Texas Attorney General & Senior Citizens

Many senior citizens are taken advantage of by con artists. Office of the Texas Attorney General www.oag.state.tx.us Main switchboard 512-463-2100 Consumer Protection Hotline 800-621-0508

Houston Lawyer Referral Service

713-237-9429 or 1-800-289-HLRS www.hlrs.org In English & Spanish 8:30 - 4:30 Monday through Friday Many fine attorneys are not listed with the Houston Lawyer Referral Service but of their policies. I believe the initial consultation is $20 for the first 30 minutes. Be sure to have your questions ready to make best use of your 30 minute consultation.

The Work Source in Texas

www.theworksource.org

Some interesting websites

www.publicdata.com A website for public record searches. If you mention my name (FRAN BROCHSTEIN) I will receive some free searches, so PLEASE put my name in the referral space! The cost is approximately $25 for one year. www.howardnations.com A well-known website by Howard Nations, an attorney that was on the web when most of us did not know what the web was! He has hundred of links. Covers federal and state laws as well as general resources. www.mdconsult.com A fee-based site desigened to provide instant and thorough medical research to health care professionals. www.nlm.nih.gov Has many of the same databases as the one listed above but it's FREE National Library of Medicine www.law.cornell.edu Cornell University Law School maintaines a comprehensive legal resources on the web with many links sites all over the world. www.texaslawhelp.org One-stop resource for free and low-cost civil legal assistance in Texas. www.snopes.com urban legends www.searchsystem.net Worldwide free public records directory www.familylaw4u.com Fran Brochstein's website that lists many websites of interest to people in Texas with family law concerns

Order a Free Annual Credit Report

Please be sure to order a free credit report each year. www.annualcreditreport.com Federal Trade Commission www.ftc.gov Don't be surprised how different your 3 credit reports may appear. There are 3 major companies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. If you see any errors, you need to contest them. I personally had a negative entry on my report and I could not determine who the creditor was and I suspected it was an error. It took several attempts, but I was able to finally get it removed from my report. There were also duplicate entries of my law school loan so it appeared that I owed much more money than I actually owed. Again, I was able to get the duplicates off after writing the credit bureaus several times. I did not take "no" as an answer. I had my paperwork to show that I only had one student loan. A relative ran her report and found many errors since she has a very common name. I helped her fill out the forms and all of the incorrect information was removed on our first attempt. She thought I was a miracle worker. It enabled her to get a car loan at a very low interest rate with a higher credit rating. You do not need to hire a company to help you. You can do it yourself for free. Now most of it can be done via the internet. I highly recommend that you make a copy of each page if you do the forms on the internet.

Bill Ferguson & Divorcing as Friends

Bill Ferguson is a former divorce lawyer that has been lecturing, writing books and appearing on television and radio programs for over 20 years. He offers classes on STOP THE CONFLICT and DIVORCING AS FRIENDS. Bill lives in the Houston area. www.divorceasfriends.com He has developed a set of GROUND RULES FOR DIVORCE: (here is an except of his rules) 1. Accept the person -- the person is the way he or she is whether you like it or not. Accept the truth. 2. Be willing to feel your hurt - Let go of the hurt. 3. See your role in the problem - you cannot have a cycle of conflict with only one person -- it takes two! See how your actions fuel the conflict. 4. Don't hang on. Let the person go. 5. Let go of resentments and forgive -- Forgiveness will benefit you. 6. Be willing for anything to happen -- if you are fighting what is happening, you cannot see clearly and make clear decisions. 7. Don't Argue - Listen! Let the other person express their opinions openly and fully. Listen to what they are saying. You don't have to agree with them but you need to listen to their side of the story. 8. Find solutions that work for both of you. Fighting is unproductive. When you are committed to finding solutions that work for everyone, things will go much smoother for everyone. 9. Take every opportunity to heal your relationship. Be a friend and wish the other person well. I have Bill's tapes and books in my office for my clients that are interested in borrowing them and listening to them. I took Bill's classes when I divorced many years ago and I found them to be very helpful. But, his ideas will only work if you are willing to let go of the fighting and finger pointing. If a person decides that the pain is too great, then most people are willing to try something different.

What is neglectful supervision of a child?

What is neglectful supervision? Adults who are attentive and aware of children's behaviors are in the best position to safeguard their well-being. When children are not adequately supervised, it may be considered “neglectful supervision”, which means: Placing a child in or failing to remove a child from a situation that a reasonable person would realize requires judgment or actions beyond the child's level of maturity, physical condition or mental abilities and that results in bodily injury or substantial risk of immediate harm to the child. Neglectful supervision is also defined as: Placing a child in or failing to remove the child from a situation in which the child would be exposed to a substantial risk of sexual conduct harmful to the child. Neglectful supervision is definately one way to lose custody or have your visitation modified -- specially if your children are small.

Leaving a child in a car alone

Never leave a child in a motor vehicle for any length of time. If children are trapped inside cars, especially during seriously hot weather, it can result in heat exhaustion or heat stroke, leading to permanent disability or death in a matter of minutes. Heat stroke, also known as hyperthermia, can cause shock, seizures, irregular heartbeat, heart attack, and damage to the brain, liver, and kidneys. There is a law for leaving a child in a vehicle -- Texas Penal Code, Title 5, Chapter 22, Section 10 LEAVING A CHILD IN A VEHICLE. A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly leaves a child in a motor vehicle for longer than five minutes, knowing that the child is: younger than seven years of age; and not attended by an individual in the vehicle who is 14 years of age or older. An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor. I f the child is injured, the charge is then elevated to child endangerment, which is a felony. The penalties are six months to two years in jail and a fine up to $10,000. Leaving a child unattended in a car is also a form of neglectful supervision. What is neglectful supervision? Answer: Adults who are attentive and aware of children's behaviors are in the best position to safeguard their well-being. When children are not adequately supervised, it may be considered “neglectful supervision”, which means: Placing a child in or failing to remove a child from a situation that a reasonable person would realize requires judgment or actions beyond the child's level of maturity, physical condition or mental abilities and that results in bodily injury or substantial risk of immediate harm to the child. Neglectful supervision is also defined as: Placing a child in or failing to remove the child from a situation in which the child would be exposed to a substantial risk of sexual conduct harmful to the child.

How old must a child be to be left home alone?

How old must a child be to be left home alone? Answer: To my knowledge there is not one specific law that clearly and definately addresses that issue. Supervision of children is basic to the prevention of harm. Adequate supervision means an adult caregiver is accountable for the child's care. There are several factors that should be taken into consideration when deciding how closely to supervise a child, including: the age, emotional maturity and capability of the child; layout and safety of the home, play area, or other setting; neighborhood circumstances, hazards, and risks; the child's ability to respond to illness, fire, weather, or other types of emergencies; and whether the child has a mental, physical, or medical disability. The number of children left unsupervised, the accessibility to other responsible adults, the length of time or frequency with which the child is left alone, and the child's knowledge of the parent's whereabouts are additional relevant factors.

What is a protective order?

A protective order is a court order that can protect you from someone who has been violent or threatened to be violent.

Go to www.TexasLawHelp.org for a free protective order kit.

Also, in Harris County you can call the District Attorney's office and if accepted, they will do your protective order for FREE.

If you are served with a document asking for a protective order against you, I strongly urge you to IMMEDIATELY retain legal counsel.