With Your Family in Mind

When a bankruptcy case is filed, the bankruptcy code provides a protection that goes into effect automatically.  That protection is called the “automatic stay.”  The automatic stay stops most creditors from continuing or starting any action against the debtor to collect on a debt incurred prior to the bankruptcy filing.  Such actions include lawsuits, collection letters, phone calls from collectors, wage garnishments, bank levies, and any other similar efforts to initiate or continue collection.

Everyone enjoys the feeling of close friends surrounding them.  Good friends and a community that is there for you can make a huge difference.  Large apartment complexes sometimes make it difficult for seniors to meet new people.  Many times, the complex is so big, it makes it hard to participate in every activity and find a close-knit group you can connect with.
For people who have a difficult time walking, traveling to the main activities and meeting center of the complex can often become exhausting.

When it comes to overindulgence, money and food really aren’t all that different.  Both satisfy basic needs in our lives.  Yet without boundaries, they can get us in a lot of trouble.

Stork Vision realizes how important it is for families to bond with their baby. For many mothers this comes naturally.  They can feel their baby moving and growing.  Their bodies are very aware of their unborn child.  For fathers, it is not so easy.  They may not have such a close bond early in pregnancy.

As if maintaining self-esteem isn’t challenging enough, here comes April Fools’ Day – that annual ritual that gives friends and foes alike a license to entertain themselves by playing practical jokes and perpetrating hoaxes at the expense of others.  Fortunately, most adults have the ego strength to survive this one sanctioned day of widespread deception.  So you’ll feel a little stupid, naïve, gullible, and vulnerable.  If you’re lucky, it will all be over within a few hours.

When a senior is staying in a long-term care facility, the family may need the services of the California Long-Term Care Ombudsman.  The primary responsibility of the program is to investigate and endeavor to resolve complaints made by, or on behalf of, individual residents in long-term care facilities.

Don’t think that your will and/or living trust will necessarily determine who receives your assets after you are gone.  Generally speaking, changing beneficiaries in your will and/or living trust does not override the beneficiaries you have listed on beneficiary designation forms for your retirement, annuity, transfer on death brokerage accounts, pay on death bank accounts, and life insurance policies. 

At 9 a.m. I pulled into the wide-open parking lot.  Orange cones set up in different patterns scattered the pavement.  At 10 a.m. I was going 40 mph swerving in and out of cones in my white Toyota pick-up truck.  By 11:30 a.m. I was speeding up to about 45 mph and in a split second I applied maximum pressure on my breaks initializing my Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) while coming to a quick, complete stop. And this was only two of the many defense drills I put my truck through. Not bad for an otherwise bland Sunday afternoon.

Did you know that your skin is your largest organ, weighing between 9 and 11 pounds!  Your skin is a barrier between the inside of your body and the outside world and how your skin ages depends on a variety of factors – your lifestyle, diet, heredity, exposure to the sun and other personal habits. 

Every day we hear about our economic recession.  In an emotional recession people feel anxious, depressed and a sense of being powerless in the world.  Meanwhile, life continues to dish out losses such as death of a loved one, divorce, breakup, loss of health, loss of career, loss of job, or any of the 40 other losses we can encounter during a lifetime.

What do you do if you, or someone you know and love, has a drinking or drug problem?  Dealing with addiction is a complicated matter, even for a trained professional.  Too often, family members and individuals feel they can contain or control the situation, but the inevitable result is that the behavior only spins further out of control.  This is why there are over 15 million addicts in America today.

Inner Circle Foster Care and Adoption Services, Inc. address the growing deficit of services to troubled children and families in our community.  Our foster children are children age zero to 17, of all ethnicities, that have been removed from their birth families and placed into foster and/or fost/adopt homes.  These children remain in foster care while their parents are offered services by the County of Los Angeles, Department of Children and Family Services to help them correct problems that put their children in harm’s way.

What has been holding you back from the career of your dreams?  Are you unsure that you have the skills, the talent, or the tenacity?  Do you need additional education, but lack the confidence to go back to school?  The current economic tide has forced many adults into considering their options in order to cope with the changes looming over them.  Unfortunately, few know where to turn for help.

With all of the headlines trumpeting the state’s budget crisis and its impact on local schools, sometimes it helps to focus on the many good things that are still happening in Hart District classrooms.
Students in four Hart District schools have taken six of the top 10 slots in the Stock Market Game for both the middle school and high school divisions, beating the S & P 500 index in a difficult market and outscoring more than 600 other teams from Southern California.  While enjoying the “game,” students learned valuable skills in math, reading, language arts, social studies—and real life.

That’s hearsay! Non-lawyers love throwing around the word “hearsay,” but do they really know what it means?  Probably not.  Hearsay is an out of court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter being asserted.  Try explaining that to your nine-year-old — maybe you will have better luck than I did.  With that kind of definition, it is easy to understand why most non-lawyers are clueless.  So let me try to explain it a little better.  If someone comes into court and says something for the purpose of trying to prove that what they are saying is true, that statement would be hearsay.

On January 13, 2009 proud parents Johnny and Lelien Gonzales along with siblings Samantha, Jonathan and Ashlynn welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world.  Jenna Leeshin Gonzales was born weighing eight pounds four ounces and was 20 inches long.  Please join The Magazine of Santa...

The Lenten season is here.  Forty days of fasting and penitence, ending with Easter celebration.  Because of this, many Christians give up chocolate, meat, or wine.  Is this what God really wants?  When do we give God more of our most precious possession – our time?  The foundation of Christian life is prayer, and finding the time and ways to pray appears to be hard.

As we approach the spring season, there is sure to be an abundance of wildflowers and foliage, making for a beautiful backdrop here in our Valley.  What a great time to get out and enjoy a few spring events here in the City of Santa Clarita!
I want to encourage you to attend the AT&T Golf Classic being held at the Valencia Country Club March 9 to 15, 2009.  This nationally renowned golf event, part of the PGA Champions tour, will feature champion golfers right here in our community!  Tickets are available now at www.attchampionsclassic.com .