Joslin Legal Services, PLLC

07/07/2025

ATTENTION PARENTS WITH COLLEGE-BOUND CHILDREN

Do You Have The Proper Legal Documents In Place?

Your child is getting ready to head to college this Fall. Between making sure they have their textbooks and everything needed to furnish their dorm room, there are some legal documents that you should have in place to continue assisting your child during this next phase of their life. The below documents will be handy to have should a medical or other emergency occur and you need to make decisions on behalf of your college student.

A. Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Waiver

Because your child is now a legal adult, you will no longer have automatic access to information about them regarding their education. This includes access to information about their grades, academic records or disciplinary actions. Even if you’re paying your child’s tuition, the FERPA Waiver is needed to have access to any of their school records.

B. Medical Documents & Authorizations

Medical documents and authorizations are easy to overlook when it comes to your child. They may still be your “baby”, but once they reach the age of 18 they’re considered a legal adult. Should your child have a medical emergency, having the necessary documents on hand will make sure you can focus on their care and recovery:

1. HIPAA Authorization Form

This is one of the most important medical forms to have for your college student. A HIPAA authorization allows doctors and medical facilities to keep you updated regarding your child’s medical condition and health in the event of an emergency.

2. Healthcare Proxy

A Healthcare Proxy allows your child to designate someone (typically a parent or legal guardian) to make medical decisions for them should they become incapacitated. It’s recommended that your child choose a primary and secondary agent, just in case one of them isn’t available.

3. Durable Power of Attorney

A Durable Power of Attorney allows your child to designate someone (typically their parents or legal guardians) to handle their financial affairs should they become unable to. College students can also use this document to designate someone to handle their tax returns and other financial matters while they’re away at school.

4. Living Will

A living will allows your child to designate end-of-life care should they wind up in a persistent, vegetative state, unable to make their own medical decisions. It’s also vital for them to communicate these wishes to their family members so that everyone is on the same page.

Conclusion

It’s an adjustment to think of your college student as a legal adult. As your student heads off to college, having these important legal and medical documents on hand gives you peace of mind and allows you to focus on the school year ahead.

Joslin Legal Services, PLLC can assist you and your child with proper preparation and ex*****on of these legal documents so you are ready for the upcoming semester. If interested in our assistance, contact us at 315-845-6200 or [email protected] to set up a consultation!

01/28/2025

To my fellow Kuyahoora Valley business owners who happen to operate as a DBA, this previous post may be worth the read!

When most people think about starting a business, they tend to go right to thinking about their success. But in order to achieve real success, you need smart preparation and a good understanding of the risks involved with starting your own business. Two of the most popular ways to start a business are through a DBA or an LLC. I’ll briefly explain why I believe an LLC would be the better option.

DBA stands for “doing business as." Someone may want to file a DBA name for their new business instead of using their own personal name. The process is fairly quick, simple and cheap, but DBAs do have downsides.

A DBA is neither a business structure nor a separate legal entity. It's simply a name that brands your business, not your legal name. A DBA does not protect your personal assets either. In the event of a lawsuit against your business, your personal bank accounts, car, or home could be at risk.

On the other hand, a limited liability company or LLC is a structure that establishes your business as its own legal entity and that carries a lot of credibility. The main advantage of this structure is liability protection. If your company goes bankrupt or someone sues your business, you're not held financially responsible for your company's debts or liabilities. Although the process is a little longer and can be a bit more expensive, the liability protection alone outweighs the time and cost to establish an LLC

If you are considering starting a business, or have an existing DBA and are looking to upgrade your business structure, contact my office today to set up a consultation and discuss why forming an LLC may be the right move for you.

01/28/2025

Once again sharing an old (but important) post.

The peace of mind you provide yourself and your loved ones through estate planning far outweighs the time and expense of getting your core documents in order.

Questions? Contact me to set up a consultation!

(315) 845-6200
[email protected]

“I’ve been meaning to get that done …”

Does that sound familiar to you? If something were to happen to you tomorrow, wouldn’t you regret not taking care of your personal matters today?

When it comes to the protection and security of your family and all that you have worked so hard for, you simply cannot afford to put your estate planning off any longer.

Please contact my office today to set up an in-depth consultation where I listen to your needs, take into account your unique circumstances, and start planning so you can have control and piece of mind.

06/11/2024

We are happy and thankful to announce our major corporate sponsor at our hive level for our music festival is Joslin Legal Services, PLLC.

After Meagan passed away, our family knew we wanted to help others. Full of grief and still mourning, I knew there was no way I’d be able to create our nonprofit on my own. So I reached out to John. He was so wonderful to work with and got all the paperwork done and filed with the IRS and NY State to create our 501c3 tax exempt nonprofit. Even with me asking for five executive board members oppose to the typical three all the forms asked for. His kindness and patience he bestowed on this grieving mom will never be forgotten. Anytime people have any legal questions or ask who helped me. I without hesitation refer them to John.

So if you ever need legal assistance please call John at 313-717-7765. www.joslinlegalservices.com

03/07/2024

It’s that time of the year again!

Nominations have opened for the 2024 Community’s Choice Awards - Best of Mohawk Valley! With your support last year, I ended up being a one of the top 3 finalists of 2023 for the Law Firm category and I hope to do so again this year!

These awards celebrate and recognize the best businesses of our local community. Right now you can nominate your favorites in dozens of categories, and the top businesses with the most votes in each category will advance to the voting round in May.

Please consider visiting the link below, scrolling to the services category and selecting the Law Firm section to nominate Joslin Legal Services, PLLC. It’s easy to do, and can make a huge difference for a growing small business like mine!

As always, it’s my pleasure to serve this great community!

The Best of Mohawk Valley Community's Choice Awards celebrates the best businesses and organizations in the Mohawk Valley!

10/27/2023

After a few months of working on it, the website is officially active! Thank you Kyle Tuttle and the rest of The SBS Group for all the work you put into this!

Check it out at the following link:

Joslin Legal Services "Relationship" "Community" "Consistency" About Us John P. Joslin, Esq., the founder and owner of Joslin Legal Services, PLLC, was raised in Newport, NY, and after graduating from Syracuse University College of Law, decided he wanted to use his education to support his local com...

07/31/2023

We will be at Newport Firemen's Field Days August 4th-6th handing out su***de prevention/awareness information, selling tickets to our 2nd Annual Miles For Meag Music Festival, and hosting a dunking booth. Thank you to all the volunteers for our dunking booth this year. Here’s the schedule (I do have one spot I’m looking to fill)

Aug 4th
6pm Shelby Pay Media Multimedia Reporter for WUTR/WFXV 33
7pm Radio DJ Liz at 97.9/105.5 Kiss-Fm
8pm Nicole Berry Fitness Instructor The Fitness Connection Barneveld

Aug 5th
12pm Austin Stewart Director for Miles For Meag & owner of MMS Excavation & Services LLC
1pm Glenn Broadbent West Canada Valley Central School District Jr/Sr High School Principal
2pm Tom Roberts Newport Fire Co. #4 Board President & Newport Village Board Trustee
3pm Theresa Bell owner Dibbles INN
4pm Bruce Moody owner Moody's Polaris
Break For Parade
7:30-9 John D. Spellman

Aug 6th
12pm Chris FitzSimons owner Newport Town Tavern
1pm Jessica Bartlett West Canada Valley Central School Board President
2pm Wesley Stewart Miles For Meag Director
3pm John Joslin owner Joslin Legal Services, PLLC
4pm Dan Spellman Newport Firefighter

06/15/2023

It’s official! Joslin Legal Services, PLLC has been voted as a top 3 finalist in the Law Firm category in the 2023 Observer Dispatch’s Official Community’s Choice Awards! We will find out in August which of the top 3 finalists is the winner at the awards banquet. Thank you to all my family, friends, and clients that took the time to vote! Your support means the world to me!

05/17/2023

The voting round is still going! You can vote once per day until May 24th. Please consider taking less than 30 seconds out of your day to vote!

Check it out now!