Thank You-Furniture for Flood Families was a Success!
We would like to take a moment to thank everyone that made Furniture for Flood Families a success. Thank you to our partners: Madison East Center, Troy Volk and Volk Transfer, Inc., Paragon Printing, Mailing and Specialties, Redline Signworks, and Lime Valley Advertising. Thank you to all of the area churches, schools, and businesses that supported Furniture for Flood Families from beginning to end. Thank you to the students from Mankato West, Mankato East, and Loyola, who dedicated their Saturday to helping our neighbors. Thank you to our staff at FJLO who took this project head on and with great... Read More
My New House Has a Wet Basement, What Can I Do?
The recent, heavy rainfall has resulted in many in southern Minnesota experiencing wet basements. If you recently constructed a new home, you would not expect to have water in your basement. Under Minnesota law, new homes come with 1, 2 and 10 year statutory warranties. The cause and scope of the problem will dictate which warranties apply to your situation. The warranties only apply if there are defects in the construction. The warranties do not apply if the cause of the water problem is something other than defective construction, such as an overloaded municipal drainage system or flooding. If the... Read More
Minnesota Employees Must Be Given Time Off for Voting
Election Day is right around the corner. The Attorneys at Farrish Johnson Law Office want to remind everyone – employees and employers alike – that Minnesota law requires employers to give their employees reasonable time off for voting. Any employee who is eligible to vote has the right to be absent from work for the time necessary to go to the polling place, cast a ballot, and return to work, without penalty and without deduction from salary or wages because of the absence. In other words, the employee may vote during the work day without being required to “punch out.” ... Read More
Wells Fargo and Arbitration Clauses
Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson wants Wells Fargo to let customers sue the bank to resolve disputes over accounts opened without consumer authorization. That means Wells Fargo will have to forgo enforcing the mandatory arbitration clause included in its consumer contracts. Earlier this month regulators fined Wells Fargo $185 million for opening checking and credit card accounts on behalf of customers who had no idea that was happening. Over a five-year period some 2 million credit cards and deposit accounts were opened that were not authorized by the bank’s customers. While Wells Fargo has promised to make restitution, the bigger... Read More
Local Event Aims to Provide Furniture for Area Flood Victims
MANKATO, Minn.— In response to the impact that heavy rains and flooding have had on residents of Waseca, St. Clair and other local communities, a group churches, schools and area businesses have to come together and established an event to help area flood victims. The event, Furniture for Flood Families, is geared at soliciting donations of well-cared-for furniture to help those that have lost items to flood waters. According to one local organizer, Scott Kelly of the Farrish Johnson Law Office in Mankato, the event is focused on neighbors helping neighbors. He said, “Some of these families have suffered significant... Read More
Farrish Johnson Law Office Hosts Reception for Justice Natalie Hudson
Today from 4pm to 5:30pm, Farrish Johnson Law Office will host a reception for Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Natalie Hudson. Meet and hear from Justice Hudson ahead of the November 8 election and join friends and colleagues to support the reelection of Justice Hudson to the Minnesota Supreme Court. For more information about this special event, please contact Farrish Johnson Law Office at 507-625-2525.
New Federal Overtime Rule is Fast Approaching
A new federal overtime rule goes into effect on December 1, 2016. The rule raises the Fair Labor Standards Act salary threshold for those white-collar employees who are exempt from overtime from $455/week ($23,660) to $913/week ($47,476.00). This means that an employee who makes less than $47,476.00 per year must be paid overtime. There are plenty of options to ensure compliance with this new rule. For example, an employer can (1) raise the employee’s salary to the threshold to keep from paying overtime; (2) keep the employee’s salary the same but limit the employee’s hours to 40 hours per week;... Read More
Estate Taxes Still an Issue
With the federal estate tax beginning for estates in excess of $5.4 million, most families no longer concern themselves with avoiding the imposition of this tax. However, Minnesota residences or non-residences with Minnesota property still face Minnesota taxes for estates that exceed $1.6 million. Do not assume that estate planning is no longer necessary simply because of the size of the federal exemption. There are a number of planning opportunities for families to avoid or minimize Minnesota estate tax. For more information on Estate Taxes and Estate Planning, contact Steve Fink at Farrish Johnson Law Office. This webpage contains general... Read More
Changes to Medical Assistance Recovery
In 1967, Minnesota instituted a medical assistance (MA) estate recovery program. The program authorized counties to recover the cost paid for MA services received by a deceased person. In June of 2016, new legislation was passed which limits the number of MA services that can be recovered by the counties. The new legislation limits the number of MA services which are recoverable against an estate if the decedent received MA services on or after January 1, 2014. Specifically, recovery is limited to cost of Long Term Care (LTC) that a decedent received from January 1, 2014 to the present. LTC... Read More
Farrish Johnson Attorney Featured on KEYC
Farrish Johnson attorney Joseph A. Gangi worked with a woman wrongfully convicted of manslaughter to seek compensation after spending nearly three years behind bars. This web page contains general information and not legal advice. It is based on Minnesota law in effect at the time of writing. An attorney Farrish Johnson Law Office can advise you about how the law applies to your specific situation.