MANY debtors feel that their debt problems have placed them in a lions’ den because they feel that their debts will swallow them up alive. Every month every creditor must have their minimum bites from debtors’ household income. Creditors are compared to lions that eat debtors alive. This situation is not hard to imagine. Just…
ESTATE planning for sophisticated individuals with significant net worth should consider using family business entities, primarily for income, gift, and estate tax planning, and even tax saving through valuation discounts and asset protection. Indeed, under the American Tax-prayer Relief Act of 2013 (ATRA), the 2013 exemption for each of the estate, gift, and generation skipping…
OUR column usually focuses on serious (and sometimes boring) subjects of tax and finance. Let’s depart from that dull setting and explore the lighter world of Murphy’s Law: 1. If something can go wrong, it will. At the worst possible time. 2. Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate. 3. Brain cells come and brain…
ON Sept. 26, 2013, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that entitles personal attendants, which include caregivers and nannies working in private households, to overtime pay if they work more than 9 hours in a day. Personal attendants were previously exempt from overtime law. The Industrial Welfare Commission’s Wage Order 15 currently defines…
QUESTION: It seems years ago I supposedly received a notice to go to court, but never went because I never really received the notice. What can I do? Answer: An in absentia order may be rescinded by the immigration judge upon the filing of a motion to reopen if the respondent did not receive proper…
ANAHEIM – Seeing the need for a more diverse political base, California Republican leaders earlier this month vowed to expand its party and place a concerted effort to reach out to the Asian American community, the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.. In its third Asian Pacific American Roundtable at the California Republican Party…
“THE word of God is not chained,” St. Paul says in his letter to Timothy as he was suffering in prison, chained because of his passion for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Such words are meaningful to us in this present time as we continue to face the problems of violence, war, poverty, and…
What sets Filipino singer Marco Sison apart from the rest of his contemporaries? What made him survive the stiff competition against new singers post his generation? What could have been his well-kept secret to stay young and keep his unmatched masculine virility? The prevailing questions always fail to gather sufficient and concrete answers. Whispers that…
There seems to be a misconception in the general public that you can only obtain a divorce in California if your spouse will sign the divorce papers. I get this question a lot from our family law clients. The fact is that California is a no fault state and you do not need your spouse’s…
With the proliferation of credit cards in our society, it’s not difficult for credit card debts to get out of hand. Once you’re caught in the credit card debt trap, it’s quite a struggle to get out. Here’s why. The average household in America today owes about $16,000 in credit cards, according to a recent…
What sets Filipino singer Marco Sison apart from the rest of his contemporaries? What made him survive the stiff competition against new singers post his generation? What could have been his well-kept secret to stay young and keep his unmatched masculine virility? The prevailing questions always fail to gather sufficient and concrete answers. Whispers that…
NO doubt you’ve heard that vitamins and minerals are good for your overall health. But did you know that many of those same vitamins and minerals are very important to the health of your smile? Read on! Does your diet include an ample supply of these important vitamins and minerals? • Calcium protects your teeth…
Dear Atty. Gurfinkel: I divorced my first spouse in California, and then married an American citizen, who petitioned me for a green card, along with my child from my first marriage, as his “stepchild.” Although we are truly in love and everything went fine at our interview, I received a denial because the USCIS states…
IT took quite a long while before any network to convince Megastar Sharon Cuneta to do a teleserye. But after Kapatid TV5 finally got her to say ‘yes,’ she has poured her heart and soul into a project that she said she feels great to be a big part of. Sharon admitted that this is…
Veggies protect the stomach Those taking NSAID drugs like ibuprofen, and other anti-arthritis pain medications regularly can be victims of stomach irritation which could result in ulcers and bleeding complication. To prevent stomach ulceration, ingesting 8 to 10 ounces of vegetables a day can work wonders by protecting the stomach wall lining, according to a…
THIS mild, sunny morning charmed me into happiness and I realized my cheer was partly because I was alone. I thought for an awful moment that perhaps I was essentially unloving, perhaps had never loved. But years of joy made me think that yes, I have loved. However, the question is that was it enough? …
LOS ANGELES – Top officials of the Philippine Social Security System (SSS) kicked off their US outreach mission with a community briefing at the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles on Friday, October 11. Headed by SSS President and CEO Emilio S. De Quiros, Jr., the SSS delegation consisted of Vice President Maria Lourdes N….
ASKED what he would miss most about his home for more than three years, outgoing US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas recently told Inquirer.net that it would be “Its people (Filipinos).” In previous interviews, Thomas said the Filipinos are the number one asset of the country and is the reason why the economy…
BEGINNING October 21, same-sex couples in New Jersey will be able to wed. This, after a New Jersey judge rejected the state’s appeal to halt same-sex marriages. Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson cited the US Supreme Court’s June rejection of part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, a move that ensured that same-sex spouses…
OVER the past several years, the USICE and related law enforcement agencies have embarked on an aggressive campaign to apprehend and remove from the United States thousands of aliens against whom “final orders” of deportation or removal have been entered. Most of these individuals actually appeared in Immigration Court and were informed of the order…
VISITING different places have helped individuals expand their world. Getting away from the usual daily setting can be a good way to end a rough week and a great start for the new week ahead. Traveling has become a lifestyle for most people—both young and old. And in our culture, it is something we, Filipinos,…
Partnership with literacy non-profit Reading is Fundamental will give an additional 100,000 books to kids nationwide. McDonald’s two-year book offering: anytime access to reading with new interactive digital books through 2014, second installation of Happy Meal Books to be offered in 2015. OAK BROOK, Ill., Oct. 10, 2013 – In time for National Family Literacy…
Jinggoy Estrada has apparently succeeded in diverting the attention of both mainstream and social media, from the P10-billion pork scandal to alleged anomalies involving Noynoy Aquino’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and the Malampaya fund. As I write this, the lead stories in the Manila dailies (excluding Business World which focuses on business and economic news)…
Nursing is most certainly a world into itself. Even as the debate in American healthcare rages, these remarkable men and women quietly continue to provide the day to day grit from the edge of life, each practicing in a variety of specialties including cardiac care, the ER, intensive care, obstetric, orthopedic surgery that holds the healing…
Overview A KEY element under consideration by Congress as it debates a comprehensive immigration reform bill is whether a “pathway to citizenship” for the estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the US should be included. However, according to recent Homeland Security data, many immigrants that are already in the US lawfully and eligible to naturalize,…
RECENTLY, the Filipino community was abuzz as news spread about a 63-year old woman who was allegedly detained and harassed by US immigration officers for six hours at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The traveler, retired Asian Development Bank employee Cariza Yonzon Grande, was on her 13th trip to the United States in a span of…
FOR many kababayans visiting the United States, the most dreaded part of the trip is going through the immigration inspection. The recent news about a 63-year old Filipina being harassed and intimidated by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers in the point of entry in Seattle, Washington just validated the fear and apprehension of such…
DEBT problems can become a recurring nightmare for debtors who think they can handle debt problems by themselves. I have told you many times before that if you have debt problems you must rely on the one true God, my God, the God of Moses and Israel, who sent His only and Beloved Son, Jesus…
1. File Electronically – Consider filing electronically instead of using paper tax forms. If you file electronically and choose direct deposit, you will receive your refund faster. 2. Check social security numbers – Make sure that SS numbers are correct for you, your spouse, and children. If you e-file, names used for your returns must…
(Employer’s Verbal Disclosure of Employee’s Medical Condition May Be Illegal) MELISSA Ignat worked for Yum! Brands, the corporate parent of several fast-food franchises, such as Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC. Yum employed Melissa between 2005 and 2008 in the Yum Real Estate Title Department, in Irvine. Melissa suffered from bipolar disorder, for which she…
