IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTICE: As of January 1, 2024 New FinCEN Regulations Require Existing Companies to File Within One Year; New Companies Must File Within 90 Days of Creation or Registration.
The bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act, enacted in 2021 to curb illicit finance, now requires many companies doing business in the United States to report information about the individuals who ultimately own or control them. If you need assistance with filing your Beneficial Ownership Report, please call us!
Privacy Policy
We value you as our customer, and we want to address any privacy concerns you may have. This privacy policy explains how we will handle the information you share with us online. We want your decision to do business with SMB Legal Counsel to be an informed one.
By registering as a user, using our service or by otherwise submitting your personal information to us, you give your consent to the collection and use of personal information as explained in this policy. The term “personal information” refers to non-public information that personally relates to or identifies you (such as your name, password, age, gender, email address, postal mailing address, zip code, home/mobile telephone number, Social Security number and/or taxpayer identification number, investment objectives, investment experience, assets and income, and other similar information).
Non-personally identifiable information collected on the website may include, without limitation, website pages viewed, sites visited before visiting the Site, frequency of visits, clickstream data, browser type, operating system, organization name, articles, internet connection speed, presentations viewed, time spent viewing pages of our website or using certain features of our website, demographic data such as server locations, clickstream data, location services, server location, cookies existing on your computer, search criteria used and results, date and time of access or visits to our website, frequency of visits to our website, connection speed, and other information which does not specifically identify you.
Our Commitment
By choosing to participate in some of our services, we may be required by law and regulatory bodies to ask for certain information in order to provide our services to you. We make commercially reasonable best efforts to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and security of our clients’ personal information. Keeping client information secure and using it only as our users want us to are matters of principle for us. Except as you may otherwise expressly approve, we will limit the collection and use of client and user information to what we believe would be useful to service your accounts, administer our business, or to explain our services. We will restrict employee access to client and user information to those who need to know in order to provide our services to you. Our employees will be educated according to our internal policies to reinforce the importance of confidentiality and client privacy. Furthermore, we will maintain commercially reasonable and customary security standards and procedures to protect your information.
Updates and Changes to Privacy Policy
If changes are made to the policy, a revised Privacy Policy will promptly be posted to our website. If the revised Privacy Policy contains a material change to how we collect or use personal information, notice of the change will be emailed to you or posted on the website’s home page. Please revisit this page to familiarize yourself with changes to the Privacy Policy. You agree to accept posting of a revised Privacy Policy as described herein as actual notice to you of such revised Privacy Policy. For so long as you remain a client of the firm, you will also receive annual updates of our Privacy Policy. Any continued use after the policy update will be construed as consent to the collection and use of your information as described in the then-current Privacy Policy.
How and Why We Gather Information
When you register for an account for the services or at any later time, we collect certain personal information from you to open an account, transact business, communicate with you, verify your identity and fulfill legal and regulatory requirements. We call this your “Profile.” From time to time, we may request additional information (e.g., through surveys) to help us further assess your needs and preferences. If you choose to provide such information, during registration or otherwise, you are giving us the permission to use and store it consistent with this Privacy Policy.
We may also obtain your personal information from your transactions with us through our services, or from third parties such as credit reporting agencies. If we combine or associate information from other sources with personal information that you provide directly to us through or in connection with our services, we will treat the combined information as personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
When you visit the website, whether or not you register for an account, we may send one or more cookies. “Cookies” are small text files containing a string of alphanumeric characters that may be placed on your web browser. Cookies make it easier for you to navigate our website by, among other things, “remembering” your identity so that you do not have to input your password multiple times as you navigate between webpages on the website and/or as you access the services. This use of cookies for authentication (i.e., verifying that you are who you say you are) is an essential component of site security. You can set your web browser to inform you when cookies are set or to prevent cookies from being set. A “web beacon” is typically a transparent graphic image (usually 1 pixel x 1 pixel) that is placed on a site or in an email which allows the website to record the simple actions of the user opening the page that contains the beacon. “Server logs” can be either a single log file or several log files automatically created and maintained by a server of activity performed by the server, which can include information about any transaction you conduct with the server. Please note that if you decline to use cookies, you may experience reduced functionality or slower site response times. Declining to use our authentication-related cookies may prevent you from using the website altogether.
We or our service providers may also collect web surfing data related to your use of our services (e.g., information regarding which of our web pages you access, the frequency of such access, and your product and service preferences). This may be accomplished by using cookies, web beacons, page tags or similar tools. Such web surfing data may include your Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring or exit pages, click stream data, operating system and the dates and times that you visit the website. Web surfing data and similar information may be used: for administrative purposes; to assess the usage, value and performance of our online products and services; and to improve your experience with our services.
How Information Helps Both You and Us
Our mission is to provide you with exceptional services and to help you achieve your probate and estate planning goals. Information about you and your accounts plays a key role in our ability to succeed in this mission. It also helps us service your accounts and administer our business. For example, we use information about you to:
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Provide you with our services available through the website;
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Establish and set up your account, issue an account number, and maintain your transaction history;
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Respond more accurately and efficiently to your requests;
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Identify opportunities to give you more convenience and control by developing new services that may benefit you;
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Verify your identity and contact information to help protect you and the firm from fraud;
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Comply with certain legal and regulatory requirements.
We generally use the information that you provide or that we collect to establish and enhance our relationship with you, and to operate, maintain, enhance, and provide our services and the website. We may use such information to periodically provide you with information, newsletters or offers about features and services available that may be of interest to you. We may also send information or offers to groups of users on behalf of third parties. However, you will have the option to opt out of receiving such information.
We use information provided by or collected from our users to understand and analyze the usage trends and preferences of our users, to improve the way our services and the website work and look and to create new features and functionality. We may use information about our users’ activities to generate statistics and maps that we deem helpful in the provision of our services or any part thereof. We do not and will not sell analytics about our users without written consent from the user.
As you browse SMB Legal Counsel's website and other websites, online ad networks we work with may place anonymous cookies on your computer, and use similar technologies, in order to understand your interests based on your (anonymous) online activities, and thus to tailor more relevant ads to you. If you do not wish to receive such tailored advertising, email info@smblegalcounsel.com to opt out of most companies that engage in such advertising. (This will not prevent you from seeing ads; the ads simply will not be delivered through these targeting methods.)
It is also important to note that some of the responses you may receive may be generated by an automated system that will supply solutions by applying an algorithm to your responses.
How and Why We Disclose Your Information to Third Parties
We limit the sharing of personal information outside of SMB Legal Counsel. We do not sell, license, lease, or otherwise disclose your personal information to third parties, except as noted below:
We may disclose your personal information when such disclosure is legally required or appropriate pursuant any court orders, subpoenas or any regulations, cooperating with government agencies, other regulatory bodies, and law enforcement officials, performing background checks, resolving disputes or performing risk-management functions.
To help us improve our services, we may use algorithms or engage third parties to help us to carry out certain internal functions such as information management, account processing, client services, solutions management, or other data collection relevant to our business. Examples of the types of outside companies with which we may share information include companies that perform services for us, such as data processing, data and record management companies, and companies that perform reporting, and tax documentation. Use of any personal information we share with these third parties is limited to the performance of the task we request. The third parties with which we share personal information are required to protect it in a manner similar to the way we protect your personal information.
In the event that the firm is acquired by or merged with a third-party entity, it reserves the right to transfer or assign the information that it has collected from its Users as part of such merger, acquisition, sale, or other change of control. In such cases, the firm will provide you notice before your personal information is transferred to and becomes subject to the privacy policy of a different entity.
We may also disclose your information as necessary to credit reporting or collection agencies, or when necessary to protect our rights or property.
We further reserve the right to disclose any of your personal information as we believe appropriate or necessary to take precautions against liability, to investigate and defend against any third party claims or allegations, to assist government enforcement agencies, to protect the security or integrity of our services, or to protect the rights, property or personal safety of the firm, its employers, users, or issuers.
We may also use and disclose personally identifiable information and non-personally identifiable information: to investigate and help prevent potentially unlawful activity or activities that threaten the integrity of our website or network; to protect and defend our rights or property or the rights or property of others; as required by courts or administrative agencies; and in connection with a financing, sale, merger, or reorganization of our business or assets. Any successor in interest to our business would acquire the information we maintain, including personally identifiable information, and may alter the terms of this Privacy Notice. We do not and will not sell any of your information, including non-personally identifiable or personally identifiable information, to any third party for purposes of advertising, soliciting, or telemarketing.
Our Privacy Policy Does Not Apply to Third-Party Activities or Sites
Our website may at some point provide links to third-party websites. If you access those links, you will leave the firm’s website. Any information submitted by you to a third party will be controlled by that third party’s privacy policy, which may differ from the firm’s. This Privacy Policy does not cover the collection of information by cookies or other methods by such third-party services or other third parties, such as our business partners. We do not control how these third-party services or third parties collect information or by what means such third party services or third parties may use their own cookies to collect information about you. We do not endorse, screen, or approve, and are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of, other websites or services. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any company before submitting your personal information.
Keeping Information Safe
We limit access to your personal information to those employees who have a legitimate business need to access such information to provide you with our services. In keeping with industry standards and practices, we maintain commercially reasonable physical, electronic and procedural safeguards and controls to protect your information. The website is built upon a secure infrastructure with multiple layers of protection and we use industry standard encryption technologies to safeguard your information.
Users may be required to identify and authenticate themselves prior to accessing restricted portions of our services. Generally, identification and authentication take place through the use of your user name and a password and/or while logging in with one of our technical support staff. You are responsible for keeping your password confidential.
We have security standards and procedures in place designed to prevent unauthorized access to your accounts and personal information. A key part of this process helps ensure that all information we have about you is accurate and up-to-date. If you ever discover inaccuracies in our data or if your personal information changes, notify us at info@smblegalcounsel.com immediately.
The transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure, and for this reason we cannot guarantee the security of information sent to us electronically. If we learn of a security systems breach, we may attempt to notify you electronically so that you can take appropriate protective steps. We may also post a notice on our website and through one of our services providers in the event of a security breach. Depending on where you live, you may have a legal right to receive notice of a security breach in writing.
Opt-out Policy
We may at times send you e-mail communications with marketing or promotional materials. If you prefer not to receive such marketing or promotional e-mails from us, you may unsubscribe completely by emailing us at: : info@smblegalcounsel.com.
Please note that opt-out requests may take up to twenty-four (24) hours to process. Please also note that at times we may need to send you e-mail communications that are transactional in nature such as service or termination announcements or payment confirmations which are communications you will not be able to opt-out of. Also, you will not be able to opt out of any third-party information-sharing that is necessary for processing or administering your service requests. Additionally, any joint marketing efforts initiated by one of our services partners (and not by us), will require that you contact that particular service partner to opt-out.
You will be able to modify the information concerning your account by visiting your profile page and editing any information you wish to change. You will be able to change your e-mail address, password, contact information, or other login information by visiting your account’s settings page subject to our website policy. If you wish to delete your account or need help modifying account information, please contact us at : info@smblegalcounsel.com. We will require up to twenty-four hours (24) to process such requests.
You may also clear cookies from your computer via your web browser settings. You may also wish to use a Google Analytics opt-out web browser add-on. Information on this option is available at:
https://support.google.com/analytics/?hl=en&answer=2700409#topic=3544906
If you would like us to remove your Personally Identifiable Information from our database, please send a request to: : info@smblegalcounsel.com.
We are not responsible for removing your Personally Identifiable Information from the lists of any Third Party Services or other third party who has previously been provided your information in accordance with this notice.
Reviewing, Changing or Correcting Information
You are solely responsible for helping us to maintain the accuracy and completeness of your personal and other information. We urge you to review your information regularly to ensure that it is correct and complete. If you believe that any of your information is incorrect, or if you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us at : info@smblegalcounsel.com.
You may, of course, decline to share any or all of your personal information with us or ask us to delete your personal information from our systems at any time, in which case we may not be able to provide to you some of the features and functionality found on or through the website and our services.
Children’s Privacy Policy
The firm’s website is not intended for use by children, especially those under eighteen (18) years of age. No one under eighteen (18) years of age is allowed to use the website, provide any personal information or receive our email distributions. We do not knowingly solicit or collect Personally Identifiable Information from children under the age of eighteen (18). If you believe that a minor has disclosed Personally Identifiable Information to us, please report this to us immediately by emailing us at: info@smblegalcounsel.com.
International Visitors
Our consumer applications are hosted by servers in the United States. If you are located outside of the United States, your personal information will be transferred to the United States for storage, processing and use. By submitting your personal information, you consent to its transfer to the United States and to its storage, processing, and use in the United States in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
EU Residents: If you are a resident of the European Union, you have the following rights under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. Any requests you make may take up to 30 days to process. Please be sure to provide your identifying information when making the request.
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Access: You may request to access your personal information and obtain a copy of the personal information which is being processed by SMB Legal Counsel. Such requests will be made by contacting us.
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Correction or update: You may ask us to change, update or complete any missing data we process about you, by contacting us with the relevant updates.
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Erasure: We only process your personal information with your consent. You may withdraw your consent to our processing of your personal information at any time. Unless we believe we have a legitimate interest for continuing the processing of your personal information (e.g. to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, etc.) and the personal information is no longer necessary in relation to the purpose for which it was originally collected, we will erase your data.
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Portability: You have the right to receive a copy of your personal information in a structured, machine-readable format.
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You have the right to file complaints with a Data Protection Authority.
To make any of these requests, please contact us.
Acceptance of Terms
Through the use of this website, you are hereby accepting the terms and conditions set forth in this Privacy Policy Agreement. If you are not in agreement with our terms and conditions, then you should refrain from further use of our sites. In addition, your continued use of our website following the posting of any updates or changes to our terms and conditions shall mean that you are in agreement and acceptance of such changes.
We are committed to protecting the privacy of our former clients as well as our current clients. If you choose to become an inactive client, you will continue to be protected by the policies and principles described in this Privacy Policy for as long as your personal information is retained by us. Should you close your account with us, we will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to comply with any applicable legal or regulatory requirements.
Effective Date and Contact Information
This Privacy Policy is effective as of Sept. 9, 2020 If you have any questions or concerns regarding the Privacy Policy Agreement related to our website, please feel free to contact us at the following email, telephone number or mailing address.
Email: info@smblegalcounsel.com
Telephone Number: 469-305-0663