Axelrod & Associates, P.A.

You are not required to have an attorney handle your adoption proceedings, but it is recommended. This is one of the most important moments in a child’s life, and you want to ensure that the process goes as smoothly as possible and that there are no lingering issues that could arise later. Your Myrtle Beach adoption lawyer on the Axelrod team can help you to: • Choose the type of adoption that is best suited for the child and your family, • Arrange for a home study when required, • Obtain consent from the biological parents when appropriate, • Terminate the biological parent's parental rights to clear the way for your adoption, • Draft and file the necessary paperwork, • Represent you at the adoption hearing, and • Answer your questions throughout the process.

A separation agreement, or separate support and maintenance agreement, should be negotiated soon after you and your spouse decide to separate. It should resolve pressing issues early in your case like: • Who stays in the marital home, • How is personal property divided, • Who runs the family business and how the profits are divided, • Who takes primary custody of the children, • A visitation schedule for the children, • Alimony, and • Child support. When you appear at your final hearing, you may be able to simply ask the family court judge to incorporate the terms of your separation agreement into your final divorce decree, avoiding the need for mediation or litigation over the issues.

In most cases, a child is placed in the care of one parent and the other parent is given reasonable visitation rights. The terms of visitation are often agreed upon before the parents arrive in court, but, if the parents have not reached an agreement, the court may order that they comply with a “standard visitation schedule” – for example, every other weekend, alternating holidays, and a set number of weeks during the summer break. The visitation schedule agreed upon by the parents should be detailed, including where the child will be on weekends, holidays, summer break, and who will provide and pay for transportation.

If the parties have not agreed upon a child custody arrangement, the court will make that decision for them. The court’s decision must always be based on the best interests of the child, determined using statutory factors that include: • Each parent’s circumstances, • The child’s preference, • Each parent’s ability to provide for the child’s physical and emotional welfare, and • Other factors related to the parents, community, schools, and each parent’s ability to provide for and protect the child.

If your ex is refusing to pay child support, refusing to pay court-ordered alimony, or failing to comply with the requirements of any court order in your family court case, you can file a Rule to Show Cause to ask for the court’s assistance in forcing them to comply with the court’s order. If you are under a court order to pay child support and you cannot afford it due to a change in circumstances, you must continue paying the child support until your attorney requests a modification of the previous court order.

When one party in a divorce is financially dependent on the other, the court may order financial support at the temporary hearing and in the final divorce decree. Depending on the circumstances, alimony could be: • A lump sum payment, • Periodic or monthly payments, • Rehabilitative alimony that is paid on a temporary basis, or • Reimbursement alimony that is paid on a temporary basis. Adultery is a complete bar to alimony, which is why divorcing couples should ensure they do not begin dating other people until their divorce is final or until a permanent court order is in place. In some situations, alimony can be modified or terminated based on a change in circumstances.

The fifth ground for divorce in SC is one-year continuous separation – if the parties have been living separately for at least one year and have not attempted to reconcile during that time, they are entitled to a divorce without proving one of the fault grounds. Note that a “no-fault divorce” is not necessarily an “uncontested” divorce. A divorce is considered uncontested if the parties have agreed on all issues in their case, but no-fault divorces often involve issues that the parties must work out like child custody, child support, alimony, and division of marital property.

There are four “fault grounds” for divorce in SC, including: • Adultery, • Physical cruelty, • Habitual drunkenness or drug use, and • Willful desertion. Evidence of a fault-based ground for divorce in SC can have an impact on other issues in the case like child custody, child support, alimony, and division of the marital assets.

An uncontested divorce is when both parties have agreed to all issues in their divorce, and there are no disputes over issues like: • Division of assets, • Alimony, • Fault grounds for divorce, • Child custody and visitation, and • Child support. Most uncontested divorces are obtained on grounds of one-year continuous separation, but an uncontested divorce could be based on fault grounds if the other side is admitting the fault and will not contest any issues.

Many businesses own trademarks and copyrights that 1) are an important component of the purchase or sale of a business and 2) must be protected against infringement. Your Myrtle Beach intellectual property lawyer on the Axelrod team can help you to: • Negotiate the purchase or sale of your intellectual property rights, • Register your trademarks, copyrights, or patents, • Serve “takedown notices” or “cease and desist letters” when another individual or business is infringing on your intellectual property rights, and • File suit against infringers when appropriate.

Don’t. Whether you are leasing a business office or a house or apartment, you need a detailed lease agreement that is tailored to your circumstances, complies with SC’s Landlord-Tenant Act, and protects your rights in the event of default. The best protection against the expense of unnecessary litigation is always a detailed contract that clearly identifies each party’s rights, responsibilities, and remedies in the event of a breach. Your attorney will review your situation and help you to negotiate and draft a lease agreement that protects your interests and reduces the risk of litigation.

Don’t. Call your Myrtle Beach business law attorney at Axelrod & Associates for a review of your current business contracts or for help negotiating and drafting your contracts with vendors or service providers. In today’s business world, a promise and a handshake are not enough, and neither is a “form” or “template” business contract. To avoid the substantial costs of future litigation and frivolous lawsuits, your company should ensure that every business transaction is covered by a detailed contract that specifies each party’s rights, obligations, and remedies for breach of the contract.

Buying or selling a business can be a difficult process that is full of landmines for the unwary, and we recommend that you call your Myrtle Beach business law attorney on the Axelrod team for advice if you are considering buying or selling a business in South Carolina. Your attorney can help you to: • Negotiate the terms of the sale, • Close the deal, • Draft the sale agreement and other documents that may be required, • Perform due diligence by reviewing the company’s documentation and filings, review all business contracts and vendor agreements, conduct a UCC search to identify any liens against the business, and obtain any necessary regulatory approvals for the sale, and • Transfer any intellectual property rights associated with the sale.

A franchise is a type of business arrangement where, in exchange for royalties and often an initial fee, you are allowed to use a preexisting business’s trade name, products, services, and operating systems. A franchise often involves a substantial initial investment, and your Myrtle Beach, SC franchise attorney on the Axelrod team can assist you in reviewing and negotiating the terms of the franchise agreement, reviewing and explaining the franchise disclosure document (FDD), and setting up the correct business entity for your operations.

There are several types of business entities that you can choose from in South Carolina, each with its benefits and drawbacks, and your business law attorney can help you to identify the one that best helps you to meet your company’s goals. Your options include: • Sole proprietorships, • Corporations including C-Corporations, S-Corporations, and non-profit corporations, • Limited liability companies (LLC), • Partnerships including limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, and general partnerships, and • Professional associations.

One of the first steps in setting up your business is to decide which type of business entity is right for your company and file the necessary paperwork with the Secretary of State’s Office. Your Myrtle Beach business law attorney on the Axelrod team can help you to determine the right type of business entity, file your incorporation documents, draft your operating agreements or by-laws, negotiate and draft contracts with vendors and service providers, negotiate and draft the documents you may need to purchase or sell your business, and review your business plan to identify steps you can take to avoid potential litigation.

Workers’ compensation covers auto accidents if the incident happens during the course and scope of your employment. For example, if the crash happens while: • You are on a delivery for the employer, • You are running errands for the employer, • You are driving a company vehicle while on the clock, or • In some cases, while driving to or from the job site. Even when workers’ compensation covers your auto accident, you may also have a third-party lawsuit against the individual or business that caused the accident.

Employers will often attempt to classify their workers as independent contractors to avoid payroll taxes and so the employer does not have to provide workers’ compensation coverage. The worker’s compensation commission (and the IRS) does not care what the employer calls their employees, however – they will determine whether you are an employee or an independent contractor based on the nature of your employment relationship. Generally, you are an employee if: • The employer controls (or has the right to control) the details of how you complete the work, • The employer furnishes the tools and equipment needed to complete the job, • The employer pays regular wages or salary as opposed to paying by the job, and • The employer has the right to terminate your employment at any time.

You cannot legally be fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim in SC, and, if you are terminated from your job or demoted without cause after filing a claim, you can sue your employer for lost wages and reinstatement. Your employer can fire you for cause, however, even if it happens after you file a workers’ comp claim. SC’s workers’ compensation laws provide a list of circumstances where termination would be justified that includes: • Willfully being late or missing work, • Being drunk, high, or disorderly at work, • Destruction of property, • Not meeting work standards, • Malingering, • Stealing the employer’s property, or • Violating any company policy that provides for termination as a consequence.

The amount of compensation you receive from workers’ compensation in SC depends on the nature of the injury, whether the disability is temporary, permanent, partial, or total, and your disability rating that is assigned once you have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI). Your benefits could include: • Medical expenses, • Temporary benefits totaling 2/3 of your average weekly wage (AWW), and • Partial or total permanent benefits that may be capped at a certain number of weeks based on the affected body parts.

If your employer has workers’ compensation insurance, in most cases you cannot file a lawsuit against them for injuries you suffered on the job. Workers’ compensation insurance has two purposes: 1. To ensure that injured workers are provided for by their employers, and 2. To ensure that injured workers don’t sue their employers. In exchange for immunity from lawsuits for on-the-job injuries, qualifying employers are required by law to carry workers’ compensation insurance for their employees. You may be able to sue your employer if they do not have workers’ comp insurance, and you may be able to file a third-party lawsuit against other individuals or businesses if their negligence contributed to your injuries.

You may need to request a contested workers’ compensation hearing at several stages in the process, including to get approval of your initial claim and temporary benefits or to contest the insurance company’s decision to pay partial or no permanent benefits based on your disability rating once you have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI). If the single commissioner denies or limits your benefits at your hearing, you can file a series of appeals to: • A three-commissioner panel of the worker’s compensation commission, • A six-commissioner panel (the “Full Commission”), • The SC Court of Appeals, and • The SC Supreme Court.

First, you must report your injury to your employer – there are strict deadlines for reporting your injury and filing your claim. Your employer may provide the forms to you and assist you in filing your claim, but, if they do not, or if your employer’s insurance company rejects your claim, you may need to file your claim with the workers’ compensation commission, request a hearing, and present your medical evidence to the commission.

Your Myrtle Beach workers’ compensation attorney on the Axelrod team can help you to: • Gather your medical evidence to prove your workers’ compensation claim, • Submit your workers’ comp claim, • Request a contested hearing if your claim is denied or if the insurance company only agrees to pay partial benefits, • Appeal any adverse decisions by the Workers’ Compensation Commission, and • Help you to reach a final settlement once you have reached maximum medical improvement.

Worker’s compensation insurance in SC covers injuries that happened while you are “on the clock.” If you suffered an injury that “arose out of and in the course of employment,” you are probably covered by workers’ compensation insurance if your employer is required to carry workers’ compensation insurance and if you are an employee as opposed to an independent contractor. Workers’ comp covers physical injuries that result from a sudden accident like broken bones or lost limbs, but it may also cover injuries that happen over time like repetitive trauma injuries (carpal tunnel syndrome, for example) and occupational diseases caused by chemical exposures.

Typically when the accident was the other driver’s fault, you are entitled to recover your medical expenses, including your current and future medical costs, pain and suffering, property damage, lost wages, reduction in future earning potential, disfigurement and scarring, mental anguish and compensation for mental injuries like PTSD, other out-of-pocket costs that were caused by the wreck, and, in some cases, punitive damages.

Although every driver is required to carry insurance in SC, some do not, and others may have policy limits that are too low to cover your damages. In this case, your auto accident attorney will look for all possible sources of recovery, which could include third parties who were liable for the crash, your uninsured or underinsured policies, your PIP/Medpay policy, or an umbrella policy.

In many cases, the other driver’s insurance company will promptly pay for property damage to your vehicle and for a rental to drive while your car is being repaired. If they do not, however, you may want to get an attorney to help you recover the costs of damage to your vehicle, including the cost to repair or replace your vehicle, the costs of any personal property that was damaged in the vehicle, and the diminution in value caused by the wreck.

It depends… A traffic violation can be the basis for negligence per se if you are convicted, and, depending on the facts, that could mean that you are liable for the crash and not the other driver. If the officer was wrong, you can fight the ticket in court, however, and even ask for a jury trial. In some cases, you may be able to recover damages even if both parties were given traffic tickets.

It depends… If we are handling your case for you, we will demand full and fair compensation from the insurance company under the facts of your case. You will need to prove liability and damages before the insurance company will agree to pay, but, even then, they may often 1) refuse to pay or 2) offer less than your case is worth. The attorneys at Axelrod & Associates will fight for you so that you receive what your case is worth.

This depends on the facts of your case. For example, your case could be dismissed by the prosecutor or by the court if the officer did not follow SC’s mandatory videotape law when they arrested you – if the officer did not record the traffic stop, if your field sobriety tests are not visible on the camera, if they did not read your Miranda rights to you, or if they did not comply with the other requirements of the videotape law.

Yes. You may have defenses that you are unaware of, and you may not have to plead guilty – the criminal defense team at Axelrod & Associates will investigate your case, review the state’s evidence, and give you advice as to whether a guilty plea is necessary or whether your case could be dismissed or won at trial. If you do plead guilty, your attorney may be able to negotiate reduced charges or a reduced sentence.

Maybe… If you are charged with DUI first offense in the magistrate or municipal court, probation is not an option – if you are convicted, you will be fined, sentenced to jail, or both. If you are charged with DUI second or subsequent offense in General Sessions Court, however, and you are convicted, you may be fined, sentenced to prison, put on probation, or any combination of these.

SC allows for expungements of certain types of convictions, including first-offense 30-day misdemeanors after three years, first-offense domestic violence third degree after five years, simple possession drug convictions after three years, possession with intent to distribute convictions after 20 years, and convictions under the Youthful Offender Act after five years.

Any time the police want to question you, you should consult with your criminal defense lawyer first. You may think you didn’t do anything wrong, but the police may have different ideas. They are trained in interrogation, you are not, and, if you speak with them without first talking to your attorney, you may “confess” to something you did not do, or you might make contradictory statements that they will use against you.