Blog

Utah unemployment rate dips to five-year low in April 2019

May 19, 2014 | Staff | Blog

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah continued to see steady job growth as the state's unemployment rate dipped to a five-year low the past month.

April’s rate dropped three tenths of a percentage point from March to 3.8 percent, the Utah Department of Workforce Services reported Friday. About 55,200 Utahns were unemployed in the month and actively seeking work, according to the report. The unemployment rate is at its lowest since hitting 3.4 percent in November 2008. "This is good news for us not only today but is extremely good news for us going forward," Gov. Gary Herbert said. "I expect our best days are ahead of us."

The state's nonfarm payroll employment for April grew by an estimated 2.9 percent, adding 36,800 jobs to the economy as compared to April 2013, the report says. Currently, 1,323,400 Utahns are working.

Although, some feel that the jobs being produced are not equal to the jobs that were lost.

Parentage a.k.a. Custody General Information

May 19, 2014 | Staff | Blog

A parentage relationship is established when you are the parent of a child whether biological or by a Court (i.e., adoption). You only have a parentage relationship when the relationship is legal. In other words, if the child is a result of a non-consensual relationship (i.e., rape) then the one forcing the relationship will not generally have any legal rights to the child.

Custody generally refers to the control over decisions made for the child and/or the place where the child lives, if the parents do not live in the same household. However, both parents have equal custodial rights until a Court order exists which establishes custody.

There are 2 different kinds of custody which may be shared in 3 main ways here in Utah. The two types of custody are:

Legal custody which goes to who has the ability to make important decisions concerning the children, and

Physical custody which goes to where the children will live.

As mentioned, each of the two types of custody may be shared in 3 different ways. This may be done differently for each type of custody:

Sole. Legal and/or physical custody may be given to one parent alone (with rights of visitation to the other).

Joint. In joint custody arrangements, both parents are involved. For instance, with joint legal custody, both parents would have a right to make the important decisions regarding the children such as education, religion and non-emergency medical care. This type of arrangement will only work where the parties get along very well and may communicate with each other often. Joint physical custody would entail moving the kids from one parent to the other for some amount of time as decided between the parties or the judge. However, the children must spend more than 110 nights each year in each home to call the arrangement “joint”.

Split. This situation involves more than one child and the children are split between the parents. For example, one will live with the mother and one will live with the father. This type of arrangement is advised only in rare circumstances, as it is rare that this would be in the children’s best interests.

Note, remember that an attorney will be able to answer the questions specific to your case. The information provided here is merely basic in nature and is no substitute for an actual attorney. If you have questions about your case, call TR Spencer & Associates, P.C. and speak with one of our experienced attorney's at: (801)-566-1884.

The Precious Metals Scam

April 30, 2014 | Staff | Blog

With the uncertainty of the economy many have turned to precious metals. The advertisements are very appealing and would have you believe that your money is safe if you invest “now”. Scam artists who use promises of riches if retirees invest in precious metals have defrauded an estimated 10,000 Americans of some $300 million since 2001, according to a report produced for a U.S. Senate Committee. The scam usually begins with a telemarketer phone call, often directed at a retiree, and gives what is purported to be privileged information about a likely rise in the future price of gold, or silver, or other metals.[1]

The end result is often that the retiree may borrow money at a high rate of interest to invest in the metal, pays commissions and storage fees and then loses his or her stake, often thousands of dollars, the report says.

In simpler cases, customers are sold coins that are usually priced at considerably more than their market value. I am sure you have seen these advertisements; they usually come on about the same time late night television begins.

Both the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, which regulates U.S. derivatives trading, and the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces laws against false advertising, have investigated and shut down such companies.

However in one case the company merely changed its name and began scamming again. Many of the fraudulent precious metal companies come from Florida, so do your homework before you become the target of a scam.

[1] U.S. Senate report shows seniors targeted in metals investment scams, See also: Diane Bartz, Ros Krasny and Ken Wills, U.S. Senate report shows seniors targeted in metals investment scams, Reuters News, (April 30,2014).

Adoption

April 09, 2014 | Staff | Blog

Adoption creates a parent/child relationship with all the rights and responsibilities associated with that type of relationship. Adoption also severs any previously existing parent/child relationship. The new parent/child relationship can only be formed by the court. You will need to appear before the court to sign a written statement saying that you will act in all regards as the parent of the child and that you will also take on all of the responsibilities of parenthood.

In order to adopt, you must be an adult who is married with permission from your spouse, or single and not cohabitation with another person. In addition, the person/child that you plan to adopt must be at least 10 years younger than you. The court will look at the best interests of the child in making their determination as to whether they will allow you to adopt. The court may also order the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) to investigate and make a report to the court.

Consent must be obtained. Any person or institution whose consent is required (see below) must be given at least thirty (30) days notice. Although not complete, some examples of people who might need to be notified are:

anyone who has filed a paternity action for the child and filed a notice of that action with the Department of Vital Statistics;
any legally appointed guardian or custodian;
your spouse, if applicable;
a parent listed on the birth certificate; and
a person who lives with the child and acts like the child’s parent.

Except as noted below, you will generally have to get written consent from at least one person. Although a person may not give consent until the child is at least 24 hours old. Consent may be given in front of a judge or given to an adoption agency. Once signed, consent cannot be revoked. As you might expect, the list of who may have to consent is very similar to the list of those you must notify and include the following:

the person being adopted if he or she is over 12 years of age and mentally competent;
both parents of a minor child if born within a marriage;
the mother of a minor child if born outside of a marriage, and the father if:
a court has ruled that he is the father,
he has filed a voluntary declaration of paternity prior to the mother signing the consent of adoption,
he has developed a strong relationship with the child and has taken some responsibility and/or shown some commitment for the child, or
he has lived with the child for 6 months within the child’s first year and acted as though the child was his own.
the adoption agency.

If someone does not agree with the adoption, they have a right to fight it. In order to do so, they must inform the court either by appearing at the hearing or by filing a written statement of their concerns within 30 days of being served notice of the adoption.