Do you have a 401(k), IRA, or similar retirement account? Without an estate plan, your designated beneficiary may not reflect your current wishes, and may result in burdensome tax consequences for your heirs. With an estate plan, you can choose your preferred beneficiary, and control access to large accounts - plus, you determine who gets what is left.
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Would you prefer that your assets stay in your own family? Sure - who wants to give their hard earned money and the assets they have accumulated over their lifetime to any person outside of their family? Without an estate plan, your child's spouse may end up with your money. If your child divorces, half of your assets could potentially go to that in-law spouse. With an estate plan, you can set up a trust that ensures that your assets will stay in your family, and pass down to your grandchildren.
If you die, will your spouse and children be able to survive financially? Without an estate plan, if you go into a nursing facility before you die, your family will be unable to maintain its current living standard. With an estate plan, you can protect your assets and give your family financial security.
Were you aware that an inheritance can cost your child their disability benefits? Without an estate plan, a child with special needs may be disqualified from receiving benefits, forcing the use of his or her inheritance to pay for care. With an estate plan in place, you can set up a Special Needs Trust that will allow the child to remain eligible for government benefits while using the trust assets to provide more support for your child.
What if your family is a blended family due to prior marriages? Without an estate plan, children from prior marriages may be accidentally disinherited. With an estate plan, you can support your current spouse and provide for your children from a prior marriage at the same time.
Who will raise your minor children if you die? Without a plan, a court will make the determination. With a plan, you are able to appoint a guardian of your choice, and save the costly expense of guardianship and/or child custody proceedings.
Contempt of court refers to actions that challenge a court’s authority, cast disrespect on a court, or impede the ability of the court to perform its function. Contempt takes two forms: civil contempt and criminal contempt.
Civil Contempt The most common form of civil contempt happens when someone fails to adhere to an order from the court, resulting in a violation of the rights of a private party. Usually, the injured party is the one to file an action for civil contempt. For example, failing to pay court ordered child support may lead to punishment for civil contempt. The injured party in this scenario would be the parent who has not yet received the court ordered child support payments. Civil contempt sanctions are commonly used to coerce such a person into complying with a court order the person has violated. Unlike criminal contempt, which aims to punish the act, civil contempt has one of two goals. The first goal of civil contempt is to reinstate the rights of the party who was wronged by the failure to fulfill the court’s order. The second is to simply move an underlying proceeding along. When either of these goals is met, civil contempt sanctions typically end. Criminal Contempt Criminal contempt charges, on the other hand, are punitive. This means that they serve to deter future acts of contempt by punishing the wrongdoer. An individual that has been incarcerated for criminal contempt cannot secure their own release by deciding to comply with the court; however, they are given the same constitutional rights guaranteed to criminal defendants. Criminal contempt charges become separate charges from the underlying proceeding. Unlike civil contempt sanctions, criminal contempt charges have the potential to continue after the underlying case has been resolved. Criminal contempt charges may occur directly or indirectly. In order for one to occur directly, the act must take place in the presence of the court. In order for one to occur indirectly, the act must take place outside the presence of the court. Everyone is aware that failing to pay child support is followed by a list of consequences, but just how far does this list of consequences extend? In recent years, the Child Support Enforcement Program (CSE) has added new penalties to the list in order to encourage parents to catch up on unpaid child support. One of these recently added penalties includes your privilege to travel internationally.
The Child Support Enforcement Program is a collaborative program between the federal and state government that assists children and their families with the collection and enforcement of child support awards. As part of this program, once a custodial parent requests assistance, the CSE begins to monitor and enforce all payments. As a noncustodial parent falls behind in their payments, consequences arise. Once you become more than $2,500 behind in child support, the CSE notifies the U.S. Department of State, who then enrolls you in the Passport Denial Program. Beginning in 1997, once you are enrolled into this denial program, any issuance or renewal of a passport will be denied, and any passport you are currently in the possession of will be revoked. If you are behind by more than $2,500 in your child support payments and find yourself enrolled in the Passport Denial Program, you are not stuck. To remove these restrictions and regain eligibility, you must either pay all past due payments or agree to an acceptable payments arrangement. These payments must be arranged with the appropriate state child support enforcement agency - if you owe child support in multiple states, you must complete your payments in each state before moving forward with the removal process. Once all payments have been made or you are enrolled in a payment plan, the CSE will notify the Passport Denial Program, who will then remove your name from their national child support arrearage list. This may take up to 2-3 weeks. Once your name has been removed, you must then contact the National Passport Information Center in order for the continuation of your passport application, or to recover your current passport. An eviction is a process that allows a landlord to lawfully remove a tenant from the leased premises. In North Carolina, this can be a long and/or tedious process. There are four basic reasons that permit the eviction of a tenant:
When filing for an eviction, as the landlord, it is important to understand that even if the eviction is justified, the tenants can always find some way to defend themselves. Because of this, it is best that the landlord do their research before beginning the eviction process in order to know what is coming their way. Nonpayment of rent If a landlord is looking to evict their tenant due to a nonpayment of rent, the landlord must give a 10-day “notice to quit.” This notice to quit is a demand for payment by the landlord. Beginning on the day the notice is brought to the attention of the tenant, he or she has 10 days to pay their rent before the landlord is allowed to follow up with an eviction. The landlord cannot file for eviction until after the 10-day notice has been given and the tenant has failed to comply. Holdover tenant When a tenant remains on the premises after their lease or rental agreement has ended, they are known as a holdover tenant. As a landlord, you are not obligated to renew a lease with your tenant at the end of the current lease. If the landlord does not choose to renew the lease with their tenant, the tenant must then surrender possession of the property at the end of the current lease. Although a landlord has every right to not renew a lease, they are required to provide a termination notice prior to the end of the current lease. The criteria of this termination notice is listed below:
This notice of termination is also called an unconditional notice to quit, which says when the lease expires and states a deadline by which the tenant must vacate. If the tenant does not comply with the above notice, the landlord may proceed with the eviction process. Violation of Lease As a landlord, you have the legal right to evict your tenant if you find that they have violated or breached a specific condition of the lease. Such breaches may be that they have a pet even though the lease clearly states that pets are not allowed, or they have damaged property without making any reparations. Any willful or intentional damages made to the property are subject to a misdemeanor in the state of North Carolina. In a situation where a tenant has violated the lease, the landlord has no legal obligations to provide a notice before evicting the tenant. Unless the lease requires notice and an opportunity to cure, the landlord can file eviction papers upon learning of a violation. Illegal Criminal Activity For landlords looking to evict their tenant due to illegal criminal activity taking place on the premises, the state of North Carolina has an expedited eviction process. Defense by Tenants There are seven main defenses tenants may use to fight an eviction in North Carolina. While some of these defenses only relate to one or two of the reasons for eviction, most of them are applicable to all four reasons to evict a tenant.
Serving Eviction Papers in North Carolina After providing the tenant with a required notice, the landlord may then file for the eviction process through either the small claims court or the district court. It is important that the summons and the complaint are filed in the county in which the rental property is located. A complaint is a legal document that states the reasons one party seeks legal action against another. A clerk will provide a form titled “complaint in summary ejectment.” When filling out this complaint, the landlord must list all tenants whose names appear on the lease or rental agreement. A summons is a legal document that notifies a defendant (the tenant) that an action has been commenced. The summons will state a date and time on which the tenant should appear at a specified location to answer the complaint. Once the landlord has filled out all of the necessary paperwork, the county sheriff will serve the tenant with the summons and a copy of the complaint. After receiving these papers, the tenant may do one of two things: vacate the premises or fight the eviction at the eviction hearing. The tenant is not required to appear at the eviction hearing, however, it is highly recommended. If the tenant does not appear in court, it is known as a default judgment, meaning that the landlord automatically wins. After winning the eviction hearing or appeal, the landlord will then file for a “writ of possession,” which allows the landlord to forcibly remove the tenant from the premises. If the tenant remains on the property, the county sheriff will accompany the landlord and padlock the premises within seven days of receiving the writ of possession. Contact Adkins Law to arrange a consultation. Adkins Law has offices in Huntersville and Ballantyne for your convenience. |
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