South East Texas Senior Disaster website

Go to this website for more information about disaster planning in S E Texas: http://www.stxseniordisaster.org

What you need in case of an emergency

Get 2 large ziplock storage bags -- put the following information in one bag and then put that bag into the other bag incase the first one gets punctured and wet. Put a photo of yourself in the bag. List your full legal name, date of birth, social security number, full home address and phone number. List people that you want contacted in case of an emergency along with their full name, date of birth, Driver's License Number, address, and phone number. Be sure to include cell phone numbers and employer's information if you have that too. If everyone is evacuated in case of a hurricane, many people will not be at their home phone number or address. If you include additional information about them, perhaps the police can locate them if they have been evacuated too. If you know people that live out of state, be sure to list them too. Be sure to let your friends and family know that you are listing an out of state person that will be your contact in case you have to evacuate and then everyone can call that person and find out where everyone has been moved to. Be sure to inclue a list of all your doctors and their phone numbers and addresses. Also, list all prescriptions you are taking along with the dose and how often you take the pills. Also, list all your medical conditions as specifically as possible. If you know your blood type include that too. Include anything that you think a doctor might need to know about you if you were unconscious and about to die. If you have a power of attorney for health care, directive to physican include copies of those documents in the ziplock storage bag. Why? Say you are unconscious and taken to a hospital. If you have all of this information, it could literally save your life. In a hurricane, most electricity will not be working. Therefore, many doctors will not be able to be located because of equipment failure or they have also been evacuated. Say you are taking a blood thinner and you are bleeding severely from an injury, the staff at any hospital needs to know what medications you are on so that they can save your life. Have this information in one or two ziplock storage bags and have it close to your body -- not in a suitcase or your purse. If you are really effecient, take this information and have it sealed in plastic so that it is permanent and cannot be damaged. A little bit of work now could save your life later!

People with Special Needs need to call 211

If you have a special need and might need help in case of a hurricane or flooding, please call 211 It is free! If you register and there is a disaster (man-made or natural) in your area, the emergency management offices will be notified of your address and that you will need help to leave the area. If you are in a wheelchair, have difficulty walking, etc. and you do NOT have transportation that can you have access to in an emergency, please call 211 and register. It is easy and free.

Free Wills in Houston, Texas

The Houston Bar Association's Elder Law Committee (I'm a member) is sponsoring a free will-a-thon open to all Harris County low-income seniors (over the age of 60) who wish to have a simple will prepared. You must call the number beginning Monday, March 3, 2008 until Monday, March 31, 2008, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. 713-228-0735 Actual Will preparation dates are April 17 and May 8. Location: Third Ward Multi-Purpose Center located at 3611 Ennis, Suite 118, Houston, Texas. If you need documents like a power of attorney for health care or a living will, the volunteers are also doing those documents too. FREE IF YOU ARE LOWINCOME AND OVER 60!

A brand new concept

In the January/February 2008 magazine of WOMEN IN BUSINESS (a publication of the American Business Women's Association) I just learned of a new book -- The Power of Nice by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval. They have major points: 1. Positive impressions are like seeds - they grow. 2. You never know how a small act of kindness can reward you many times over. 3. People change - You need to be nice to everyone you meet -- plumbers, security guard, cleaning person and NOT just your superiors and peers. The cabdriver today maybe a wealthy businessman in the future and he might use your services if you were nice to him when no one else was! 4. Nice must be automatic - faking nice won't work. It must be an automatic response in order to be sincere. 5. Negative impressions are like germs. You might not see the immediate impact of your negativity but it might fester and grow into something really nasty. 6. You will know -- Niceness is a powerful force and it can literally take on a life of its own. Random acts of kindness spread and grow. You will be repaid many times over for your random acts of kindness. We should all do 5 nice things each day. Such as say thank you, ask your friends about their lives, donate money to charity, compliment a stranger. See how good you feel! Model yourself after the kind of person you admire. Be the person you admire. When I was a kid my dad had a plaque that said -- IT'S NICE TO BE IMPORTANT BUT IT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO BE NICE. I still have that plaque. It seems that my dad was way ahead of his time!

What does purposely under-employed mean?

There is an old joke at the family courthouse -- RAIDS is rampent in the family courts -- RECENTLY ACQUIRED INCOME DEFECIENCY SYNDROME! If you are a doctor and you decide to quit practicing and go to school or just be a grocery stocker, the courts are NOT going to be sympathetic. You have the ABILITY to learn more than minimum wage. Yes, education is wonderful but your children need to eat. They cannot wait 2-3 years until you graduate from school and begin a new career. Is it fair? No, but you brought these children into the world and it is not fair for taxpayers money to support them!

I have no money to pay child support

If you were ordered to pay child support and you've permanently lost your job or for some reason you can no longer work, you need to modify your current child support order. Say you were ordered to pay $1,000 per month and you are a nurse. You are in an accident and you lose your hand and can no longer ever be a nurse again. Then you need to go to court and get a signed order lowering your child support. Until you modify, the $1,000 is owed each month. It is your burden to find the money to modify the amount. You must prove that you are not purposely under-employed or just temporarily unemployed.

My credit is ruined due to past due child support

Yes, past due child support will appear on your credit report. You will never be able to purchase a home or a new vehicle. What can you do? Nothing. It is a valid debt that you are ignoring and you need to pay it. Also, at 6% (it used to be 12%!!) interest on past due child support, you are looking at the debt growing and growing. Soon you will be paying interest on interest.

How to protect your new spouse in case you die and owe child support

I strongly urge divorcing parents to take out a term life insurance policy in case they die while the children are still minors. If you die, the entire future child support that you would have paid, comes due immediately. If you remarry, your new spouse and children, comes AFTER your first born children. Please take out a separate term life insurance policy to cover any unpaid child support and protect your new family! For example, if your first child is 3 and you pay $1,000 per month, your estate will owe $180,000 if you die.

I owe child support and my kids are over 18!

Child support is NOT dischargeable. You cannot discharge it in a bankruptcy. After all the children turn over 18 or graduate from high school, you can no longer be jailed! However, you still owe the money. You owe the money to the person you were ordered to pay -- NOT the child. You might eventually use your driver's license and passport. If you receive Social Security, it will be withheld from that. If you die, your estate owes it. It is the debt that never goes away.