In OneLaw’s October newsletter, Attorney Peter Hahn discusses types of special education placements, and Attorney Chiara LaPlume explains different options for holding title to real estate.
Read the full October 2023 newsletter HERE.
The text version is below.
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The school year is underway, fall weather is finally here, and Halloween is right around the corner.
In this newsletter, I discuss what Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) means for special education placement, and Attorney Chiara LaPlume explains different options for holding title to real estate.
OneLaw welcomes the newest addition to our practice, Chris Connolly. Attorney Connolly specializes in criminal and juvenile law, education law, and civil rights. Welcome, Chris!
As always, OneLaw is dedicated to serving the personal legal needs of families and individuals across a variety of practice areas. Let us know how we can help you. Visit our website (https://www.one-law.us) or give us a call at 617-831-4355.
You can also drop by on Halloween at noon for the seminar in our office building at 55 Chapel Street in Newton when I discuss my experiences in “Education Law and Civil Rights”. Hope to see you there!
Peter A. Hahn, Esq.
Founder & Owner of OneLaw
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Least Restrictive Environment & Types of Special Education Placement
by Peter A. Hahn, Esq.
Special education students are entitled to receive a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment (LRE) in which they can make effective educational progress across all domains of identified need (e.g. academic, social, emotional, behavioral).
LRE is defined by how much a student is within or outside the general education setting. The absolute least restrictive environment is an inclusion setting. This is where a student is primarily or solely within the general education classroom. Within the classroom the student may receive support from specialized staff and/or receive accommodations. The student may also get pulled out of the classroom to receive specialized instruction or related services, such as small group reading, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, or counseling.
In a substantially separate setting, the student is still in the public school but more outside the general education format than in it. The profiles of these students tend to be more intense or complex, thereby necessitating much more specialized and comprehensive programming on their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). This could be a small class language-based classroom for students with significant literacy deficits, or a classroom with intensive emotional and behavioral supports for students struggling to self regulate.
Some students are no longer able to make progress in a public school. The next level of restrictiveness is a separate day school, which may be in a public regional collaborative or a private school approved by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. These schools have different specialties with varying target populations. School districts must provide transportation for student who attend these schools. The most restrictive environment is a residential school. These are for students with the most significant need who cannot live at home.
Ideally, a special education Team discusses and agrees upon what type of placement in the least restrictive environment is necessary for a student. If there is a disagreement between a school district and family, OneLaw can provide legal advice and representation for parents and guardians regarding their legal options to resolve the dispute.
Attorney Peter Hahn represents clients in a range of practice areas, including education, civil rights, juvenile and child welfare, criminal, and related matters.
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On October 31, 2023 at 12:00 PM, Attorney Peter A. Hahn will present a seminar in the common area at 55 Chapel Street in Newton on “Education Law and Civil Rights”.
Attorney Hahn will speak to his experiences in the field and answer questions about special education, student discipline, discrimination, and legal options that individuals and families have in these fields of law.
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Welcome Chris Connolly to OneLaw!
Attorney Connolly represents clients in criminal and juvenile matters, education law, and civil rights. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts – Boston and the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law.
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Holding Title to Real Estate
by Chiara LaPlume, Esq.
There are many reasons to consider how your assets are held, and none perhaps more important than how you hold title to your home, which in addition to possibly being one of your largest assets is supposed to provide a sense of security and permanence.
Basic Title Options
If more than one individual will be on a deed, they will have a few options on how they will take title.
Tenants in Common
This means that multiple owners hold title together, but separately and individually. The owners can own unequal interest in the title (for example, Owner 1 can hold 1/8 of the title to the property, and Owner 2 can hold 7/8). If one of the owners passes, their interest in the home is determined by probate, meaning that the next owner of the landowner’s share is determined by the owner’s will, or if they had no will under the laws on intestacy (i.e., the laws that create a set of default rules for asset and debt distribution for those who die without a will).
Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship
Under this option, each owner holds an equal and undivided interest in the real estate, for example 1/2 each if there are two owners. If one of two owners passes away, the other automatically takes full title. If the owner who died left a will saying “I leave everything to charity,” the survivor still takes the entire title to the real estate, because of the way title vests takes priority over the will.
Tenants by the Entirety
This is a way to hold title which is only permitted when the owners are married. It is very similar to Joint Tenants, so that the survivor automatically takes full title, but has some extra protections. Extra protections include: * One of the spouses alone cannot validly transfer their undivided half interest in the property to a third party. * If there is a lien against only one spouse and they subsequently died, the surviving spouse takes full title free of that lien.
More Complex Options
Other options which require further consultation, including the effects on MassHealth and tax, include:
* Holding title in the name of a trust, for estate planning purposes. While the three options of holding title individually can be part of your estate plan, a more complex options might be better indicated, especially if you have a lot of assets, or if the real estate might end up in the hands of minors or people who are not competent to handle home ownership.
* Holding in the name of an entity, for asset protection purposes, which may be considered when dealing with investment property.
* Transferring title so that the original owner is only holding a Life Estate, where the Life Tenant has the power to use the property as they will (e.g., live there, rent it and use the rental income, and so forth) but must preserve the property for the benefit of the named person who will take title after they die, called the Remainderman. Any deed or mortgage to be created after the Life Estate is created would need to be signed by both the Life Tenant and the Remainderman, so there is some loss of control, as well as tax and other consequences which should be discussed before moving forward with this option.
Financing
If you have a mortgage on real estate or may want to use the real estate for a loan later on, the complexity of how you hold title will be a consideration. The basic rule is that the lenders like things to be simple: the more simple, the easier and cheaper the loan. Changing how title is held would also be subject to whether there is a mortgage on the property. Caution should be taken that the mortgage’s acceleration clause is not triggered by the contemplated transfer, which clause states that if title is taken out of the name of the borrower, the lender can request that the loan be paid off in full.
Attorney Chiara LaPlume represents clients in residential real estate matters, from purchase and sale agreements to advising condominium associations. She is also a title insurance agent.
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OneLaw represents clients in education, estate planning, residential real estate, civil rights, Juvenile Court, criminal and victim rights, discrimination, special needs planning, guardianship, civil litigation, child welfare, probate administration, Title IX, HPO/RO, and related matters.