Carlos Trujillo Got A US Citizen Application Approved for a Client with 4 Prior DUI's [Immigration Law]

In a stroke of pure legal genius, attorney Carlos Trujillo received notice in today's mail that one of his clients, who had 4 prior DUI charges and convictions, was approved to become a United States Citizen.  Trujillo said, "It's unreal.  I mean, I've done some cases where there was one or two issues in the past, but this is truly a great sign.  I had to explain each charge and what the specific facts were around each case and explain how [our client] was such a person whose citizen application should be approved.  It was a lot of work and it payed off!"

Well said Mr. Trujillo.

If you have immigration questions or concerns, you should probably call attorney Carlos Trujillo, 801-676-5506.  He is working hard to get people legally in the U.S.  You should call him today to schedule your initial consultation.

Jared Pearson Fights for Father's Rights in Divorce 801-676-5506

Today, Jared Pearson, won a small victory for father's rights in divorce cases.  He worked tirelessly to get a father the right to see his child.  The mother had had the father sign away custody and his rights to see the child about 4 years ago.  Jared, through his legal skill and acumen, was able to get 50% custody of the child for the father.  This is a great result for Jared's client and something you should take note of.  If you are in a situation where you need to obtain custody or parent time of your child or children, you really ought to call attorney Jared Pearson 801-676-5506.  Jared is not afraid to fight for your legal rights.

2014 Estate Planning Update for the Rest of Us…

     As I’ve been writing these articles about Estate Planning over the years, I’ve seen the Estate Tax Rate rise and fall and in the last few years it has climbed so high that “the Rest of Us” don’t even need to worry about the Federal Estate Tax… at least in 2014.  The reason I say that is because Congress always has a way of “changing the law” – but you knew that.

     With that said, I’m going to outline for you what the 2014 federal estate tax rate is and then discuss whether you might fall into that category and what you should do whether you are in or out of the tax category.

2014 Federal Estate Tax Rate

     

     The federal estate tax has been indexed for inflation and increased to $5,340,000 for decedent’s who pass away in 2014. This means that if you were to sell everything you owned, less any liabilities (debt) that you have, you would need to have assets totaling more than $5.3 million dollars to be concerned about the 2014 Federal Estate Tax Rate.

     That’s so high that the majority of my clients do not get up into that range.  I have done work for a few in excess of $7 million and $23 million dollar range; however, those are the exception.  I would say that most individuals and couples in Utah are usually below the $5.3 million dollar mark.

Does That Mean I Don’t Need Estate Planning?

     No.  You still need to do some estate planning.  In the minimum you should have a will along with a durable power of attorney and a health care directive.  That is the minimum that everyone should have regardless of the federal estate tax rate.

     If you own your home, I’d recommend a trust for privacy purposes as well as to avoid probate.  We can discuss those issues if you are interested, but you still need to do some estate planning.  It doesn’t need to cost thousands of dollars either – it can be well under a thousand dollars if the lawyer doesn’t do excessive planning…

What About Gift Taxes?

     In regards to gift taxes, there are two factors to be aware: a lifetime exemption amount and an annual exclusion amount.

     The lifetime gift tax exemption amount is the maximum amount a person can give away during their entire lifetime without paying gift tax. The lifetime gift tax exemption is the same amount as the federal estate tax exemption - $5.3 million for 2014. This means that any amounts gifted by a person during life must be reported to the IRS and will then reduce the amount that can be exempted from estate taxes during death. In other words, you can’t give away $5.3 million during life and then do another $5.3 million again upon death.

     Oh yes, and a person can give up to $14,000 to an unlimited number of other individuals free of gift tax (same exemption amount as last year). 

     The annual exclusion amount and the lifetime exemption amount can both come into play for certain gifts. For example, if I give my child $20,000 during 2014 I can give the first $14,000 free of tax. I am only subject to tax on the remaining $6,000. If I have not used all of my lifetime exemption, I will then file a gift tax return to report the $6,000 gift and deduct it from my remaining lifetime exemption amount.  We have done several gift tax returns for our clients over the years.

     Remember, gifts from one spouse to the other spouse are generally tax free unless the receiving spouse is not a U.S. citizen. 

     It is important to be mindful of the gift tax rates. These tax rules can have an impact on your remaining estate tax exemption upon death and also your eligibility for public programs, like Medicaid, during life. 

     Now might be a good time to review your estate plan with an attorney.  If so, please schedule your complementary appointment at 801-676-5506.

Jeremy

EvelandLawFirm.com

Inflation is worse than I thought!

Holy Smokes!

Have you seen the U.S. inflation stats from January 2008 to January 2014?

Housing is up 9.1%

Core CPI is up 10.7%

Food and Beverage is up 15.2%

Medical care is up 19.9%

and most of all

Education...

is up 29.8%

WOW.

I am 100% confident that the average wage has not increased 29.8% - nor the 9.1% to accommodate for housing.

I'm at a loss here.

It's one thing to look around and say, things are getting better than they were in 2008 when the last crash happened - it's something else completely to look at the actual statistics.

AMAZING.

Well, as my shock wears off, I guess it's a good thing that our law firm regularly files bankruptcy cases for individuals and businesses that are hurting.  Having filed hundreds of cases over the years, chapter 7 bankruptcy, chapter 13 bankruptcy and chapter 11 bankruptcies as clients need to reorganize or get a fresh start.  Sometimes it's been medical issues or divorce.  One thing is for sure, life has a way of throwing surprises at you.

There have been peaks and valleys in the filings.

I personally believe that there are some worse times ahead when I read about such high inflation.

But I'm going to try to maintain a positive attitude and hang on to my native cherry temperament.

If you are struggling like so many others, give our office a call 801-676-5506.

We are happy to give you your first consultation for free.

Until next time,

Jeremy

www.EvelandLawFirm.com

and

www.UtahBankruptcyOnline.com

I was asked about car insurance today.  Most people drive a car or truck on a daily basis in Utah.  Obviously car insurance is required by Utah state law.  So not only is it important in the legal aspect, it is also important because it will protect your assets in the even you cause a car accident.

The problem that most people experience is that they don't want to pay excessive premiums and have duplicate coverage.  Most people don't take the time to go over their car insurance policies or any of their other insurance policies.  These people simply trust their insurance agent that they have sufficient coverage and that's it.  I believe that can be a mistake.

As I've prosecuted personal injury claims, the worst situation I see is when people have carried the minimum coverage and then an accident happens that is a roll-over or someone dies.  It is a horrible situation when there is insufficient coverage.

My recommendation to you is to make sure you have under-insured coverage on your car insurance policy.  That way, if the other guy who hits you don't have sufficient coverage, then your own insurance will pick up the difference.

I'm not an insurance agent and I have no insurance to sell you, but as an attorney who sees these types of cases regularly, you should have UIM coverage.

Until next entry,

Jeremy Eveland
www.EvelandLawFirm.com

Today was amazing for my client.  We started a settlement conference at 8:30am at the West Jordan Courthouse and it lasted until 2:00pm.  We worked hard with the mediator and we got all of the outstanding issues resolved.

Quite honestly, it was a great experience to negotiate back and forth with a great mediator and a client who held to her guns on the important issues and was willing to be flexible on other issues to resolve this case.

This was a child custody case whether both parties love their daughter, but the daughter was struggling because of the parents fighting so much.

The success of resolving parents' disputes is satisfying because if both parties can come to a resolution where neither of them is "winning" but the child is able to win by having loving parents take care of them, a true success has occurred.

I hope for more successes for my clients.

Working on a IRS case today.  My client has not had enough withheld from his paycheck over the last several years.  As a consequence, he owes a substantial sum to the IRS.  I have been working with the IRS to set up a payment plan and we are almost finalized on that plan now.  We are preparing what is called the form 433 which outlines the taxpayers income to present to the IRS. 

The first set was to stop the IRS garnishment.  Once we stopped it, we were able to get a hold on all collection efforts while we got the form 433 prepared and got him on a payment plan.

Sometimes, if you do not earn enough money, the payment plan is not the best option.  Sometimes, the best option is to be placed on non-collectable status, show a hardship, do an offer in compromise or file for bankruptcy relief.

Any one of these options might be best for you.  Make sure you consult with an attorney before you jump into any one option.  Do what's best for you.

Working on cases today.

Met with a client regarding a lawsuit this morning.  This client was referred by another attorney who does not do litigation work.  This one is in the Salt Lake Department of the Third District Court.  Typically, when a summons and complaint are served in the State of Utah, the Defendant has 20 days in which to respond in writing to the complaint.

The response can be in the form of an Answer, but the response could also be in the form of filing a motion, such as a Rule 12(b)(6) motion.  In this case, we are going to file an Answer and a Counterclaim.

My next appointment was a telephone conference with a client who has recently filed for bankruptcy relief under Chapter 7.  This client needed to speak with me about his car and his car payments.  He wanted to be sure who he should be making payments to, the amount of the payments and when his title was going to be released to him.

I spoke with a debt collector for one of my clients who wanted me to verify my client's social security number and date of birth.  That was the first time I've had someone call me and request that I divulge that information to them.  Of course I did not do it.  I requested to speak with their attorney.  I was able to do so and had a pleasant conversation with him and the situation was resolved amicably.

Sometimes all you need to do is communicate and the situation resolves itself.

Types of Cases

More often than not, new attorneys who interview to work at my office want to know what's on my desk so they have an idea of what type of work I do.

I have a variety of work.  Today, I have a bankruptcy case, a real estate contract, a probate case and an immigration case on my desk.

I'm going to work on them now so my clients stay happy.