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Pedestrian Accidents
June 17, 2013 | 
Author Pedestrian accidents are different to almost every other type of vehicular accident in that in the case of an accident involving a pedestrian and a car, or vehicle of any kind, the pedestrian is totally unprotected – they’re not protected by airbags, jackets, helmets or anything else.
The end result of this is that most pedestrians tend to suffer extreme and often long-term injuries from an accident of this type with brain injuries, fractured and shattered bones, spinal and neck injuries and the loss of limbs being a common outcome. Even in the most minor of pedestrian accidents the injuries can be so severe as to require an extended hospital stay if you’re lucky – many pedestrians struck by vehicles can die at the scene of the accident.
From the perspective of the driver’s insurance company they’ll want to minimize the amount of money they have to pay out in accident compensation, so you’ll find that they offer as little as humanly possible in the first round of offers. Once you’ve received proper medical care after your accident the next most important step is to engage the services of an experienced pedestrian accident attorney – the sooner you hire an attorney after an accident the better off you will be and the more successful the outcome of your case can be.
Hit By Insured Driver
When you’re struck by an insured driver you can pursue their insurance company for compensation. Do bear in mind though that it is not in the best interest of the driver’s insurance company to pay you large amounts of compensation – this is why you need professional legal advice.
Hit By Uninsured Driver
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Mortgage Scams: Know Them, Avoid Them, Report Them
When you’re behind on your mortgage payments you’re probably already stressed and worried beyond anything you could have imagined before. There’s nothing quite like the risk of losing your home to wake you up to the realities of life. An additional problem for homeowners is the fact that all of these distressed mortgages are bringing scammers out from underneath their rocks in droves.
It’s an unfortunate fact of life that there are always scammers out there looking to take advantage of people when they’re at their most vulnerable, and presenting worried homeowners with “easy” ways of dealing with their mortgage debt is one way to get people to believe the unbelievable. Basically these guys are preying on you when you’re at your most vulnerable.
Here are some of the more common mortgage scams doing the rounds at the moment:
Mortgage Audits
This scam is where the company or individual claims to be aware of loopholes in your mortgage documentation or contract, which they can then use to force your lender(s) to approve a mortgage modification on your terms. You can expect these guys to mention fees of between $1,000 and $5,000, none of which will ever be repaid under any circumstances.
Class Action
In this scam the conmen will claim that a class action is being brought against a lender because they’re suspected of wrongdoing in relation to their mortgage loans, and that you might be entitled to a full or partial refund of any mortgage payments you’ve made. Oddly enough there are even some legitimate law firms getting in on this act and asking their clients for around $2,000 each. Now $2,000 might not seem like money worth chasing for a scammer but literally thousands of people are falling for this scam every single month – that’s millions in the bank for the conmen.
Fake Mortgage Counselors
These guys are literally going door-to-door knowing that every other home they visit anywhere in the United States is going to have some kind of mortgage issue they can discuss with them. In other cases they just visit every occupied home in a ghost housing development and offer their mortgage counseling service there instead. All you need to do is pay them around $5,000 for the privilege of having them modify your existing mortgage agreement with your lender – saving you hundreds per month on your mortgage in turn.
You can get mortgage counseling completely free of charge when offered by genuine not-for-profit companies, so there’s absolutely no need at all to pay for mortgage counseling regardless of your current financial situation. When it comes to debt consolidation, mortgage modification or renegotiation, or any kind of financial service, you only need to remember one thing: If it sounds too good to be true then we can assure you that it is too good to be true. When it comes to financial services there is no such thing as a free lunch.
Stop Foreclosure and Sheriff Sale Through Chapter 13
No homeowner wants to have to declare bankruptcy because they assume it means that both they and their family will be destitute and homeless as a result. In fact filing for Chapter 13 is basically a form of debt consolidation which allows you to spread your total debt repayments out over a number of years, instead of trying to deal with them all at once. The fallout from the property crisis of 2008 has seen a growing number of people looking for financial relief by filing for Chapter 13. Especially when they get a notice of foreclosure from their lender, which can then result in a foreclosure sale, or what is also known as a sheriff’s sale.
Most property owners will have attempted at this point to renegotiate with their lenders for more favorable repayment terms, but for unknown reason most lenders seem to be more interested in keeping their customers in debt, which can ultimately lead to foreclosure than consent to a loan modification. This is despite the fact that major US lenders have vast amounts of property inventory that they have no hope of selling in the very near future, unless of course they’re willing to do so at a loss.
So if you’ve received a foreclosure notice from your lender or financial institution right now would be a perfect time to consult with a bankruptcy attorney so you can take the next steps towards protecting your home via a Chapter 13 filing.
Features Of A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Can I Get Rid of Student Loan or Tax Debt in a Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a right dating back to the writing of the US constitution, where the founding fathers of the country provided the ability for people to be able to relieve themselves of debts that they can simply never hope to pay off in their lifetime. Unfortunately like many of the rights provided for in the constitution of the United States the right to declaring personal bankruptcy is open to abuse and manipulation. Now in the aftermath of the recent financial crisis more and more debt-crippled people are assuming that they can simply declare personal bankruptcy, no matter what kind of debt they owe, and just walk away and start all over again.
One of the most common assumptions that people make is that both student loan or tax debt can be nullified by declaring personal bankruptcy, but let’s take a closer look at each of these debts in turn to see if this is true.
Tax Debt
Without wanting to ruin your day the reality is that the vast majority of tax debts cannot be eliminated by filing for either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The only exception to being able to write off your tax debts through filing for Chapter 7 is that the taxes owed must be income taxes only, you did not commit any form of tax evasion or fraud, the tax return is dated at least 3 years before you filed for bankruptcy, you filed a tax return on this debt at least 2 years before filing for Chapter 7 and your tax debt must be evaluated by the IRS themselves at least 240 days before you file. You must meet all of these requirements to be even considered for a tax debt write-off.
Student Loans
The total “value” of student loan debt in the United States is roughly US$1 trillion, with the average student owing approximately $25,000 in student loans each. In some cases a single student can be responsible for more than $100,000 of student loan debt, so no doubt you’re wondering if it’s possible to simply declare yourself bankrupt and relieve yourself of that debt?
But can you actually use bankruptcy to erase your student loan debt?
The short answer to this is “Yes”, but there are some very specific conditions which you must meet in order that you can qualify. Firstly you need to be able to demonstrate that your student loan debt is causing you undue hardship, which basically means that you can’t afford even the most Spartan of lifestyles while paying off your loans. Secondly you need to clearly show that living in this impoverished state is likely to continue for the entire term of your student loan(s). Finally you must also show that you’ve actually attempted to repay your student loans in the first place e.g. you didn’t simply quit a well paid job to sneakily renege on your debts.
We would recommend that you always consult with a lawyer who specializes in bankruptcy when making decisions that could have a serious impact on your life and your future financial standing, while also never assuming that filing for bankruptcy is the answer to all of your financial woes.
How Is Child Support Actually Calculated?
In the unfortunate situation where a family unit can no longer remain together then the time for calculating who will be paying child support and what amount will be paid has come. Nobody likes to include financial technicalities in the breakup of a family but the reality is that a child will need financial support not just for food but for clothing, schooling and a wide number of other expenses also.
Unfortunately it’s usually only the parent who’s been raising the child who understands how much it can cost to care for any child, so the amount required might come as a shock to some people. If you’ve found yourself in a situation where the issue of child support has been raised then it’s a good idea to get your head around how this type of payment is actually calculated in the first place. Typically a child support payment is calculated based on the total income of the household and the percentage of time spent with the child by each parent, set out in their visitation schedule.
Now before we go any further we need to state that how child support is calculated varies from state to state using one of three models, which we’ve listed here:
Income Shares
In this child support calculation model it’s treated as if both parents still lived together and how much of both parent’s income would have been used to raise the child or children involved. The formula used in this model varies from state to state but generally speaking the biggest financial obligation will fall on the parent no longer living in the family home i.e. the parent who spends less time with the child.
Permanent Residence for Victim of Crimes
The United States has a long and proud history of welcoming immigrants to the country and indeed the success of the United States, and its current standing as the most powerful nation on the planet, is due in some small part to the multicultural influences of these same immigrants. Emigrating to a foreign country by choice is already a difficult thing to do because you have to leave friends and family behind you as you forge a new life in the United States.
However experiencing or witnessing a serious crime as an immigrant presents you with a number of barriers including language and feelings of isolation and desperation because you’re not a resident or citizen of the country yet. Worse again is the fact that many immigrants come from countries where reporting a crime to the police is actually the worst thing you can do, with many of the local police forces being paid by criminal gangs.
Foresight in US Immigration Law has allowed for these types of situations and actually provides a number of different visas which allow permanent residence for immigrants who both report and assist in the investigation of serious crimes such as violence against women, prostitution, human trafficking or even terrorism.
The U Visa
This type of visa is usually temporary in nature and can be given to a person who has suffered as a result of criminal activities and agrees to help authorities with their prosecution of the criminals involved. The crimes which can assist an immigrant in qualifying for a U visa include rape, kidnapping, manslaughter and trafficking of any kind. If a very serious crime is successfully prosecuted then the temporary U visa can be upgraded to a permanent Green Card instead.
Child Custody Modification
If you’ve found this page it’s because you’ve been searching for a way to modify your existing custody agreement, for any of a number of reasons. One of the most contentious issues for both male and female parents is the custody of the children when a marriage or long-term relationship ends. You may be a parent who feels isolated from their children and wants to spend more time with them but are being prevented from doing so. Or you might be a parent who is concerned with the amount of time and access your ex has to your children.
In short you want to make a change to the existing visitation schedule in one way or another, and there are court procedures and processes in place to help you do this.
There are two main legal elements to modifying a child custody agreement and these are:
- Court Family Services Mediation
- Court Hearing
When a parent requests a child custody modification the first thing that happens is a Court Family Services Mediation date is set and both parents are required to attend this, but without their attorneys being present. The idea of this meeting is to hopefully settle the modification to the child custody order without the need for a court hearing – basically for both parents to discuss the matter with a mediator present.