Tag: clothing

A Simple Solution for Your Stuff: The Use of a Separate Writing for the Disposition of Tangible Personal Property

If you have a Will (and you should!), part of your Will gives away your tangible personal property, your stuff, as George Carlin would call it. Tangible personal property is all your household goods, furniture, furnishings, clothing, boats, automobiles, books, art, jewelry, club memberships and articles of personal adornment or household use. It is anything that is not real property, like your house, and not intangible property, like stocks or bank accounts. It is your grandmother’s silver tea service, your favorite set of golf clubs, and all that other stuff you love, and which may become the stuff of heated family discussions after you are gone. Who gets it? You can and should decide now. After all, it’s your stuff.

In your Will, you can give all your tangible personal property to one person or another, or you can give particular items to particular people.  The problem is that if you change your mind about an item or a person after you sign your Will, you have to either completely re-do your Will or prepare a special amendment to your Will called a “codicil.” Both alternatives require not only the input of an attorney but also the presence of two witnesses and a notary public.

Fortunately, several states, such as Florida and South Carolina, offer a simple solution for your stuff. According to Florida Statute 732.515 and South Carolina Probate Code Section 62-2-512, you may dispose of any item of tangible personal property by a memo prepared by you, separate from your Will. The memo can be done without witnesses or notarization. And you can change it as often as you like, without changing your Will.

For the memo to be valid, your Will must refer to it and may provide that the most recent version of the memo supersedes any prior version. The memo must describe each item and the identity of its recipient with reasonable certainty and you must sign and date the memo or, alternatively, in SC, the memo must be in your handwriting. If you revise the memo or prepare a new one, it is important to sign and date it (or, in SC, make sure the revised memo is in your handwriting).

There are limitations on the types of tangible personal property you can list in the memo. It cannot be used to dispose of property used in your trade or business, cash money or books, paper, or documents whose chief value is evidence of intangible property rights, such as bank books, stock certificates, promissory notes, insurance policies, and items like that. In Florida, the memo should also not be used to give away a coin collection, because the law governing that is not yet settled.

Finally, you should treat the memo as though it is your Will. It should be kept with your Will because the assets listed in the memo will be administered as though actually set forth in your Will. If your Will is in your attorney’s vault, send the original memo to your attorney for safekeeping in the attorney’s vault and keep a copy of the memo with the copy of your Will.

For those who have a revocable trust, there is currently no statute in Florida or South Carolina concerning separate writings for tangible personal property applicable to revocable trusts. So, a reference to a memo in your trust may not work. A better move is to have such a reference in your Will.

The disposition of tangible personal property is often an afterthought.  It shouldn’t be. A close, loving family can be torn apart by arguments over family heirlooms, even those of little monetary value. Talk to your loved ones now about which items of yours they want, and then prepare a separate writing for the disposition of your tangible personal property. Do a memo for your stuff.

Copyright ©2021 Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

New Updated FTC Care Labeling Rules: “Do’s and Don’ts”

Sheppard Mullin 2012

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) enforces federal labeling requirements that require manufacturers, importers, sellers and distributors of certain textile and wool clothing  to accurately label their products. For example, FTC rules require that manufacturers indicate the country of origin and fiber content in their clothing. In addition, the Care Labeling Rule requires that manufacturers and importers attach “care labels” to garments and certain piece goods.

Navigating these various labeling requirements can be tricky. On May 5, 2014, the FTC amendment of the labeling rules, known as the Textile Rules, became effective.

Care labels, which can influence consumers’ purchasing decisions more than labels indicating fiber content or country of origin or manufacture, are important to carefully consider.

“Do’s” for Clothing Manufacturers and Importers:

Place all care labels permanently, securely and visibly, so that consumers can easily see or locate them prior to purchase. Ensure that labels will remain legible not just at the point of sale, but throughout the lifecycle of the product.

Include a washing or drycleaning instruction (or both) if either method is safe for the product. If a product can be neither washed nor drycleaned, the label must state “Do not wash – Do not dry clean.” A simple “dryclean” instruction is acceptable in most cases, unless “any part of the drycleaning process would harm the product.” In that case, more specificity is required (e.g., “Professionally Dryclean” or “Dryclean. No Steam.”).

Indicate whether the product is to be washed by machine or by hand. The FTC has stated that water temperature settings must be indicated if “regular use of hot water will harm the product.” Similarly, if using chlorine bleach will harm the product, whereas other bleaches will not, the label must state “Only non-chlorine bleach, when needed.” The appropriate label in the event that no bleach is safe to use is “Do not bleach.”

State how to dry the product and how to iron it, if the product requires regular ironing. Temperature settings for drying and ironing are not needed unless the “regular use of high temperature will harm the product.”

If selling a garment with multiple pieces, only one label is required if the same instructions apply to all parts of the garment, and if the garment is sold as a single unit. The label should be attached to the “major piece” of the garment. In the event that the garment is not sold as a single unit, or if the instructions differ from one part of the garment to the next, then each separate piece of the garment needs its own care label.

If the garment cannot be cleaned without damaging the garment, potential customers must be warned on the label. It is imperative that following the care labeling instructions does not ordinarily lead to product damage. Along these lines, labels must inform consumers not to engage in certain procedures that they may erroneously but reasonably assume are acceptable, given the instructions of the label. For example, if a label indicates that clothes can be washed, a reasonable consumer might infer that the product can also be safely ironed. If these understandable assumption is incorrect, the FTC has stated that the label must indicate the risks involved.

One should always have a “reasonable basis” for everything written on a care labeling instruction. If a piece of clothing indicates that it cannot safely be ironed, there must be some proof (based upon experience, industry expertise or testing) known to the manufacturer or importer that ironing the clothing would cause damage. The FTC has alternatively stated that the manufacturer or importer must have “reliable evidence” to support all warnings or instructions on product labels. Guesswork is insufficient. However, what constitutes “reliable evidence” or a “reasonable basis” does depend on the circumstances. It is incumbent on manufacturers conducting tests to ensure that the results of any tests conducted on only one portion of multi-part garments do, in fact, have applicability to the entire garment.

Importers must ensure that these labels are placed on products before they sell them in the United States. It is not necessary for the labels to be attached as the products enter the country, however. Domestic manufacturers similarly must ensure that care labels are placed on finished products prior to sale.

“Don’ts” for Clothing Manufacturers and Importers:

Certain kinds of exempt apparel, including gloves, hats, and shoes, do not require care labels. Many items are also excluded from the care labeling requirements, including handkerchiefs, belts, suspenders, neckties, or non-woven garments made for one-time use. For piece goods sold for making apparel at home, it is not necessary to include care labeling instructions for any “marked manufacturers’ remnants of up to 10 yards when the fiber content is not known and cannot be determined easily.” These items are exempted from the Care Labeling Rule.

Garments custom-made from fabrics provided by consumers, or products sold directly to institutional buyers for commercial use (e.g., uniforms sold to Office Depot for use by clerks during business hours, and not purchased directly by the clerks), do not require care labels. This also includes items that the consumer may ask to be added to the garment (e.g. lining or buttons).

Use non-standard terms on labels. The FTC recommends, but does not expressly require, that manufacturers ensure that any terms they use on labels are in accord with the definitions in the Rule’s Appendix A glossary, where applicable. For example, the term “Warm” applies to initial water temperature ranging from 87 to 111 degrees F [31 to 44 degrees C]; “Hot” is from 112 to 145 degrees F [45 to 63 degrees C]; and “Cold” is up to 86 degrees F [30 degrees C].

*Gregg Re Summer Associate contributed to this article.

Article By:

Theodore C. Max
Of:
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP