Articles Posted in Human Resources

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Companies offer group legal plans to help employees out with legal difficulties such as estate planning and landlord – tenant issues. Such assistance is deeply appreciated by employees because it shows how the company truly cares about their welfare. Adoption and personal injury can be big-ticket items in court but there are some smaller issues that can be just as time-consuming and stressful. One of these is auto collision.

According to the New York state Department of Motor Vehicles, there were 10.4 million registered vehicles in New York City in 2005. It is a safe bet that those figures have not gone down, and that rush-hour traffic can be a full blown nightmare. Auto collisions don’t necessarily destroy the car, but the damage can be enough to be contested, especially if auto insurance doesn’t cover the dents and metal bruises. People are sometimes at risk of auto damage when driving in the City of New York. Prepaid legal services offered by their employer can help them out of any legal jam.

What is important about a group legal plan is that it helps a person connect with a good attorney, and at a reasonable price. Damage caused to automobiles is handled in Small Claims Court. The good news is that such cases are usually heard in the evening after working hours, but the bad news is the process can still be a headache. The other party may be relentless in their damage claim, and that can be a serious distraction. Prepaid legal services include advice from an attorney. It helps a person caught in an auto collision case to find a way out without having to resort to some form of courtroom drama. It is possible that the attorney may be able to negotiate a settlement so that nothing has to go to court at all. That is the best of all possible worlds.

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If eyes are watching what is going on regarding immigration in Congress, it is a safe bet that many of them are viewing the progress from California. The Golden State takes great pride in being a very diverse and multicultural community. Many of its citizens are legal immigrants from other countries, but these same people may have family members who are trying to cope with existing laws. How to best deal with what is currently on the books and respond to what may soon be enforceable law can be daunting.

An enormous amount of immigration law has been written over the years, creating a substantial body of law requiring adherence. Legal aliens need to make certain that permanent residence papers are in good order, and many immigrants are trying to help their family members become permanent residents in the United States. Current procedures and legal protocols are difficult enough. Anything that is new may require a bewildering amount of new paperwork and forms to be processed , creating a need for legal help.

Employers look the other way on these issues at their own risk. Any changes in immigration law could affect the company’s workforce and not always in a good way. Employees could have dependents whose status in America might be adversely impacted by any new law, and result in a round of legal filings that are time consuming. Indeed, the employee may have to miss work in order to help out. A worst-case scenario could be deportation hearings, which only add to the emotional burden borne by a productive associate. Prepaid legal services as a benefit offered by the company can definitely help everybody both with existing rules and any possible new ones.

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It is a silent crime with loud repercussions. Identity theft is a consequence of a society that is increasingly more Internet connected and cashless. Accounts on lines can be hacked into and a bystander at an ATM machine can copy debit card numbers. The average direct material cost to a victim is approximately $5000. That is in addition to some sizable indirect damages.

The Aftermath of Identity Theft

It would be enough of a problem if all that was taken happened to be cash. When a person’s identity has been stolen the information is used by the thief to commit more extensive crimes. There have been numerous cases of stolen identity used to open up bogus credit card accounts that are maxed out almost immediately. The victim is left trying to recover from this and credit rating can suffer immensely. Cleaning up all the damage can take months and even years with a lot of paperwork needed to reestablish a respectable credit rating. It is a serious paper mountain that has to be climbed.

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American history has a record of debtor’s prisons. People were incarcerated for an inability to pay debts, and prisoners included men who signed the Declaration of Independence. New York had them as well but no longer. While it’s a relief that a person in New York will not be sent to a debtor’s prison for failure to sufficiently pay an outstanding obligation, there is the trauma of personal bankruptcy which remains. It could be a very devastating dilemma for anyone and New York unfortunately doesn’t do much to relieve the anxiety.

The Complexity of the Process

What makes bankruptcy in New York unique is that there are four districts: Northern District, Southern District, Eastern District and Western District. The individual filing a bankruptcy petition does so in that district where he or she resides. Each district has its own set of filing schedules. New York bankruptcy law will allow for specific exemptions but the bankruptcy process is a slow grind of filings and processing of papers. There are meetings of creditors and the appointment of a bankruptcy trustee. Hanging over an individual’s head is the legitimacy of a bankruptcy petition being placed in question if either creditors or the court harbor doubts about the filing. It is sufficient to say that a person ought to have legal help in doing all the required paperwork properly.

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26icon.png It would be great if adoptions happened just like in the movies where there was always a happy ending. It is sad, but modern-day adoptions are lengthy struggles with laws and regulations. The amount of paperwork and procedures are enough to make a person think of giving up the process entirely. When that happens the children are the real losers.

Needs and requirements for Connecticut adoptions

Federal, state and local background checks are necessary for prospective adoptive parents as well as fingerprints. Home studies are standard procedure in many states and Connecticut is no exception. Connecticut law does allow single parents and same gender parents to adopt in addition to traditional parent relationships, but the whole process is still the same no matter who wishes to adopt. This includes specific steps to take by prospective parents who are not related by blood, and other requirements for blood relatives and stepparents. It all depends on the relationship to the child being adopted. If the birth parents are alive, there has to be an acknowledgment that parental rights have been terminated and any adoption is irrevocable. The twists and turns that must be made by anyone wishing to adopt can be draining.

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Delaware is typically thought of as an agricultural state with approximately one third of its land mass devoted to farming. The state does have urban areas with people who rent their living space. The rural charm of the Blue Hen State offers a great deal of pleasant ambiance, but it cannot hide areas of dispute that can unsettle relations between tenants and landlords.

Changes in rental situations

The recent downturn in the housing industry has generated a need for a lot of very unique rental situations. These include rent to buy, where part of the rent goes to the down payment on a house, sub leasing, and month to month arrangements. Some of these are quite different from traditional rental agreements, and the statutes governing landlord tenant relationships can be very complex. Someone who isn’t too familiar with real estate law can quickly get tangled in a spider’s web of stipulations Delaware has a Residential Landlord-Tenant Code which specifies the rules and obligations of both sides of the rental agreement. These include various remedies for infractions such as failure to pay rent or when a landlord does not provide essential services. These can be fairly easy to understand in traditional rental situations, but the more complex contracts may require more than just a passing knowledge of Delaware’s real estate statutes. It can be very frustrating for any person to have to wade through the Code to find solutions. This is not something a company can ignore. If an employee has been relocated to Delaware on behalf of the company, that person may be caught in a squabble with a landlord and need help. Companies can come to the aid of relocated employees by offering group legal plans that are voluntary benefits.

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Economic hard times can hit anyone like a sledgehammer. It isn’t necessarily over the use of credit cards but personal bankruptcy can be the result of losing a job, or a serious and unexpected medical emergency. To escape the demands of creditors a person may be forced to consider personal bankruptcy. That is a way to solve a financial problem but bankruptcy by itself is not an easy matter at all.

The difficulty lies in the various forms of bankruptcy. Each has its own special requirements for the person filing. Chapter 7 permits the individual to pay all or part of the outstanding debt and Chapter 13 permits a payment plan for the debt. That being said, state law has certain rules regarding wage garnishment and Delaware is no exception. The complexity of bankruptcy law is such that it is properly done with the assistance of an attorney.

It is certainly in the interests of any employer that an employee files the right type of bankruptcy if this is the only way to resolve a personal debt crisis. Wage garnishment is a hassle that every company wants to avoid. Delaware does allow for a certain degree of garnishment, and it would be to a company’s advantage that an employee facing bankruptcy files in a way that diminishes corporate involvement. Of course, a major challenge is that bankruptcy law is so complex. Voluntary legal plans can definitely help.

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Landlord/Tenant Relations don’t have to be one sided.

Most of the people who take advantage of a prepaid legal services benefit do so in matters regarding property. This includes estates and transactions involving the purchase or sale of a home. However, this type of benefit also helps protect a person’s rights in other matters and the rights of a tenant are very important in New York.

It isn’t fair to say that all landlords are unreasonable and greedy. Many respect the needs of tenants and will make necessary repairs and have rental terms that are honest. Regrettably, there are a few who will ignore their obligations and think that the rental agreement protects them against any actions made by an aggrieved tenant. The state of New York has specified what rights a tenant has under the law. The challenge comes not only in understanding the statutes, but knowing how to process a grievance properly. Terms such as lease succession rights or warranty of habitability can be quite bewildering to someone not familiar with legal terminology. Not understanding protection against retaliation can intimidate a tenant and the possibility of eviction can definitely be frightening. Disputes with a landlord may require legal assistance that could be outside a person’s financial ability.

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The unexpected death of an employee doesn’t just cause a disruption in the workplace; it creates a domestic crisis. There is an estate which has to be administered and properly divided among the legal heirs. Estate administration is where some real problems can bubble up.

Not everybody thinks about wills and estates. A number of people will not prepare a will, thinking that because there are only one or two survivors the estate process will not be difficult at all. That isn’t true. Estates of those who die intestate, i.e. without leaving a will, must be handled by an administrator appointed by a public entity such as probate court and this person is under very close supervision (The duty of overseeing the administration of estates is performed by the Register of Wills in Maryland). An administrator is limited to what the law permits that person to do, and it is better to have an executor who is named in the will as the one tasked with administering the provisions of the document.

Anyone drafting a will should seriously consider what individual will be the executor. Unlike an administrator, the executor has both authority granted by law and additional powers granted by the will itself, allowing for greater flexibility in matters such as the sale of property. The executor does need to be somebody who is responsible and willing to take on the task. However, there is a lot of work in seeing to it a will is properly administered and survivors receive their allotted shares. A critical activity is to educate the executor beforehand and even prepare things so that his or her job is made as easy as possible. The challenge is that someone who is not well-versed in probate law does not quite know how to best instruct that very important person.

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Mentioning estates and wills can cause people to think of elderly folk dying in hospital beds surrounded by children who are adults. That doesn’t always happen. One of the saddest things that can occur is for a person to die at a young age and leave behind survivors who are minors. The sadness comes as much from what will happen to the children as the death itself.

The question of guardianship, i.e. the care and supervision of a surviving minor, is very straightforward if one of the birth parents is still alive. That adult has guardianship under the laws of the state of Connecticut. Difficulties, however, may occur if both birth parents should happen to be dead or the surviving parent has certain challenges, including mental incompetence or question of paternity. Problems about how the welfare and estate of a minor are to be managed then arise and guardianship includes such legal definitions as temporary guardian, standby guardian, co – guardian, and testamentary guardian among others. Anyone of those may influence the future care and well-being of surviving minors; it all depends on the given circumstance.

Connecticut has detailed guidelines for how the various forms of guardianship relating to minors must be handled. However, there are obviously different types for different situations. An employee doesn’t expect to die young, but if he or she should pass away without proper instructions for the care and well-being of surviving children, it could be left to the probate court to sort out. The possibility for both lengthy legal proceedings and extensive paperwork are quite real should that be the case. It is always better to have some plan of action to cover guardianship. Such planning for a surviving child’s welfare can be overwhelming for anyone who is unfamiliar with the law. A Connecticut employer that cares about reducing employee anxiety and fears will offer assistance with a group legal services plan.

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