Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Call a West Jordan Car Accident Lawyer

Every state has its own reasons behind why car accidents happen. In the state of Utah, one of the biggest reasons car accidents happen is because of speeding. Speeding has been the #1 factor for car accidents in 2013, 2014, and 2015.  #2 in 2015 was drunk driving, #4 was drunk driving in 2013 and 2014 and the #5 most common reason for accidents in 2013 and 2014 was failure to yield.  These could have been avoided if only people were a little more careful on the roadways. 2018 is no different.

Call a West Jordan Car Accident Lawyer

While these accidents could be avoided in the future, one thing you might not be able to avoid is hiring a West Jordan car accident lawyer. If you’ve been involved in a car accident it will benefit you to hire someone who has knowledge about personal injury law. If you’ve ever wondered why you would need to hire a car accident lawyer for a vehicular accident here are three scenarios in which one might come in handy.

Insurance Company Is Not Cooperating

If you get into an accident in Utah one of you will be held responsible for the accident. When dealing with an insurance company and a car accident you might find that the insurance company is simply not cooperating in the manner that you had hoped. If the insurance company or carrier that was also involved in the accident is disputing your claim, then its definitely time to hire a West Jordan car accident lawyer. An insurer is more likely to take a claim from a lawyer more seriously.  Your lawyer will also be able to avoid costly mistakes that you might otherwise make by dealing with the accident on your own.

Liability Disputes

When you are in a car accident, especially in the state of Utah, you have to prove that your claim is true. This means you will need to gather evidence such as witness statements in order to prove that you were in the right and the other person was in the wrong. Dealing with witness statements and police reports is not always the easiest thing in the world – not only to get a hold of, but to properly understand. Thankfully a West Jordan car accident lawyer can help you get the evidence you need. help you understand the evidence and get testimony from an expert accident Reconstruction professional.

When You Have Bodily Harm Done

If you’ve been in a really bad car accident and you aren’t just looking for reimbursement for your car, but for any bodily harm done, hiring a West Jordan car accident lawyer can help you to get the lost wages and compensation you really deserve. According to Doctors, something like a spinal cord injury can take any where from $1 million to $5 million dollars for a lifetime of therapy and treatment! If you’ve sustained bodily harm and you need to figure out what the damages really are, this can become quite complex. Which is when a lawyer can come in to help you figure out medical bills as well as lost income, now and in the future.

Free Initial Consultation with a Car Accident Lawyer

When you need legal help after being injured in a car accident, call Ascent Law for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you.

Michael R. Anderson, JD

Ascent Law LLC
8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C
West Jordan, Utah
84088 United States
Telephone: (801) 676-5506
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Monday, March 26, 2018

Contempt of Court in Utah Custody, Parenting and Visitation Cases

In child custody cases, a Judge or Commissioner can hold a person in contempt of court for failure to comply with or interference with a parenting time or visitation order. There are numerous penalties that can be imposed, such as jail time, fines, awards of court costs and /or attorney fees to the aggrieved party, and an order for make-up parenting time.

Contempt of Court in Utah Custody, Parenting and Visitation Cases

In addition, that denial of time and willingness to obey the orders are relevant factors the Judge or Commissioner must consider when determining what is in the best interest of the child.  Continuous and willful denial of the ordered time is a factor which may be found to be a change of circumstances, and the Judge may find that it is in the best interest of the child to change the residential parent or school placement parent.

FINES

The court can impose the following fines:

  • 1st Offense: Up to $250
  • 2nd Offense: Up to $500
  • 3rd Offense: Up to $1,000

JAIL TIME

In addition to all the other penalties, if a person is found in violation of or to have interfered with parenting time or visitation the Judge can sentence the person who is in contempt of court to jail time as follows:

  • 1st Offense: Up to 30 days in jail
  • 2nd Offense: Up to 60 days in jail
  • 3rd Offense: Up to 90 days in jail

COURT COSTS

If a court finds that a person is in contempt of a custody or visitation order, the Judge or Commissioner can charge all court costs arising out of the contempt proceeding against the person in contempt.

ATTORNEY FEES

If a court finds that a person is in contempt of the orders regarding time with the child, the Judge or Commissioner can order the person in contempt to pay “any reasonable attorney’s fees of any adverse party, as determined by the court, that arose in relation to the act of contempt”.

MAKE-UP TIME

Pursuant to a court has the authority to, but is not required to, order make-up time for the parenting time missed as a result of the acts of contempt.  Generally, if holiday parenting time was missed, then similar or identical holiday parenting time is what the court will require to be made up.  For example, if you plan to keep the child for Christmas this year, in violation of the Judge or Commissioner’s order, then chances are good you will not see your child on Christmas next year, and possibly for the next two years.

CHANGING THE CUSTODY OR VISITATION ORDER

If a person is found to be in contempt of an existing order, the Judge or Commissioner may find the parent’s willful disregard of the orders to be a change in circumstance, and may find that it is in the best interest of the child to change which parent is the residential parent or school placement parent.  The Judge or Commissioner does not do this on it’s own, but if the other parent filed a motion to change custody, or school placement parent along with his or her Motion for Contempt, the court may find that the benefit of the change outweighs the harm and give custody to the other parent.

The Judge or Commissioner should also consider, among other factors, the following matters when determining what is in the best interest of the child:

  • The parent more likely to honor and facilitate court-approved parenting time rights or visitation and companionship rights;
  • Whether the residential parent or one of the parents subject to a shared parenting decree has continuously and willfully denied the other parent’s right to parenting time in accordance with an order of the court;

The court should consider, among other factors, the following matters when determining what is in the best interest of the child:

  • Each parent’s willingness to reschedule missed parenting time and to facilitate the other parent’s parenting time rights, and with respect to a person who requested companionship or visitation, the willingness of that person to reschedule missed visitation;
  • Whether the residential parent or one of the parents subject to a shared parenting decree has continuously and willfully denied the other parent’s right to parenting time in accordance with an order of the court.

Free Consultation with Child Custody Lawyer

When you need help with visitation time, custody, or other support issues, please call Ascent Law at (801) 676-5506. We will help you.

Michael R. Anderson, JD

Ascent Law LLC
8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C
West Jordan, Utah
84088 United States
Telephone: (801) 676-5506
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Sunday, March 25, 2018

Salt Lake City Lawyer Talks About Innocent Shooting

Recently, the story of a Utah police officer shooting a dog in its owner’s backyard went viral, and perhaps with good reason, Salt Lake City attorneys say. Beginning with a video posted to Facebook, the story gathered steam via social and news media, and the resulting outrage by the public has raised questions over the series of events that led to the death of the innocent, reportedly non-aggressive pet. According to the article in the Salt Lake Tribune, police officers were searching for a missing 3-year-old boy in the Sugar House area when one of the officers entered a private backyard and shot a Weimaraner in the head, killing it on the absent owner’s property.

Salt Lake City Lawyer Talks About Innocent Shooting

The video that went viral shows the owner of the dog, Sean Kendall, confronting the Salt Lake City police officer upon arriving at his house and learning that his dog had been killed. He reports that he received a phone call from Animal Control informing him of the situation, and asks the question the public has since been demanding an answer to: “What was the cause for an officer to shoot and kill my dog?” It has not yet been reported whether Kendall is looking into getting legal counsel from Salt Lake City attorneys, and the city’s police department “has revealed little information about the shooting except to say that the dog acted aggressively when the officer entered its backyard as he searched for the missing child.”

The officer who pulled the trigger remained on duty and was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, but the comments on the news articles and in social media about the incident demand that the results aren’t good enough. The executive director of the Humane Society of Utah speaks for much of the public response when he queries, “Why, when there are so many non-lethal alternatives available (pepper spray, tasers, batons, etc.), that this officer hose to use deadly force as his first go-to option?”

Unfortunately, according to some Salt Lake City attorneys, Kendall may not have any legal recursive action available to him. Litigators for civil suits don’t encourage Kendall to be hopeful about filing a case, as property damage claims will likely be small comfort in the face the grief incurred by the death of a pet.

This has been a big enough deal of an incident that the City Council has commented on it, sending a letter to Police Chief Chris Burbank and informing the police department of an independent review to be conducted by the Police Civilian Review Board, with the request that “both investigations be thorough and deliberate, with the results released to the public as soon as possible.”

But even local Salt Lake City attorneys acknowledge that the results of the report will do little to appease the anger of the community, which is partly why the City Council has requested that Burbank “educate” the public on policies of law enforcement surrounding searching for a missing child. No one wants to see another incident like this one anytime soon.

Free Initial Consultation with Lawyer

It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. Legal problems come to everyone. Whether it’s your son who gets in a car wreck, your uncle who loses his job and needs to file for bankruptcy, your sister’s brother who’s getting divorced, or a grandparent that passes away without a will -all of us have legal issues and questions that arise. So when you have a law question, call Ascent Law for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you.

Michael R. Anderson, JD

Ascent Law LLC
8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C
West Jordan, Utah
84088 United States
Telephone: (801) 676-5506
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Saturday, March 24, 2018

Utah Divorce Jurisdiction

When you need to get divorced, usually, you call a divorce lawyer to talk about your situation and move forward. In determining how to get you divorced, the lawyer must determine where jurisdiction lies. Jurisdiction is a complicated issue.  Actually, it’s a whole bunch of issues all jumbled together.  There is personal jurisdiction, subject matter jurisdiction, and then there is in rem jurisdiction.  If that weren’t complicated enough, there’s also a similar issued called venue.   Before you determine Venue, you have to figure out the proper jurisdiction.

Utah Divorce Jurisdiction

There are many things that are relevant to where you should file your divorce, such as:

  • Whether one or both spouses live in Utah, and how long they have lived there?
  • Which Utah County each spouse lives in, and how long have they lived there?
  • If one or both spouses are absent from Utah but still have contacts with Utah, what is the nature and extent of your contacts?
  • Whether either husband or wife is in the military
  • Whether you have children
  • Whether you want the court to make orders regarding support, real property or personal property, or just to grant a divorce?
  • Do you want a divorce, dissolution, annulment or legal separation?

IN REM JURISDICTION FOR UTAH DIVORCE

In Rem is a latin term.  When used in the divorce context, it refers to the court’s jurisdiction over the marital status.  So a court may have in rem jurisdiction to grant a divorce, but no personal jurisdiction over one of the parties, their money and their property, and/or no subject matter jurisdiction over the parties’ children.  In that case, the court could ONLY make orders that the parties are divorced.  Everything else (child support, spousal support, custody, property division, etc.) would remain in as it is, with no orders until somebody files something to get those orders in the proper jurisdiction.

Why would you want to file a divorce in a court that can only end the marriage and not make any orders regarding child support, custody and property?  Actually, there are lots of reasons.

  1. The first and most obvious would be thata person wants a divorce and does not know where their spouse is.  If you have LOOKED for your spouse (yes, which means contacting the inlaws if you have their phone number or e-mail), tried several methods to find them and been unsuccessful, you can serve your spouse with divorce papers by publication in the newspaper.  You will have to file an affidavit with the court telling them all the methods you used to try to locate your spouse, and what the results were.  Once publication is completed, this is “good service” but ONLY for ending the marriage.
  2. Another reason would be that you and your spouse don’t have any money, property or children to divide, so ending the marriage is the only thing you care about.
  3. A third reason would be that even though you DO have money, property or children with your spouse, you have tried your best to serve your spouse through other methods (mail, sheriff, process server), and you have not been able to do so.  If you are not sure that you have your spouse’s correct address, you MAY be able to serve your spouse by publication and go forward with the divorce.

Free Consultation with Divorce Lawyer in Utah

If you have a question about divorce law or if you need to start or defend against a divorce case in Utah call Ascent Law at (801) 676-5506. We will help you.

Michael R. Anderson, JD

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

One of the most exciting areas of bankruptcy law is the ability to discharge or remove a second mortgage.  For years the ability to remove a second mortgage was largely irrelevant as property values rose year after year.  Now the power of the bankruptcy court has become one of the most powerful consumer protection laws ever.  It is important for every home-owner to know his right to adjust his home mortgage through the bankruptcy law.

How can bankruptcy help discharge my debts?

Although this article refers to a lien on property as a “second mortgage” most types of liens including mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and other variations can be considered “second mortgages.”

Bankruptcy law gives debtors great power over unsecured creditors.  For instance, in most cases all of the client’s credit card debt will be discharged.  Other unsecured debts such as certain bank loans, personal loans, and payday advance loans can similarly be wiped away.

Bankruptcy and Your Second Mortgage

The great power of bankruptcy in the current housing meltdown is its power to treat a second mortgage as an unsecured debt when the first mortgage is under water.  That means that if your house is worth less than the amount owed on your first mortgage, you may be able to rid yourself of your second mortgage along with most of your other debts.  This is called a “lien strip” or a “mortgage strip”

What is required to get rid of my second mortgage?

In order to take advantage of a mortgage strip, a client must complete a Chapter 11 or Chapter 13 reorganization plan.  The plan requires monthly payments to the court to partially repay creditors for a period of 3-5 years.  In many cases the repayment to the court is lower than the monthly second mortgage payment.  You will not have to pay your second mortgage while in bankruptcy, and of course you will continue to live in your house.

At the end of the 3 or 5 year plan, you can own your home subject only to the first mortgage and have no other debt to hold you back.

There is opportunity in the downturn.

There is a bright spot in the housing crisis; those who bought homes at the peak can take advantage of the drop in property values too.  Come and speak with me about how you can own your home free of your second mortgage.

How Can I Pay for Bankruptcy?

Established in federal law, bankruptcy is a proven method for getting out of debt, but those in financial hardship are often uncertain about the costs involved. While you can technically file bankruptcy by yourself, experience matters tremendously and can mean the difference between keeping or losing property, having to re-file your case or even going to jail. Creditors are adept at using the legal system and will count on individuals to be overwhelmed or un-knowledgeable about court proceedings that attorneys have spent years learning.

Weigh Your Options

With court fees, mandatory counseling courses, credit reports and attorney fees, bankruptcies tend to range between $1500 to $2,000 (varies by state & service), with additional fees being paid through Chapter 13 payment plans. Without a doubt, a $2,000 bill can seem overwhelming to someone struggling with debt. But while it may seem expensive to file for bankruptcy, it’s almost certainly more expensive to keep struggling with sky-high interest rates, late payments, overdraft fees, out of control payments, collection attempts, lawsuits, repossessions and even foreclosure. Filing for bankruptcy is an investment in your financial future.

Budget Bankruptcy

You know the old saying: You get what you pay for. Discount attorneys or paralegals that offer to file your bankruptcy for a low price often offer even lower service by cutting corners and saving time. Think about this: If you’re going in for a life-threatening surgery, are you going to find a budget surgeon? Doubtful! Bankruptcy is a vital legal procedure that can impact your financial future for years to come, and mistakes can be devastating.

Watch out for attorneys that offer a low price and a quick case: their incentive to make money fast could result in a mismanaged bankruptcy and even worse, a long term financial disaster for you.

Customized vs. Cookie Cutter

It can be tempting to call up every attorney in the phone book to haggle about price. But consider this: anyone who offers you a fixed quote over the phone is most likely not giving your financial situation the proper review it deserves. What specific service are they even offering? Jumping to conclusions can be extremely costly. Like with other important process, there’s an order to things – you don’t build a home before you check the foundation, and the same is true with bankruptcy.

Free Consultation with Bankruptcy Lawyer

If you have a bankruptcy question, or need to file a bankruptcy case, call Ascent Law now at (801) 676-5506. Attorneys in our office have filed over a thousand cases. We can help you now. Come in or call in for your free initial consultation.

Michael R. Anderson, JD

Ascent Law LLC
8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C
West Jordan, Utah
84088 United States
Telephone: (801) 676-5506
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Friday, March 23, 2018

Estate Attorney

This article explains exactly why you need an estate attorney.  You really need to prepare, even if you just have a will.  Don’t wait.  Don’t think your “verbal agreement” will work – it won’t.

Estate Attorney

What Happens if I Don’t Have a Will?

Dying intestate, or without a will, or with no estate planning is very common in Utah. If you die without a will, your property will go through probate and is then distributed according to Utah’s intestacy laws.
Intestacy laws govern intestate property. They go into effect unless there is a valid will to testify to the deceased’s wishes or an established estate plan. In intestate inheritance, a spouse is first in line, then children, then their children, and so on. When there are no heirs in the direct bloodline, the heirs are the parents, then siblings, then nieces and nephews, and so on.

Here are some common events that may happen if you die intestate:

Your immediate next of kin, whoever they are, will likely inherit your property first: lock, stock, and barrel. If you die intestate, everything goes to your next of kin. Your next of kin are the people who have the closest relation to you. If you’re married, then that’s your spouse. If you’re not married, your closest blood relations or equivalent, will inherit your property.

Utah Intestacy Law

That son- or daughter-in-law you don’t like will get your property before that niece or nephew you do like. Marital property owned by your children is governed by the laws of the states they live in, not you. If they live in a communal property state, an inheritance is separate property so long as it is not commingled. While the laws are different in every state, property acquired by gift or inheritance during marriage by either spouse is separate property, but it is very easy to commingle and then become part of the community and subject to a 50/50 division.

Your heirs could be hit with inheritance taxes (that could have been avoided). The relatives who inherit from you may be subject to a large inheritance tax (both on the federal and state level), depending on the size of the estate and the state where the assets in question are held. While this won’t wipe out their inheritance completely, proper estate planning could have made this a non-issue. For example, a Salt Lake City estate lawyer could have helped you create a trust that would have minimized your loved ones’ exposure to taxes.

A little bit of money up for grabs has a very cooling effect on interfamilial relationships. In a perfect world, family members would all get along, never be jealous, and always do right by each other. This isn’t a perfect world. Intestacy laws don’t take into account the relationships the deceased had with anyone or what the deceased orally promised to someone. Even if widowed Uncle Bob told you he wanted you to have his ’65 Thunderbird, without a will, the car is going to his son…who doesn’t even have a driver’s license.

If you wish to dispute an intestacy inheritance, contact a Salt Lake City estate planning lawyer for assistance. They can counsel you on your rights and what course of action you can take, if any, to prove a valid claim to the estate.

Free Consultation with an Estate Attorney

If you are here, you probably have an estate issue you need help with, call Ascent Law for your free estate law consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you.

Michael R. Anderson, JD

Ascent Law LLC
8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C
West Jordan, Utah
84088 United States
Telephone: (801) 676-5506
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Thursday, March 22, 2018

Annulment in West Jordan Utah

At Ascent Law, LLC, we want to provide you with some things you need to know about a Utah Annulment (sometimes called annulment of marriage) is not the same thing as divorce (sometimes called dissolution of marriage, divorce, etc). In a dissolution, the marriage is ended by agreement, but as far as the law is concerned, the parties had a legal marriage, it is just over now. In Annulment, the marriage is voided, erased. Legally, the law has erased the marriage.

Annulment in West Jordan Utah

Unlike divorce, where the parties must agree on everything and file together, an Annulment can either be agreed OR contested.  That means that the parties can either file together, or one person can file for annulment on his or her own.

Just like in divorce, there must be grounds for annulment in order for an Utah court to grant the annulment.  The grounds for divorce in Utah are NOT the same as the grounds for Annulment.  The most notable difference in the grounds is that in Annulment, the parties cannot simply agree that they are incompatible.  There has to be some defect in the marriage that is serious enough that the law will allow the marriage to be erased instead of simply ended.

Even if grounds for annulment exist in your case, it doesn’t automatically mean you can file for annulment.  Usually, it has to be the “aggrieved party”, meaning the person who was wronged, who files for the annulment.  To learn more about who is the aggrieved party, read over the Utah Code or call our office to talk.  In addition, there are time limits for annulment.  In many cases, the person who was wronged must file within two years, but there are different time limits for different grounds for annulment.

Attorney for Annulment in Utah

Utah has a separate statute dealing with changing names after an annulment.  In annulment cases, the court may, if it wants to, change the name of a person back to what it was before the parties married, even if neither of the parties requests the name change.  This differs from the Utah divorce statute about changing the party’s name, which requires the consent of the parties to change a party’s name.  This may be especially important in a case where the husband is the aggrieved party and he wants to have the court “take his name back” from the wife.

Utah law allows people to get restraining orders against the other person while an annulment case is pending, in order to prevent the other spouse from harassing or harming themselves or their children.  The restraining orders can also prevent people from leaving the state with a child, selling or hiding assets, etc.

Even though the court may ultimately find the marriage to be invalid, the court may (but is not required to) make “temporary orders” of support while the annulment is pending.  The court can also make orders regarding temporary custody while the case is pending.  Temporary orders might be issued in a contested annulment case, but are almost never ordered in annulments that are filed jointly.  This is probably because when the parties jointly file the annulment papers, they want the marriage to be over as soon as possible, and the case will not be open long enough for temporary orders to be needed.

Annulment in Utah may undo the marriage, but it does NOT undo the legitimacy of any children that were born during the marriage.  The children still have the presumption of paternity that is afforded to children born during a marriage.

A court cannot award BOTH an annulment and a divorce (or legal separation, dissolution, etc.)  If one party files for annulment and the other party counterclaims for divorce or legal separation, that does not mean that annulment is now off the table.  The court must decide if there are grounds for an annulment.  Even if there are grounds for annulment, some of the grounds for annulment are also grounds for divorce.  The best policy is for the court to allow the aggrieved party their choice of remedy, assuming that party has met his or her burden of proof.

In annulment, unlike divorce or dissolution (and sometimes legal separation), there is no property division, and no spousal support after the marriage is annulled.

Free Initial Consultation with an Annulment Lawyer

When you need an Annulment in Utah, call Ascent Law for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you.

Michael R. Anderson, JD

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