Posted on June 29, 2016 in Family Law

There is no shortage of do-it-yourself divorce information on the internet. You can even download forms for little to nothing. Now, there are smartphone applications that claim they can help you successfully achieve a divorce. But do these options actually deliver? More importantly, should you even attempt to go through with a do-it-yourself divorce? Once you know the risks and dangers, the truth is that these do-it-yourself options often seem less appealing.

Do-It-Yourself Divorce Mistakes

Divorce attorneys spend years going to school to learn the complexities of the law. Once they graduate, committed attorneys continue their education by constantly staying informed and on top of all changes, modifications, and new limitations in their state. Logically speaking, all of this time and effort would simply be a waste if a divorce were easy. Furthermore, there would be no need to pursue years of education to simply fill out and file a few forms.

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 Posted on June 24, 2016 in Personal Injury

Weekly trips to the grocery store are a common routine for many individuals. For those who like to purchase fresh produce, or pick up ingredients for a last minute dinner plan, trips to the store can occur frequently. Moreover, fighting traffic, encountering distracted drivers, and attempting to find a parking spot can turn into a mission, or even an accident. Yet, what if the real danger lurked inside the actual store?

Stores Taking Stock of Their Premises

According to the U.S. Department of Labour’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration, slips, trips, and falls account for 15 percent of all accidental deaths, and these accidents are second only to motor vehicles as a cause of fatalities.

Grocery and retail store owners often neglect basic cautionary steps to keep their premises safe, yet any business that invites the public onto its premises is obligated to take certain steps to keep customers protected from harmful situations.

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 Posted on June 23, 2016 in Immigration

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) maintained a directive referred to as Secure Communities (Secomm for short) between 2008 and 2014. This program professed to establish a new direction for U.S. immigration enforcement, largely by enlisting local and state police to help detain and deport undocumented immigrants. However, it steadily declined in popularity after implementation, with the program eventually being discontinued in favor of a new initiative, the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP). Modifications have been made; however, if you or a loved one is undocumented, it is still something of which you need to be aware.

How it Works

Many of PEP’s primary features do vary greatly from those in place under Secomm. If someone is arrested by state or local authorities for a criminal violation, then the fingerprints and biometrics taken at that time are forwarded to both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and ICE. A hit at either agency may raise the urgency to deport that individual.

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 Posted on June 20, 2016 in Family Law

Divorce can be messy, full of anger and resentment, and emotionally trying on all involved. But children are especially prone to feeling like they are “caught in the middle.” This can lead to difficulties in emotional adjustment that may lead to a battery of issues, including depression, anxiety, behavioral problems, and difficulties at school. According to experts, parents may be able to prevent such maladjustments through attentive, supportive, and compassionate parenting.

The Need to Compete

Couples going through divorce experience a lot of emotions: grief, feelings of betrayal, anger, frustration. Those feelings, which are sometimes paired with a desire to “win” the divorce, can lead to feeling as though you have to compete for your child’s love or affection, that by expressing love or affection for the other parent, they are somehow discounting you. But nothing could be further from the truth. Your child loves both you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse, which means their affection for one does not diminish their love for the other. So, when you feel the need to compete, remember that no one wins in the end: not you, not your ex, and certainly not your child.

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 Posted on June 17, 2016 in Personal Injury

The unfortunate circumstances that surround car accidents are multi-faceted and can end up impacting more than just the driver and immediate passenger(s). Any driver involved in a crash is affected in some way, no matter how minor or major the damage. Crash aftermath is overwhelming from start to finish, as those affected are faced with everything from auto insurance claims and hospital bills to blemishes on their driving records.

A Limited Window of Opportunity

What is often the most troublesome factor for those involved in a car crash, however, is the burden of any personal injuries incurred. Even mild injuries can mean serious repercussions for the driver at fault, and what might seem like a small injury at first can often times turn out to be a serious injury just days or weeks following the accident, thanks to the human body’s response to shock and its delay in registering certain aches and pains. This is why bodily injury claims (and how quickly you handle them) after the crash are so important.

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 Posted on June 17, 2016 in Family Law

It is estimated that nearly 20 people are physically abused by an intimate partner every minute of every day. Yet, domestic violence is often an overlooked aspect of divorce. It does not receive adequate attention or recognition, and that continues to place victims and children at risk. If you are in an abusive relationship and are contemplating separation or divorce, know how to keep yourself and your children safe by understanding the role and importance of safety plans and orders of protection.

Safety Plans During and After Separation or Divorce

Anyone that is in a domestic violence situation, has recently left, or is considering leaving, should have an active safety plan in place. This plan should change as your situation does. For example, those who are still living with an abusive partner will have different needs than those who have already left. However, most should include:

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 Posted on June 16, 2016 in Immigration

When a person declares his or her intent to naturalize, or become a U.S. citizen, he or she is put through a rigorous application process. Citizenship is a privilege, not a right; therefore, one must meet all the criteria before being approved to naturalize. This includes passing an interview with immigration personnel, and for many this represents the final hurdle.

Avoid Sinking Your Chances

Certain actions will effectively get your application denied with very little review even before an interview occurs. One of the most common reasons for a naturalization application to be denied is missing one’s interview date. If you have a conflict on the date you are given, it is critical that you contact U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) as soon as possible. If you simply blow off the interview and do not communicate with authorities within a certain period of time (usually 6 months), your case will be ‘administratively’ closed and your application denied.

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 Posted on June 13, 2016 in Family Law

In a divorce with children, family courts can help to settle parenting time disputes and will ultimately ensure that the child's best interest takes precedence. But pets – who are still considered property in divorce proceedings – are an entirely different story. Family courts do not get involved, and judges almost never take the emotional attachment that humans form with their pets into consideration. Unfortunately, this can make divorces with two very loving pet owners (or even one loving owner and one very angry, vindictive owner) rather messy.

Two-Thirds of U.S. Households Have a Family Pet

Over the last few decades, more and more couples have decided to put off having children. Others have decided to forgo child rearing entirely. But pets, who are often seen as children by their loving owners, can be found in nearly 80 million U.S. households. Those households are as varied as the pets that are in them, but a percentage of those pets may one day become a bargaining chip in a divorce.

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 Posted on June 10, 2016 in Personal Injury

The term “distracted driving” has almost become synonymous with the action of texting while driving. This is, of course, inaccurate—there are several different types of actions and situations that may take a driver’s attention away from the road.

So why is it that texting receives so much attention? It may have something to do with the prevalence of these accidents, which can also give rise to the question as to why, exactly, drivers are more likely to experience an accident while texting than while distracted in other ways.

Researchers from the University of Houston and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute believe they just might have the answer.

Researchers Uncover a “Sixth Sense” That Protects Distracted Drivers

In a study that examined the driving of 59 volunteers while exposed to various distractions, researchers uncovered what they call a “sixth sense” that can, in most circumstances, keep distracted drivers safe, even when their movements become jittery because of emotional or cognitive distractions. In reality, researchers believe the safeguard is most likely because a part of the brain, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), is able to counteract the body’s fight or flight response that drivers experienced during emotional and cognitive distractions. It worked so well, in fact, that drivers actually kept straighter trajectories under most distractions. The one exception, however, was when they were texting.

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 Posted on June 09, 2016 in Immigration

When people talk about undocumented immigrants, they are often referring to those who have traveled over a border without permission. However, the term technically also applies to people who have overstayed a lawfully granted visa, or used that visa for an incorrect purpose. Anyone who accrues what is referred to as ‘unlawful presence’ can face serious consequences in the future.

Accruing Unlawful Presence

The major question that you should ask yourself is whether or not you accrued what United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) calls unlawful presence. USCIS defines unlawful presence as remaining in the country after the expiration of the stay permitted by one’s visa without being admitted or paroled into the country. However, one does not accrue unlawful presence automatically—in many cases, a judge must specifically delineate time in the country as unlawful for it to count against someone in terms of immigration law. This is especially common among students, who are less likely to be issued Notices to Appear—schools are presumed to provide guidance to their international students on these matters.

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