1. GETTING A DRIVER'S LICENSE JUST GOT A LITTLE HARDER IN FLORIDA

As of July 1, 1999, anyone seeking a first time Florida Driver's license must show two forms of identification, not just one. An acceptable form of identification is a birth certificate, passport, social security card, Florida voter registration card, marriage certificate or military I.D. Students can bring school records stating date of birth. The law also provides for family bible records of birth or birth announcements in baby books to be used as acceptable identification as well as life insurance policies and Florida vehicle registration certificates.

2. DIVORCE ALERT: GUARD YOUR STOCKS AND BONDS

The Florida Supreme Court ruled in June 1999 that the value of stock brought into a marriage is not subject to the normal 50/50 division. The Florida Supreme Court made the ruling in the famous Farrior v. Farrior case.

Warning: If shares of company stock you brought into a marriage go up in value, your spouse could still argue that he should get a part of the increase in value. Never allow your spouse to manage your money, property or shares of stock. Lastly, never use marital money to pay income or intangible taxes on stocks and dividends you owned before you were married and never put your spouse's name on anything you owned before the marriage. If you have questions about this, see a lawyer right away.

3. WEIRD LAWS YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF

By popular demand, Fisher's Law Office presents more weird laws you've never heard of.

South Carolina now outlaws the sale of urine.

The State of New Hampshire has a new law that allows homosexuals to adopt children.

The State of Washington has made it illegal to lie in a political campaign advertisement.

Florida sheriffs can sell livestock they find wandering on highways.

Georgia allows women to breast feed in public so long as they are "discreet and modest" when feeding the baby.

In Utah, you can no longer get married at age 14. Now you must be 16.

In Louisiana, it is a criminal offense to fail to address a teacher as "sir" or "ma'am".

In Florida, a new law requires teenage girls to wait 48 hours to get an abortion to give the abortion doctor time to call the teenager's parents.

Florida Statute 741.212 prevents Florida from recognizing marriages between people of the same sex. The same law prevents the State from acknowledging same sex marriages from other States. Same sex marriage is legal in Hawaii.

Even illegal aliens have to pay income tax. Under Internal Revenue Code, Section 7701(b), if a person meets the "substantial presence test", he must pay taxes on his worldwide income at U.S. tax rates. Even illegal aliens who live in the U.S. are required to file a tax return. If you employ an illegal alien, you should still withhold taxes on him and issue him a W-2 form showing how much the alien earned.

4. HOW WEALTHY IS AMERICA?

In 1988, Americans had total assets of 21.5 trillion U.S. dollars. In 1998, Americans' total assets totaled 43.2 trillion dollars. Twenty-five percent of Americans' net worth is invested in shares of stock in private companies.

5. TAX CUT FEVER

Connie Mack, the Senator from Florida, and Trent Lott, a Senator from Mississippi, have proposed substantial changes to U.S. tax laws. These changes include increasing the marital standard deduction to $14,400.00 and reducing capital gains tax rates to 15% for short term gains and 7.5% for long term gains. The tax proposal also includes a phase out of the 55% death tax over a ten-year period.

6. YOUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AT WORK

Since November 1998, 90,000 people have been refused the right to buy a gun because they were felons. Of these people, 17 were arrested for lying on the form asking whether or not they had ever been convicted of a felony even though all 90,000 had lied on the form.

7. SMALLPOX

A disease you thought was cured may not be cured. According to the June 21, 1999 issue of the Tampa Tribune, North Korea, Iraq and Russia have substantial stores of smallpox virus ready for military use. Also, North Korea has vaccinated all of its soldiers. Everyone born in America after 1972 is vulnerable to smallpox. One hundred fifteen million Americans have been born since that date and none of them have been vaccinated for smallpox. Unfortunately, the Center for Disease Control only has seven million doses of vaccine and refuses to sell any vaccine to civilians. The Center for Disease Control allows the military to get vaccinated. If you want to get your child vaccinated, consider going to another country.

8. STRANGE REASONS FOR LEAVING WORK

The Wall Street Journal obtained a survey of individuals leaving executive positions in the U.S. Here are some of the reasons given for leaving an executive position:

"Start a worm farm."

"The building is too cold."

"I had to go to jail."

"I needed to study Spanish in Brazil."

"There is a demon residing in my computer and that's why I had to quit my job."

9. IMPORTANT TAX ISSUES FOR PEOPLE GETTING DIVORCED

If you are getting divorced, your taxes are going to go down. The reason for this is that Congress taxes people who are married at a much higher rate than people who are divorced. Also, if you are divorced and you have a dependent child, you can claim "head of household" status if the child lives with you. This preferential tax rate is lower than normal tax rates.

If you receive a home from your spouse in a divorce, don't worry. Under the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, the first $250,000.00 of gain from selling your house is tax free. If you are still married, the first $500,000.00 of gain from selling your principal residence is tax free.

The bad news is that you are required to file your own tax return once you are divorced. Fisher's Law Office recommends that even people who are married continue to file their own separate tax returns to verify that all income and deductions are correct.

10. GRANDPARENT VISITATION RIGHTS AND YOU

There are three major statutes in Florida that provide grandparents the right to visit their grandchildren:

1) Florida Statute 39.4105 states that a grandparent is entitled to reasonable visitation when a grandchild has been adjudicated a dependent (a ward of the State).

2) Florida Statute 752.01 provides grandparents a right to sue the parents for visitation rights under certain circumstances. Visitation rights can be awarded a grandparent if:

One of the parents is dead.

The parents divorce.

One of the parents deserted the child.

The child is born out of wedlock.

The Florida Supreme Court has even created a Petition for Grandparent Visitation (see Standard Form 12.905).

3) Florida Statute 61.13(4) allows a grandparent to petition for "makeup" visitation for a grandparent who has been illegally denied the right to visit a grandchild.

11. CHILD ABUSE RED ALERT

If you've ever been accused of child abuse and have a new baby, watch out. Under a new policy enacted by Kathleen Kearney, Secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Family, social workers will automatically check on the welfare of a new baby if a new baby is born into a family that had older children removed from the home. Moral to the story? Leave the State if you're going to have a new child and you don't want the State to interfere in your family.

12. TEN SECRETS TO SUCCESS IN LIFE:

  1. Always think positive. Think success, not failure.

  2. Write down your goals.

  3. Get started now. Act on your written goals.

  4. Never stop learning.

  5. Work hard. Don't give up.

  6. Listen to other people and learn from your mistakes.

  7. Focus your time and your money.

  8. Don't be afraid to be different.

  9. Communicate with others effectively.

10. Be honest or numbers 1 through 9 mean nothing.

13. PATERNITY ACKNOWLEDGMENT WARNING

If you are the father of a child born out of wedlock, be warned. Workers in Florida hospitals are trained to make you sign an "Acknowledgment of Paternity Form". Do not sign this form. The form does not provide for visitation rights and does not set the amount of child support. If you sign this form, the government will use the form to sue you and deny you the right to a blood test to determine paternity. If you have questions, call us today.

14 . DO YOU HAVE CREDIT PROBLEMS?

Here are some do's and don'ts about credit:

Obtain a copy of your credit report from one of the three major credit reporting agencies, Experian, TransUnion or Equifax (cost: about $8.00).

Once you get your report, check it for accuracy. Over 70% of all credit reports contain faulty information and 29% include errors serious enough to affect your credit.

Get your credit report at least once a year from all three agencies to verify that there are no mistakes on your credit report.

If you are ever denied a loan, get a copy of your credit report and check the report closely; it probably contains errors.

If the report is wrong, write a registered letter to the credit reporting agency and state in simple language what is inaccurate about your credit report.. Send your letter by registered or certified mail.

The credit agency has thirty days to correct the error.

Under Federal and State law, you can demand that anyone that was sent an inaccurate report be sent a new report with the corrected information.

15. LEGAL INS AND OUTS OF OWNING A HOUSE

Here are some hints to help you in buying, paying for and dying with a home.

If you buy a house on credit, make sure you make the payments. Once you default (don't pay), the bank will foreclose on the mortgage and sell your house at the courthouse. Later, you may have to pay a "deficiency". (This is the difference between what the bank sells the house for and what you owe on the mortgage.)

If you ever sell your house to another person, never allow them to "assume" or take over payments on your mortgage. If so, you are still liable on the mortgage even though you don't own the house. The same is true for a divorce. Never allow your spouse to take over payments on a house without refinancing the debt and removing your name from the mortgage and promissory note.

Never co-sign a loan with another person. If so, you might find yourself in foreclosure court being sued for the balance of the mortgage.

If your house has gone up in value, you may want to consider dying with the house in your name. In this way, your heirs inherit the house with a "stepped up basis". When the heirs then sell the house, the income tax is lower because the "basis" or cost is considered to be the value on the date you died.

On the other hand, if you decide to sell your house during your life, don't worry about taxes as mentioned above because a recent change in the tax code allows you to sell your house tax free as long as the gain is no more than $500,000.00 for a married couple.

Lastly, always disclose everything wrong with your house in the contract for sale. For example, disclose all roof leaks, flooding or termites. This may protect you from being sued later for fraud or breach of contract.

16. SOMETHING YOU NEVER THOUGHT WAS COVERED BY INSURANCE

If you are changing your tire of your automobile on the side of a road and you are mugged, don't worry. You're covered by your personal injury protection ("PIP") auto insurance. It's true. Justice Leander Shaw wrote in a Supreme Court opinion on May 6, 1999 that attacks on the side of a road are an ageless and foreseeable hazard associated with use of a car. Because of this, any medical costs associated with a physical attack on you while changing a tire is covered under your personal injury protection insurance policy.