Archive for February, 2009

Divorced Dads Tips: Understanding Winning Child Custody

Saturday, February 28th, 2009

DISCLAIMER: The following is NOT legal advice, nor is it a substitute for legal advice. If you are in Family Court you will need legal advice, so please see a lawyer.

Understanding Winning Custody of your children when you are a divorced dad requires a new way of looking at what Winning really means. For example, let’s say that you went to family court, spent $50,000.00 and won custody of your kids. You think “Ahhh, I’ve won.”

What if Mom drags you back into family court eight months later because she doesn’t like how you’re parenting? You’ve technically got custody of your kids, but what is that custody actually worth? Who is going to make the decision about your kids?

The judge. In effect the judge, on behalf of the government, has custody of your kids. Why is this good news for you? Even though that the majority of custody orders favor moms and designate “sole custody”, the important thing to remember is that her custody in itself is an illusion. For more information visit lawyers

This means that the fight for custody is also an illusion.

Say it out loud: “Custody is an illusion.” Just keep repeating that phrase to yourself until understanding starts to sink in.

Use Mom’s desire to gain custody as a negotiating chip to get time with your child, when the law is on her side in a custody dispute. When she is faced with getting what she wants for little cost versus having to spend a lot of money, she will likely opt for giving you what you want: TIME with your kids.

Make sure to connect time with your kids to how it benefits the kids. Don’t look at it as away to reduce child support. Get time with your kids and get that established. Pay the child support. Once that’s established, you can take a look at child support arrangements. If you fight over money, it becomes the main issue. They’ll claim that the only reason you want more time is so you can spend less on child support.

The best counter to that argument is: “By your logic, the only reason you want your kids so much is so you can use them to get that child support…” When you go back to court, you must litigate over the right issues. Be a peace maker, not a trouble maker…

BE FOCUSED: Your issue is you want time and influence with your child and it is fully possible to get that without having a custody order. For more information refer to legal assistance

In many places custody only means the right to make:
a) Religious Decisions
b) Medical Decisions
c) Educational Decisions
d) Legal Decisions

For medical, legal and educational decisions, if there is a strong disagreement, the family court judge decides. However, a judge will generally allow both parents to participate in their religion. They will not listen to any objections because, after all, the parents knew or reasonably should have known this might have been a bone of contention when they picked each others as parenting partners.

Most times going back to Family Court is either about child support, alimony, more access time or enforcement of access time. Most divorced dads confuse custody with access or time. Recognize that having custody does not end your problems with parenting time, it only trades one set of difficulties for another.

During my divorce, I wished for a divorce roadmap. That’s why we created a weekly telewebcast, to help men like yourself.

If you’ve lost in Family Court, don’t give up. There is always hope. You’ve likely lost because you didn’t understand that winning requires effectively “waging peace” for your children.

If you base your game plan and strategies upon those of successful fathers, you will improve your chances of success immeasurably. You need help from dads who have done what you are trying to do. Visit prepaid legal for more information.

Major Labels & Recording Contracts

Friday, February 27th, 2009

What is a major label? A Major label is one that demands a high fraction of the yearly retailing of records and has their own distribution system. Maybe you have heard of Warner Elektra Atlantic, BMG, SONY, and Universal Music Video & Distribution?? Well, those are four of the top Labels out there.

Pursuing a Major Label might be a lifelong dream of yours but that mean you should be hasty to sign the dotted line. Follow some of these pointers so you will know the facts and have the right questions to ask yourself before signing. For more information visit contracts

1. A&R: Better known as the Artist and Repertoire person. Do a little background research on this person. Find out who they helped get signed, who all they have worked with and for and how long they have been working for the label in question before signing any music business contracts.

2. Understand your options. And I don’t mean your regular old options. I am talking about the “options” or number of records you are required to record. According to research, the average is around five to eight records.

3. I know it may be exciting to sign recording contracts with major labels but find out some things first. You want to explore how many records that particular label releases annually. This is important because you need to have an idea of how much individual promotion you will be receiving. Don’t sign with a label that seems overwhelmed. (No matter how great you are, you don’t want to be put on the back burner!)

Now, let’s review some clauses in recording contracts that may be confusing or unrecognizable to the average Joe:

1. Ever heard of the Key Man Clause? Well, this is where you have the option of terminating your contract if a certain he/she leaves the label. There is a flip side to this, if a designated member of your group leaves the act then music contracts can become null and void.

2. Auditing and Accounting Clause is crucial. You need to ensure you have access to the books involved in your income and outflow of dollars. The same is true for accounting; you might want to make certain the financial records are reported to you on a regular basis.

3. Will you consider a sideman’s clause in your music business contracts? This often allows the band to do studio work on the side. The majority of the time, if you do not include this clause, your record label can prohibit you from working with another band or label on separate projects. For more information refer to legal forms

4. How many records are you to record and in what amount of time? Is there a specific duration involved in your recording contracts? This is referred to a term of the contract.

5. Lastly, recording costs and advances. These are crucial because it is all about money. Recording equals time and time equals money. Do not get out of control with recording costs because chances are music contracts are going to tell you that you have to pay this back. The same goes for advances. Advances for living, transportation, videos etc…will all be recouped so a word to the wise is don’t get out of control! Save your crazy spending until after you are a bona fide success!

These are the rules of the game! Keep all of this in mind when deciding whether you should sign with any major label. Don’t let your lifelong dream cloud your judgment. Your career is the most important thing and it can be ruined by signing with the wrong folks! Be smart and good luck!

Visit legal documents for more information.

Should You Leave Your Business Debt Collection To Collection Agencies?

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

Among the main problems that most people and businesses have today is that of collecting the sales that they have made through credit and terms. While such a practice was meant to boost sales and revenue, collection becomes the main problem of concern once the allotted allowance for settlement has arrived. Most companies suffer from bad debts from their receivables and such is a risk once a business establishment approves sales on credit.

Due to these unfortunate events, people would emphasize largely on trying to collect the said receivables even if they would lapse the given grace period for settlement of dues. However in some instances, the supposed client are really incapable of settling their account and thus leaves a company to resort to either seeking legal assistance or for some, recorded as bad debts which add to losses that would be incurred by a company. The latter is of course the extreme recourse once all means for collection has been exhausted, including that of referring such matters towards debt collection agencies. Refer to lawyers for more information

Resorting to Pro Collection Assistance
Probably the last of the alternatives that a company would have is that of seeking assistance from pro collection agencies to help offset the governing debt issues that any entity would find itself in. While this resolution would still garner significant losses for the company, the amount of loss that will evidently be incurred is lower than that of getting nothing at all in return. Certain percentage rates and commissions are among the overriding charges to be incurred since such fees serve as payments for availing of the service.

Comparing the expenses to be incurred in such a scenario would be compared to that of a company leaving the burden towards the hands of hired people in the finance or collections department. However, pro collection agencies are more adept to such scenarios, being aware of such problems and knowing the proper procedures to undertake. This also includes as far as handling the entire scenario in a legal aspect to which demand payment will suffice for erring people who refuse to settle their financial obligations with the organization that hired them. For more information visit legal assistance

Assessing the Rate of Expected Collection
For sure, the need to declare bad debts will be dramatically trimmed down. While there is no guarantee that such efforts would be able to remit all the outstanding obligations of endorsed past due accounts, getting a certain percentage over getting nothing at all is better for companies who want to manage their debt deficiencies.

The only factor that a company would put under consideration is the expenses to be incurred for the service. There are a lot of pro collection agencies known today and each would have different costs, depending on their level of expertise and track record. Either way, collecting the impending bad debts of an organization is the main point of concern. Maximizing all efforts to be able to get what is due is the main concern of anyone and large scale organizations are no exceptions.

Refer to prepaid legal for more information.

Consulting Agreements – Key Provisions

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

Consulting agreements are commonly used by businesses today. Consulting agreements can range from one page to 20 or more pages depending on the subject matter of the agreement and whether other agreements between the parties are included or are incorporated by reference. This summary will discuss in more detail the terms of the Sample Consulting Agreement form and the legal rights and obligations created under the agreement, as well as provisions that could be adapted to specific circumstances and arrangements.

Provisions of the Agreement and Duties and Obligations Created

The consulting agreement is an agreement between a consultant and a client that wishes to retain certain specified services of the consultant for a specified time at a specified rate of compensation. As indicated previously, the terms of the agreement can be quite simple or very complex. Below is a discussion of the more important issues to be considered in every consulting agreement. Refer to contracts

Scope of Work; Time; Compensation

It is important that the agreement for consulting services outline the specific services to be provided. Often a consulting agreement will contain an exhibit that lists the services expected of the consultant. This list can then be amended if necessary without the need to amend the entire agreement.

The time period in which the consultant is expected to complete his or her task should also be included in the agreement if applicable. Depending on the situation, the consultant may be expected to devote a specific number of hours per week or per month to the project, or may charge a flat fee when the services are more specific in nature. The hiring company may wish to include a “hold-back” provision alerting the consultant that a certain amount of the compensation will be withheld until the consultant has completed the task. Obviously, the inclusion of a hold-back provision and the amount that is “held-back” are often points of contention and should be negotiated.

Term and Termination

The term of the agreement is typically quantified in months or years. Most likely it will coincide with the compensation schedule. The client should also protect its interests by allowing it to terminate the agreement under certain conditions. Typically these conditions are (1) breach of confidentiality or non-solicitation provisions of the agreement, or (2) illegal activities that affect consultant’s performance under the agreement. Without this right to terminate the agreement, the client is obligating itself to the consultant even if the consultant has taken actions contrary to the client. For more information refer to legal forms

Copyrights and Data

The consulting agreement should address the use of the consultant’s work. Some agreements allow the client complete use of the physical product delivered by the consultant and may not include an assignment of copyright on the assumption that the consultant will want to retain the copyright. The best position for the client is to get complete ownership of not only the tangible documents that the consultant prepares, but also the copyrights to those documents. However, the consultant may demand considerable more compensation to assign this right making it impractical. It is very important, however, for the parties to clearly understand their respective rights relating to not only the physical documents but the copyrights as well.

Conflict of Interest; Non-Solicitation

Clients should consider including a non-competition clause in the agreement, at least for the term of the agreement and within the market area of the client. Any non-competition clause must be reasonable to be enforceable. Most consulting agreements also include a statement that the consultant will not solicit the client’s employees for at least the term of the agreement.

Miscellaneous Provisions

After spending considerable time negotiating the services to be performed, the compensation, the ownership rights to the work product, etc. it is often easy for parties to neglect the miscellaneous provisions that one typically finds at the end of the agreement. The parties should always pay careful attention to what law will govern the agreement, how disputes will be resolved, and, probably most importantly, the assignability of the rights and obligations under the agreement. Typically, the rights and obligations are not assignable since the client is hiring the consultant because of the consultant’s specific expertise and the consultant is agreeing to perform the services only for the client. There may be situations, however, where an assignment may be necessary, i.e. the client merges with or into another entity. For more information visit legal documents

Summary

Consulting agreements are frequently used in today’s business world and vary in complexity from simple, one-page documents to very complex, 20+ page documents. The terms detailed above, however, should be considered as basic requirements for any consulting agreement. With the key terms detailed in a written agreement, the parties will have reasonable expectations about services to be performed under the agreement and the consequences if those expectations are not met.

How To Seek Legal Assistance In Credit Repair

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

When you are entangle in negative credit, it can get to you as you will not be able to get credit to purchase your dream home or car. Although there are countless agencies who promise to repair your negative credit and restore your financial health, not all deliver on the promises.

There are numerous credit repair agencies out to make a fast buck and dishonestly mislead people in parting their cash and getting into all sort of legal problems. Beware of companies out to defraud and only stick to ethical and credible credit repair agencies. One essential thing to note is that if you chose to abide by less than upright agency, then you are as guilty of misdemeanor as the credit repair organization. It is with this in mind that you only seek legal credit repair when you decided to repair your unhealthy credit.

As all legal credit repair come under the purview of Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), it is essential to be acquainted with it. The act gave you the right to challenge inaccuracies in your credit report and it also affirms that you can obtain a free copy of your credit report if you have reason to question to believe that the credit report is inaccurate or if you were deprived of loans.

Free copy of the credit report can be obtained within a year from the three main credit bureaus. Do keep in mind that legal credit repair is the right solution to your credit woes and also keep your credit report free from mistakes and updated.

Trans Union, Equifax and Experian are the three major reporting bureaus and to make it easy, they do have a common website, annualcreditreport.com where you can obtain a free copy of the credit report. The initial step in legal credit repair is to get a copy and then check it for errors or outdated information.

If you encounter errors, FCRA lay down rules that you can challenge it at no cost to you and the three major reporting bureaus need to follow up within thirty days upon receiving it. Legal credit repair may take effort and patient but it is the necessary step to repair bad credit as restoring your credit standing will lead to ability to buy house, car, receiving loans and even getting employment.

Understanding the Fair Credit reporting Act is one thing but once most people do find themselves getting into financial mess, they will need to seek assistance but for a layperson to fully comprehend the intricacies of the credit industry is sometimes too much. You might need legal assistance and credit repair lawyers are in the best position to offer it. They know the nuances of the law and can provide solution to your credit troubles.

As people get into all sort of credit problem and some may be not of our own undoing, for instant getting into huge medical bills of loss of incomes. But we all know that it will create financial problem and dent your credit standing and credit repair lawyer is useful in this respect.

Credit repair lawyers can offer assistance to all sort of credit problem. Regardless of the type of credit troubles, be it charge-offs, delayed payment, Judgments or even bankruptcies, you are entitled to mount a legal case as stated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Refer to legal assistance for more information.

You can seek professional from a credit repair lawyer and they will be able to assist you in removing negative information from your credit report. Some do offer to help you seek legal course in the court of law.

Credit reports bear substantial weight when you seek to borrow, getting insurance policy, trying to obtain a good interest rate for your loan, additional credit line or even getting jobs. If there are factual errors or oversight, it can affect you tremendously.

That is where the credit repair lawyer comes in as they will assist you in checking and locating such problems and removing it. Negative credit rating includes delayed payment, defaulting on loans, foreclosures and judgment and it will affect a person credit standing. For more information visit prepaid legal

Credit repair lawyer is good in assisting one to get back to positive credit position when your credit problem has become too huge and overwhelmed you. The ways to seek trustworthy credit repair lawyer are through recommendations from friends or folks, credit counseling services and even the internet search engines

Buying Real Estate Property in Today’s World

Saturday, February 21st, 2009

Starting a home-based business of buying and selling houses for profit can be a huge success should you take the proper steps to get started. It is possible to start buying houses for just a little money and within a few days.

You do not need perfect credit and a lot of cash to get started in buying and selling real estate. You also do not need a real estate license in this business.

Here are the beginning methods behind almost all starting real estate investors who use little or no money to get started buying properties:

Join your local real estate investment organization or club for valuable help and resources you will need for long-term business success. Your education in real estate investing should be your largest cost in this business. for more information visit contracts

To succeed in a real estate investment atmosphere for a sustained time, a business marketing plan must be formed. A good business plan maps out activities that will lead to success. It lets you form clear paths for your business, and set goals with every step. A business plan allows you to own a business that is profitable on purpose, and not by accident.

Here is the foundation for almost all unconventional real estate transactions performed today:

Just about all mortgage loans used to be assumable, where the buyer and seller would come to an agreement. With a simple form filled out, the buyer agrees with the seller to take over payments on the existing mortgage. for more information visit Legal Forms

Today most mortgage loans contain a “due on sale” clause, where the mortgage lender has the right to demand payment in full should the ownership of the property be transferred.

This clause is not a law, but a piece added to many of today’s mortgage contracts. This clause is intended to limit the risks to the lender.

The costs associated with the exercise of this clause are substantial. Therefore, if payments are regularly made, lenders almost never take action to stop this type of transfer. Many times the lender will never even notice the transfer took place.

Today’s current form of real estate transfer is what is called the “Agreement For Deed” and is the foundation for current property transfers today. for more information refer to Legal Documents

By forming a clear business plan and by properly using real estate contracts, an individual or small business can purchase virtually “unlimited” properties using little or no money down.