distracted at the time; and (3) this distraction was a contributing factor to the offense. If the officer determines this, then you can expect an additional $100 on your citation or a seat in a distracted driver safety course. “Distracted” is defined as “engaging in any activity that is not necessary to the operation of a vehicle and impairs, or reasonably would be expected to impair, the ability of the operator to drive the vehicle safely.” That’s pretty broad, so let’s look at how the Ohio State Highway Patrol defined distracted driving in a Traffic Safety Bulletin from last year: “Distractions include: texting or talking on a cellphone, talking to passengers, eating, adjusting the radio, using a navigation system, etc.” It is time for an example. You are cruising down the street eating a cheeseburger and you switch lanes without using your turn signal. An officer pulls you over and he sees the ketchup on the corner of your mouth plus the empty whopper wrapper next you on the passenger seat. Using superior Sherlock Holmes like deduction, the officer is going to determine that you were distracted when you failed to use your turn signal and is going to tack on an extra $100 on your citation. So that $1.99 Whopper now costs you $101.99 or lost time out of your life taking a distracted driver safety course. For your pocketbook, and the safety of all of us, it’s probably best to wait to dig into that whopper. This information is intended to provide broad, general information about the law and is not intended to be legal advice. Before applying this information to a specific legal problem, readers are urged to seek advice from a licensed attorney. For further information, please contact Jesse Bowman at the law office of Alexander, Wagner & Kinman (513) 228-1100 or Jesse@AWKLegal.com. |
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Attorneys Jesse Bowman; Max Kinman; Chris Alexander: David Wagner Archives
November 2019
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