Category: General Legal

Sometimes, a recently divorced or separated parent wants to change their child’s last name. Typically, it is the mother who wants to change the child’s last name, so the name will be the same as hers. Who wants to be reminded of a failed relationship every time you look at your kids’ report card? This can Read More

One of the main reasons that business owners form corporations is to protect their personal assets. If the business is then sued, and loses, the business owner can, at worst, only lose the assets of the business. He or she will not lose his or her personal assets. However, if the business owner personally engages Read More

In early 2008, New Jersey adopted its own version of a federal law called the False Claims Act. The law allows private individuals to sue government contractors for fraud on behalf of the state. This is called a qui tam claim. Someone who sues under this law is allowed to keep between 15% and 30% Read More

Do you think that your co-workers are sometimes a little hard on you? Maybe sometimes they criticize something you say, or how you do something? That seems like the sort of thing that, say, a United States Supreme Court Justice wouldn’t have to deal with on a regular basis. That is, unless your colleague on Read More

In 1983, New Jersey passed the Environmental Cleanup Responsibility Act (“ECRA”). The first of its kind, the act required that industrial cites be investigated and cleaned-up when, among other things, a business is sold. A short time later, New Jersey replaced ECRA with the Industrial Site Recovery Act (“ISRA”), which had the same fundamental effect Read More

Press reports indicate that the Social Security Administration will no longer send out yearly earnings history reports to Americans under the age of 60. These were the documents that you received each year detailing how much income you made every year of your working life, and what your estimated social security earnings would be, based Read More

Estate Planning Documents The estate planning documents I will discuss in this post are important for every family to consider. They reduce stress in circumstances that commonly arise as people age. No one wants to think about what will happen as we or our parents get older, but it is best to be prepared for Read More

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey recently started a new program designed to help avoid foreclosures. It’s called the Loss Mitigation Program. It provides several options besides mortgage modification to debtors who are in danger of losing their homes. The most interesting thing about the program is that there are no mediators. No one Read More