There are things in life you hardly ever expect to happen to you, of all people; and that is why when they do happen, it comes as a complete surprise and catches you off your guard. Therefore, although it may look like a long shot, learning the legal aspects of certain parts of life may look like a waste of time, but if you ever get into a situation in which this knowledge will become necessary, you will thank yourself for preparing beforehand.
1. Car Accidents
Accidents happen without asking you when and if it is convenient, and the subsequent legal issues may turn out to be a completely unpassable mire for those who didn’t study the matter. It is quite possible to make mistakes in the first minutes after the accident that may cost you the entire settlement. As nobody knows when (and if) such knowledge may come in handy, it is better to learn how to arrange your insurance, how to behave after the accident and what to pay attention to beforehand.
2. Divorce
Few people enter a matrimony expecting it to break down at a later date. Nevertheless, marriages do fall apart, and with a depressing frequency, which means that you are by no means insured against such a contingency. Of course, we all want to trust our spouses and may consider it jarring or disgusting to prepare to the eventualities of this kind – but it pays to become a bit of an amateur lawyer and learn as much as possible about divorce procedures, child custody and other such things early on. It may sound cynical, but probably even before you get married.
3. Consumer Law
Consumer law is supposed to protect the rights of consumers and ensure that when you buy goods or services, you get what you were promised. In reality, however, the majority of people show amazing lack of interest towards learning what their rights are and how they can be enforced. Quite often one doesn’t even realize that his rights were violated, and even if one knows, oftentimes one doesn’t have an idea of how the matter is to be approached.
4. Employment
There is a host of laws regulating relationships between employers and employees, and it pays to know them well irrespectively who you are. For example, do you know that it is not up the employer to decide if extra hours of work are charged as overtime or not? Or that he cannot legally prevent you from discussing your salary with your colleagues? Knowing these and other things, both big and small, can make your professional life that much easier.
Law permeates every part of our lives, and sometimes a little bit of time spent studying legal aspects of this or that activity can save you a lot of trouble in the long run. You may consider such preparedness to be excessive – but in reality, there is no such thing as excessive knowledge.
