How To Find Out If A Divorce Has Been Filed

When a marriage goes wrong, a common threat you may hear is, “I’ve filed for divorce and am taking everything!” Another scenario is that you’ve heard rumors that your estranged spouse is dating or has remarried, which is a surprise because you didn’t know you were divorced. Most often, it is a nagging suspicion that something is wrong. With some knowledge about the legal records system you can verify if a divorce has been filed. You need to know the truth. Sometimes it is to protect your rights. Other times it is for your own peace of mind.

PREPARING FOR YOUR SEARCH

Educate yourself about divorce. In order to be divorced, a court has to rule that the marriage contract is dissolved and no longer exists. Without a judgment by the court, there is no divorce. Avoiding divorce myths can help you find the information that you need.

• There is no such thing as a “secret divorce” or “emergency divorce.” Divorce proceedings are public records governed by state law. Some details, especially concerning children, may be sealed by the court, but the existence of the divorce, the parties, and the case number are public records and those records can be found.

• Divorce must be granted by a court. There is no “common law divorce,” meaning that if you are separated for a certain amount of time, you are automatically divorced. A divorce action does not begin until a petition is filed with the court.

• On the other side, there is no requirement for you to consent to the divorce. A common myth is that you can only be divorced if you agree. Your spouse can file for a divorce in any court where she can establish jurisdiction.

• No divorce can proceed without giving you notice. However, depending on the circumstances, that notice may be in a newspaper in your, or your spouse’s, hometown. Don’t assume that because you haven’t been served that there isn’t a divorce proceeding pending.

Gather your information. To investigate and get information from public records, you need some basic information. The first is your spouse’s full legal name, especially if it is common. A large jurisdiction will have many actions involving “Joseph Smith.” Your searches must include, at a minimum, the middle initial and usually the full name. Next is your spouse’s county of residence. This is not a deal-breaker, especially if you have been separated a long time, but without it, your search will be much more difficult. Other information including date of birth and Social Security number will help you narrow the searches.

Prioritize your search areas. Typically, divorce can only be filed in states where one party has lived for at least six months and the county were one party has lived from one to three months. The first county on the list will be where you live. The next, if you are separated, is where your spouse lives. If your spouse has disappeared, take some educated guesses, such as the counties where his closest friends and family live. Your goal is to narrow your initial search as much as possible.

• Divorce is an action of state law. As a result, there is no national compilation of divorce records.

• If your estranged spouse is active duty military, National Guard, or active reserves, check both the state and county where he is stationed and the state and county where he lived for at least six months before his most recent deployment. Most state laws recognize both of these locations as residency for a divorce action.

CONDUCTING YOUR SEARCH

Contact your spouse’s attorney. If you know your spouse has retained an attorney, you can contact him and ask if a divorce has been filed. However, the attorney has a duty of confidentiality to his client and is under no obligation to give you any information. If the answer is “no” or evasive, keep searching in order to verify whether a divorce has been filed.

• If the answer is “yes,” you have several options. The first is to contact an attorney of your own and let her deal with your spouse on your behalf. Next is to deal directly with his attorney. If you don’t have children and very little property, the divorce maybe be as simple as arranging a meeting to sign agreements.

• Remember that while your spouse’s attorney may be very nice and helpful, he represents your spouse and his interests, not you. If are feel uncomfortable or pressured, back off and contact your own attorney. You have a right to copies of all documents and time to review them outside the attorney’s office.

Confront your spouse and family. This will depend on your individual situation. If your relationship with him is safe, meaning no history of domestic violence, sometimes the direct approach is the best. If your relationship with his family is cordial, a phone call to a parent or sibling may tip you to the truth.

Conduct an online search. Check the social media pages for your spouse, his closest friends, and family. Also run an online of search of your spouse’s name and “divorce.” You may pick up an online docket or catch someone gossiping.

• Be very careful and verify you have found your spouse. In informal forums, people may use nicknames, odd spellings, and not use full names. However, it still gives you a place to start.

Some states allow you to check family court records online, but the rules for this depend on the jurisdiction. You must usually be a party to the case, and in some states, even this isn’t enough – you must be an attorney. But the records are open to the public in some jurisdictions. Type the name of the state where you’re looking into a search engine, then add the phrase “court records” to find out if your state offers this convenience.

Check the Newspaper

If your spouse doesn’t know where you’re currently living or working – maybe because you separated years ago then moved out of state – he can’t have you personally served with divorce papers through traditional means. However, he can ask the judge for permission to serve you by publication if he can prove that he looked for you in every nook and cranny, contacted friends and loved ones, and searched public databases and social media. If so, the judge will allow him to serve you by placing a notice in the largest newspaper, either locally or serving the locality where he last knew you to reside. Contact newspapers in your previous places of residence – and his – and ask them to check their records for such a notice. Depending on the newspaper, you might even be able to do this online.

Contact your local courthouse. Court clerks will speak to you over the phone, but in large counties they are very busy and may be brusque or not check the records thoroughly. It is better to go to the courthouse in person.

• Most courthouses have a public records computer terminal. You can search by your name or the name of your spouse. Check them carefully and get the right file. The documents can usually be printed for a small fee.

• Ask the court clerk’s office for help. The counter clerk can look records up for you and confirm whether a divorce has been filed. If so, you can get copies of the documents for a small fee.

Contact the courthouse where your spouse lives. If your spouse has moved to another county, you can contact that courthouse. The process is the same, you can contact them in person or by phone. You can also send a records request by mail. You will need to send a letter with both parties’ full legal names and birth dates. It is also good to include the last four digits of the Social Security numbers to cut down on the possibility of duplicate records.

• There may be a fee for this service. Contact the court clerk’s office to find out the cost and how to send payment with your written request.

Make requests in multiple counties. If you do not have an address for your spouse, you can call, visit, or send written requests to multiple counties where you believe your spouse may be living. This is more time-consuming, but may be the only way if you do not have an address.

Contact your local sheriff’s office. One duty of the county sheriff is to act as process server for legal documents. If your spouse is local, in another county, or even another state, they may have sent the divorce documents to the sheriff to serve on you. This is very common because it is economical and easy to arrange.

• If you work odd hours or travel, the sheriff may have been trying to contact you. If you find out the sheriff has divorce papers for you, arrange to pick them up as soon as possible. Avoiding service doesn’t stop the divorce.

Search legal publications. If you and your spouse have been separated for a long time, or you have moved, the court may have allowed your spouse to effect service via publication in the local legal notice newspaper. Every county in the United States has at least one newspaper designated for publication of legal notices.

• Start with the most likely counties first. Where you live and where your spouse lives. Expand your search from there.

• Some states has searchable databases of legal notices. Others will require that you contact the newspaper by phone or in writing.

Hire a professional. Whether you want to hire an attorney to continue your search for a divorce filing or a private investigator to track down your ex so you can ask him or her if a divorce was ever filed, hiring a professional may be a good idea.

Vacating a Default Judgment

If your spouse somehow manages to get a default judgment for divorce because you never knew about the proceedings, all is not lost. Courts order default judgments or decrees when one spouse doesn’t participate in the divorce, often giving the filing spouse everything he asked for in his complaint or petition. But most states give you a period of time to petition the court to set the judgment aside or vacate it, particularly if you never received notice of the proceedings. Your spouse typically must file some sort of proof of service with the court as part of the proceedings, telling the court how he served you. If he didn’t tell the truth or service was by publication, the court will almost certainly grant your petition and reopen the proceedings. In that case, the whole divorce process will start over.

COMPLETING YOUR SEARCH

Contact state Vital Statistics office. If you have been separated with little or no contact for at least a year, there is a chance your spouse may have completed a divorce without your knowledge. She may have lied about not knowing your location and the court granted the divorce by default when you failed to respond. Each state has a vital statistics office where they record all marriages, births, deaths, and final divorces. Some states have searchable databases, others require that you request the information by mail. There may be a fee for this service. Start with the most likely states and work your way out.

• Use your favorite search engine and search “STATE vital statistics”. For example, to find Ohio’s website, search “Ohio vital statistics”.

• If there is a divorce record, it will include the county where it was granted and you can get a copy of the documents.

Plan your next move. If you discover a divorce has been filed, you can’t ignore it. Divorce cases have tight deadlines and if you miss one, you could lose important rights. This is especially true if there is property or children involved.

• Read the documents thoroughly. If you agree with the divorce and do not wish to contest it, contact your spouse or his attorney to finalize the agreements.

• If you want to contest, you should consult with a family law attorney as soon as possible.

Deal with a previously granted divorce. If you discover that a divorce has been granted, you need to get copies of the documents and decree as soon as possible and read them thoroughly.

• If you agree with the divorce, or don’t care, you can let it stand, even if your former spouse lied to get the divorce.

• If you do not agree, you can contact an attorney about modifying or overturning the divorce. Even if the appeal period has passed, if the divorce was gained through fraud, you may be able to vacate the judgment. It is not easy, but may be worth it, for example, if your spouse has considerable financial assets that you would have been entitled to share.

One of the most common lies told in this type of divorce is your spouse saying she couldn’t find you for service and effecting service by publication.

Divorce Attorney Free Consultation

When you need legal help with a Divorce Lawyer in Utah, please call Ascent Law LLC (801) 676-5506 for your Free Consultation. We do child custody cases, divorce cases, and all types of family law. We want help you.

Ascent Law LLC
8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C
West Jordan, Utah
84088 United States
Telephone: (801) 676-5506

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Real Estate Lawyer Lindon Utah

The Fifth Amendment states that private property can only be taken for a “public use.” If the government or other condemnors may take private property only for valid public uses, how do we determine if the taking is for a public or private use? The “public use” doctrine can be described as an “essentially contested concept.” This suggests that its meaning has been subject to debate over time. Various courts and legislatures have defined “public use” either from a narrow or a broad perspective. A narrow reading of “public use” indicates “used by the public.” Under this definition, uses such as for bridges, highways, and schools qualify as valid public uses because the public, or at least some segment of it, can actually physically use the property. Critical here is that more than one person benefits and uses the property.

A second, broader definition of “public use” equates the meaning to include the “public advantage,” “promoting the public welfare,” the “public good,” and “public necessity.” Here it is not essential that the public actually use the property so long as they benefit from the taking in some way. Again, more than one person must benefit from use of eminent domain. This meaning suggests that almost any project can be construed as a public use, as long as it is shown that it furthers economic development, public welfare, or a better use of local resources. If your property is being taken away by the state or city for public use, contact an experienced Lindon Utah real estate lawyer.

What is critical to any conception of seeking to determine what constitutes a valid public use is what the term does not permit. The Takings clause does not permit employment of eminent domain for a private use. Efforts to distinguish between a public use and a private benefit have produced various tests. They range, as noted above, from insisting that the public have a right to use the property taken, or that everyone must benefit from the project for the condemnation to be considered valid, to a private acquisition being one where the private benefits are primary and not secondary to the public benefits.

Despite these tests, it remains difficult to differentiate between a public and a private use for a few reasons.

The most important factor affecting the meaning of public use is that local customs and conditions have significantly influenced the meaning in both the United States and individual state constitutions. Irrigation of private property in a dry climate, given local weather conditions, the state of the economy, and patterns of land ownership may be considered a valid public use in one community; such irrigation in a wet climate may not be considered a valid public use, but may instead be seen as simply favoring a private interest. Legislatures are clearly influenced by local conditions when determining eminent domain policy, and local courts pay great respect to local determinations of public use. The law on what constituted a valid “public use” was constructed from the bottom up, with local jurisdictions basing determinations upon local conditions and needs.

The government has broad authority to take private property valid public use so long as just compensation is paid to the owner. The question of why a specific piece of property should be acquired is a question about planning. It is about whether there is an alternative way to accomplish the same project without taking a specific piece of land or property. One of the ugly legacies of the 1950s and 1960s was that many highways and economic redevelopment projects appeared to target low-income neighborhoods and communities populated by people of color. These projects often split neighborhoods in two, relocated scores of individuals, or otherwise devised plans that either seemed blind to the impact it was having upon these populations or, even worse, were purposely directed toward them. In either case, asking why a specific piece of property needed to be taken raises some questions about the planning process, the potential political motives, and perhaps a host of other issues and that questioned the reasoning for the taking.

what legal process must be followed for the government to take property? Clearly it is the case, first, that not just anyone can use eminent domain to take property. In most cases, a private person who tries to take the property of someone else would be committing theft or stealing. Thus, the person taking the property, a condemnor, must be legally empowered to use eminent domain. In most cases, the condemnor is the government. This could be the federal government, or it could be a state or local government such as a city. But a government condemnor could also be its agent. It might be a department of transportation, or perhaps a parks department. In addition, the condemnor could also be an economic development agency of a state or local government. It could also be an airport, or any of a score of other governmental or quasi-governmental units giving the power of eminent domain. While states have inherent authority to condemn, these other units of government do not have the authority to use eminent domain unless given authority by a state government. This means that, lacking statutory authorization, a city or town cannot take property.

But the government is not the only possible condemnor. Governments can also designate private corporations or individuals to be condemnors. In many situations, governments have given eminent-domain authority to public utilities, such as power companies, so that they can build transmission lines for electricity or gas. Railroads, as noted earlier, have been given the power of eminent domain, as have telecommunications companies. All of them have been given this authority so that they can provide functions or services that elected officials have decided are in the public good to provide. However, in some cases, governments may even give eminent-domain authority to private individuals for the same reasons that it may be given to a corporation. Thus, while a condemnor is usually a governmental entity, it need not always be so.

Imagine that a condemnor wants to use eminent domain to acquire property. In particular, imagine that someone wants to condemn or take your home or business with eminent domain. If that were to occur, what must the government (or any condemnor) do in order to take your property? Contrary to what many might think, the decision to take property is not a big surprise to most owners and the process is not usually arbitrary. Instead, several steps must usually be followed or complied with before the government can actually take title to property.

Roughly, there are three basic processes for using eminent domain. The most basic is when the government actually uses eminent domain to take private property. The second invokes what are called “quick-take laws” to expedite the taking process. Quick-take laws allow for property to be condemned even if all the issues surrounding the taking, such as the price for the property, have not been resolved. The third is when an owner either alleges a regulatory taking or when the government has allegedly taken property and the owner sues to seek compensation. This is called an inverse condemnation action.

Normal Taking

The first and most basic process is when the government intends to acquire specific property for the purposes of some project, such as the building of a highway or perhaps a new shopping center. This type of condemnation project will be referred to as a “normal taking.” A normal taking just does not occur out of nowhere. It is rare that the government just decides at the spur of the moment and without notice to use its eminent-domain power to acquire property for the purposes of building a road or a shopping center. While it is possible that in a real emergency, such as a natural disaster, eminent domain might be deployed rather suddenly, this would definitely be a rare exception to what happens with a normal taking. In most emergency situations, the law already allows the government to enter or seize property and that is not considered an act of eminent domain. For example, if one’s house caught on fire and firefighters entered the property to extinguish the blaze, owners could not sue for trespass or claim that a taking had occurred.

Moreover, if in nonemergency situations the government did act without notice to the owner to take property, that would be a violation of the law and the owner would have sufficient remedies and defenses to challenge such an action. In brief, the way the government acted here probably would have violated the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment .While many might think that the decision to take property is a sudden or perhaps an unexpected or quick decision, the reality is that, by the time the government has decided to use eminent domain to acquire property, numerous actions have already taken place. The actual use of eminent domain is generally a last resort or last step in a process the government uses when it wishes to undertake a public project.

In the case of a normal taking, there are several steps in the condemnation process:

• Government develops a comprehensive plan for development

• Public hearings held on the comprehensive plan

• Specific plan for development is created

• Hearings on the specific plan is held

• Properties needed for the project are identified

• Properties are appraised

• Condemnor/developer begin efforts with property owners to purchase property

• Relocation assistance for tenants, owners

• If owners sell, then condemnors take title of property

• Government passes resolution/hearing to initiate condemnation process

• Hearing held on public use and condemnation resolution

• Owner notified of intent to condemn and served with papers

• Court hearing for condemnation scheduled

• Pretrial motions, hearings scheduled

• Court hearing and trial

• Court judgment

• Appeals, if any

• Enforcement of judgment

• Government takes title

Generally, the first step in any condemnation process takes place years earlier, before the government actually moves to acquire a piece of property, at the planning stage. There are two types of plans that a government might undertake as part of planning a project. The first is a comprehensive plan, and the second is a plan for a specific project. A comprehensive plan is the most basic type of plan that a government can create when it comes to land use within its borders. Many states have laws that comprehensive plans have to be developed and rewritten every so many years, such as once per decade following the census. A comprehensive plan first performs a survey of how property is currently used in an area. It examines, among other things, the current zoning code, for example. It compares how all the parcels of land in a city are zoned to how they are actually used.

Another task of a comprehensive plan is to look at the current demographics of a community. These demographics include information we would want to know about the ages, size of families, birth and death rates, and immigration and emigration patterns. This information is useful in terms of trying to know if the population is increasing or decreasing, where people are moving to, and how living patterns may be changing.

Yet another task of a comprehensive plan is to understand the current state of business in a community—what types of business, commerce, and so on, is taking place. Again, it is useful to inventory this information so that one can learn something about the services available in an area, asking if the community has sufficient grocery stores or other services it may need or want. Finally, the comprehensive plan might also look at other issues such as roads and highways, mass transit and transportation routes, the quality and availability of local government services, health care needs and delivery, the tax base, crime, and perhaps a host of other factors. In a nutshell, the comprehensive plan seeks to take a picture of a community in an effort to understand its strengths and weaknesses.

If your property has been included in a comprehensive plan, consult an experienced Lindon Utah real estate lawyer. It is important that you make your objections heard.

Lindon Utah Real Estate Attorney

When you need help with real estate law in Lindon Utah, please call Ascent Law LLC (801) 676-5506 for your Free Consultation. We do evictions, foreclosures, quiet titles, easements, boundary distupes, and all types of real estate law. We want to help you.

Ascent Law LLC
8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C
West Jordan, Utah
84088 United States
Telephone: (801) 676-5506

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How Much Does It Cost To Stop Foreclosure?

One of the considerations in deciding whether or not you should hire a lawyer to help you fight your foreclosure is the cost. It’s important to understand how legal fees work to make sure that you don’t end up paying more than you can afford.

Foreclosure Defense

Most foreclosure defense attorneys structure their fee agreements with homeowners in one of three ways:
• by charging the homeowner an hourly rate
• collecting a flat fee from the homeowner, or
• Charging a monthly rate.

Fees and Costs

Defaulting homeowners usually are charged late fees on every missed mortgage payment right up until their home’s foreclosure sale. Depending on the size of the mortgage loan, accumulated late fees for missed payments can add hundreds of dollars to a borrower’s mortgage bill. While properties in default move toward foreclosure, lenders may add charges for default-related services. During the foreclosure period, lenders’ attorney fees, property title searches, and costs for serving homeowners with foreclosure notices also accumulate.

What Factors cause Foreclosure Costs to Vary?

How much a lawyer charges will certainly be a factor in the cost of a foreclosure? However, there are many other considerations ultimately determine how expensive the process will be. Below is a general lay out of the costs typically associated with home foreclosure.

• Type of Foreclosure – The cost of a foreclosure can vary largely on whether the mortgage loan has just recently fallen into default and the homeowners are willing to surrender the property, or if they are going to attempt to reinstate the home loan or otherwise defend against the foreclosure process.

• Costs – It is not uncommon for a loan servicer to assess additional charges against a borrower in default. Default-related fees include:

o Property inspection and preservation costs

o Foreclosure costs and fees, including: Filing fees notice and certified mailing costs, where a loan is reinstated, and potentially the lender’s attorney’s fees.

o Corporate advances

• Attorney’s Fees – Generally, each party will be responsible for their own costs. However, there are some instances where the lender may seek to have the borrower pay for a portion or all of their foreclosure fees. Moreover, these fees may vary depending on how complicated the defense will be and how long the foreclosure will take.

What Goes into Determining a Lawyer’s Fees?

The primary reasons for the large disparity in the cost of a foreclosure are:

• The type of foreclosure defense strategy

• The lawyer’s fee structure

Generally, foreclosure lawyers either bill through a flat fee or by the hour. If a lawyer charges a flat fee, expect to pay $1,000-$4,000. There is a common misconception that a lower fee may indicate a low quality legal representation; however nothing could be further from the truth. A lower fee is simply an assessment of what work the lawyer expects to do with respect to the difficulty of the case.

Thus, if a foreclosure is going to be quick and relatively straight forward, a lawyer will likely charge a lower flat fee. By contrast, if the borrower is adamant about continuing to live in the house, or is otherwise putting forth difficult foreclosure defenses, the fee will likely be higher.

Hourly Rate

Some foreclosure defense attorneys charge an hourly rate for their services. The rate can range from around $100 per hour to several hundred dollars per hour. With this type of fee arrangement, the lawyer generally collects an initial retainer—an advance payment to the attorney before he or she starts to work on your case—of several thousand dollars. The retainer amount and hourly rate varies widely, depending on the attorney’s experience and the customary rates in the area.

How an hourly rate works. Say you give your foreclosure defense attorney a $2,000 retainer. She charges $200 per hour. First, she reviews all of the documents in your case. Then, she prepares and files an answer and affirmative defenses to the foreclosure action. All of this takes five hours. The attorney also spends time preparing for and attending a foreclosure mediation with you. You’ll also get billed for the time it takes to make phone calls and emails related to your case. This too adds up to five hours. The retainer is now gone and the attorney hasn’t even attended any foreclosure hearings yet. Because the attorney must do more work, you’ll have to make further payments.

Pros and cons. The benefit to this type of fee arrangement is you’ll only pay the attorney for the amount of time he or she actually works on your case. The downside is that while the attorney will probably be able to give you a likely range of what you’ll pay in total, you won’t get an exact price as far as what the total cost of the foreclosure defense will be—and hourly fees can add up quickly.

Flat Fee

Some attorneys charge a flat fee to represent homeowners in a foreclosure. Generally speaking, the fee can range from $1,500 to $4,000 depending on the complexity of the case.

Pros and cons. The benefit to paying a flat fee is that you know ahead of time exactly what the total cost of your foreclosure defense will be. Whether it takes five months or two years to dismiss the foreclosure—or for the lender to complete the process—you know that this is all you’ll pay. The downside is that not all foreclosure attorneys offer this option and you’ll have to pay the fee upfront, which is difficult for many distressed homeowners.

Some foreclosure attorneys charge an upfront retainer ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars, and then a monthly fee (like $500) for each month that the foreclosure is pending. In addition, attorneys have been known to charge an extra fee on top of this—called a contingent fee—if the case is dismissed as a result of the firm’s efforts.

You Must Also Pay Costs

Foreclosure defense attorneys will also charge for costs, like mailing, travel expenses, and court costs, on top of their fee.

When the financial crisis occurred, it became difficult for many people, including attorneys, to find work. As a result, many attorneys became foreclosure defense “experts” overnight marketing their services to homeowners in distress. In some cases, the fees that attorneys charge for services related to foreclosure are not reasonable. This means you need to be careful and do your research when hiring an attorney to fight your foreclosure. Ultimately, when trying to decide if a foreclosure defense fee is reasonable, ask yourself whether the attorney is charging a fair amount considering the services provided or is he or she trying to get a windfall from your situation.

Be aware, as well, that many scammers prey upon homeowners in foreclosure. Take steps to avoid foreclosure rescue scams.

An overview of total fees

The cost of preventing a foreclosure is not easily categorized. We assume that it includes the staff costs of talking to the borrower, collecting financial documents (a task we have noted seems unreasonably difficult for the borrower) reviewing the documents, ordering and reviewing the appraisal, the cost of that appraisal (more likely to be a less expensive brokers price opinion or BPO) and the preparation of a justification to decision makers for any workout plan.

We have seen figures from non-profits that the cost of averting a foreclosure through the use of credit counseling from a non-profit agency approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development can range from a bit under $1,000 to $14,000 and we don’t quite know what to do with that large and disparate range. We do know that counseling programs vary greatly and we assume that those on the high side include programs that provide emergency funds to homeowners to bring loans current while those on the low side are primarily advising and educating their clients.

But the ,293 cost to foreclosure figure seems fairly easy to document and, compared to others that are widely bandied about ‘ from ,000 to 30 percent of the pre-foreclosure value of the house ‘ seems reasonable.
First of all, the cost does not accrue totally to the lender. The homeowner has a typical loss of $7,200 which includes loss of equity in the property, moving expenses, and perhaps some legal fees.

Those neighbors living in close proximity to the foreclosed house suffer $1,508 in losses from the decrease in the value of their own home as the neighborhood begins to deteriorate.

The local government loses $19,227 through diminished taxes and fees and a shrinking tax base as home prices decrease. This is a hard number to justify. First of all, only a portion of the declining tax base is due to foreclosures. A big chunk of it is based on falling prices community wide. And we’ll bet that even as we talk about it local governments are busy adjusting assessments and mill-levies to keep total revenues close to pre-housing crisis levels. This means that the neighbor’s share of the costs should be higher as they absorb increased tax levels.

Also, while the cities and towns are permanently losing some income from fees such as trash pick-up and water and sewer charges, if and when the house is sold they will collect back property taxes or, if they remain unpaid, they will become the owners of the property through tax title. (That opens a whole new area of concern, but one for discussion on a different day.)

That leaves us with total costs of $50,000 for the lender under the numbers produced by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. The Committee does not break out these figures but a new study from Standard & Poor’s (S&P) does. While there is not a total match between the two sets of data, they are close enough.

The Committee includes the following in its list of pre-and post-foreclosure expenses:

Loss on property/loan

Property maintenance

Appraisal

Legal fees

lost revenue

Insurance

Marketing

Clean-up

And S&P breaks them down as follows:

The largest component of the $50,000 is cash loss on the property. S&P pegs this number at $40,000 for a typical loan of $210,000. Investors who buy short sales tell us that the big lenders are unwilling to sell property or take payoffs for more than a 15 to 20 percent discount so these numbers are closely in sync. S&P however includes only the actual decline in property values in that 19 percent loss figure.

S&P assigns a staggering 26 percent of the loan amount for the costs of foreclosure. This category wraps up the remainder of the list above and include paying property taxes (3 percent, although many ignore this obligation, hoping to pass accrued taxes on to the eventual buyer), maintaining hazard insurance, legal fees (1 percent), an appraisal (although most lenders are choosing the far less expensive alternative of a brokers price opinion or windshield appraisal,) lost revenue (an estimated 13.6 percent of the loan amount) 6 percent marketing fees (broker’s commission) and 3 percent spent on home maintenance.

There is a figure that is usually not taken into account ‘ cash reserves. Bank regulations require that lenders put aside a percentage of their capital to cover potential losses. That amount, whether $100,000 or $500,000 is that much less that the bank has to loan to others and means more lost revenue.

It is obvious that no one is a winner in the foreclosure game. But we wonder if lenders and their real estate agents are not exacerbating the situation for all involved through their property management and marketing policies. A look at that later in the week.

The best fee structure is the one that best suit your needs, and foreclosure lawyers understand that. It is always a good practice to learn more about what you are paying for, and having a better idea of what a foreclosure will cost you when you go in for an initial consultation will better situate you to start a dialogue with your lawyer about their fee structure and why they use the one they do.

Foreclosure Attorney Free Consultation

When you need legal help to stop a foreclosure, call Ascent Law LLC (801) 676-5506 for your Free Consultation. We regularly work on real estate law cases that involve foreclosure. We want to help you.

Ascent Law LLC
8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C
West Jordan, Utah
84088 United States
Telephone: (801) 676-5506

Ascent Law LLC

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Tooele Utah Bankruptcy Lawyer

If you are overburdened with debt and you can unable to pay your creditors, contact an experienced Tooele Utah bankruptcy lawyer. The lawyer can review you circumstances and explain your options. There are other ways to deal with debts. However, they may not be suitable for all. The perfect option for you will depend on your circumstances. Sometimes it may be a better option to file for bankruptcy.

Debt consolidation is one of the most popular alternatives to bankruptcy when it comes to reducing personal debt in America. However, it is not without its own balance of benefits and drawbacks. Weighing these can help a person decide whether this avenue would be a good fit for their situation. Oftentimes, consumers find that bankruptcy may be a better option. If you are considering debt consolidation as an alternative to bankruptcy, speak to an experienced Tooele Utah bankruptcy lawyer.

First and foremost, it’s important to know that debt consolidation involves taking out a loan to pay down the rest of your outstanding debts. These loans are easier to get than other types of loans and are exclusively to be used for this purpose. However, the fact that it is a loan at all can be a deterrent or an intimidating factor for some people already struggling with mountains of debt. Never assume a debt consolidation to be an automatic and viable alternative to bankruptcy filing. Sometimes a bankruptcy filing may be a better option.

Here are a few other important facts to consider when thinking about debt consolidation:

• Debt consolidation creates a single, monthly payment, rather than multiple payments to multiple creditors that consumers may currently be facing.

• These single payments may be significantly lower than the sum of payments they are currently paying – or they may be roughly the same.

• To get a lower interest rate and lower monthly payments, you will typically have to “secure” your loan.

• Securing the loan involves putting up collateral, which may include property or other valuables.

• If you fail to complete payments in a timely manner, you may risk losing these valuables.

• Consolidation also does not protect the consumer from default lawsuits, which can leave them vulnerable during their debt relief efforts.

Perhaps one of the largest drawbacks of choosing debt consolidation over bankruptcy or other methods is that it loses its appeal very quickly.
While heavy marketing and media popularity make it seem very appealing at the start, consumers often find that strict payment schedules and long, arduous journeys to a debt-free state make this method more difficult to navigate than they originally anticipated.

As the risks can become very high with this type of debt relief, it is important to weigh this option carefully under the advice of an experienced Tooele Utah bankruptcy lawyer.

For those who aren’t interested in the idea of taking on new debt or taking out a new loan, debt management programs or debt settlement can be solid choices. Here’s what you need to know about these approaches to debt relief:

• Debt management programs are set up and run by credit counselors.

• They work with your creditors to reduce your payments and may even be able to lessen the amount of debt you have overall.

• Even if your overall debt cannot be reduced, your interest rates, late fees, and other associated expenses often are dramatically reduced or completely eliminated with this approach.

• This method does report on your credit ratings, as does any other debt relief program. However, it is removed as soon as you finish the program, whereas bankruptcy and other options will remain on your record for years to come even after you have paid down all debt.

• Debt management payment schedules are exceedingly strict; a single missed payment can result in termination from the program and requirement to repay fees and other associated cost.

• Debt settlement companies may promise to reduce your overall debt by over 50%.

• The process can take three to four years or more, depending on a variety of factors.

• There is no promise of effectiveness.

• Credit card companies do not have to work with these agencies and there is little recourse for consumers if they choose not to.

As you’re exploring your options, you may notice that bankruptcy is regarded as a more dramatic option than most others.

Why is this?

As you’ll learn, it has a lot to do with what happens during bankruptcy – and afterward. There are also many misconceptions about bankruptcy, which can be put to rest by speaking with an experienced bankruptcy attorney.
Some important facts to know about bankruptcy include:

• Bankruptcy does not wipe out all of your debt instantly.

• It does freeze your debt, though, meaning creditors can no longer contact you about it. This is called an automatic stay.

• How much of your debt is released by filing for bankruptcy depends on which type of bankruptcy you file for.

• The type of bankruptcy you file will also depend on whether you are filing as an individual, business, etc.

• This doesn’t mean your debt won’t be repaid; the point of your bankruptcy is to negotiate a plan to address your debt, not to simply abandon it.

• Chapter 7 bankruptcy involves liquidation of assets in order to pay off as much of your debt as possible.

• The rest of your debts may be negotiated down or released, depending on your situation.

• Chapter 13 bankruptcy involves paying down your renegotiated debt over the course of three-five years and typically does not involve liquidation.

• Both chapter 7 and chapter 13 are used for personal bankruptcy and may or may not involve exemptions when it comes to property, valuables, income, etc.

• Chapter 11 bankruptcy is typically reserved for businesses and is very similar to chapter 13.

• A business may choose to carry on everyday operations as normal during these bankruptcies, or may have to downsize significantly or even close due to the situation.

Bankruptcy payments boast an advantage over those of consolidation or other debt relief methods in that they are typically easier to meet financially. This is because they are customized based on what is actually available to a person from their income and assets, so they are more likely to continue making payment successfully during bankruptcy than during a consolidation.
One thing many people do not know about bankruptcy is that you can begin repairing and rebuilding your credit right away during a bankruptcy.

Other options – such as consolidation – do not allow you to work on your credit during the debt relief process. This means that you’re stuck handling one step of the process at a time, making it much longer than it may advertised to you as. While it may take multiple years for a bankruptcy to be worked through, you’re doing just that – working throughout the length of it – to rebuild your financial life as you go.

It’s important to remember that while paying down debt is a practical process and should be regarded as such, it can also be a very emotional journey for many people.

When you’re looking to pay down debt, it’s usually in preparation for a major change in your life or to move on from something that has caused damage in the past.

When emotion is involved, it’s easier to make irrational decisions, so taking your time and following the advice of an experienced Tooele Utah bankruptcy lawyer throughout your debt free journey is critical for achieving success.

To keep the balance of practical accomplishment and emotions in check during your debt-free journey, consider prioritizing your debt pay-down to give the most gratifying results, rather than simply the most practical.

What does this mean?

Here are a few examples:

• If you have two $500 debts to pay down or a single $1000 debts to pay down, you may choose to pay down the two $500 debts first in order to feel more accomplished emotionally.

• While debts with higher interest rates should typically be paid down first, debts in smaller amounts can be paid down quickly and give consumers a feeling of accomplishment right away, keeping them motivated to continue their journey.

These types of changes to your debt pay-down plan should only be made with the advice of your financial professional, of course.

However, working together with your experienced Tooele Utah bankruptcy lawyer will give you the chance to voice your own opinions and concerns and do what feels most motivating for you.

At the end of the day, whatever is getting you to that endpoint in your debt-free journey is the best choice.

Knowing your options along the way will simply help you make the smartest choices throughout the path to get there.

Bankruptcy is a legal process intended to give honest debtors a fresh financial start by discharging their debts. When a debtor files for bankruptcy an automatic stay comes into operation preventing creditors from contacting the debtor or taking steps to collect the debt. If the creditor has initiated legal proceedings to recover the debt, the legal proceedings will be automatically stayed when the debtor files for bankruptcy. Consult with an experienced Tooele Utah bankruptcy lawyer if you want to file for bankruptcy.

To be eligible, your unsecured and secured debts must be less than certain dollar amount. This dollar amount is adjusted each year by law. If you want to file for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code, consult with an experienced bankruptcy attorney. The attorney can advise you on your eligibility for filing under Chapter 13. If you have a source of income, you should consider filing under Chapter 13 whereas if you do not have a source of income, you should file for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 7.

In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding, a court appointed trustee will take over the individual’s assets and sell the assets to pay off the creditors. However, the trustee will not take over all the assets of the individual. Federal and state laws provide certain exemptions. Assets that are exempt under Federal and state laws continue to remain in possession of the individual. After all the non-exempt assets are sold by the trustee, the individual will receive a discharge. Chapter 7 bankruptcy is also called liquidation proceedings. If you wish to retain your assets, speak to an experienced Tooele Utah bankruptcy lawyer. The lawyer will advise you on the best course of action. You may not automatically qualify for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceedings in Utah.

The Bankruptcy Code has a provision for lien stripping. Liens can be stripped off of the debtor’s assets in when there is not enough equity in the asset, after deducting senior liens from the property’s current market value, to secure the unsecured in whole or in part, where the lien exceeds the value of the debtor’s property.

Lien stripping means reducing a secured claim to the value of the underlying collateral. The lien is bifurcated into secured and unsecured. If you want to use bankruptcy to strip a lien, contact an experienced Tooele Utah bankruptcy lawyer. You can legally strip a lien in bankruptcy. The secured lien is allowed in the amount up to the fair market value of the property at the time of the stripping. The balance of the lien, which exceeds the fair market value of the property, is now deemed unsecured. Speak to an experienced Tooele Utah bankruptcy lawyer to know how you can strip liens in bankruptcy.

Utah Bankruptcy is complex. Seek an appointment with an experienced Tooele Utah bankruptcy lawyer. An experienced Tooele Utah bankruptcy lawyer can explain your options. You may have other options available. Consider these options. If these options are unworkable for you, then bankruptcy may be your only option.

Don’t try to navigate the complex maze of Utah bankruptcy laws by yourself. Always hire an experienced Tooele Utah bankruptcy lawyer. In an attempt to save attorney fees, you may end up getting your bankruptcy petition thrown out without any of your debts getting discharged. An experienced Tooele Utah bankruptcy lawyer is your best friend when you are filing for bankruptcy protection.

Bankruptcy Attorney Free Consultation

When you need to stop a garnishment, stop a foreclosure, stop a repossession of a car, protect your wages, protect your assets, protect your home and your family, please call Ascent Law LLC (801) 676-5506 for your Free Consultation. We can help you. We file chapter 7 bankruptcy, chapter 13 bankruptcy, chapter 9 bankruptcy, chapter 11 bankruptcy and chapter 12 bankruptcies for those who need relief.

Ascent Law LLC
8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C
West Jordan, Utah
84088 United States
Telephone: (801) 676-5506

Ascent Law LLC

4.9 stars – based on 67 reviews

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What Is A Construction Change Order?

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What Is A Construction Change Order?

A change order or change directive in a construction contract is an amendment to the legally binding contract.

Like death and taxes, changes to a construction project are a pretty sure thing. Maybe the owner decides he needs a bigger man cave added to his house, or perhaps the original drawings failed to show the requisite number of windows in the living room. Whatever the case may be, changes to a construction project can cause major headaches for both the owner and the contractor.

Most construction changes are made using change orders. However, if the sides can’t agree on how the change will affect the project and pricing, the owner may issue a construction change directive to instruct the contractor to make the changes. Read on to learn about construction change directives and how they might affect your project.

Construction Contracts Generally

Even if it’s not specifically required by your state’s laws, it’s always best to have your construction contract in writing. This helps all parties see the rights and obligations they are agreeing to from the start. Additionally, construction contracts should include a section on how changes will be handled. It’s important to read through the specifics before signing your construction contract to ensure that it’s fair and that you’ve anticipated as many potential roadblocks as possible.

Basics Of A Construction Change Order

A construction change directive is a way for the owner of a construction project to instruct the contractor to perform work in addition to what has been agreed to in the contract. This mechanism is used when the owner and contractor cannot agree on the schedule or budget of the additional work, or when they agree to determine pricing and timing later. Unlike a change order, to which both the contractor and owner have to agree, the construction change directive is not a request but an order to do something. This type of directive may be a helpful tool for the owner, but it can also lead to drawn-out legal disputes.

Does the Contractor Have to Follow the Construction Change Directive?

Unless the details of your construction contract speak directly to this issue, the contractor generally does not have to agree to the construction change directive in order to be bound by it. For example, Washington State’s construction change directive form says that once the document is signed by the state and received by the contractor, the contractor must proceed with the construction changes. Other directives require the signature of the owner and the architect in order to be effective.
The contractor can either agree to the changes in price and timing proposed by the owner, or dispute them after the work is completed. Either way, he or she is still supposed to perform the work specified while the dispute is pending.

How Are Disputes Resolved?

Sometimes the original contract will provide guidance for determining prices for additional work. For example, if the contract specifies that the contractor will be paid based on the actual cost of materials and labor, plus a fixed percentage, then this could help determine the additional amount. Similarly, the contract might specify that a neutral third party, such as the architect, will decide the cost.

If the parties still can’t agree, the contract may have sections regarding alternative dispute resolution. These could specify that disputes will be settled through mediation or arbitration. If these other methods fail, the dispute could move into litigation, where each party will likely argue that the other side has breached the contract.

Construction Contract Attorney Free Consultation

When you need legal help with a construction contract in Utah, please call Ascent Law LLC (801) 676-5506 for your Free Consultation. We can help you with loan review, construction financing addendums, real estate title work, quiet title actions, lawsuits, contract disputes and much more. We want to help you.

Ascent Law LLC
8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C
West Jordan, Utah
84088 United States
Telephone: (801) 676-5506

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Family Lawyer Midway Utah

All parents have certain rights when it comes to their children. Under Utah law, parents have the right to make independent decisions about raising their children. This includes the place they want to raise the children, the school they want to send the children to, the religious beliefs they want the children to follow, etc. These rights belong absolutely to the parents and no one else. If your rights as a parent are being violated, consult with an experienced Midway Utah family lawyer to know your options. Your rights as a parent comes to an end once the child becomes an adult. However, there are two other ways in which your rights as a parent comes to an end – emancipation and termination of parental rights. In both these processes, the court plays an important role.

Emancipation Law

Emancipation is a legal process by which a minor ceases to be minor for all legal purposes and will be treated as an adult. It requires filing of an application in the court and the court will determine if the minor can be emancipated after considering the circumstances. Just because a minor has filed an emancipation petition, it does not guarantee automatic emancipation under Utah laws.

The court can refuse to emancipate the minor. In such cases, the parent continues to have rights over the minor. But if the minor is emancipated under Utah law, the parent ceases to have any rights over the minor. In fact, in the eyes of law, the minor is no longer a minor. He or she is an adult for all purposes. An experienced Midway Utah family lawyer can assist you with the emancipation process in Utah. There are certain minimum requirements for emancipation under Utah law. The minor applying for emancipation must be at least 16 years old. Emancipation can occur automatically if the minor joins the US army.

Termination of Parental Rights Law

If you neglect your child, the State of Utah can bring a lawsuit against you asking the court to terminate your parental rights. Your spouse or other relative can also bring about a lawsuit seeking termination of your parental rights. If you have received notice of a lawsuit seeking termination of your parental rights, consult an experienced Midway Utah family lawyer. Once your parental rights are terminated by a court, you will no longer have any rights over your child. The child’s other parent will have all rights and in cases where the parental rights of both parents have been terminated, the court will appoint a guardian for the child.

Adoption Law

As a parent you can voluntarily place your child for adoption. Your spouse must consent for the adoption. Once your child is adopted, you will be asked to waive your parental rights. Once you waive your parental rights after your child has been adopted, you will no longer have any rights over the child. You may be able to enter into an agreement with the adopted parents before the adoption is finalized and specify the rights you wish to retain as the biological parent. Speak to an experienced Midway Utah family lawyer if you are planning to place your child for adoption. You may be able to retain certain rights over the child as the biological parent.

Divorce Law

If your marriage ends in a divorce, you can seek custody of the children from your marriage. The court will consider may things before it decides on which parent gets custody of the child. The factors that will be considered include the role each parent has played in the child’s life, the age of the child, the best interest of the child and in case of older children, the preference of the children. Generally, courts in Utah tend to grant custody of younger children to the mother unless it can be shown that granting custody to the mother is not in the best interest of the children. Once the court decides on who gets custody, the other parent – the non custodial parent is generally granted visitation rights.

Again, visitation rights can be denied if it is not in the best interest of the child. If the non custodial parent has in the past physically harmed the child, the court can deny visitation or grant controlled visitation. The non custodial parent will be ordered to pay child support to the custodial parent. Although the payment of child support is made to the custodial parent, the payment is for the child and the custodial parent cannot use the child support payment for personal use. The child support payments must be used for the child’s living, educational and medical expenses. Even if there is a balance amount after paying for the child’s living, educational and medical expenses, the custodial parent still has no right to use the balance amount for personal use. The issues of child custody, visitation and child support will come be considered by the court in an application for annulment of the marriage. While annulment results in the marriage being treated as if it never happened, the obligation to pay child support cannot be wished away.

Grandparent Visitation Rights Law

The custodial parent cannot deny grandparent visitation rights. Grandparents must have access to their grandchildren and the courts in Utah recognize this fact. If you are a grandparent and you are being denied access to your grandchild, consult an experienced Midway Utah family lawyer. You can petition the court to grant access to you. The court will generally grant you access unless it is in the best interest of the child to deny you access. Grandparents can also seek visitation rights in an annulled marriage.

Grandparent Custody Law

If a grandparent believes that the custodial parent is not looking after the child or the child is being harmed by the custodial parent, the grandparent can approach the court and seek custody of the child. Utah courts have given custody of the child to the grandparents in cases where continuing to keep the child in the custody of the custodial parent wasn’t in the best interest of the child. Even if the marriage is annulled, grandparents can seek custody of the grandchildren.

Medical Decisions

As a parent, you can take medical decisions for your child. You can sign medical forms on behalf of the child and determine the treatment that your child should undergo. As long as you do not risk the life of your child, you have the full right to take medical decisions for your child. In case you are a divorced parent, the court at the time of deciding custody will determine who can take medical decisions on behalf of the minor child. It is important that this issue be settled at the time of the divorce or else it may create problems later especially if the spouses are not on good terms post the divorce.

Teenage Parent Law

Although teenagers are not adults, Utah family law recognizes the rights of teenage parents. If you know any teenage parent seeking assistance with Utah family law, direct them to an experienced Midway Utah family lawyer. Teenage parent have certain rights and duties under Utah family law.

Teenage parents always have the right to make independent decisions about raising their children except when a family court decides that they really can’t handle such decisions. The parent-child relationship is protected by the federal Constitution, and states may not excessively interfere with the way parents raise their children. This right extends to teenage parents and their offspring. For example, the state may not require a couple to abandon custody of a child just because one or both have not reached the age of majority.

As with adult parents, a child can be removed from a teenage parent’s home only if the child has been neglected, mistreated, abused, or abandoned, and then only after a full due process hearing.

Legal Responsibilities Of Teenage Parents

Under Utah law teenage parents have the same responsibilities as adult parents. Teenage parents must provide their offspring with adequate care, nurturing, education and support. These responsibilities exist regardless of whether the child is born outside marriage, and they continue to exist until the child reaches the age of majority, even if a court forbids a parent to visit his or her child.

Consent To Medical Care For The Child

Teenage parents in Utah can consent to medical care for their children, and furthermore, no law requires the involvement of a teen’s parents in such matters.

Legal rights with respect to a child born outside marriage

Teenagers have legal rights with respect to a child born outside marriage. The Constitution gives parents of all ages the right of custody over their minor children. This right always includes children born outside of marriage and children of teenage parents.

When the parents of a child born outside of marriage are involved in a dispute over child custody, a family court will not always award custody to the mother. Courts still regard the mother as the natural guardian of a minor child, particularly a very young child. (This is called the “maternal preference.”) But a mother’s right to custody of a child born outside of marriage is far from absolute — it will yield to the child’s best interests.

As a practical matter, family courts are most likely to award custody to the parent who has been caring for the child since that parent knows the child best. If the parents are unmarried teens, the mother almost always is the caregiver, because teenage fathers rarely live with their children. What this means is that unless a teenage father can convince a court that the mother can’t take care of the child and that he can, the mother will usually be awarded custody.

Even so, a teenage father who wants to take day-to-day responsibility for his child can certainly seek to obtain custody. In a disputed case, if a family court determines that awarding custody to the father is in the child’s best interests, it may make such an award, even if the parents have never lived as a couple under the same roof.

Law on Change of Custody

Family courts hesitate to modify custody arrangements once they have been established. To do so, the circumstances in the child’s home must have changed dramatically, and the court must be convinced that a new home clearly would be in the child’s best interests. If this can be shown, the court might award custody to the child’s father, a grandparent, or another relative. The State of Utah has the power to remove neglected, mistreated, or abandoned children from their homes, either temporarily or permanently. Matters such as these are handled in child protection proceedings in family court.

When a teenage mother has physical custody of a child born outside of marriage, the father is legally entitled to visit the child unless the family court believes that contact with the child isn’t in the child’s best interests. A teenage father has the right to be involved with his offspring unless he has been proved unfit or has forfeited his parental rights.

Voluntarily Adoption Placement

A teenage mother can voluntarily place her child for adoption. The consent of both parents is necessary in order to place a child for adoption, except in cases in which a parent’s rights have already been terminated under Utah law. The consents must be in writing, and they can only be given after the birth of the child.

All parents have certain parental rights and obligations that cannot be just wished away. If as a parent your parental rights are being taken away, you have the right to fight it legally. Remember once the court terminates your parental rights, you will have no rights over your child. Seek the assistance of an experienced Midway Utah family lawyer. Trying to fight the case alone can prove costly. While you may save on the lawyer fee, you could and you will most likely end up losing your parental rights. Your rights as a parent will be taken away and you will no longer be able to take any decision on behalf of your child.

Midway Utah Family Law Attorney Free Consultation

When you need family law legal help in Midway Utah, call Ascent Law LLC (801) 676-5506 for your Free Consultation. We can help you with divorce, child support, child custody, division of marital assets, alimony, modification of child support, modification of decree of divorce, adoptions, prenups, postnups, and so much more. We want to help you.

Ascent Law LLC
8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C
West Jordan, Utah
84088 United States
Telephone: (801) 676-5506

Ascent Law LLC

4.9 stars – based on 67 reviews

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