Archive for December, 2013

Does Mom (or Dad) seem to be slowing down?

Thursday, December 26th, 2013

I love holidays! I love the lights and the colors and the smells and the gathering of family and friends. I look forward to each year with anticipation and excitement.

But holidays are also a way of keeping track of the passing years. It seems like just yesterday I was sneaking down the stairs to see what Santa had delivered. However, it’s been a lot of years since I was good at sneaking anywhere!

Sometimes it is easier to tell when a parent is losing his or her edge when we only see them on the holiday. When we talk on the phone, we don’t see the extra time it takes for them to get out of a chair. And perhaps we have never noticed before that there are times when they go into a room and seem to forget why they went there.

Now might be a good time to talk with your parent about making sure they have all of their estate planning documents in place and current.

Most people are confident that they need a Will to distribute their ‘stuff’ after their death, but what about the other documents that will help them as they get older?

A General Durable Power of Attorney is one very valuable document that must be signed while the person has the cognitive ability to do so. A Medical Directive (also known as a ‘living will’) is another.

These documents can go a long way to improve the quality of life of our parents (or ourselves). They also make it easier for those family members that will need to help the elders in our lives.

And at this time of year, when we are all thinking about gifts, perhaps we should consider the gift of peace of mind….for ourselves and for our families.

We would love to meet with you and discuss the various parts of an estate plan and how we can help you achieve a little more peace of mind. Please consider calling us at 757-234-4650 to schedule an estate planning consultation.

If you have any questions about this or any other legal subject, please feel free to give us a call at 757-234-4650 or visit our website at http://www.BeaversLaw.com.

Can we just agree to change the child support amount?

Monday, December 2nd, 2013

I had a person in my office recently who said that he and the children’s mother had agreed to reduce the amount of child support he had to pay because he was laid off from his old job and his new job didn’t pay as much. They even had a document that said the amount would be reduced, and it was notarized. He thought their agreement would cancel the court order.

And then she took him to court for non-payment and he was charged with failure to comply with an order of the court which included a possible jail sentence of up to one year.

First of all, when the Judge issues that piece of paper telling you what to do… it is not a suggestion….it is not an example….it is not an ‘if you want to’ or ‘if you feel like it’. It is an ORDER. That means you have to do it or face consequences.

Secondly, having a document notarized does not make it more ‘legal’ than having a document that isn’t notarized. Most of the time, a notarization just means that the person signing the document produced identification saying they were the person who’s name was on the document. This may keep your girlfriend from signing your wife’s name, but it doesn’t make the document legal.

What they should have done was to go to court to file a motion to amend child support due to a material change in circumstances. His change in employment status would probably have met the criteria for a material change, especially if both of them agreed. Then the court would have recalculated the child support payment from the date of the petition. You can also provide the court with a ‘Consent Order’ that says you agree to an amount even if that amount is different from the amount that would be calculated by the statutory guidelines.

Sure it takes time out of your day to go to court to get the amount changed….but it is probably worth it when you consider the amount of time you might be spending going to court on a show cause….and the possibility of going to jail!

If you have any questions about this or any other legal subject, please feel free to give us a call at 757-234-4650 or visit our website at http://www.BeaversLaw.com.