Title: August 18, 2004
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 12 years of experience. She moved to Tehachapi in June 2003 and resides in Alpine Forest. She operates her law practice from her home office and also has a satellite office in Lancaster. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities.
Q. I have been paying my ex-wife child support for the last 10 years for my daughter. This has been done through garnishment of my paychecks. At the beginning of August, my daughter turned 18. How much longer am I supposed to pay child support for her?
A. You failed to tell me whether or not she graduated from high school yet. If she is still a full-time high school student, you must pay child support until she turns 19 year old or graduates from high school, whichever comes first. If your daughter graduated from high school already, you must file a Motion to Terminate the child support with the same court that ordered it. If your checks are being garnished, your employer needs a court order to terminate the garnishment. Unfortunately, garnishment does not stop automatically the day your daughter is no longer entitled to child support. You must initiate the change.
Q. I am purchasing a second home while selling my first one. I already live in the new home, despite the fact that escrow has not closed yet. I am paying rent to live there. The buyer of my “old” home and her agent have not contacted in more than six weeks, and it appears this buyer cannot get a loan, despite the fact that she was supposed to be pre-qualified. I had to fix several items that she requested I fix before escrow closes. The date we had decided for escrow to close has long past and gone. I now have a second buyer, who is eager to purchase my home for an all cash transaction. I don’t want to lose this second buyer. What do I do?
A. Without seeing your Agreement to Purchase, I can guess that the house purchase was contingent upon obtaining a loan. If she cannot get the loan she applied for and is now shopping around for another loan, it might be a while. I suggest that you give the buyer either a Notice to Perform or to Cancel the transaction. If the repaired items were not too terribly expensive, or if they were items that needed fixing no matter which buyer buys the house, you should return her deposit back at the end of the time stated on the Notice to Perform and Cancel. That way, there are no hard feelings, otherwise you might be entangled in protracted litigation over her deposit.
Forward questions to maxinedev@msn.com , drop questions at the Tehachapi News, located at 411 N. Mill St., or send them to POB 1840, Tehachapi, CA 93581
Showing posts with label cash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cash. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Legal Eaze #57 Help Avoid Consumer Debt - Make A Budget
HELP AVOID CONSUMER DEBT - MAKE A BUDGET (Date: 10/13/06)
By: Maxine de Villefranche
As an attorney doing family law, I see the state of total disarray in many people's personal finances during the initial consultation. A common problem is that these people have no idea what they spend each month and don’t realize they’re often spending more than they earn. Many of them have numerous credit cards, and many people filing for divorce, among others, have $50,000 or more in credit card debts.
When you are sick, you pay careful attention to the medicine that the doctor prescribes. When you’re on a diet, you pay attention to the food you eat and weigh yourself every day. Yet most of us don't track how much we spend each month. You may know how much you spend on fixed bills like rent, but chances are that you don’t know to the nearest $100 how much you spend in total.
A budget is essential to taking control of your finances. Maybe there is a place you can tighten your belt. Maybe there isn't. How do you know where to cut back if you don't even know what you're spending?
Try this for one week (or better yet, for a month): you don't need to track every penny, but why not track every dollar you spend during the day? Save your receipts and jot down your daily expenditures. Keep a running tab so you know your month-to-date spending every day. When given a choice, use your debit card, not cash. Keep your debit receipts to make tracking easier and to make your spending more visible.
The biggest enemy of spending control is the ATM. You will be surprised how many "little things" gobble up those $40 withdrawals: cash for Starbucks here, cash for a donut or a muffin there. You then pay with cash as you go out for lunch, and there goes another $10 and it's not even 2 p.m. yet!
Once you make the commitment to track your spending, you can see where you can cut back if you need to. Give yourself an allowance of spending money: one ATM withdrawal of cash per week. Make that $20 or $40 last the whole 7 days. Make the commitment to spend no more cash than absolutely necessary. And continue to track each dollar.
You can't fix the problem until you know what the problem is. Knowing your spending can help you cut back where there is waste. Most importantly, adjusting your spending can help you meet your ultimate goal of saving money to pay off your credit card bills, a down payment for your own home or pay off your home sooner, or for your retirement. Adding $100 to your monthly mortgage payment, or to your car payment will pay either that much sooner. Making a larger payment than just the minimum payment will help you save a lot of money on interest on your credit cards too.
By: Maxine de Villefranche
As an attorney doing family law, I see the state of total disarray in many people's personal finances during the initial consultation. A common problem is that these people have no idea what they spend each month and don’t realize they’re often spending more than they earn. Many of them have numerous credit cards, and many people filing for divorce, among others, have $50,000 or more in credit card debts.
When you are sick, you pay careful attention to the medicine that the doctor prescribes. When you’re on a diet, you pay attention to the food you eat and weigh yourself every day. Yet most of us don't track how much we spend each month. You may know how much you spend on fixed bills like rent, but chances are that you don’t know to the nearest $100 how much you spend in total.
A budget is essential to taking control of your finances. Maybe there is a place you can tighten your belt. Maybe there isn't. How do you know where to cut back if you don't even know what you're spending?
Try this for one week (or better yet, for a month): you don't need to track every penny, but why not track every dollar you spend during the day? Save your receipts and jot down your daily expenditures. Keep a running tab so you know your month-to-date spending every day. When given a choice, use your debit card, not cash. Keep your debit receipts to make tracking easier and to make your spending more visible.
The biggest enemy of spending control is the ATM. You will be surprised how many "little things" gobble up those $40 withdrawals: cash for Starbucks here, cash for a donut or a muffin there. You then pay with cash as you go out for lunch, and there goes another $10 and it's not even 2 p.m. yet!
Once you make the commitment to track your spending, you can see where you can cut back if you need to. Give yourself an allowance of spending money: one ATM withdrawal of cash per week. Make that $20 or $40 last the whole 7 days. Make the commitment to spend no more cash than absolutely necessary. And continue to track each dollar.
You can't fix the problem until you know what the problem is. Knowing your spending can help you cut back where there is waste. Most importantly, adjusting your spending can help you meet your ultimate goal of saving money to pay off your credit card bills, a down payment for your own home or pay off your home sooner, or for your retirement. Adding $100 to your monthly mortgage payment, or to your car payment will pay either that much sooner. Making a larger payment than just the minimum payment will help you save a lot of money on interest on your credit cards too.
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