During the holiday season we often hear the quintessential phrase “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” Well, for those of you out there considering adopting someone over the age of eighteen, yes, there is adult adoption.

In the state of Pennsylvania, anyone can adopt and anyone can be adopted if they are legally free for adoption. That is, if the proposed adoptee’s parental rights have been terminated or in the case of an adult, if notice is provided to the adult proposed adoptee’s biological parents, unless otherwise waived by court order. The process in a minor’s adoption is relatively simple. In fact, the Pennsylvania Adoption Statute is like a recipe book which contains each step necessary to finalize an adoption. However, when adopting an adult, two Pennsylvania statutes must be considered. First is the Adoption Statute and the second is the Name Change Statute. Continue Reading Adult Adoptions: Can I Really Adopt a Grownup?

Every year in November, we celebrate National Adoption Month. Given the fact that November is a time to give thanks, it has always seemed apropos that adoptions are celebrated during the same month as Thanksgiving. The fact that these two celebrations fall together just feels right, especially when considering adoptive families, without fail, will tell you how thankful they are for the child they have added to their family.

Photo by Sheri Hooley on Unsplash

The road to adoption can take on many forms and can be smooth sailing or a viable roller coaster ride. Families can adopt internationally, domestically, privately, through licensed adoptions agencies, local social service agencies and as a step-parent. For some families, the process, while important and at times filled with angst, goes smoothly. Everyone is in agreement, minimum time requirements are met, the cost associated with the adoption is what was expected and all parties involved feel that they would do it all over again given the chance.

Continue Reading Happy National Adoption Month

D. Scott EabyThe attorneys of Russell, Krafft & Gruber, LLP are pleased to welcome D. Scott Eaby to their expanding legal practice. He will serve new and existing clients from the firm’s branch office at 108 West Main Street in Ephrata. Scott has resided in Ephrata, Lancaster County all of his life, and has proudly served families and businesses in the Central Pennsylvania area since 1976, representing clients in diverse areas of law, from small claims court to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Scott’s legal practice has included real estate transactions, business formation, personal injury and many facets of family law.

Scott has recently focused his practice on estate planning, estate administration, and elder law. He provides personal and effective counsel as clients prepare their estate plan to ensure their wishes are carried out and their beneficiaries’ interests are protected. Scott also guides executors, beneficiaries and family members through the probate and estate administration process, understanding that each client’s situation is unique and ensuring that everyone receives the personalized representation they deserve. Scott has teamed with Russell, Krafft & Gruber to provide additional resources and offer diversified legal services to all of his clients.

Scott received his undergraduate degree from Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, and his Doctor of Jurisprudence from John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois. He served as a County appointed Divorce Master for 16 years and is a trained conflict resolution mediator.

Scott has been an active member of the Ephrata community, having served as President of both the Ephrata Rotary Club and the Board of Directors of the Ephrata Recreation Center. He has also served on the boards of several Ephrata organizations, including the former Ephrata Chamber of Commerce. He enjoys many outdoor activities including golf, hunting, fishing and snow skiing, and also traveling and spending time with his family. Scott and Jan, his wife of 42 years, are the proud parents of three children with two Colorado grandchildren.

One of the most common issues I am asked about is what a small business can do about online criticism. Here are five practical tips any business can use to help manage their online reputation.

  1. Know What is Being Said About You

To effectively manage your online reputation, you need to know what is being said about your business. Keep an eye on the platforms that matter most to you. For a professional services business like mine, that means watching platforms like LinkedIn. But for other businesses Facebook, Twitter, or Amazon might be more important. And almost every business benefits from keeping an eye on Google’s reviews.

And try to keep an eye on what is being said in the news because many online newspapers allow comments to be posted after articles. We use Google Alerts to get automatic email notifications when our firm or attorneys are mentioned online.

  1. Respond, But Remember You Cannot Argue with Crazy

It is important not to ignore online criticism. But you also cannot argue with a crazy customer. Remember that the primary purpose of responding to an online critique is not to resolve that customer’s situation (more on that below). The purpose is so the rest of the world reading the criticism can see you responded in an empathetic and respectful manner. Use some form of “we are sorry to hear you had a bad experience,” but do not use a stock response. Craft each response based upon the criticism leveled. That shows you are aware of the concern and care about it. Continue Reading Five Practical Tips for Responding to Online Criticism

In the age of HGTV and the ever-fluctuating real estate market, it can be difficult to reconcile how real estate is valued for purposes of divorce litigation versus what a homeowner believes their real estate is worth. Let’s face it, we all believe that our personal residences are probably worth more than they actually are because our homes are personal to us. We live there, we raise our children there, we take care to ensure that our homes are well maintained, decorated nicely, safe, located in a good school district, and so on. The care that we take to make our real estate a home, combined with the personal memories that are made there, often skew one’s perception of what real estate is worth.

For purposes of divorce litigation, the value of real estate is defined as its “fair market value” (FMV). What does fair market value mean? It is the amount a buyer is willing to pay on the open market without any requirement to buy. So how do you figure out FMV for your marital residence? For some, a value for marital real estate can be agreed upon because the parties are familiar with the real estate market in their area, there are comparable homes in and around the area in which their home is located and the parties are sophisticated enough to be reasonable about what their home would sell for. Others look to Zillow and other similar internet resources for value. I often caution my clients to ensure that any value they are agreeing upon, or that they are relying upon based on internet research, should have a second look either informally by a licensed real estate agent who can perform a Comparative Market Analysis, or through a real estate appraisal performed by a licensed real estate appraiser. Continue Reading My Marital Residence is Worth What?

Whether you are making the choice to consider separation or divorce, or your spouse has made that decision and you are scrambling to make sense of it all, making the most of your initial divorce consultation with a divorce attorney is vital. Initial consultations are called initial consultations for a reason: you only get one. Some firms will offer free initial consultations, and others will charge a lower flat fee than an attorney’s typical hourly rate. As such, you are getting either free or discounted legal advice one time and should take advantage of that.

First and foremost, choose local counsel who is experienced in family law. Don’t call your father’s business attorney, your best friend’s bankruptcy lawyer, or your hairdresser’s personal injury guy. Family law cases are often decided on specific nuances that exist only in your case, and often cases are presented with local judges’ preferences, unwritten local rules, and consideration of the temperament of opposing counsel in mind. So, local counsel is a must. Experienced family law lawyers are easy to investigate, and ones who come with personal recommendations from prior clients are always the best option. There are many marketing tools that attorneys can use to hold themselves out to the community as experts in certain fields of practice, and some who assert they are rated “super-lawyers,” “best in their field,” etc. While those lawyers may, in fact, be “super-lawyers” and “best in their field,” those rating systems are not necessarily indicative of an attorney’s experience level, expertise or reputations, but may be purchased marketing items. Going with a locally known, respected, and personally recommended attorney is always best.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash.

Continue Reading Make the Most of Your Initial Divorce Consultation

This is the final installment of a three-part series outlining the topics of discussion from our presentation to the Southern Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, October 10.

Last week, Brandon Harter and I had the pleasure of presenting to a full house of Southern Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce members at the Quarryville Library. Thank you to all who attended and we enjoyed a friendly competition and lively discussion of various ways that technology law impacts every small business in 2019.

If you were unable to attend or if you’d like a brief summary of what was discussed, here’s additional information on three of the discussion topics from the event: Continue Reading Expecting the Unexpected: Technology Law Issues for Every Small Business – Part 3

This is part two of a three-part series outlining the topics of discussion from our presentation to the Southern Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, October 10.

Yesterday, Brandon Harter and I had the pleasure of presenting to a full house of Southern Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce members at the Quarryville Library. Thank you to all who attended and we enjoyed a friendly competition and lively discussion of various ways that technology law impacts every small business in 2019.

If you were unable to attend or if you’d like a brief summary of what was discussed, here’s additional information on two of the discussion topics from yesterday’s event: Continue Reading Expecting the Unexpected: Technology Law Issues for Every Small Business – Part 2

This is part one of a three-part series outlining the topics of discussion from our presentation to the Southern Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce.

This morning, Brandon Harter and I had the pleasure of presenting to a full house of Southern Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce members at the Quarryville Library. Thank you to all who attended and we enjoyed a friendly competition and lively discussion of various ways that technology law impacts every small business in 2019.

If you were unable to attend or if you’d like a brief summary of what was discussed, here’s additional information on two of the discussion topics from this morning’s event: Continue Reading Expecting the Unexpected: Technology Law Issues for Every Small Business – Part 1