Blog

What Legal Rights Does a Non-Custodial Parent Have?

• April 6, 2022
• Kelvin Birk
• Family Law

When it comes to child custody, the two main types of custody that can be awarded to parents are custodial and non-custodial. Custodial parents are the ones who have primary physical custody of the child, while non-custodial parents have visitation rights. Typically, the non-custodial parent may also have joint legal custody, which means they share some of the decision-making authority with the custodial parent.

There are a number of factors that can influence who is granted custody and what rights they have. These include:

• The relationship between the parents (e.g., the parent’s plan for custody and parenting wishes)
• The needs of the child ( [...]

Can you go to jail for credit card debt?

• March 1, 2022
• Kelvin Birk
• Bankruptcy

Back in the olden days of England there were things called “debtors’ prisons,” but those have long since been done away with in modern times. These days, no one goes to jail for credit card debt. However, credit card debt can cause all kinds of other hardships including stress, financial woes, low credit scores, and roadblocks to getting a home mortgage.

While you can’t be arrested or put in jail for past-due credit card payments, there are a few kinds of debt that could land you behind bars. For example, failure to pay federal taxes or filing fraudulent tax returns could result in going to jail. Or being in contempt of court by refusing to pay large overdue child su [...]

How To Establish a Corporate Veil

• February 14, 2022
• Kelvin Birk
• Business

If you’re wondering how to establish a corporate veil, this blog seeks to answer that question. The way you establish your business from the outset – including the corporate structure you choose, the creation of your operating agreement, and the up-front capitalization – will determine, in part, whether your entity’s corporate veil can withstand potential future lawsuits.

You want to make sure that corporate owners and LLC members have all the protections available to them under the law. A corporate veil can shield owners’ and members’ personal assets, placing them beyond the reach of a business’s creditors.

What Is a Corporate Veil?

Our skil [...]

How to Classify an Independent Contractor vs. an Employee

• February 11, 2022
• Kelvin Birk
• Business Law

The rise of the gig economy has stimulated a lot of discussion in the media regarding how to classify an independent contractor vs. an employee while staying on the right side of employment laws. If you’re an employer, you may see advantages to hiring contractors instead of employees, particularly when needs for workers expand and contract. However, if you aren’t fully aware of what legally differentiates the two, you could set yourself up for future legal problems and issues with the IRS.

Employee Classification Rules in the State of Missouri

All 50 states have their own rules for defining who is, and who isn't, an employee or contractor. The Missouri Department [...]