WHAT IS BANKRUPTCY?Bankruptcy is a legal procedure designed both to protect an individual or business that can't meet its financial obligations and to protect the creditors involved. To begin the process, proper papers must be filed.
There are specific chapters of the federal bankruptcy law. Proceedings under Chapter Seven (known as straight bankruptcy) involve taking most of the borrower's property. The court appoints a trustee to sell off the assets and distribute the cash among the creditors. Proceedings under Chapter Thirteen (known as wage earner's bankruptcy) involve the borrower proposing a plan for repaying a portion of the debt in installments from the borrower's income. Chapter Eleven of the federal Bankruptcy Act is generally used by corporations and not by consumer debtors. Its proceedings are expensive and complex. Consumer debtors normally use Chapter Seven or Chapter Thirteen. Once the bankruptcy proceeding ends, the borrower is no longer liable. This occurs when the bankruptcy court enters a discharge order in a Chapter Seven case or the borrower has paid the debts due to the credit grantors according to a plan in a Chapter Eleven or a Chapter Thirteen case. In legal terms, the court has discharged the borrower from the debts. The borrower then starts over again with a clean financial slate, but the record of the bankruptcy will remain on the borrower's credit record for up to ten years. Bankruptcy may be the best, or only, solution for extreme financial hardship. However, it should be utilized exclusively as a last resort, since it always has long lasting consequences. Be sure to consult a financial expert before resorting to bankruptcy as a means of solving your economic troubles. Read Article: http://www.lectlaw.com/files/bnk06.htm General Power of AttorneyA general power of attorney is very broad and provides extensive powers to the person or organization you appoint as your agent. These powers usually include:
Read Article: http://www.lectlaw.com/filesh/qfl04.htm http://ow.ly/i/tlfN9 Starting a new small business? Here are 5 things you need to know about your tax liability.3/29/2017
As a small business owner, you may assume the IRS isn’t concerned with your tax liability. However, this assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, reports suggest that the IRS has increasingly targeted small businesses for audits in recent years.
While the government may not be interested in your business before it turns a profit, it’s important to pay attention to your tax responsibilities in the early stages of formation in order to maximize deductions and prevent liability issues moving forward. Here are five things every new small business should know about federal income taxes. 1. Your Legal Entity Affects Your Tax BurdenThink that all small businesses endure the same tax burden? On the contrary, the legal entity you elect to form can have a tremendous effect on your tax liability throughout the years. From sole proprietorships and LLCs, to S corporations and partnerships, there are various business types, each with its own benefits and limitations. For example, S corporations offer small business owners the advantage of paying taxes at the shareholder level, rather than being subject to higher corporate rates. However, a company of this kind must be limited to 100 shareholders and feature a single stock class. On the other hand, while C corporations can deduct a wider range of expenses and include hundreds of shareholders, these groups must contend with double taxation. Do your research to determine what legal entity best suits your needs. Read Entire Article: http://ow.ly/7qO630ao9d2 In most situations, individuals can’t deduct legal expenses. For tax purposes, they are usually treated as either a personal outlay (nondeductible) or part of the cost of acquiring an asset such as real estate or a patent (depreciable or amortizable over a number of years if the asset is used for business). However, some recent developments give hope for immediate deductions. Here are the stories.
Condo owner could deduct legal costs as home office expense In a 2015 decision, the Tax Court allowed the taxpayer to claim a home office deduction for legal expenses incurred in a cause of action against her condo homeowners association (HOA) and to defend herself against related misdemeanor criminal charges. The taxpayer operated her unincorporated IT business out of a home office in her condo. She deducted 50% of various condo expenditures as home office expenses on her Schedule C (Profit or Loss from Business) for the IT business. Read Article: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/when-you-can-deduct-legal-expenses-on-your-taxes-2017-03-28 Becoming an attorney is an exciting and noble goal. Depending on what area of law you decide to practice, the profession generally pays well and you get to put that cool "esquire" after your name as well. Beyond that, you'll know at the end of every day's work that you've helped someone, often profoundly.
But do you have what it takes? Here are a few things to consider before you start down the road toward achieving this career. Are You Prepared to Assume the Financial Burden of Law School? A typical lawyer's student loan debt averaged more than $140,000 in 2016, and becoming a lawyer is no longer a surefire path to a life of social and economic privilege. Many lawyers earn a comfortable living and a J.D. certainly has value in today’s marketplace, but you must weigh the cost of law school and three years of lost earnings against the potential returns of a law degree. Some areas of practice pay much more than others. If you take a job in a legal clinic helping low-income residents, you'll earn much less than if you take a position with a large law firm. Are You Prepared to Dedicate Three or More Years to Continuing Your Education? Law school is a three-year program if you attend full time, and you can only qualify for law school after you've received your bachelor’s degree. Law school is a full-time proposition with class work, externships and other school-related activities that pretty much make outside employment impossible during this time. Do You Perform Well Under Pressure? Specifically, do you do well on tests under pressure? In addition to the LSAT and the bar exam, law students must take numerous tests throughout law school. Sometimes your grade is determined by only one test given at the end of a year-long course, so performing well is a measure of one’s test-taking ability, at least in part. Read Entire Article: https://www.thebalance.com/so-you-want-to-become-a-lawyer-2164536 If I Become My Mom's Guardian and Let Her Remain at Home, Am I Responsible for Her Actions?
Q: I am considering guardianship for my 87-year-old mom, who has dementia. She lives alone but has been advised by her doctor many times that she should not be alone. She refuses any help from "home health nursing agencies" and she will not consider moving out of her house. If I become her guardian, will I be held responsible for anything that might happen to her if I allow her to continue living alone for a while longer? A: Yes and no. You are responsible, but the question is what does that mean? If you take reasonable steps to try to figure out what is best for your mother –- talking with her, with her physician, and with local elder care professionals –- and then make a decision to let her stay at home, and something goes wrong, you will not be at fault (unless, of course, they are all unanimous that your mother cannot stay home). And then, what is the penalty, if you are found not to have acted with reasonable care? It’s that you would be removed as guardian. You know your mother best, and we would recommend that you use your best judgment after consulting with appropriate professionals. Read Entire Article: http://www.elderlawanswers.com/news-and-information A Delaware paralegal is still fighting his employer in court nearly two years after he ruptured his Achilles tendon while rounding the bases at a game for the law firm's softball team.
A court opinion by Superior Court Judge Ferris W. Wharton last week laid out the legal dilemma over whether the employee should receive workers compensation when the injury occurred during an activity that is only loosely affiliated with work. Wharton found that the Industrial Accident Board, which considers workers compensation disputes, used the wrong test to determine that the softball game was within the scope of bankruptcy paralegal William Weller's employment at the Wilmington law firm of Morris James LLP. Read Entire Article: http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2017/03/21/law-firm-legal-battle-over-softball-injury/99410230/ NEW ORLEANS -- The tiniest electronic gadgets have nothing on a new data-storage device. Each bit is encoded using the magnetic field of a single atom — making for extremely compact data storage, although researchers have stored only two bits of data so far.
“If you can make your bit smaller, you can store more information,” physicist Fabian Natterer of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland said March 16 at a meeting of the American Physical Society. Natterer and colleagues also reported the result in the March 9 Nature. Read Article: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/single-atom-magnets-store-bits-data DEFINITION of 'Common Law'Common law is a body of unwritten laws based on precedents established by the courts. Common law influences the decision-making process in novel cases where the outcome cannot be determined based on existing statutes.
The U.S. common-law system evolved from a precolonial tradition in England, which spread to North America and other continents during the colonial period. BREAKING DOWN 'Common Law'A precedent, known as stare decisis, is a history of judicial decisions that forms the basis of evaluation for future cases. Common law, also known as case law, relies on detailed records of similar cases and statutes because there is no official legal code that governs the case at hand. The judge presiding over a court case determines which precedents apply. The precedents of higher courts are binding on lower courts to promote stability and consistency in the U.S. legal justice system. However, lower courts can choose to modify or deviate from precedents if the precedents are outdated or if the current case is substantially different from the precedent case. Lower courts can also choose to overturn the precedent, but this is rare. Read more: Common Law Definition | Investopedia http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/common-law.asp#ixzz4bqCq3rXo The Rutherford Institute is fighting against "asset forfeiture," a type of law that allows government officials to confiscate personal property.
In the case of James Leonard in April 2013, Leonard and his girlfriend were driving along a Texas highway reputed to be a "drug corridor." Officers stopped his car, searched it, and found no evidence of a crime, but they found a safe in the trunk containing $201,000 in cash. "The mother of the fellow was contacted and she said the money was from the sale of her home and he was bringing the money to her so she could buy the son a home," John Whitehead, founder of The Rutherford Institute, explains. "There was even a bill of sale for the home in the safe." Regardless, police confiscated the mother's money and kept it, even though no crime was committed. The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the appeal, thereby allowing the police to keep the cash. Read Article: https://www.onenewsnow.com/legal-courts/2017/03/17/attorney-asset-forfeiture-law-oversteps-justice |
Archives
May 2018
Categories
All
|