Avoid foreclosure with the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) or the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). In 2009, the federal government unveiled the Making Home Affordable program to help homeowners stay in their houses and avoid foreclosure. If your loan is owned or controlled by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae, and you’re current on your…

Taking the following steps will help your family if you die or become incapacitated. 1. Make a financial power of attorney. With a durable power of attorney for finances,you can give a trusted person broad authority to handle your finances if you become incapacitated and unable to handle your own affairs. This person is called…

Perhaps you have heard a story about an employee that has embezzled from a company.  Some may shake their heads in disgust and then shrug it off thinking that it will not happen to their company.  Others may hope that it never happens to their company, but take no steps to prevent it from happening. …

Mediation is cheaper, faster, and more amicable than taking a dispute to court. Small businesses may benefit tremendously from using mediation — rather than litigation — to resolve conflicts. Small business owners are just as likely as major corporations to run into conflict with neighboring businesses, employees, customers, vendors, or with their own business partners,…

When and how to ask a court to change the amount of child support you must pay, or the amount you receive. Many people these days are having trouble either making child support payments or caring for their children on their existing child support because of a change in their work or living situation. If…

How foreclosure procedures work, in both judicial and nonjudicial foreclosure states. Foreclosure happens when you fall behind on your house payments and your lender uses state procedures to sell your house. Foreclosure works differently in different states. In some states, the lender has to file a lawsuit to foreclose (judicial foreclosure), while in others, it…

Learn what it can mean to be separated instead of divorced. Many people are confused about what is meant by “separated” — and it’s no wonder, given that there are four different kinds of separations. However, how a couple is separated can have important affects on property ownership: Trial separation. When a couple lives apart…

Challenge a foreclosure by bringing a defense such as unconscionability or lender mistake. // // ]]>Until recently, successful defenses against foreclosure were relatively rare. But that is changing rapidly — more homeowners are successfully challenging foreclosure actions. This sea change is due, in large part, to the unearthing of more and more evidence that the…

Regularly, we notice that there is no continuity in how landlords and property managers draft or serve a Three-Day Notice to Quit for failure to pay rent on a tenant.  Some post the Notice on the tenant’s door.  Others post the Notice on the door and mail a copy to the tenant.  Then there are…

Legal and financial matters to consider when caring for an elder. // // ]]> As Americans live increasingly longer lives, many require ongoing, long-term care. This care often falls to grown children — men and women who are in their forties, fifties, and sixties and busy with careers or perhaps children of their own. Getting…

What to do if you suspect a senior is being abused in a nursing home. Nursing homes are a place where seniors and the elderly should be safe. Unfortunately, a significant number of nursing homes abuse their residents in some way — from physical abuse to stealing money to illegally restricting activity (false imprisonment). If…

Establishing paternity is a critical step towards collecting child support. Determining the answer to the seemingly simple question “Who is the father?” is not as straightforward as you might think. Different circumstances give rise to different legal rules. When Paternity Is Agreed On or Presumed Acknowledged father. An acknowledged father is a biological father of…

After you file for bankruptcy, the automatic stay offers potent legal protection against bill collectors. When you file for bankruptcy, something called the automatic stay immediately stops any lawsuit filed against you and most actions against your property by a creditor, collection agency, or government entity. Especially if you are at risk of being evicted,…

It’s rare, but courts can toss out a will if it doesn’t meet certain requirements. // // ]]> Will challenges are very unusual — by one estimate, about 99% of wills sail through probate without a hitch — but they do happen. If a will doesn’t fulfill certain legal requirements, or the maker of the…

Not sure whether to incorporate your nonprofit? Here’s some information to help you decide. If you’re involved in a fledgling nonprofit organization, you and the other folks active in the group have probably wondered whether or not you should incorporate. Becoming a nonprofit corporation requires some paperwork, but for many groups, the benefits of nonprofit…