Links & Information
Below are links to resources that may be of interest:
GENERAL LEGAL LINKS
Maryland Judiciary Case Search
Online information regarding cases in Maryland District & Circuit Courts.
Maryland Judiciary
Information on all Maryland District and Circuit Courts and related agencies and helpful pro se information/forms.
Maryland Legal Resources
Provides access to the Maryland Code, Statutes, and Rules of Procedure.
Maryland Attorney General
Helpful information and forms including Advance Directives/Living Wills and Consumer Complaints.
Internal Revenue Service
Publication 504 (2007) Divorced or Separated Individuals.
Maryland State Department of Assessments & Taxation.
Access to real property ownership, assessed value and property sales in Maryland.
Zillow.com
A free online real estate site where you can search for homes for sale, find home prices, see home values, view recently sold homes, and check mortgage rates.
FAMILY LAW LINKS
Alimony Guidelines Calculator
An Explanation of How Statutory Factors are Considered in the Kaufman Alimony Guidelines.
Alimony and the Use of Guidelines and Calculators
Maryland Child Support Information
Bureau of Support Enforcement with Maryland Child Support Guidelines Calculator.
The Women's Law Center of Maryland.
Helpful information regarding divorce in Maryland.
Community Mediation Center of Calvert
Center mediators assist individuals in neighbor conflicts, landlord-tenant issues, group and organizational conflicts and family care decisions for elderly adults. Mediators also provide alternative dispute resolution service to individuals participating in Calvert County District Court cases. they assist in a wide range of legal actions, including unpaid accounts, deposits and claims for damages. Family law or cases involving criminal conduct are generally outside the purview of the Center and are referred to other agencies.
ESTATE PLANNING / PROBATE LINKS
Register of Wills for Maryland
Contact information for all offices of the Register of Wills as well as information on procedural matters involved in the administration of estates.
BANKRUPTCY LINKS
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland
Online information regarding the Court structure and process.
Articles
How Bankruptcy Effects Your Credit Score
Bankruptcy is a tricky affair, and declaring it can ruin good credit. When you file for bankruptcy, your debts are supposed to be settled, but with the note that this occurred because you filed for bankruptcy. This note will show up on your credit history for about 7 to 10 years, depending on the credit reporting agency. Because lenders look at your past ability to pay back your loans in order to determine your future ability to pay your debts, a bankruptcy note may make it difficult to find new lines of credit or get new loans.This is a "good" bankruptcy scenario; more often than not, the credit reporting agencies close the accounts incorrectly, reporting the accounts as either open or closed with a huge balance and no record or note of the bankruptcy filing. While bankruptcy itself will not keep you from finding credit or loans, the false reporting can damage your credit history so badly that you may be denied credit that you should be able to receive. As mis-reporting is rampant among the credit reporting agencies, you should check your credit report from all three national agencies two to three months after filing for bankruptcy. This allows some time for the bankruptcy to process. If there are mistakes on the report, you should work to fix them immediately as credit scores are being used more often in everyday situations, such as to rent an apartment or get a job.
Bankruptcy is not the best option, but it may be a better option than leaving old, unpaid debts on your credit history. In this situation, a bankruptcy may help you build your score up because old, unpaid debts tell new creditors that you are unwilling to deal with your debt. At least with a bankruptcy, you have made some sort of action to deal with your debt.
Re-establishing your credit score from bankruptcy will be difficult, but it is not impossible. You can find secured credit cards, which usually max out at $500. By using this credit card for small purchases that you can pay off immediately, you are building good credit. You may also find yourself eligible for gas cards, which work in the same way. Also, mortgages may help to rebuild your credit after bankruptcy. Oftentimes, two to three years after declaring bankruptcy, you may be eligible for an FHA loan that has moderate interest rates. Paying your mortgage on time will give your credit a big boost.
Just remember, bankruptcy is never the choice you want to make; but some of us have to. If you do, it's not the end of the world. Just be careful that once you have declared, you start on the right track to establishing your credit.
Tom Ambrozewicz, mortgage and real estate broker since 1993, is one of the pioneers in using breakthrough audio technology on his web sites. You can read or listen to professional narrator reading to you. Check spectrum of credit tips at http://www.ask-how.info
Rebuilding Your Finances After Divorce
Generally speaking, when it comes to women and divorce, financial preparedness is the key to an easy divorce... or at least as close to it as you can get. It may be true that men may find themselves set back, financially, after a divorce. This is why there are attorneys who specifically offer services pertaining to divorce for men.However, more often than not, women find themselves in dire need of divorce help due to the fact that their male counterparts generally make more money and have more financial power than they do. This can be quite unfair, particularly when women usually gain custody of the children and naturally incur higher expenses.
After a divorce, a woman's cost of living can increase dramatically, hence the reason why court-ordered alimony and child support payments most often go to women; even so, experts report that the average woman experiences a 45% decrease in her standard of living after going through a divorce. Meanwhile, the average man experiences a 15% improvement in his standard of living (Long Island University's National Center for Women & Retirement Research).
Given these eye-opening statistics, it is no wonder that women are scouring the Internet for divorce information and divorce help. By learning how to get a divorce and by seeking divorce help, spouses who find themselves on the short end of the financial stick are finding ways to protect their assets and to live a reasonable life after divorce.
Nathan Dawson writes for http://www.lifeaftermarriage.com a great online source for finance information.
