From a young age we are taught to respect our elders. This is for a good reason: With age also comes wisdom. . . Usually. Unfortunately wisdom is not the only thing that comes with age. There’s the other run-of-the-mill stuff of course: grey hair, wrinkles, less spring in your step, maybe the memory’s a little rusty. Sometimes there’s more: physical disability, serious mental deterioration, an illness that can lead to total incapacitation.

“Good fences make good neighbors.” – from “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost. During the long, hot days of summer there’s more time to work and play outside and more opportunity to interact with neighbors. Mostly our lives are enhanced by this close contact. Sometimes, however, this interaction isn’t always so neighborly. Sharing fences can cause stress and total exasperation.

Perusing the LocalsGuide right now, you know that Ashland is chockfull of small business owners. That means that Ashland is also teeming with people putting heaps of time and energy into getting their businesses up and running. Most of the new business owner’s attention is focused on developing the product, securing financing, creating the perfect marketing plan, finding the right location, etc. In this flurry of startup activity, two essential elements are sometimes forgotten: 1) tax planning and 2) liability protection.

The old saying goes, “You cannot escape death and taxes.” Nobody likes to think about death. Are you so fearful of death that you have not planned for your own? Also, chances are that sometime in your life you will experience the loss of a loved one. Amidst the emotional grief and turmoil, there are myriad practical and logistical details that must also be taken care of.

Hiring an attorney is something most people only do once or twice in a lifetime, so finding the right one is not to be taken lightly. This is especially true considering that when searching for a lawyer. You are likely going through a difficult situation in your life, such as a divorce or the passing of a loved one. The same is also true when you are entering into an exciting new phase of life, such as a marriage or starting a business.

I meet regularly with clients who are just beginning to contemplate divorce, and clients who have been contemplating divorce for months or even years. One may have already moved, opened his own accounts and told his spouse he is filing for divorce. Another client may have told no one but a best friend that her marriage is in trouble.

Mention the word divorce and images of heated courtroom battles come to mind: lawyers butchering issues, cutting deals, and bargaining away the things that matter most. You may fear that divorce would bankrupt you, give you a nervous breakdown, or both. The truth? Divorce is often a painful transition that is personal and unique for each individual. This juncture may be a great burden finally lifted; it may also be the loss of a dream and full of seemingly bottomless grief...

In this time of new beginnings, as the New Year unfolds, many of us are implementing our New Year’s resolutions, or at least thinking about it. You look forward to a fresh new start, thinking about all of the things you want to accomplish in 2014, the places you want to go, and the relationships you want to improve, the ways you can make your life better, richer and fuller. A lawyer can help you do that. Really? Aren’t lawyers for when things go wrong in your life? Don’t you just need a lawyer to clean up messes and solve problems?

Estate planning is for people who have big houses, millions of dollars and are 82 years old. True or false? It is true that the term “estate planning” conjures up an image of an elderly couple roaming the gardens of their country estate, arm and arm, talking about how they plan to split their massive fortune between their adult children and their charities of choice. But it is entirely false that estate planning is only for people like this couple.

An attorney here in Ashland, Oregon, Robert W. Good has practiced law for over 20 years and specializes in serving the legal needs of our community. His firm’s focus is on legal issues that arise in peoples’ lives, from family law matters such as divorce, custody, child and spousal support and parenting time to wills and trusts. He also assists small businesses in setting up corporations and LLCs and handling an array of legal issues that arise for existing businesses. I spoke with Robert about his firm here in Ashland.