What Qualifies as a Domestic Violence Case in Colorado?

Many times, people accused of a crime in Colorado appear in court and find themselves facing a judge that tells them their case involves domestic violence. The reaction to this claim is often that no violence happened, so how can the judge make a domestic violence claim. It’s important to understand what makes a case qualify as domestic violence.

Colorado Domestic Violence Explained

In Colorado, domestic violence is not as cut and dry as it seems. Domestic violence cases often do not involve any physical harm. The law states that an act or threat to perform an act of violence with a person that is accused has been involved in an intimate relationship. An intimate relationship includes spouses, ex-spouses, unmarried couples past or present, or people that have had a child together, regardless of their current or past living arrangements.

You can also be accused of domestic violence if you commit a crime against person, property, or an animal as a method of threatening, intimidating, punishing or coercing someone that you have had an intimate relationship with in the past or present time.

Why You Need a Colorado Domestic Violence Attorney 

As you can see, domestic violence is a very broad term that can be applied to nearly any accusation involving a present or past person you have been involved with intimately. If you are facing a charge that involves someone that could be considered an intimate relationship, don’t take chances by going to court without an experienced Colorado domestic violence attorney on your side.

Estate Planning and Advanced Directives

In order to make sure that you and your loved ones are cared for if you get seriously ill, it can be important to speak with a Colorado estate planning attorney. A lawyer who understands Colorado estate law can help you draft important legal documents like powers of attorney, living wills or advanced directives.

If you’ve never stopped to think about what will happen if you have serious medical issues, these documents can be confusing. An advanced directive is any document that gives instructions as to your wishes in advance of your becoming ill. These documents can include:

• Medical Power of Attorney: This document gives permission for another individual to make medical decisions on treatments or other care if you are incapacitated by illness or injury and unable to give informed consent to medical professionals.
• Living Will: A living will sets forth your wishes regarding life-saving medical treatments and life support in the event that you are rendered unconscious or unable to give informed consent for seven consecutive days.
• Resuscitation Directive: This type of legal document directly addresses your wishes regarding resuscitation techniques such as breathing tubes or CPR procedures, and it can be included in advanced directives, living wills or other legal documents.
• Disposition of Last Remains: This advanced directive addresses how you would like your remains to be handled if your illness or injury is fatal. Like a CPR directive, this legal statement can be included in other documents.

While these types of wishes can be difficult to think about when we are healthy, it can be very important to include advanced directives or living wills in other estate planning documents. Many medical treatments such as breathing tubes, life support or resuscitation techniques can be expensive, and these medical treatments can affect your final estate. A Colorado estate planning attorney can help you safeguard your assets and provide for your family.

By specifying how you would like to be treated if you become terminally ill or seriously injured, you can save your family from heart-wrenching decisions in a time of crisis and make sure that your estate is managed properly. Contact a Colorado attorney today to discuss the legal documents that can safeguard your family against unforeseen circumstances.

Pay Child Support or Lose Your Licenses

Parents in Laurel County, Kentucky who drag their feet paying child support may soon have a reason to be more proactive. A recent Times-Tribune story reported that revocation or suspension of professional licenses belonging to parents who are behind in child support is part of the state’s County Attorney’s plan to collect delinquent child support. Under his plan, delinquent parents could lose their hunting, commercial driver’s, medical, legal and other professional licenses, as well as their concealed weapons permits.

Parents were advised to contact the county’s child support office to make payment arrangements in order avoid license suspensions. Parents who fail to make arrangements before the suspension goes into effect would be required to pay a larger reinstatement fee to have get their licenses back. The county collected nearly $2.5 million in child support in 2011, which puts the county on track to collect almost $5 million by the end of the year, according to the County Attorney.

The state of Colorado has child support enforcement methods that also include license suspensions. If you’re having trouble making child support payments, consult with a Colorado defense attorney who has experience handling these types of cases. The attorney can explain the child support laws and how they apply to you. Failure to pay child support can result in garnishment of your wages, unemployment or workers’ compensation benefits. If you plan on applying for a passport, it may be denied.  You can not only lose your driver’s license, but also other professional licenses you have, such as medical, legal, engineering license. The state will also intercept any tax refunds you receive, as well as any lottery winnings. You would also be reported to the credit bureaus.

Expunging a Colorado Juvenile Record

Expunging a record involves sealing the entire case file, including paper and electronic files. A person will need a court order to access the file. The state of Colorado allows expunging of juvenile records in certain cases, depending on the how much time has lapsed since the final deposition and whether the juvenile committed any further offenses within that time.

A juvenile may be eligible for expungement under the following conditions:

• he was found not guilty of the alleged violation;

• one year has passed since has was ticketed or arrested and no further action was taken;

• four years have passed he was unconditionally released from probation or custody; and

• ten years after being sentenced as a juvenile repeat or mandatory offender.

A juvenile is ineligible for expungement if:

• he was adjudicated as an aggravated or violent offender

• he was sentenced as an adult

• he was adjudicated for certain unlawful sexual behavior

The laws are less strict for juveniles, who can often request expungement sooner than adult offenders. You should consult with a criminal defense attorney who is familiar with the expungement process as it pertains to juveniles and who can advise you of the legal options available to you. Your attorney can file a petition with the court. The court will then set a hearing date, during which time a judge will ask questions, hear objections to your request and decide whether or not to grant your request. You should seek expungement of a juvenile record as soon as possible. The sooner a youth’s record is sealed and/or expunged, the less of an impact it will have on his future endeavors such as college, employment and even joining the military and the easier it will for him to put his past mistakes behind him.

A Few Facts About Post-Nuptial Agreements

A post-nuptial agreement is the same as a prenuptial agreement, only it is drawn up after the wedding. It is also referred to as a marriage agreement or post-marriage agreement. It serves the same purpose as a prenuptial agreement–a legal contract between both spouses that protects their individual interests.

A post-nuptial agreement can come in handy for a number of reasons. Spouses may neglect to draw up a prenuptial but wish to protect their assets. A spouse may wish to provide for a child from a former marriage, may experience a change in his or her financial status, disagrees with his or her spouse about finances or one or both spouses may start a business after they are married.

Some advantages of post-nuptial agreements are that it can set a foundation early in the marriage to good financial management within the marriage. Post-nuptial agreements can also strengthen a marriage by outlining spouses’ rights and obligations to each other, fostering a greater sense of individual responsibility and reinforce a couple’s commitment to their marriage.

For a judge to consider such an agreement as a valid one, make sure that the contract contains full disclosure of all assets, has fair and equitable terms and is entered voluntarily by both parties. Additionally, you and your spouse should each retain your own attorneys, as the courts look upon post-nuptial agreements more favorably if both spouses have their own legal counsel. Meeting these conditions does not guarantee a judge won’t refuse to honor it, but it may increase the likelihood that he will enforce it.

Estate Maintenance

Estate planning does not end once your estate plan is in place. You have to periodically review your estate plan and update it to reflect changes in estate laws, your attorney’s advice and changes in your circumstances and/or preferences.

Constantly changing tax laws have an impact on your estate planning objectives, so you need to keep abreast of these changes and modify your plan accordingly. Change in marital status, such as divorce, can throw your estate planning goals into a tailspin. Whereas the plan was to provide for a spouse, now you may not feel as generous. You will need to develop a new plan, especially if you have children. On the other hand, when you get married you may wish to provide for your new spouse and any children who are involved.

Unexpected illness to a loved one warrants a change in your estate plan to accommodate their special circumstances or needs. This may involve a plan to create trust that will not disqualify the individual for government benefits. You may also wish to review your estate plan if you have a change of heart about a particular relative or trusted friend whom you designated to manage your assets upon your death.

Like marriage, an addition to the family (new or adopted baby) can dramatically change your estate plan. You may want to arrange it so that your children are provided for if you and your spouse are gone, which would also involve appointing a guardian and conservator.

It goes without saying that any changes involving the extent or nature of your assets warrant an immediate review of your estate plan. The same rules applies if you or your spouse receives or anticipates receiving a large lump sum inheritance.

Finally, if you move to another state, you need to make sure your estate plan adheres to the estate laws of your new locale. Estate planning documents are usually valid regardless of what state you live in, however, each state does have its own peculiarity.