Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Caylee's Law

Sen. Nicholas J. Sacco of New Jersey proposed a law that would deem it a Criminal offence to not reprot a child missing within 24 hours of discovery. This is in response to they Casey Anthony trial where Casey Anthony was found not guilty of murdering her child and ordered to serve about as much time as she already had for lying to police and the court. Had the law been in place at the time of the trial, Casey Anthony would have gotten as much as 3 more years in jail and up to $40,000 in fines.

More details can be found at http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2011/07/north_bergen_senator_proposes.html

Friday, July 8, 2011

Recent praise from the ERA

Еще одним кандидатом в энциклопедию стала президент организации русскоговорящих адвокатов-женщин Инна Ферштейн. Она отметила, что ЭРА поможет иммигрантам сохранить русский язык и культурные корни. «Мы все выросли на одних и тех же книгах, – подчеркнула она. – Мы все смотрели одни и те же фильмы. Не случайно мои дети-американцы, родившиеся здесь, свободно пишут и читают по-русски. В этом заслуга не только моей семьи, но и школы».

Дети Инны Ферштейн занимаются в единственной в Нью-Йорке школе с преподованием на русском языке. Активным сторонником создания этой программы, пробивавшим ее в коридорах городской власти, был Евгений Школьников. По словам Ферштейн, это – пример того, как молодые иммигранты, многие из которых приехали в США с помощью американских еврейских благотворительных организаций, «отдают долги» своей общине. «Мы в одном поколении превратились из берущих в дающих, – сказала Инна Ферштейн. – Но пока еще не все понимают, насколько важно отдавать обратно, и какое удовольствие это приносит – намного больше, чем когда ты берешь».

При этом, отметила Ферштейн, многие из представителей ее поколения приехали в США «с двумя чемоданами и с сотней долларов в кармане». Сама она начинала свою трудовую деятельность в Америке с работы в магазине, где получала 3 доллара в час, но при этом училась вечерами.

«Очень важно, чтобы эта «энциклопедия» показала нашим детям, какими мы сюда приехали, кто наши предки и чего мы можем достичь», – убеждена Инна Ферштейн.

Available in english here

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Casey Anthony verdict

On June 16 2008, Caylee Anthony was reported missing. She was reported to be with her mother Casey Anthony. Sadly, on December 11th of the same year, she was found dead. Her killer is thought to have been her mother and the verdict was announced today.

Casey Anthony was found not guilty on the charge of murder and aggravated manslaughter. The only counts she was found guilty on were misdemeanors which would give her up to 4 years in jail, 2 and a half of which she had already served. The misdemeanors were the different lies and fabrications she had come up with to explain the disappearance of the child, including wrongfully implicating one Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez in the murder.

The American jury found her not guilty for reasonable doubt and circumstantial evidence. Forensic analysis on the body was impossible because of the long period of decay and DNA evidence tying the car as a possible storage point for the body was not proven.

Should the courts have found her guilty of murder based on the perjury and circumstantial evidence?
Please leave your thoughts on the case below.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Китайские мамы против еврейских мам - кто лучше?

Субботний вечер. Вместо того, чтобы проводить время с мужем, я сижу проверяю и редактирую стилистику 28-го по счету сочинения моей 10-летней Пери, которой предстоит пройти вот уже третий тест для особо одаренных, на этот раз - с сочинением по Марку Твену. Мой десятилетний сын Ари и мой муж - на марафонском 5-часовом соревновании по футболу Chelsea Piers, вкатывают мячи в ворота противника во славу своей команды. Моя пятилетняя дочь - в постели, она только пришла с 7-часового конкурса по пению и официально полностью истощена…

continue

Monday, July 26, 2010

Can my Ex-Wife get something when I die?

Q: My husband of 20 years past away. His estate is going through probate now. Can his ex-wife be entitled to something? She now claims that she owns all the assets in his IRAs and 401K, totaling $2,000,000. Is this LEGAL?

A: Yes. Many people do simple wills before their death and do not seek advice of professional Estate Planning attorney. As a result, they forget about such important assets in their estate as IRAs, 401K(s) and other retirement accounts.

Independent of your intentions, such as seeing the assets distributed to your wife and children, custodians of retirement accounts must follow the directions of the beneficiary designation form - even if that means that $2 million of the assets legally go to an ex-wife from 20 years ago.

Q: What should I do to make sure correct beneficiaries inherit all of my estate?

A: Consult with an Estate planning attorney prior to divorce, marriage, birth of a child and other important life changing event. Many divorce attorneys do not draft separation or divorce documents properly often forgetting about very important assets that by law belong to your current spouse. Such assets are your IRAs, 401(k)s, pension plan accounts and others. If you designate someone other than your spouse to inherit such assets, you need your spouse's permission! If you get divorced from that spouse, you must properly remove such spouse from those assets.

Most important advice any good attorney can give you - review your estate plan including your beneficiary designations annually and during important changes in your life. And for once, let the professional handle your estate planning needs!