The decision to separate from a spouse is never easy, but once the decision has been made what comes next? In the summer of 2012, the divorce procedure in Virginia changed. The new notice requirements make the process easier in some cases.A general requirement before commencing a Virginia divorce is that one spouse has to have been a resident of Virginia for at least six months before filing. Separation of a certain amount of time is also required, based on whether there are children or a written property settlement, for no-fault divorces. An experienced northern Virginia ...

Does your business have a specific trademark? If so, you should know that it may be vulnerable overseas. While your business may have established protections within the United States, someone in another country could potentially use your trademark if you are not careful. A trademark can be a symbol, phrase, word or design. If your company's brand can be extended to other countries, you may want to consider filing a trademark outside of the U.S. to protect your rights to the particular brand. With the growth of online trade and social media, businesses have become ...

Many people may believe that texting while driving is harmless, but Chicago-area parents should be aware of the fact that they are most likely passing on this bad habit to their children. Even long before children are old enough to get behind the wheel, they are watching their parents' driving habits -- and will most likely emulate the behaviors, good or bad. According to a survey conducted by Liberty Mutual and Students Against Destructive Decisions, 59 percent of teenagers report that they have seen their parents text while driving. In addition, the teens reported ...

Though heavy trucks are a vital part of the Georgia economy, their presence does pose a significant risk to others on the road. A lot of the danger arises from the simple fact that these trucks are so large -- a fully loaded tractor-trailer can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, while the average passenger vehicle weighs just 4,000 pounds. This great disparity in size means that even a low-speed collision between a car and a semi-truck can have disastrous consequences. Georgia trucking companies and truck drivers have a duty to prioritize safety and minimize the risk of accident. ...

There are few things worse than losing a loved one to a fatal car accident. However, when the at-fault driver refuses to take responsibility for his or her actions, the pain of the loss is often accompanied by an unshakable sense of injustice. Thankfully, Colorado police take fatal hit-and-run car accidents seriously. They will investigate the crash and work to identify and apprehend the responsible driver. If found, the driver will face serious criminal penalties. Take, for example, the case of a recent fatal hit-and-run accident on South Broadway in Denver. A 32-year-old ...

Undergoing surgery can be a stressful -- both physically and mentally. After going through a medical procedure, the last thing that patients should have to worry about is having a surgical instrument left behind inside of their body. But studies show that every year at least 4,000 patients around the country who have surgical procedures need to worry about just that -- and after going through the stress of the initial surgery, these patients have to deal with the fact that some kind of medical instrument was left inside their body. The objects left inside patients can ...

Repetitive strain injuries can be debilitating for employees, causing them to miss work and perhaps change their fundamental job duties. Fortunately, it is possible for workers to claim Pennsylvania workers' compensation benefits for repetitive strain injuries directly linked to work duties. What Is a Repetitive Strain Injury? A repetitive strain injury, also known as a repetitive stress injury or RSI, is an injury that causes pain in the muscles, tendons or nerves of a joint or other area of the body. RSIs are usually attributed to the performance of repetitive tasks. Repetitive ...

The commonwealth of Virginia vigorously fights drunk driving by using sobriety checkpoints as part of the annual Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign -- a 10-year-old law-enforcement program in conjunction with surrounding states to fight drinking and driving. While the program is multifaceted, it focuses largely on the use of checkpoints to prevent drunk driving and uncover other traffic offenses. 2012 Checkpoint Strikeforce Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling officially kicked off the 2012 campaign in September at a NASCAR event, confirming that Virginia is committed to ending drunk ...

When a couple gets married, they vow to stay together "until death do us part." However, we all know this isn't always the case. Divorce is a fact of life in Texas and around the world. For that reason, many couples would be wise to consider drafting and executing a prenuptial agreement before they marry. Of course, no one wants to think about the consequences of divorce at the same time that they are planning a wedding. However, prenuptial agreements can provide much-needed protection and peace of mind in the unlikely event that the marriage ends. A prenuptial ...

Car accidents can happen for many different reasons. Most people are familiar with accidents caused by speeding, drunk driving and distracted driving. However, not everyone realizes that poor roadway design is also a significant contributing cause of South Carolina car accidents. In fact, a recent report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety ranked South Carolina as having the most dangerous highways in the entire country. Though the rankings were based on a number of factors, the condition of the state's infrastructure played a major role. South Carolina's ...

In 2007, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class John Moreno was deployed, leaving his pregnant wife behind in Virginia. When he returned, he found his wife had taken their then seven-month-old daughter, Vanessa, to Arizona and refused to let Moreno see the child. A Virginia judge (where Vanessa was born) declined jurisdiction and would not order the wife to return Moreno's daughter because Moreno's military orders were to leave Virginia. Justifiably, Moreno feels like he has fewer legal rights because of his military service. Unfortunately, Petty Officer 2nd Class Moreno's situation ...

A lot of people think of black lung disease as a thing of the past. However, for coal miners in West Virginia, the threat now is as real as it has ever been. According to an investigation by National Public Radio and the Center for Public Integrity, cases of severe black lung disease among Appalachian coal miners have quadrupled since 1980. Even worse, the investigation revealed that federal regulators and coal mining industry officials have known about the problem for more than 20 years, but have made little effort to stop the surge. As a result, even young coal miners ...

On the whole, the divorce rate is falling in the United States. However, this isn't true across all sectors. Over the last 20 years, the divorce rate for people age 50 and older has more than doubled. There are many different reasons for the uptick in these so-called "grey divorces." Part of the reason comes from the fact that the baby boomer generation tends to have different views on marriage than their predecessors. Baby boomers are more likely to view marriage as something done for personal fulfillment. As a result, they are less hesitant to divorce if ...

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, once a driver reaches the age of 70, the rate at which she or he is in a car accident begins to rise gradually each year until the age of 80. After 80, the car crash rate begins to increase rapidly. In fact, only teenagers and people in their 20s have more car crashes per mile driven than drivers in their 80s, and drivers age 85 and older are involved in more fatal car accidents per mile driven than any other age group. Because it is predicted that by 2030 a quarter of all licensed drivers will be over 65 years ...

Long days on the road, fast food and sleeping in the bunk of a big rig are all part of the lore of the American trucker. While many have a romantic view of this lifestyle, truck driving is a taxing profession. The health of drivers has become an important topic, because it has a serious affect on the number of crashes. In fact, federal regulations require all commercial drivers to pass a physical exam every two years. Unfortunately, many of the elements of life as a truck driver take their toll on the health of commercial truck drivers and may be the underlying causes ...

In 2010, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA) was passed. It was designed to ensure that U.S. citizens banking internationally could not avoid paying taxes on their income from offshore accounts and assets. In essence, it is a program aimed at uncovering undeclared income hidden by Americans in banks around the world. Pros and Cons of FACTA The premise of FACTA seems relatively simple: identify account holders and the dollar value of each account they hold in foreign banks and in certain other assets. That's not hard, right? Well, it depends. FACTA relies ...

Imagine you are sitting in the office of a nursing home's admission coordinator. You are staring down at piles of paperwork. You know that you should read all the information carefully, but it is hard to focus on the admission agreement documents because your mind keeps drifting to your elderly loved one's failing health. You prefer to have more time to peruse the documents when you weren't so tired and stressed, but your ailing grandmother needs care now. You are tempted to robotically sign on the dotted lines just to get this emotionally trying experience done. Should ...

Texas residents know that DWI related lawsuits are usually filed against the driver of the vehicle. However, in a recent case a suit was filed against a strip club who served a man too much alcohol. On the night in question, the man left the club with a blood alcohol level of 0.295, after having around 15 drinks. This is three times the legal limit in Texas. The club made no attempt to ensure he had a safe ride home. It is estimated he was driving around 130 miles per hour with his headlights off when he struck a vehicle from behind. The other vehicle involved in ...

Parents (especially the non-primary parent) in a divorce or after divorce often want to create exciting plans and initiate entertaining outings or activities for the visitation time with their children. Although understandable, this may not produce the best outcome. In a divorce situation, the children want to feel that the non-primary parent's home is truly their "other home." Thus, the children need a home that offers them a space that is their own arranged with belongings that are their own. The children will need responsibilities and chores to feel a part ...

Many police departments in Pennsylvania and throughout the United States rely on specially trained dogs to help officers search for illegal drugs. In many cases, drug-sniffing dogs are used before police have obtained a warrant. This practice has long drawn criticism from criminal defense attorneys and civil rights advocates, who worry that using a drug-sniffing dog without a warrant violates Americans' constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The Fourth Amendment generally requires that police obtain a warrant before they conduct a search ...

The choice to have an elderly loved one move into a nursing home is one of the hardest decisions a family will have to make. Thankfully, most nursing homes in Oregon are dedicated to providing excellent care in a safe and nurturing environment. Unfortunately, though, this isn't a universal truth. Some Oregon nursing homes don't care for their residents like they should, often because they are understaffed or because they are prioritizing profits over patient safety. Moreover, even in the most well-respected homes, one or two overstressed or disgruntled caregivers can ...

A recent study published in the Journal of Marketing Research found that consumers are more likely to forgive companies with good reputations for product recalls or defects than companies with worse reputations. Results of the Consumer Forgiveness Study In the summer of 2012, researchers published a study that found when a well-liked company issues a product recall or notifies the public of a product defect, consumers are more likely to forgive that company than its less well-liked competitors. This is true both in industries where recalls and product defects are ...

In 2009, New Jersey's then-governor, Jon Corzine, approved Kyleigh's Law, requiring teen drivers to display small red decals on their license plates identifying themselves as new, inexperienced drivers. The law was named after a New Jersey teenager who was killed in a fatal motor vehicle accident with a teen driver who was violating the state's provisional driver's license restrictions. A study of the law's effectiveness at curbing teen driver crashes by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) recently revealed surprising results: the decals are working. According ...

Rodriguez MD, a bilingual Lawrenceville clinic and official Center for Medical Weight Loss (CMWL) in Gwinnett County, GA announces statistical results from an independent study conducted in 2010 and recently published in The American Journal of Medicine. The study shows that patients treated by primary care physicians for reduction in weight and body fat percentage achieved far better results than patients treated in a weight loss clinic: - Among the 178 participants (43%) who completed 12 weeks of the program, primary care clinics were as effective as weight-loss clinics ...

Kitchen Inspire, an Asian restaurant equipment company, introduces the Newburg chafing dish to their showroom superstore. Perfect for any catering service during the busy holiday season, the Newburg chafing dish offers caterers and restaurant owners sleek design with great function. This 8 quart chafing dish offers any catering service or restaurant ample space for food. The chafing dish houses a dripless water pan, a full size internal food pan which is 2.5 inches in depth, a matching dome cover and provides space for two fuel cans. For catering companies, this dish ...