The first 2010 meeting of The North Umpqua Foundation (“TNUF”) Board of Directors was held at the Steamboat Inn on March 21st.
The meeting was highlighted by the presentation by Michael Love of Michael Love and Associates of Eureka, California of its Design Recommendations for improving fish passage at Steamboat Falls. Steamboat Creek is one of the most important spawning streams for the North Umpqua River.
Humboldt County’s elderly and dependent adults need to be aware of the protections from elder abuse, including financial elder abuse, provided by California Law. The California Legislature, through the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act (“EADACPA”) has provided the framework for protecting against the financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult.
An elder is defined as any person residing in California who is 65 years of age or older. A dependent adult is anyone residing in California between the ages of 18 and 64, whose physical or mental limitations restrict his or her ability to carry out normal activities or to protect his or her rights. This includes, but is not limited to, persons whose physical or developmental disabilities have diminished because of age.
Elderly and dependent adults are vulnerable for many reasons.
Lately, much has been written and talked about in the news regarding real property short sales and foreclosures. Federal and state law have also been changing in an attempt to assist homeowners who find themselves “under water” and burdened with excessive mortgage debt. When faced with a foreclosure, a homeowner has various options and may be assisted by advice from an attorney.
If you want an agreement to be enforceable, get it in writing. Of course, coming from an attorney, you probably expect that advice. However this little pearl of wisdom would not be repeated so often if it weren’t useful. Legally, promises or agreements that you exchange with another are classified as contracts and certain types of contracts can be unenforceable if they are not in writing. This principle is known as the Statute of Frauds and prevents one from simply inventing agreements or terms that were never actually agreed upon. Sterling v. Taylor, 40 Cal. 4th 757, 766 (2007). An alleged breaching party can invoke the Statute of Frauds as a defense to enforcement. See 1 Witkin Sum. Cal. Law Contracts § 342.
The Janssen Law Firm is pleased to announce that Shanti Michaels has joined the firm as an associate. Ms. Michaels is a 2009 graduate of the University of California Hastings College of Law and a member of the California and Humboldt County Bar Associations. She served as an Executive Editor of the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly and was a member of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Journal staff. Ms. Michaels’ undergraduate work was at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA with study abroad at the University of Salamanca, Spain. Ms. Michaels is fluent in Spanish.