What property will I lose in a Chapter 7 case?
property lost consumer bankruptcy
What property will I lose in a Chapter 7 case?
What you can lose and keep depends on your state’s law.
Generally, you might lose the following items of property:
(1) your second residence,
(2) recreational vehicles,
(3) your second car,
(4) stamp, coin and other collections and heirlooms,
(5) stocks and bond certificates,
(6) cash on hand (unless it comes from unemployment insurance),
(7) deposits of money (e.g., bank accounts, CDs, escrow accounts, money market accounts),
(8) property that you own but don�t have in your physical possession (e.g., security deposits),
(9) money you have a present right to receive at some future date (e.g., tax refunds, vacation pay, wages),
(10) your part of a marital estate,
(11) any inheritance, marital property settlement, or life insurance payment (to the extent not exempt) that you receive within 180 days after filing.
(Reviewed 11.14.08)
Categories: Bankruptcy laws Tags: bankruptcy, consumer, employment, estate
What may not serve as a trademark? What is not registerable?
Trademark Not Register Trademark Law Intellectual Property
What may not serve as a trademark? What is not registerable?
Certain words or symbols cannot be appropriated as a trademark, and may not be registered under the Federal law known as the Lanham Act. These are outlined below.
(a) Generic words (the common name of a thing, such as “piano”, “concrete”, “cigarette”, “copy”, “car”)
(b) Descriptive marks that merely describe a product or service that have not achieved recognition as functioning as a trademark (trademark practitioners call such recognition “Secondary Meaning” and the term is fully explained below). Descriptive marks may be registered on the “Supplemental Register” and then moved onto the principal register after secondary meaning is acquired.
(c) Geographically descriptive marks, for example, the name of any state, city or foreign nation. You may register such a mark if it is not generally identifiable as a source of the goods, or if you build secondary meaning over time through sales and advertising.
(d) Primarily merely a surname, except if you build secondary meaning over time through sales and advertising.
(e) Deceptively misdescriptive marks
(f) Immoral or deceptive marks
(g) Scandalous, immoral or used in a disparaging matter – For example, is the trademark “Redskins” owned by the Washington Redskins professional football team scandalous or disparaging to American Indians? The word “Senussi” was rejected for cigarettes on the grounds it is the name of a Moslem religious sect.
(h) Disparaging words
(i) Suggesting a false connection with persons, institutions, beliefs or national symbols.
(j) Flags, coats of arms or other insignia of the U.S.
(k) An individual without his consent
(l) A deceased President, while the widow is still alive
(m) Trade names, unless used on goods or services in the same way a trademark is used
(n) Certain words and phrases covered by Special Statutes providing for exclusive use by certain organizations, such as trademarks of the Boy Scouts, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Daughters of the American Revolution and any symbols of the “Olympics”.
Read more to view related video clips.
Categories: Intellectual Property Laws Tags: C, example
Can premarital and post-marital agreements alter the division of marital (community) property?
Premarital Agreement Pre Marital Agreement
Can premarital and post-marital agreements alter the division of marital (community) property?
Yes, as long as the agreement meets with requirements the state’s law imposes.
In a “premarital agreement”, the prospective husband and wife may agree upon the rights that each will have to the property that they bring into the marriage, and/or acquire during the marriage. They may also agree as to the amount of support owed to the other in the event of divorce, and their respective inheritance rights. The premarital contract, if properly made, with sufficient disclosure, alters the state’s typical rules for the division of marital property upon divorce or death.
A post-marital agreement may alter the rules for the division of property between the spouses in the event of divorce or death. A Marital Settlement Agreement is a particular form of post-marital agreement that specifies the distribution of property and responsibility for debt between the respective spouses as part of a divorce.
Read more to video related video clips.
[tubepress mode='tag', tagValue='Can premarital and post-marital agreements alter the division of marital (community) property?']
Categories: Family Law FAQ Tags:
Ga Parental Consent – What is the age with parental consent in georgia?
What is the age with parental consent in georgia?
Male: 16 — parental consent and/or permission of judge required.
Female: 16 — parental consent and/or permission of judge required.
Related video below.
Categories: Family Law FAQ Tags:
What is a ‘separation’?
What is a ‘separation’?
A separation occurs when a married couple decides they no longer want to live together, but decide to live apart for a while.
For a helpful article on several ways to protect yourself financially if you believe your marriage is in jeopardy, click here.
Read more to view related video.
Categories: Family Law FAQ Tags:
ATV Accidents: An Everyday Occurrence
Atv Accidents Everyday Occurrence Defective Products
ATV Accidents: An Everyday Occurrence
All terrain vehicles (ATVs) are responsible for thousands of death every year – many of them children. So, why are ATVs so dangerous and what do you do when you have been involved in an accident?
ATVs Causing Serious Injuries
ATV accidents seem to be an everyday occurrence. Tune into any local news show and chances are you’ll hear about several ATV accidents that caused serious injury or death. For example, in the news this week:
A nine year old North Dakota boy was killed while riding his ATV.
A 13 year old California boy was killed when his ATV rolled over.
Two Kentucky men fell off their ATV when it rolled over. While the passenger fell off and wasn’t hurt, the driver wasn’t so lucky. He, and the ATV, rolled down a 200 foot hill and he had to be hospitalized.
Last week, two Ohio teens had to be air lifted to a local hospital after a serious ATV accident and another Ohio man was hospitalized in a different accident.
Why are they so dangerous?
Some ATVs, such as the Yamaha Rhino, have been responsible for a greater number of injuries and deaths than others. The Rhino, in particular, has been linked to a variety of injuries due to its high center of gravity and a very narrow wheel base and has a propensity to rollover – often crushing the driver or passengers’ limbs due to a lack of safety features such as doors or handles to keep occupants inside of the vehicle. While newer models now include doors, many older models without doors are still on the road causing injuries.
Are manufacturers adequately testing ATVs?
Many consumer advocate groups say no – which is why so many accidents are reported each year. ATV manufacturers are required to test their products to ensure that they are safe for consumer use before they are released into the marketplace to make sure that any foreseeable hazards are addressed beforehand. Unfortunately, very few regulations exist to compel ATV manufacturers to conduct adequate testing – something that many consumers simply assume has been done until a loved one is injured, or worse yet, killed in an ATV accident.
What to do after being in an ATV accident
After seeking the proper medical treatment, it’s important to contact a lawyer whose practice focuses in this area of the law to see what options are available to you in the way of compensation. Contacting a lawyer about your situation is free, without obligation and strictly confidential. In addition, most lawyers in these types of cases work on a contingency fee basis, which generally means that they don’t get paid unless you recover damages. The same is true for any upfront costs such as medical records, hiring experts and investigating the accident – most lawyers advance those costs for you.
If you’d like to speak with an experienced lawyer, please click here.
Read more for related video clips.
Categories: Personal Injury Laws Tags: accident, consumer, injury, lawyers
I have a standard homeowners insurance policy (HO-3). Surely it will cover my costs related to a mold problem?
Standard Insurance Cover Mold Injury Law
I have a standard homeowners insurance policy (HO-3). Surely it will cover my costs related to a mold problem?
Don’t count on it. Most major homeowners insurance providers today exclude mold from standard policies, which means your pocketbook is threatened.
Whether mold contamination is covered under your policy will depend on the specific policy language and the cause of the contamination. Most insurance property policies are “specified peril” policies which means that you have to prove that the mold resulted from a covered loss (listed as a “listed peril”) (i.e., your roof was damaged and rain came in, a water pipe leaked). The costs of cleaning up mold after a fire are covered under the peril of fire, for example. But mold that is not part of a water damage claim, such as mold that has grown over years, would not be covered. If not, it is considered a home maintenance issue, like termites.
If your policy is an “all risk”, the ball is in the insurer’s court because it must show that the cause is excluded from the policy.
Most policies have a Rolodex of exclusions for damage caused by rot, pollution, wear and tear, deterioration, construction defects, and so forth. (An “exclusion” is a statement in an insurance policy which describes a condition or type of loss that is not covered by the policy.)
If the mold contamination developed because of water damage that is covered, your insurer may cover the cost. But expect a fight over identifying the most important cause of the mold contamination: is it covered or excluded? Read your policy.
Read more for related video clips.
Categories: Personal Injury Laws Tags: C, example, injury, language
What property can I keep in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing?
property filing consumer bankruptcy
What property can I keep in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing?
The dollar amounts and the specific items vary from state to state. Check with an attorney who specializes in bankruptcy.
Typical examples of property that you can keep are:
(1) Your residence, up to $20,200.
(2) A car, up to $3,225.
(3) Household goods and furnishings, clothing, appliances, books, pets or musical instruments up to $10,775, but no more than $525 per item.
(4) Tools of your trade, up to $2,025.
(5) The cash value of a life insurance policy, up to $10,775.
(6) Health aids.
(7) Your right to receive social security, unemployment, welfare, veteran’s benefits, disability, illness, alimony, support, crime victim’s reparations.
(8) To the extent necessary for your support, your right to receive life insurance for someone who was supporting you or to recover damages for such a person’s wrongful death.
(9) Your right to recover damages, other than for pain and suffering, for personal injury, up to $20,200.
Exemptions vary widely from one state to another, so you must check with an attorney who specializes in bankruptcy in your area. Web sites that attempt to list exemptions for every state can give you an approximate idea of the exemption picture, but they’re bound to be incomplete and out of date in many respects.
The above categories and dollar limits are the ones provided by federal law in states that allow you to choose between the federal exemptions and exemptions available under state law. About 34 states don’t let you choose. The dollar amounts of the federal exemptions are automatically adjusted upwards every three years; these are the figures effective for cases filed on or after April 1, 2007.
If a married couple files a joint petition (the filing of a single petition by an individual and the individual’s spouse), each spouse is entitled to his or her own exemptions. In most cases, that fact means that the amounts are doubled.
(Reviewed 11.14.08)
Categories: Bankruptcy laws Tags: bankruptcy, consumer, employment, injury
Can we use our corporate name as a trademark?
Corporate Name Trademark Corporations
Can we use our corporate name as a trademark?
Yes. A corporate name may serve as or become a trademark if it is affixed to goods (or “point of sale” material) or used to identify a service (in advertising, on business cards, or letterhead).
Read more to view related video clips.
Categories: Intellectual Property Laws Tags: C
What are the key elements necessary for a valid agreement?
Key Elements Pre Marital Agreement
What are the key elements necessary for a valid agreement?
Laws in each state governing these agreements vary. Generally, the agreement must:
(1) be in writing,
(2) be signed by both spouses,
(3) have been accompanied by sufficient disclosure of all the assets, income and debt of each spouse,
(4) have allowed the parties ample opportunity to consider its contents, and obtain separate legal advice, before signing,
(5) be free from fraud, duress, and
(6) entered into freely and voluntarily.
Read more to video related video clips.
[tubepress mode='tag', tagValue='What are the key elements necessary for a valid agreement?']
Categories: Family Law FAQ Tags: legal