Concord, NC Personal Injury Law Blog

A study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine takes a close look at the frequency of malpractice claims broken down by medical specialty. The study considered data from 15 years of medical malpractice insurance records of physicians from every state and across a spectrum of 25 medical specialties.

The authors sought to fill a gap in research about the proportion of medical professionals who must respond to lawsuits annually, as well as the financial amount of those claims and the "cumulative career malpractice risk according to specialty." The summarized results indicate that an average of 7.4 percent of physicians faced medical malpractice claims in a given year, and only 1.6 percent were made to pay on a claim.

When you are approaching a final divorce settlement, taxes may be the farthest thing from your mind. Many splitting couples simply want to wrap things up and move on with their lives. Yet, while this feeling is understandable, it does not mean that you should overlook tax consequences which can have a significant impact on your finances. If you are working through a divorce, you should be aware of some essential information well before tax season comes around.

Alimony and Child Support

Alimony is a payment made to a former spouse under the terms of a divorce decree or agreement. Alimony is deductible by the payer, whether or not deductions are itemized. To be deductible under the tax code, alimony must be paid in cash, may not be treated as child support or designated as something other than alimony in the divorce instrument and the former spouses cannot file a joint return or be members of the same household when payments are made.

In addition to being deductible by the payer, alimony is considered income for the recipient and it is thus subject to income tax. Child support, on the other hand, is neither deductible by the payer nor income to the recipient.

Our nation's continuing financial crisis has left many families worried about their futures. In desperation, homeowners may leave themselves vulnerable to mortgage scams and fraud.

While the FBI investigates and prosecutes these crimes, homeowners can protect themselves from becoming victims. Consumers should be wary of companies that seek upfront fees, advise discontinuing communication with banks or mortgage companies, guarantee results, or claim to be able to force lenders to modify or cancel debts.

Mediation is a method of alternative dispute resolution. Rather than asking a judge to resolve your family law issues related to child custody, visitation, child support, alimony or dividing marital property, you and your spouse meet with a mediator to work toward resolving legal conflicts together.

A mediator does not have authority to make binding decisions on you or your spouse. He or she cannot force you to agree to anything. Instead, a mediator is a neutral go-between, assisting you and your soon-to-be-former-spouse with reaching solutions on disputed issues. A good mediator will help you identify the issues that you and your spouse disagree on, illuminate misunderstandings between the two of you and set priorities as to what each of you are willing to compromise on in order to reach an agreement.