Men's Divorce Advice - Do Not Sign Anything!

A divorce, by any means, can be a confusing situation. I know because I have been there too and I have watched friends and family go through the struggle as well. Once it is inevitable that a divorce is in your future, there is often this sense of urgency, maybe even a need to get the divorce over as soon as possible. It is an extremely awkward period of time. The normal life that was once your marriage is now in the past, and you are eager to move on with a new life. If you allow these feelings to consume you, then they can only lead to one thing... clouded judgment and big mistakes!

One of the biggest mistakes that you can make is to sign something without the assistance of a divorce attorney. It doesn't matter what it is! It can be a financial agreement, a property settlement, or even custody arrangement. The reason why it is so important that you Do Not Sign Anything is because no matter how hard you try or how much you are will to pay for your divorce attorney, you will not be able to get that agreement thrown out! Claiming that you were ignorant to the issue or that you were pressured/forced into signing something, will not work. You are an adult and the judge will know that you are capable of understanding what you are doing when you signed the agreement. Anything short of proving without a doubt, that there was a gun pointed at your head when you signed it, it will not just go away.

Just consider this quick example when your soon-to-be-ex hands you a piece of paper to sign that she promises will take care of all issues and will allow the divorce to proceed without a hitch...

A man agrees to allow his wife to keep the children in the house while the divorce proceeds. She is very thankful and lets him come over whenever he wants to see the kids. But soon she starts to get very concerned that the man will disappear or stop helping support the kids. Even though the concern is unfounded, she insists that the man sign a small, one paragraph agreement that says he will help support the kids with this much money a week. It seems OK because it states that it will it is only valid until the divorce is finalized, and obviously he was going to help with the kids anyway. So there can't be any harm in signing it, especially if it appeases the wife and stops her from "freaking out" every time he comes to visit the kids.

Fast forward two months later... He is asking for at least joint custody of the kids, but her and her divorce attorney refuse and say that he has already agreed to allow her to be the primary custodial parent. He disagrees strongly and fights the issue all the way into court. The judge looks at everything and sides with the wife right away... But Why!?!

The answer is simple, you just have to take an outside look at the situation. The man agreed to move out of the house... Mistake #1. He allows the kids to stay there with his wife full time... obviously thinking about not disrupting the life of his kids, but still Mistake #2. And finally he signed an agreement that said he would willingly pay child support... Big Mistake #3. He has already assumed the position as the non-custodial parent, and he did it voluntarily, without any order by the courts! There is no reason for the judge to change that now. Instead, he is only allowed to have his kids every other weekend and on some holidays.

Thinks about it! He slowly set himself up for this outcome and the big kicker was having a signed agreement that he will pay child support. So the next time your soon-to-be-ex hands you a piece of paper to sign, just say that you would more than happy to, but your divorce lawyer has ordered you not to sign anything until they look it over. The plain and simple truth about it... Do Not Sign Anything!

Landlord Advice in Rent Control Markets

Introduction

In America, rent control laws were first introduced during World Wars I and II as a response to shortages and economic pressure. Today they are either leftover laws from these time periods or have been reintroduced by a state according to need. The most important point to remember is that rent control laws can vary widely from state to state, and from county to county. Even cities in the same county can have different laws due to various demands in markets and local demographics. So, you should conduct an inquiry as to the details of your city's control laws. This article provides basic background information on residential rent control.

Basic Background

Rent control laws are set by a local board which determines the price ceiling for rent rates. The board determines the rates by considering various factors including cost of living, average rent prices in the area, and the type of rental unit. For example, some local boards apply rent control laws that are specific only to a certain type of building, such as large complexes or multi-floored apartments. As you can see, these factors will all vary from region to region.

Generally, rent control laws require a landlord to fix the rental price while the tenant is under a lease. This means that so long as the tenant is under the lease, the landlord cannot raise the rent. Or, they can only raise rent by a certain annual limit designated by the local board. Only when the unit becomes vacant can the landlord raise the rent in anticipation of a new lease with a new tenant. Some laws prohibit raising rent even if the unit is vacant. Those laws can also limit the landlord's ability to evict a tenant, especially without just cause.

Basically, rent control means that the landlord can set the initial rent amount, but cannot raise the rent or is severely limited in the amount they can raise the rent.

The effect of controlling rent is that the longer the tenant stays in the unit, the rental payment becomes relatively less compared to the average rates in the surrounding area. So, the laws tend to favor the tenant, and most landlords dislike rent control. Instead of stabilizing rent rates, rent control laws can sometimes create pockets of disproportionate rates within a community. Those control laws can also have the unintended effect of limiting the amount of available housing in a city, since housing contractors can be hesitant to build in cities with it.

Consequently, many landlords are critical of those laws, although they must be abided by. Failure to adhere to the practices can result in legal sanctions for the landlord.

Vacancy Decontrol- What happens when the unit becomes vacant

A legal phrase that frequently comes up during rental rate control discussions is the term "vacancy decontrol". Vacancy decontrol refers to ordinances regulating rent prices once a unit becomes vacant. As described above, most landlords will want to raise the rent after a lease is completed and the unit becomes vacant. Vacancy decontrol laws regulate whether the landlord can raise rent, and if so, by how much.

Usually when formulating vacancy decontrol rates the local board considers such factors as the tenant's income and the previous rental rate. Ordinances that do not include vacancy decontrol provisions are known as "strong rent control" laws. Be sure to check for vacancy decontrol regulations when making a inquiry in your area.

Rent Control Preemption- Prohibiting It

In response to an endless barrage of complaints by both landlords and tenants, several states have adopted legislation that prevents local municipalities from imposing control laws. Legislative acts that prevent those laws are known as the Rent Control Preemption acts.

The term "preemption" means that the state's decision to prohibit rent control overrides the local government's authority to impose such laws. This means that if your state has adopted Rent Control Preemption, then it's not allowed by law in your state.

Again, different states adopt preemption acts in various ways- some states adopt in whole while others adopt only part of the act. Usually the state will implement a preemption provision that has the following language:

"A local governmental unit shall not enact, maintain, or enforce an ordinance that would have the effect of controlling the amount of rent charged for leasing residential or commercial property."

Even if the state has not preempted rent control, some states do make it very difficult for tenants to qualify for it. For example, in New York a tenant only qualifies if they have lived in their unit since 1971. This basically allows a greater number of landlords to raise rent according to their needs. Check to see if your state has preempted rent control (see the following lists below).

Laws By Region: States That Allow vs. States Preempting

Currently, only five states allow controlling rent. In contrast, several of the 50 states have adopted some form of preemption, and a handful of states neither enforce nor preempt the laws.

States that do allow rent control are:

California
District of Columbia
Maryland
New Jersey
New York

States that have adopted preemption (do not allow) are:

Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
New Hampshire
New Mexico
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Oregon
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin
Wyoming

States that neither enforce nor preempt are:

Alaska
Delaware
Hawaii
Maine
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
West Virginia

Rent control by city or county is largely dependent on the demographics of the city. A main factor in determining it by city is the turnover rate between new tenants. Cities wherein tenants leave or change residences very quickly are favored targets for those ordinances. Examples of such places are college towns like Berkeley, California or metropolitan areas like New York or Los Angeles. Unlike suburban or rural areas where there are less tenants coming and going, heavily populated cities tend to strictly enforce those laws.

In Mobile Home Parks

Another aspect of rent control laws has to do with mobile home parks. Out of all residential arrangements, mobile home communities are probably the most regulated under control laws. This is because most mobile home owners own their mobile home units but rent the land on which it is situated. Mobile homes are also very costly to move and lose value when they are moved. Thus, in some areas rent control focuses mainly on mobile homes. For example, California has only 13 laws but over 100 laws regulating mobile homes.

Recap: What to consider if you are a landlord

To recap, landlords should be able to answer the following questions regarding rent control and their residential unit:

Is my residential unit subject to local control laws?
If there are local control laws, do they include vacancy decontrol provisions?
Does the state I live in preempt rent control?

Helpful Advice About Beneficiary Trusts

Human beings are mortal; God has created a life cycle for all beings. As a child, you tend to take things for granted, like your parents, money, and necessities of life, but when you enter into your practical life, things change. It is good to operate with an optimistic state of mind, but one cannot altogether ignore the negative, or rather dangerous aspects of life. Cliché, as it may sound, this proverb rings true, "You may hope for the best, but prepare for the worst."

You cannot stay young forever, so when you are of age, take control of your life, and plan! Consider the well-being of the people in your life, like your parents, wife, or children. Realistically, sit and think about the way they will make it in the world if something untoward was to happen to you.

Once you start thinking along these lines, you will automatically realise that a beneficiary trust is the best way to protect your loved ones when you yourself no longer can. There are various types of trusts that you can look into, generally speaking, such a trust will ensure that your beneficiary (in this case your family members) will have the right to enjoy whatever property or money you have left for them in a trust fund under the guidance of an appointed trustee.

They will not be able to abuse the trust, or misguidedly go through the assets without any future care, as the trustee will be there to grant their reasonable demands for money, while detaining them from making bad investments.

While choosing a trustee: You can select a lawyer or a trusted friend with financial know how to be such a guardian for your family. Please note that the person you are choosing to trust with the welfare of your family should be someone that you yourself can trust infallibly! Research a lot over the Internet, and go for consultations with different lawyers belonging to prominent law firms in this area of legal system before coming to any final decisions about who to trust.

Choosing a beneficiary trust best suited to your needs: You need to consult with your estate-planning attorney to go over different options for the various types of beneficiary trusts available, in order to make an informed decision about which one to select. You need to set up a trust that will be appropriate for you and your beneficiaries.

Clearly describe the heir of the trust and the amount of power a trustee can exercise: Laws of the United Kingdom demand that such terms should be laid out in a clear and precise manner with a little room allowing for loopholes, which can later result in the beneficiary being short charged.

Update the beneficiaries on regular intervals: You may have been single, or earning a lesser amount of money when you originally made the trust for your parents, but after getting married or earning a promotion, you will need to make take into account the new circumstances of your affairs.

Advice For a Broken Heart

Your significant other just told you your relationship is over. Or, you found out your spouse cheated on you. You didn't expect it coming and you feel broken inside. What do you do?

When you suffer the loss of a relationship, it can be very similar to a death. You need to grieve and go through the stages of grief. Everyone goes through these stages in different ways and it takes varying amounts of time. Give yourself the space and time you need to get to a better place. Here are some signs to look for and some tips to get through this difficult time.

1. Shock and denial. You just can't believe it! You di't expect it or, if you knew there was trouble, you didn't think it was that bad. Your first reaction might be to refuse to believe it or you might just be numb and don't know how to react. Either way, you need to let it sink in. Ask questions or get answers if you need to but make sure that you take some time alone to think and reflect. This will allow you to adjust to your new reality and may prevent you from taking actions you may later regret.

2. Anger or bargaining. Everyone will get to this stage at different times but you WILL get there. It is ok to feel anger -sometimes you will deserve to feel anger! The question is, though, what are you going to do about it? Someone once told me that you cannot help your emotions but you can help what you do about them. My advice is to step back and think things through. If there is any chance of saving your relationship, the worst thing you can do is to take negative actions. Do not text or call the other person 100 times a day. Do not follow them, stalk them or harm them or their property in any way. Not only is this not helpful to your mental health but it can be a crime. Do not beg them, throw yourselves at them or bargain for a future together. This only turns people off and does not make you feel good about yourself.

3. Retrospection and constructive actions. Some people get this, some people don't. It is now time to think about how and why this happened. Sometimes, it is completely no fault of your own. If that is true, you are better off without that person. However, this is often not true. Take a deep look at yourself and your relationship. If you now can see how you contributed to this break-up, you need to acknowledge that to both yourself and your significant other. Be willing to change and address the problems - even if it means getting professional help. This is often the first step in saving your relationship. However, even if it is too late for that, you need to do this for yourself, your family and your future relationships. Patterns tend to repeat themselves and, if you don't want to suffer a broken heart over and over, you may need to accept that you need to change.

4. Depression or loneliness. If your relationship is over no matter what you do, you will be sad. You will feel depression and loneliness. That's ok but recognize it for what it is. Indulge yourself for a while - eat your chocolate double-fudge ice cream or have a few drinks. However, if it goes on too long and you just can't seem to get past it, talk about it with friends or family. They often have good advice. If that doesn't work, get some counseling. You need to.

5. Move forward. Life does go on and things will get better. You cannot let this permanently affect you or steer you onto the wrong path. Get out there - hang out with your friends, be social, join some clubs or go out.

Remember - one person should have so much power over you and your happiness should not be so dependent on another individual. Trust me - you will eventually feel better. How much and how long it takes will be entirely up to you.

Compensation For Personal Injury - How to Get Free Legal Advice

Personal injury claims are big business these days. You can hardly turn on the television without an advert for someone offering to sue anyone you want for almost anything they have done. OK that's an exaggeration but it seems that everyone is offering legal advice for free. Why is this? And if you have been the genuine and unfortunate victim of an accident or injury where someone else is at fault should you really be seeking compensation?

There are a number of moral dilemmas that face any potential claimant. Let's take an example of medical negligence. Say you have received some poor medical treatment which left you ill and unable to work for a period of time. You instruct a lawyer to sue the hospital. The hospital has to deal with your claim, pass it onto its insurance company who try and reach a settlement and then increase the insurance premium to the hospital because it now considers it to be a bigger risk. The hospital then has less money to spend on patient care and so struggles to avoid a repeat of the problem. Is it right that you should put them in this position?

It's easy for people who have not been affected by injury to moralise about these sorts of decisions. However, if you were the person who had been hit by a reckless car driver or injured at work by a negligent employer who did not comply with health and safety legislation or left in pain by a negligent doctor or dentist so that you are unable to work and start losing money, then what are you supposed to do? The law exists to deter people from failing to perform their contractual or legal obligations to a reasonable standard. If they fail to do so then they may be considered to have acted negligently. Unfortunately if you are left unable to work due to the fact that someone just rammed into the back of your car because they were talking on their mobile phone then the police are not going to award you a large sum in compensation. A magistrates court might award you a small token sum, but chances are, it isn't going to pay your mortgage. Therefore the only thing you can do is to get free legal advice and pursue a claim if you have been injured or hurt by someone else.

Another way to look at it is to consider the fact that all employers and public authorities and even car drivers are covered by insurance which exists to protect any victims of the person or company covered. Therefore by claiming compensation you are normally dealing with an insurance company. This can still impact on the defendant whose insurance premiums might go up, but the chances are that this is likely to be less of an impact than their negligence has had on you both financially and mentally.

So, can you really get free legal advice? Well, the answer is yes. There are many firms keen to take on personal injury claims. The reason for this is that genuine claims have a very high success rate which means that it is relatively easy to recover compensation via legal means. The vast majority of claims will never go to court because an insurance company will simply weight up the evidence presented by the claimant and if it looks clear that their client was at fault, it will be far cheaper to settle before reaching court. Most free legal advice solicitors will also insist that the insurance company covers their legal costs, i.e. their fee. Some will also offer a no win no fee agreement whereby you are required to take out an insurance policy against losing the case. if you do so, the policy covers your costs. However, if you win, then everyone is happy.

So, in summary, if you have been injured but to someone elses negligence or carelessness, subjected to an industrial disease or left incapacitated by medical negligence then the only person who can recover any sort of justice for you is yourself. Nobody is going to knock on your door offering you financial help for your mortgage and kids clothing. You have to make the move. What you must do when you contact a lawyer offering free legal advice is ensure that you understand completely how the money side of things is going to work. In other words, ensure that if your case is unsuccessful you are not out of pocket. It is really up to the solicitor to make sure that your claim doesn't go ahead unless you have a pretty good chance of success.

At the end of the day, if you are given compensation either by a judge or by an out of court settlement then this is vindication of your actions. You have been found to have been wronged and the compensation is there to put it right. That's justice so don't be put off pursuing it. Just make sure that your claim is genuine and that you have evidence to support it. If you are ever the victim of an accident or injury where you suspect someone else is to blame, always seek medical treatment immediately because that will later form evidence to support your version of events. I.e. the medical notes will record when you came in and what for and this can be critical when claiming damages later.

I hope you never have to seek compensation for personal injury but if you do, there are plenty of lawyers who really will give you legal advice for free and who will take on your case for no upfront cost to you, either claiming their fee from the other side, or taking a slice of your payout. Just make sure you understand the terms and conditions before you sign up and if you are not happy with the deal your free lawyer is offering you, go elsewhere because there is a lot of competition in this area.