BY THE BAR: Pamphlets cut out legalese

By: Mike Wells | SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL
Published: November 07, 2010

There are ways to learn about a variety of important legal topics without hiring an attorney.

The N.C. Bar Association publishes several very helpful pamphlets on a number of common legal topics. They are written in layman’s terms, stripped of all the legalese that can be so daunting. They are conversational, and they really help to orient the reader to the broad points of many important areas of the law. Many of them are available in Spanish.

These free pamphlets are generally available at your local public library. You may also contact the Bar Association at 1-800-662-7407 (ask for Pamphlet Program), or go to the Bar’s website at www.ncbar.org. Here are the pamphlets available to you:

• Living Wills and Health Care Powers of Attorney: These documents can help your family avoid fractious disputes at what should be a very solemn time. Available in Spanish.

• Protecting Your Assets: Wills, Trusts and Powers of Attorney: This pamphlet reviews wills, revocable trusts, estate taxes, and powers of attorney.

• What To Do in Case of an Auto Accident: Practical suggestions are given about what to do when you are in an accident. You should consider getting a number of these pamphlets and putting one in each of your motor vehicles, and in the vehicles of your family members, especially your teenage children.

• Workers’ Compensation: Learn what you should do in case of an on-the-job-injury.

• Filing for Bankruptcy: No one ever wants to file for bankruptcy, but it can give you a fresh start. This pamphlet discusses the major forms of consumer bankruptcies, a Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy, and a Chapter 13 wage-earner plan.

• Buying a Home: This is the main financial investment most of us make. Practical tips are given to make the most of your purchase.

• Buying on Time: If you do not understand credit, you may need the bankruptcy pamphlet. Know what you are doing when you buy something on time.

• Child Custody, Visitation Rights, and Support: One out of two marriages ends in divorce and the children are often in the middle. Domestic attorneys can get expensive. People often have uninformed opinions about what a court would do on these issues, and they spend a lot of money and emotional energy on positions that are not tenable in the law. It is good to be grounded in these areas if you must separate. Available in Spanish.

Mike Wells is an attorney with Wells Jenkins Lucas & Jenkins, PLLC, in Winston-Salem.