General Interest

Immigration and family unification

Sunday, 01 November 2009 22:25 Atty. Kelly O’Reilly

THERE is nothing more important than family, I know this firsthand as I have been blessed with four daughters, a son and a beautiful wife. A big family by today’s standards and I wouldn’t change a thing. My family means everything to me and I cannot imagine what I would do if I were separated from them for any extended period of time.

As an immigration attorney, I am constantly reminded of the pain of family separation and how the immigration process actually keeps families apart rather than bringing them together. Long processing times, complex paperwork, difficult terms and concepts, proof of relationships, investigations by federal officers coupled with basic bureaucratic delays often result in moms, dads and kids desperately seeking my assistance in bringing their families back together.

Converting bankruptcy cases

Sunday, 01 November 2009 22:23 Atty. Lawrence Yang

A BANKRUPTCY petition filed under one chapter of the bankruptcy code may be converted into a petition under a different chapter of the code. The debtor himself can request the conversion, or the court itself by its own motion or the US Trustee or the trustee administering the bankruptcy estate, or any interested party may move to have a case converted to a different chapter of the code. § 706 states that the debtor may convert a case under chapter 7 to a case under chapter 11, 12, or 13 at any time, if the case has not been previously converted under § 1112, 1208, or 1307. Debtor’s right to convert case is almost absolute if there has been no prior conversion. However, there have been cases where the court has denied debtor the right to convert where debtor has been found to be in bad faith. Hence, the right to convert is not 100% bulletproof. But a debtor who has filed his original case in good faith should not see any obstacle to converting case if he so chooses as long as no prior conversions have occurred.

Why wait until your debt problems become a financial emergency?

Sunday, 01 November 2009 22:21 Atty. Raymond Bulaon

ARE you struggling with unpaid bills, lawsuits or perhaps an imminent judgment or wage garnishment by a creditor? Are you afraid of what creditors may do to you, your property or your assets? Most people have no clue so sometimes, the tendency is to ignore their debt problems and pretend that they don’t exist. The truth, however, is that ignoring your debt problems can be the worst mistake you’ll ever make.

People with debt problems often act like they can run away from their own shadow. Their shadow follows them wherever they go and whatever they do. They could change jobs, start another business, move to a new neighborhood or a different state but they just can’t get away from their "shadow" no matter how hard they try.

Understanding medicare

Sunday, 01 November 2009 22:15 Evangeline A. Giron

AS Americans live longer than ever, Medicare is probably the most popular of all health insurance programs. Medicare is a health insurance program for people age 65 or older, people under age 65 with certain disabilities, and people with end-stage renal disease (permanent kidney failure requiring dialysis or a kidney transplant).

The original Medicare has two parts: Part A - hospital insurance- which in most cases were paid by most people through their payroll taxes when they were working and Part B- medical insurance-which is paid monthly by the insured.

Why wait until your debt problems become a financial emergency?

Thursday, 29 October 2009 20:59 Atty. Raymond Bulaon

Are you struggling with unpaid bills, lawsuits or perhaps an imminent judgment or wage garnishment by a creditor? Are you afraid of what creditors may do to you, your property or your assets? Most people have no clue so sometimes, the tendency is to ignore their debt problems and pretend that they don’t exist. The truth, however, is that ignoring your debt problems can be the worst mistake you’ll ever make.