Are you overwhelmed with debt you can’t pay? Are you considering liquidating your retirement accounts to help you get out of the hole? Stop now and seek legal advice. Whether you’ve lost your job or your small business is failing, whatever your situation is, liquidating your retirement accounts to help pay your debt is not the answer. I’ve seen these situations reveal themselves in my office first-hand. I’ve had clients liquidate their entire IRA, 401K, etc, and still have bills they cannot pay. These clients end up filing for bankruptcy when they could’ve simply done so in the first place. I tell those clients if they had just come in to talk to me for an hour (for free),
Tattoos are popular. Not only can you see this when you walk around town, but stats confirm they are. In 2013… $1.65 billion – the annual amount of US spending on tattoos 45 million – the total number of Americans that have at least one tattoo 14% – the total percent of Americans who have at least one tattoo 21,000 – the number of tattoo parlors in the US Tattoos are a way for people to express themselves and way to declare themselves unique from others. People can get tattoos that have a serious meaning, or they can get tattoos because they were drunk one night and thought it would be funny. Whatever the reason is, there’s certainly a known risk
Today marks the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination. Memphis has the horrible legacy of being the place where MLK was killed; but we also have the beautiful legacy of being the place where he delivered his final address – the glorious “I Have Been to the Mountaintop” speech, which he gave at the Mason Temple the night before his death. In the speech, MLK called on Memphis to embrace nonviolence in negotiating the sanitation strike, which had escalated and got worse following his death. He said to the people of Memphis, “For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of
Have you defaulted on your modified mortgage? You’re not alone. According to a Washington Post article back in April, homeowners who are struggling and received loan modifications are defaulting on their mortgages at “an alarming rate.” The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was created by the Obama administration in 2009. It’s function is to serve as a lifeline for the millions of homeowners facing default. The program provided $75 million to help lenders reduce borrower’s monthly payments to 31% of their income. However, the mortgage reductions have not been sustainable and at the end of March this year, more than 312,000 homeowners had defaulted on mortgages modified under HAMP. “This is a significant problem,” said Christy Romero, special inspector general for the Troubled Asset
On Monday, news broke that the city of Cleveland will pay $6 million in the wrongful death case of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy who was shot and killed by police in 2014. “Wrongful death” refers to a lawsuit in which one party seeks damages from another party for causing a person’s death. The large sum in the Tamir Rice case follows a long list of similar settlements being paid by cities across the United States. According to The Wall Street Journal, police shootings and misconduct cases have cost the 10 cities with the largest police departments approximately $1.02 billion from 2010 through 2014. We handle wrongful death cases at my Memphis personal injury firm to help people recover when they’ve
You may have heard that you can use chapter 13 bankruptcy as a means to get control of your debts and repay your mortgage and car note in a manner that allows you to keep your assets. In most cases, this is true! In this blog, we are going to explain to you how Chapter 13 bankruptcy works and how you can keep your car and other assets through this bankruptcy chapter. What is Chapter 13 Bankruptcy? Chapter 13 is a chapter of law within the United States bankruptcy code that is designed to get you through tough economic times. Maybe you have lost your job or run into unexpected medical bills, chapter 13 can help you get your life
Motorcycle Accident Prevention Motorcycles and motorbikes have been a popular transportation vehicle for over 100 years. In the United States, motorcycles are mainly recreational vehicles, while much of the developing world uses motorbikes as a primary form of transportation. There is a saying about motorcycle riders that there are two types of them – those that have been down and those that are going down. There are so many things that can go wrong on a 2 wheeled motorbike that can cause serious injury something as simple as leaves on the ground or slightly wet pavement. A study from the USDOT shows the number of fatalities was 37 times higher for motorcycles than for cars. The reason a motorcycle crash
Memphis has one of the highest pedestrian accident rates in America, and along with that, one of the highest pedestrian death rates in America as well. As a Memphis accident lawyer, I’ve seen a lot of these cases, including one that affected a dear family member. So I know how bad it can be for both sides, especially when insurance companies don’t want to pay. Have you been injured by a car? We can help! In pedestrian accidents, one or both sides can be at fault. If it becomes clear the driver was at fault, they can be held responsible financially, often through their insurance. In some cases they might also be criminally liable, like in a drunk driving accident.
At this point, we all know student loans are crippling the American people, and especially young people 18-35. It’s already pushed back the age at which young people are getting married and having kids. It’s keeping our best educated population from pursuing the jobs they’ve been trained to do. And it’s hurting the parents, spouses, and economy that have to support this debt. And the problem doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. A bankruptcy law firm Memphis, TN trusts, like the team at Darrell Castle & Associates, can help you decide if bankruptcy makes sense for you. If things continue as they are: soon almost every American will have student loan debt, and half of us won’t
By: Darrell Castle When you were pregnant, you might’ve taken Zofran to treat your morning sickness and not even have known it – now it’s linked to birth defects Video Transcript Hello I’m Darrell Castle and I’m an attorney licensed to practice law in the state of Tennessee and on this video today I’m talking about the drug Zofran and how if you took it as a pregnant woman in the first trimester of your pregnancy, it could’ve caused your baby to be born with a birth defect. A birth defect such as a heart defect – a hole in the heart or a heart murmur. Or a cleft palate or cleft lip. Some babies have been born missing a