Your property under Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

IN a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy petition, the debtor is required to list down in the bankruptcy petition all his assets in the applicable schedules which are part of the bankruptcy petition.  These assets are classified as real or personal property. The debtor is also required to list down all secured assets. From all the assets…

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Average itemized deductions

FOR those of you who itemize, the table below should be of special interest. For those of you who play the odds (you know what I mean), this table should be of very special interest. Having claimed too many exemptions at work to increase your take-home pay, you suddenly find yourself owing Uncle Sam a…

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Prop 47 and new deportation relief

ON Tuesday November 4, 2014, California Voters approved Proposition 47, which brings sweeping changes to California criminal law and procedure that will affect thousands of immigrants facing deportation due to pending and prior criminal cases.  The “Safe Neighborhood and Schools Act,” known as “Prop 47,” reduces certain felony and “wobbler” offenses for simple drug possession…

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Emirates lounge officially opens at LAX

The third Emirates lounge in the United States was officially unveiled on Wednesday, March 18, at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). After more than two years in the making and an investment over $6.2 million, the new lounge, located on the sixth floor at LAX, is now available exclusively to Emirates first and business class…

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Gov. Brown proposes $1-B in drought spending

State water board approves new conservation regulations AS California enters its fourth year of drought, Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders on Thursday, March 19  proposed legislation to accelerate more than $1 billion in drought-relief spending. “We need to get the money out the door now for shovel-ready projects and existing water programs that only…

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Grace Wong, a mother on the totem pole

In every connubial set-up, regardless of creed, religion, color or orientation, the state of muliebrity has always considerably been on the paramount level of recognition and in high esteem simply because the revered status of a woman as a potential quintessence of motherhood is unquestionably the defining line that separates her from man. But what…

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Taxes are important for immigration

For many families, tax season is the time of the year when people will have a large sum of money available to spend on things that normally would be out of financial reach.  Many families look forward to the extra cash to purchase new items for their home, take vacations, etc.  Some will use the…

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Sexual abuse of a minor as an aggravated felony

Under INA 101(a)(43)(A), sexual abuse of a minor is an aggravated felony. A conviction for an offense classified as an aggravated felony would disqualify an alien from most immigration benefits or relief. A common problem is how to determine whether a state conviction constitutes an aggravated felony within the meaning of INA 101(a)(43)(A). Recently, in…

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Brain pill: A hoax?

Alzheimer’s Disease is an ailment more dreaded and feared than most illnesses, including cancer. The mere thought of losing ones mind, of having a brain with less capacity than of a helpless newborn, is very scary, to say the least. The severe stage of dementia robs the victim of all thought processes, memories, and intelligence,…

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If I could Interview Jesus Christ

LENT is a season of  Christ’s teachings which are presented self-righteously, mournfully, nasally, coldly, feebly, flamboyantly, blandly in a thousand pulpits across the nation. If I were asked the rationale of my faith, I’d say: First, I believe in a grand universal order and meaning, and in a power that is both greater than us…

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Scandalous

JUDICIAL reform remains to be an important policy issue in the Philippines. The institution is still haunted with problems relating to corruption, incompetence, delay in the administration of justice and access to justice by the poor. The current situation in Makati City is not helping resolve such a herculean task. Tension enveloped the city after…

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How about a sub-state for the poor?

THE current focus of Malacañ ang and Congress is the crafting of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) which has been denounced by detractors as a means of carving out a portion of the Philippines as a sub-state for the Bangsamoro or Moro nation. The BBL has, on the other hand, been presented by its sponsors…

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Tax consequences of divorce on non custodian parents

CONSIDER the common divorce scenario where the divorce judgment provides  primary custody of the children  to one spouse while the other spouse only gets visitation.  The parties begin to file separate tax returns.  What are the tax consequences of the non custodial parents with regards to claiming the children in his or her return? A…

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Fil-Am student brutally beaten in San Jose mall

A 17-year-old Fil-Am, Christian Rasner, is in critical condition after a brutal beating from two unidentified men in a shopping center parking lot on Wednesday, March 11. The beating took place in the parking lot of the Westfield Valley Fair Mall in San Jose, Calif. The suspects’ whereabouts and identities are still unknown. Rasner is…

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Las Vegas Filipino couple sentenced in mortgage assistance scam

A FILIPINO couple from Las Vegas was sentenced last week on one felony count of a pattern of mortgage lending fraud, Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt announced Monday, March 16. Alex Soria, 69, and Sonia Rodis, 55, were each sentenced in a mortgage assistance scam that misrepresented to homeowners a fraudulent mortgage elimination program…

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