Ludwig, Everett & Tomb, PLLC

08/10/2026

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08/07/2026

🏡 You painted the porch and made the place yours. Three years later, a certified letter arrives claiming a long-lost heir owns the back two acres. The house is yours. The problem is older than you are.

📜 That is what title insurance was built for. It protects you against things that happened before you owned the property: a forged signature in the chain of title, an unpaid tax lien, a deed a clerk misfiled decades ago. A title search finds most of these. Title insurance covers the ones it misses.

⚠️ The mistake we see most: the policy your lender requires at closing protects the bank, not you, and it shrinks as you pay down the mortgage. For your own equity, you need a separate owner's policy. You buy it once, and it protects you and your heirs for as long as you own the home.

💵 One surprise for Pennsylvania buyers: you cannot shop the price. Rates are set by a state-filed manual and are the same at every title company. What you can do is ask good questions and leave closing with an owner's policy in hand, not just the lender's.

📞 Buying, selling, or refinancing in Indiana County? We are glad to walk you through what you are actually signing. Call us at (724) 349-3908.

🔗 Read the full post: https://www.let-law.com/post/the-letter-that-shows-up-three-years-after-closing

The house is yours, but its problems might be older than you are. What title insurance actually covers, what it does not, and the one policy Pennsylvania buyers should never skip.

08/05/2026

⚖️ "We will just split everything fifty-fifty." It sounds simple, and in Pennsylvania it is also wrong.

Our state divides marital property equitably, which means fairly, not evenly. A judge can award one spouse 60 percent and the other 40 and stay squarely within the law. The split depends on the whole picture of a marriage: its length, each spouse's age, health, and income, who contributed what (including the parent who stayed home with the kids), and where each person stands financially going forward.

👉 A few things that surprise people:

🏷️ Whose name is on the title usually does not decide who keeps the asset.

💍 Most everything acquired during the marriage counts as marital property, no matter who earned it.

🚫 Who caused the divorce is not on the judge's list of factors.

📞 If you are facing a divorce in Indiana County and want a clear picture of what a fair split looks like in your situation, we can help. Call us at (724) 349-3908.

🔗 Read the full post here: https://www.let-law.com/post/equitable-not-equal-dividing-property-in-a-pennsylvania-divorce

Most people think a Pennsylvania divorce splits everything fifty-fifty. It does not. Here is what equitable distribution really means, what counts as marital property, and what a judge actually weighs.

07/30/2026

Two people leave the Indiana County Courthouse on the same afternoon. One paid a fine and drove home. The other is facing something that could follow them on a background check for years. Both cases started with the same thing: a piece of paper from a police officer. The difference comes down to one word most people never think to ask about, the grade of the charge. If you have ever assumed a citation was "just a ticket," this one is worth a read before you sign anything or pay that fine.

Read it here: https://www.let-law.com/post/it-s-just-a-ticket-right-summary-offenses-and-misdemeanors-in-pennsylvania

Not sure what you are actually charged with? Call us at (724) 349-3908 before you decide how to handle it.

Two people walk out of the Indiana County Courthouse on the same afternoon. One paid a fine, shook a few hands, and drove home to mow the lawn. The other is now facing something that could sit on a background check for years. Both cases started the same way, with a piece of paper handed over by a po...

07/28/2026

Most people are sure a death tax will never touch them. Then a parent passes away, and they meet Pennsylvania's inheritance tax, which starts at dollar one and sets the rate based on who inherits. Leave the family farm to your child and it is taxed at 4.5 percent. Leave it to your brother and it jumps to 12. Our latest post explains the rates, the nine month deadline, the early payment discount, and a few ways to ease the sting.

Read it here: https://www.let-law.com/post/death-taxes-and-a-pennsylvania-plot-twist

Planning ahead, or settling a loved one's estate? Call us at (724) 349-3908.

Most people are certain a death tax will never touch them. They have heard the federal estate tax only reaches the very wealthy, something about a multimillion-dollar exemption, and they file the whole subject under not my problem. Then a parent passes away, the paperwork lands on the kitchen table,...

07/27/2026

The glowing "skill game" machine in the corner of your favorite tavern or club just got a new legal label: slot machine. On June 15, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled these devices fall under the Gaming Act and the gambling section of the Crimes Code, which makes running them outside a licensed casino illegal. There is a grace period into mid-October, and the legislature could still change the rules, so if you own a business with one of these machines, now is the time to plan. We broke down what the ruling actually says and what it means for Indiana County.

Read it here: https://www.let-law.com/post/that-glowing-machine-in-the-corner-is-now-a-slot-machine

Questions? Call us at (724) 349-3908.

Walk into a lot of taverns, VFW halls, and corner stores around Indiana County and you will find one humming in the corner. A bright screen, a stool pulled up close, and a little sign insisting these are games of skill, not gambling. For years that skill label was the whole ballgame. It is what kept...

07/23/2026

Ever wonder if those "No Trespassing" signs on your property actually mean anything? As of this week, they mean more than ever. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court just ruled that the game wardens and other state officials generally need a warrant before stepping onto posted private land, even acres of field and woods far from the house. Posting, fencing, and locking your gate are no longer just for show.

If you own a hunting camp, farm, or wooded lot in Indiana County, this ruling is worth five minutes of your time. Full write-up here:

If you own posted land in Pennsylvania, a hunting camp, a farm, a wooded back lot, the rules on who can walk onto it just changed in your favor.On July 21, 2026, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled unanimously, 7-0, in Punxsutawney Hunting Club, Inc. & Pitch Pine Hunting Club, Inc. v. Pennsylvania....

07/22/2026

Not every deed promises the same thing. In Pennsylvania, the deed you sign at closing is usually a general warranty, special warranty, or quitclaim deed, and each one carries a different guarantee about your title. Our newest post breaks down what these terms actually mean and why it matters when you buy and sell property.

You will sign your name a few dozen times at a real estate closing. Loan papers, disclosures, affidavits, then a few more loan papers for good measure. But the most important page in that whole stack is one you never sign at all. The seller signs it, hands it over, and just like that, the property i...

07/15/2026

Working out a custody schedule can turn a simple calendar into a source of real stress. Whose week is it? Who gets the holidays? Who drives to the game two towns over?

Pennsylvania custody law keeps coming back to one question: what is best for the child. Legal custody, physical custody, and the schedule itself all flow from there.

Our latest post breaks down how custody actually works in Pennsylvania, in plain English, so you know what to expect before you walk into it.

Read it here: https://www.let-law.com/post/whose-week-is-it-anyway-how-child-custody-actually-works-in-pennsylvania

Questions about your own situation? Call us at (724) 349-3908. We are right here in Indiana County and glad to help.

Few things turn a shared calendar into a battlefield faster than two parents working out where the kids sleep on a Tuesday. Birthdays, holidays, the first day of school, the soccer game two towns over. When a relationship ends, these ordinary moments suddenly need a plan. The good news is that Penns...

07/13/2026

A single bad decision on a single bad night should not have to follow someone forever. Pennsylvania has a program built on exactly that idea, and many first-time offenders have never heard of it.

It is called ARD, short for Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition. For the right person, it can mean completing a set of requirements, having the charges dismissed, and eventually clearing the record entirely.

Our new post explains what ARD is, who qualifies, and the one important string attached before you say yes.

Facing a first-time charge in Indiana County? Call us at (724) 349-3908 and we will walk you through your options.



Read it here:

Most people who end up in criminal court are not career criminals. They are teachers, nurses, and delivery drivers who made one bad decision on one bad night. Pennsylvania has a program built for exactly those people, and a surprising number of first-time offenders have never heard of it until a law...