In This Issue:
Best Practices to communicate with co-parent via email or text
Lenders have stepped up their request for documentation
He Left a Fortune, to No One
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Lenders have stepped up their demand for documentation One of the reasons for the 2008 real estate crash was the subprime lending market. People who did not qualify for conventional loans were often approved for mortgages with little or no proof that they had the income or assets to make the monthly mortgage payments on their home. Now post-crash, mortgage lenders are more risk-averse and they are requiring detailed documentation of a loan applicant's financial situation. It is not unusual for a lender to requests tax returns, w2's and pay stubs for the current year and prior years. In addition, lenders are requesting proof of child support payments, alimony paid to and received from ex-spouses, and proof of any large deposits or withdrawals from the potential borrowers bank account. However, there is a limit as to what questions a lender may ask, especially when those questions are discriminatory. Some examples of discriminatory questions are inquiries relating to your plans to have children. Moreover, lenders cannot treat you differently based on your gender, age, marital status, race, color, national origin, or public assistance status. Some lenders are very subtle in their discrimination. If a lender does not want to deal with you for any number of discriminatory reasons, the lender may just sit on your application and drag the process out until you become fed up and give up. However, there are laws to protect you for discriminatory lending practices. If you believe that you are a victim of mortgage discrimination, you may contact the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, or consult an attorney that practice consumer protection law. |
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| A Family Law, Wills & Trusts and Real Estate NewsletterMay 2014
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Greetings!
Thank you for taking the time to visit my website and for reading this newsletter. Happy Spring!!! I am re-energized and excited, ready to tackle urgent and important tasks that help all of us to achieve our personal and professional goals. Just as we transition from season to season we also transition through life. At the Law Office of Angela Barker, LLC, we are committed to helping ease the transitions through the various life stages: Such as helping you to buy or sell a home, helping you with pre-nuptial agreement in anticipation of marraige and if necessary, when that marriage comes to an end, helping you with a divorce or separation from a spouse. We assist our clients in planning for their retirement and upon their passing help them pass their assets on to the next generation. People are our business. For the benefit of our clients and the communities we serve, we have developed this newsletter as a legal and consumer resource. Enjoy! |
| | Most Effective Way to Use Email In Co-parenting | The saddest divorces are those where the parents wage long protracted custody battles over children. Not only are custody battles expensive but they do irreparable damage to the family unit to both children and to parents. At times, divorce parents (or one of the parents) are so hostile or hate the other parent so much that it is truly difficult to look at or speak to the other parent. In those circumstances divorce lawyers often counsel their clients to communicate by email. However, poor email communication is even worse that poor oral communication because once you send an email or a text - that email or text cannot be readily erased and hostile parents and their lawyers will seek every advantage to use your email to place you in a bad light. Before sending an email to your child's other parent consider these 5 steps: 1.Will your email standing alone convey to any reader your intentions? In court, your spouse may produce an email that you sent that when read without the emails or conversation that preceded your email make you seem hostile or offensive. When you send an email, ensure that you reference any prior conversations in the email so that someone reading your email will understand the context of the communications. 2. Only state facts in your emails. Statements that you may make that seem benign may be perceived as hostile to someone else. Use emails only to state facts. For example: On Monday I will be picking up our child, John, at 10 am in front of your home as per the court order or as we agreed on Tuesday. 3. Limit your email to one topic and keep it short. Often times parents have to communicate about the health, education, extracurricular activities or custody/parenting time arrangements. For each topic send a separate email. 4. Make sure that the time zone on your email account is set for the area that you live. This will enable any reader to clearly see the time that an email was sent and received. 5. Set up a dedicated email account to communicate with the co-parent. Emails are discoverable in litigation and you don't want to send emails for an account you use for other purposes. Moreover, if emails from your spouse become unnecessarily intrusive you can choose the time and place to read and respond to the email if they are sent to a separate account. |
HE LEFT A FORTUNE, TO NO ONE | Last year I clipped an interesting article from the Sunday, April 28, 2013 issue of the New York Times about Mr. Roman Blum. By the time of his death, Mr. Blum was 97 years old and had accumulated a $40 million fortune. Mr. Blum died intestate, meaning that he did not leave a will. He had no children or wife and no other close living relatives.
By all accounts, Mr. Blum was a man who was hard-driving and ambitious. He loved life. Sadly, he and his ex-wife wanted children but were unable to have any. According to one of Mr. Blum's friends, a few weeks prior to his death Mr. Blum spoke about his intent to create a will. However, it appears that he died before he could draft a document.
When you die intestate, as Mr. Blum did, your estate passes to your spouse and your children. If at the time of your death, you are childless and unmarried, the estate passes to other blood relatives such as brothers, sisters, nieces, nephew or cousins.
In the case of Mr. Blum, New York State, will appoint an administrator to manage the estate. The administrator will be responsible for paying the debts and taxes of the estate, and safe guarding the estate's assets. The administrator will also conduct an extensive search, nationally and if needed internationally to find relatives. If no relative is found, the estate will be held by the City's Department of Finance. If, after three years, no one comes forward, the money will go to the State Comptroller's Office of Unclaimed Funds.
Mr. Blum's friends questioned why such a smart man would die without having a will. However, it is not hard to understand why many people die intestate. The making of a Will is an acknowledgement that we are mortal and that some day we will all die. There are many people who cannot comprehend their own mortality and would rather not dwell on death and dying, especially someone who have led a successful and productive life such as Mr. Blum.
Source: The New York Times, Sunday, April 28, 2013, He Left a Fortune, to No One by Julie Satow.
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