Transcript
Good morning. It is Thursday, March 19th. It’s 10:00 AM. This is our second podcastconcerning the the effects of COBIT 19 on family law issues such as custody supportand property orders. Today specifically we’re going to discuss those three topics.Obviously the biggest topic that we have is custody, so that’s going to take up themajority of our discussion today. you are joined by your family law team. there is msSheree Smith, Colleen Robinson, Christy bergamot, Rebecca rainwater and Gina family,Laura and myself for sure Shahada. So I’m going to give each of them a briefopportunity to do a brief introduction and then we’ll get straight to the topic andthe discussion. So Dina, I’m going to start with you.
SPEAKER 2 00:53 – 01:09
Sure. My name is Gina family Laura and I’ve been a family law attorney for the last 23 years as of may, I’ve practiced exclusively family law for all that time. We started in orange County for nine years and I’ve been in Riverside County since.
SPEAKER 1 01:10 – 01:12
Perfect. Thank you. Gina. Shariece you’re up next.
SPEAKER 3 01:13 – 01:26
Good morning everyone. My name is Sheree Smith. Again, I’m a family law attorney here at family law matters. I’ve been practicing family law for approximately 10 years, predominantly in Southern California, particularly the inland empire.
SPEAKER 1 01:27 – 01:29
Perfect. Thank you. Coleen. You are up.
SPEAKER 2 01:30 – 01:48
Hello. Good morning everyone. My name is Coleen Robinson. I am a family law attorney here as well with family law matters. I’ve been practicing for 10 years, almost exclusively in family law for the duration of my career and even before I was an attorney and I’m all in Southern California.
SPEAKER 1 01:49 – 01:50
Perfect. Thank you Christie.
SPEAKER 2 01:51 – 02:13
Good morning everyone. My name is Christie bergamot. I am a senior attorney here at family law matters. I’ve been practicing 17 years, exclusively and family law. I prior to coming here I had my own practice in orange County. but I’ve been practicing in Southern California all of this time and I just want to welcome you all.
SPEAKER 1 02:14 – 02:16
Perfect. Do and miss Rebecca.
SPEAKER 4 02:17 – 02:32
Good morning. I’m Rebecca rainwater. I have been practicing family law exclusively for nine years. all in Southern California and two years a supervising attorney with department of child support services. And good morning. Welcome everyone.
SPEAKER 1 02:33 – 03:53
Perfect. And I am sure Shehata, I’ve been an attorney for two years and I am theyoungest attorney on this panel. but I’m here share in the experience between thefive of us. We have sorry, but yeah, between the five of us we have decades ofexperience in the family law issue in the family law field. So with that said, just acouple of brief announcements. This re this podcast is approximately 40 minutes. Ifyou are joining us and as more and more clients join, I’m going to make sure thateveryone stays muted. If you do have any questions, please make sure that you typethem in the chat and we will get them addressed. but let’s get straight to it. Socustody, biggest topic that is effected by COBIT 19 and the effects of the courtclosures and the custody exchanges. So ms Coleen, I’m going to start with you. One ofthe most common questions that we get is what happens if I am the custodial parent andI am self quarantined and the child and there’s a visitation schedule in place. Do Ihave to abide by the court order and what are, what happens if I don’t, what happensif I don’t feel comfortable sending the child to a parent who may or may not have beenexposed, to covert 19. Okay.
SPEAKER 2 03:54 – 04:52
As we, I think the overarching theme that we discuss even yesterday and then it’s going to go into all the topics that we’re discussing today is two is one having a sense of reasonableness. also as officers of the court, we can’t advise our clients or to advise our clients to violate any court orders. But this is really uncharted territory and if you believe that you are at risk or with covert 19 or the other parties at risk cause that warrants a conversation that you need to have with the other party. That’s the place where everybody needs to start is to have an open conversation. Whether you do that on talking parents or if you do that over the phone or text message, whatever method of communication you’re using that needs to be the place begin with the other party. But as, as your attorney, we’re going to advise you is that you need to still practice your custody visitation schedule that is in place.
SPEAKER 2 04:52 – 05:37
Those are court orders, they are forcible. But if the two between both parents, if you then decide whatever your circumstances are that you’re going to modify your current classroom visitation schedule, which you absolutely should, do you think that’s in the best interest of your child And you both agree, confirm that in writing I throw through text message, talking parents, email, whatever method that you use, but make sure that you confirm that in writing to the other party so that if there is any issues after this all blows over or resolves within, on its own and that you have that in writing to be able to show to either a judge or your attorney and whomever, that that was an agreement that the two of you had reached.
SPEAKER 1 05:39 – 06:20
Perfect. Perfect. So there’s a couple of different hybrids of this question and I do want to make sure that we highlight each of them. So you highlighted the, the key point, which is your attorney cannot and should not advise you to break a court order and that you should, show a, some reasonableness in coordinating with the other side Shareece to you. what, what if I suspect that the other sides have been exposed I’m, I, I, my, endangering the child by sending the child to somebody who I see or to the other parent who assists, who I suspect has been exposed to this.
SPEAKER 3 06:21 – 07:17
Sure. So the first thing I would say to that is we may suspect a lot of things, but none of us are medical doctors. We can’t diagnose someone. So if you’re just going on a suspicion, then again, piggybacking on what Colleen said is you want to talk to the other side. You want to see if you guys can air out some of the confusion as to why there was some suspicion, you know, have you been exposed to someone see if you guys can come to some type of agreement on how you guys can work out the situation to where both of you guys feel at ease. Remember at the end of the day, the best interest of the children is what both of you guys should be considering. But if you just have a suspicion that someone has been exposed to COBIT 19 or that they have it, our response would always be to still follow your court order.
SPEAKER 3 07:17 – 08:12
You still need to exchange the minor children and you still need to make sure that the children are having contact with both parents. The other thing that you could do is just make sure you’re exchanging in a safe manner. You can make sure that you guys are not, really in close contact to each other when you’re doing the exchanges. If your children are, at the age where they’re able to just walk out of the house on their own, you can do curbside pickups. I think also use your attorney as a resource. We’re here to help you. So if it’s a suspicion and also picking back on being reasonable, sometimes, especially in a pandemic, maybe we’re not thinking with reasonable terms, call your attorney and we can work it out with you and help you find solutions that may be reasonable and ensure that you are being reasonable with the other party. But you do need to follow your, your court order first and foremost.
SPEAKER 1 08:12 – 08:29
And does that also apply if we suspect that there, for example, a party where there is an elderly person who like a grandfather or grandmother that are in the home that are more as of now based on the data and the CDP.
SPEAKER 5 08:30 – 08:30
Yeah,
SPEAKER 1 08:34 – 08:46
I’m going to, sorry, I’m going to apologize. There’s a sound that’s opinion again from participants. Make sure that you mute your phone. If you want to ask a question, I will have a Q and a session.
SPEAKER 5 08:49 – 08:49
Okay.
SPEAKER 1 08:49 – 08:56
Your side, I don’t know if you’re driving if you’re in a car.
SPEAKER 5 08:57 – 08:57
Mmm.
SPEAKER 1 09:02 – 09:04
to, sorry, my question.
SPEAKER 5 09:04 – 09:05
Yeah.
SPEAKER 1 09:07 – 09:09
Father or grandmother that are in the
SPEAKER 5 09:11 – 09:12
maybe
SPEAKER 1 09:23 – 09:30
So if there is, if there is a family member that is a grandfather or grandmother that has a high exposure
SPEAKER 5 09:32 – 09:32
in
SPEAKER 1 09:32 – 09:33
fact our custody orders
SPEAKER 3 09:37 – 10:30
brings it back to the question of trying to be reasonable with each other and trying to co-parent if he know that one in the home, that B that might be more susceptible to the virus. You want to take that into consideration, but these situations are going to be the latest situations. I would suggest that you contact your attorney, let us hear all of the facts and specifics while limited in terms of this time we have to file an emergency action on your behalf and document the fact that Y parent may need to go home and why the visitation is not able to take place. So civic situations, you certainly want to call and get some advice in terms of how you’re going to
SPEAKER 1 10:35 – 10:37
hearing the sound that’s in the background or is it just honestly, again,
SPEAKER 5 10:40 – 10:40
okay.
SPEAKER 1 10:42 – 11:07
So let’s see if that solves the problem. I apologize. Okay. So you’re, you’re, if I understand you correctly Sherese your point is that there is a possible Avenue of going in on an emergency basis if the other side’s refusing to cooperate or if there is a high risk of exposure is not a true correct summary.
SPEAKER 3 11:08 – 12:21
Yes. And those are gonna probably be limited, situations and you know, would be what we would consider very exigent circumstances. So I don’t think that that’s our beginning. call your attorney. You want to make sure you allow us to explore those options with you because we may be able to, to be predictive and we’re ready to be forced to be creative in these times. Going to do our exchanges, how we’re going to allow when it continuing. But I believe also parents need to understand that the possibility at this time that some of your visitation, it’s time, unfortunately, however it is to you, there’s face time, there’s Skype where you don’t make sure that you’re, you know, and remember all of the country is going through this. It’s not just you. while we understand that, you know, it can be a challenge to have to try something new or do something different. You have support, we’re here. but there may be some circumstances where we may be able to get you into court.
SPEAKER 1 12:26 – 12:42
I need to apologize. I’m not sure where that sound is coming from. I may have to end this meeting in half. Ask everyone to rejoin using the same link and I’m going to be showing that last thing
SPEAKER 1 12:46 – 13:15
and you rewind. That solves it. Should we use, can you hear me I can. Perfect. Coleen, can you hear me Yes. Perfect. Gina, can you hear me Yes. Perfect. And Christie, can you hear me Christie, the sound is coming 50. The sound is coming from on your end,
SPEAKER 1 13:17 – 14:52
so you may have to exit the meeting and reenter. Rebecca, you’re, can you hear me Okay. So Christie, do me a favor, exit the meeting if you haven’t already. And rejoin, I’m not sure if the sound is outside of, your office. Okay. So I apologize for that. You guys, back to the topic at hand. so there is a some sort of court remedy, possibly it will depend on the circumstance and we certainly urge you to reach out to your attorneys and discuss the specifics with them and they will be able to give you, guidance as to whether this qualifies as an emergency so the court can, issue some immediate relief or not. Obviously we don’t have a magic wand wand or an eight ball. We can’t predict what the court is likely to do and not do. but we can certainly based on the years of experience that we’ve been in front of the court, we can, kind of theorize as to which direction the court is likely to take on the issue. Okay. So one more, question. I’m gonna ask you Gina that question. what if I am the parent and I am exposed, I have been exposed, what happens with the children Am I, if, if I know I’m exposed, should I turn the children over to the other parent who I don’t know if has been exposed or not. Do I subject children to
SPEAKER 7 14:52 – 16:09
the exposure possibly by keeping them in the home What How do we handle that situation Sure. I think we always need to look at the big picture and the big picture is hopefully the children will grow up to be healthy and happy adults and that at some someday there’ll be a high school graduation, hopefully a college graduation, hopefully a wedding, hopefully grandchildren. And regardless of what’s going on in the world, I think the overarching theme is that parents need to look at the big picture and co-parent and hopefully we acknowledge that mother and father both love the children deeply and no one is going to love your children more than the other parents. So with that being said, there’s two things that could happen. One is I’m exposed and the children are with me. If the children are with me. I think as all the attorneys have said in the panel, the first thing we do is we pick up the phone or we text the other side and we say, I’ve been exposed to covert 19 the children have now been exposed to covert 19 what would you like me to do
SPEAKER 7 16:10 – 17:22
We have to follow the court order. If the children are in our custody and the other side is scheduled to get visitation or their custodial time, we must follow the court order, but if the children have been exposed, we also need to be mindful of what’s going on in the other party’s home. They may have that grandmother in their home. They may have type two diabetes going on in their home. They may not want the child to go to their home if the child’s been exposed and hopefully if that’s the case, we will honor their wishes and keep the children with us. If the other side is saying, no, I can adequately take care of the children, I will keep an eye on them and I want them in my home. You must comply with the court order. On the flip side, if I know I’ve been exposed to COBIT 19 and I know that the children are on at dad’s home and they’re safe, I would hope that I would have the state of Mo be in a state of mind again to look at the big picture and to say I’ve been exposed.
SPEAKER 7 17:22 – 18:28
You keep the children, I know that they are safe with you. Hopefully the parties can negotiate makeup time when all this blows over and everything passes. But if I only get every other weekend and and I’m exposed and I don’t want to expose the children, I would hope the custodial parent who has 80% visitation will give me an extra weekend or two when all of this is over. So I think we have to always look at what is, what is the future for us going to look like because you’re stuck with this person. It doesn’t matter how much the two of you fought during the, during the marriage or the relationship. It doesn’t matter how poorly you think of the person. This is the parent of your child. And you need to think long term relationship, not just what’s going on today. It’s not about winning or losing. It’s not about the number of hours or days you have the children. It’s about raising healthy, well adjusted children. And in the end, Gina, can I add something too For sure.
SPEAKER 2 18:30 – 19:18
Just going off of that, I think this is the time more than ever that we’ve got to swallow our pride and our, all of the, the issues that we may have had with one another and just try to work with each other because this is, I mean, I know this is causing a lot of anxiety for a lot of people, but we’ve got to bury the hatchet with some, with, with a lot of our relationships because I was, Gina just said, and I think we’d all agree that it’s about our kids and keeping our kids safe and keeping them healthy and ourselves as well. So I just think that this is the best time just to try to make sure the first thing is to send out that all of branch and say, Hey listen, we’ve got a problem. What should we do here And I think that always goes over the best.
SPEAKER 7 19:18 – 19:43
And Christie having worked as years as minors council, I’m sure would agree with me that studies show that children are much more in danger of contention of, of, of being harmed by arguments and fighting between the parents than they will be by Kobe 19. It’s the relationship between mother and father that’s going to harm them.
SPEAKER 2 19:44 – 21:34
I, I can’t agree more. I have a very intimate, window if you will, into the eyes and thoughts and minds of children in this scenario. In all of these scenarios and the children, the major biggest source of stress for them is when there’s conflict, obviously conflict in the home and nothing brings out conflict. Like something like this that is so catastrophic that is so devastating and scary to two people and understood. But you have to remember who, who’s the main focus and that is your child. And you have to be respectful to the other parent during this time. I agree with calling completely. You have co-parent because there’s not a lot other than, and I think Gina said it when we had our morning meeting, she said it’s either agreement or court and the courts are closed right now, so we have to try our best as your attorneys and and as a community as a whole to come to some sort of an agreement and it will not be perfect. You will not get everything you want but at all. But at least it’ll be something that will put a bandaid on what we have going on right now. And, and Gina, you are so right that the kids need you to be a United front to be strong for them because they’re not in school. They don’t know if they’re ever going to school again. I mean, this has been devastating and we all need to work together here.
SPEAKER 1 21:34 – 21:54
Absolutely. Thank you for that. Christie and then Rebecca, I’m going to on that note kind of pose the last custody question that we’ve been asked frequently, which is if I have a visitation court order, can can we modify that visitation court order If we agree, can we deviate from it
SPEAKER 4 21:55 – 23:14
Absolutely. Any court order can be modified by mutual agreement of both parties and as everyone has already stated extensively, now is the time when parents need to work together for the sake of the children. If you are going to modify any of the terms of your current order, it is best that you do it in writing so that later there’s no confusion about what was agreed to. That can be as simple text talking, parent message, email, whatever you use. Just write out the basic terms of what you agree that we’re going to exchange in the parking lot of Albertson. we’re going to change the times and the days while the kids are out of school and once everything is resolved we will go back to the original orders that were issued by the court. Whatever terms that you may just sell them out. If you need help from your attorney, please don’t hesitate. We’re more than happy to either draft a stipulation in order that everyone can sign or help you with the language, whatever you need to feel comfortable that you’re not making a permanent future change to your order. That is truly temporary. We’re here to help you.
SPEAKER 1 23:15 – 23:43
Awesome. Thank you for that. And then I’m just going to give each of you kind of an opportunity for closing comments on that topic because we do have two other topics. The topic of support is one that’s very common during these times, especially with the economic issues that are going on as a result of coven 19 as well as property orders are pending sales for things of the sort. So Rebecca, since I’m with you, any final comments on the issue of custody
SPEAKER 4 23:44 – 23:46
I just like to touch one area that
SPEAKER 1 23:46 – 24:41
hasn’t been brought up for those clients who have professionally monitored, supervised visitation, those visitations still needs to be handled in the safest form possible. Some of the professional monitors have closed on site visitation. I’ve encouraged those clients to allow space time, even though there’s a order for supervised visits. The other parent is just as concerned about the safety of the children and I’d hoped that nobody would deny a FaceTime communication just so the other parent can see that the child is safe and healthy. And I would just encourage everyone to just please let the other side have the benefit of the doubt and have some type of safe access to the children wherever possible. Absolutely. Thank you for that. Insurees any closing comments
SPEAKER 2 24:43 – 24:50
Just follow your court orders. Be reasonable. Do your best to call parents and when in doubt call your attorney.
SPEAKER 1 24:51 – 24:53
Thank you. And ms Colleen
SPEAKER 2 24:54 – 25:18
No, I don’t have much more to say other than sometimes you just gotta take a deep breath before we react and be mindful of the words that we say and our actions. Because especially with children, they are watching and they are very cognizant of our our emotions and our anxiety. So just take a second before you react and say something that you can’t erase.
SPEAKER 1 25:19 – 25:23
Thank you Steve. Any final comments
SPEAKER 2 25:23 – 26:05
Absolutely. The court are going to reopen. That is going to happen. And with that you have to understand that your behavior during this process and during this time may be reflected later on in some later proceeding and people who are unreasonable during this time, I caution you because it may come back to bite you at some point in the future. Be mindful of that and it just goes along the line of respect for one another and understanding,
SPEAKER 1 26:06 – 26:08
thank you Christie and ms Gina,
SPEAKER 7 26:08 – 27:05
many people who are in a breakup have a toxic relationship, which is why they broken up to begin with. Typically courts are where people go to be able to break the tie when parties can’t agree, but as Christy indicated, the courts are closed. Sometimes having a third party, like an attorney reach out to the other side who was more neutral and more objective as to the situation is very helpful to solve a problem because parents, I think all agree, both parents love their child, they just have a different take on what’s best. And we’re here for you. Even though the courts are closed, we’re here for you to be that tiebreaker, to communicate your concern to the other side in a manner that the other side will be open and willing to cooperate.
SPEAKER 1 27:07 – 28:20
Perfect. Thank you Gina. And with that, if you have any questions and you’re just joining the call, we just covered the topic of custody. I know we’re scratching the surface, we’re monitoring it as we get updates from the core and concerning cases and issues. Again, please remember it’s your questions. This is going to be the cul. so there’s going to be other sections where you will get your questions answered. if you want to send them in the chat in this group, that will be perfect. We will get to them. if there’s nothing else, then I want, I would like to switch the conversation now to support and I’m going to go ahead and engage you ms Christie, because the topic of support, obviously with hearing about companies, major companies closing down or laying off employees or sending them home without pay, how are the support orders affected So if I am the supporting party and I get laid off, but I still have this court order that says I am to hae a certain, some amount of support to the other party, what do I do What are my remedies What are my options
SPEAKER 2 28:21 – 29:30
Well, number one, obviously our theme has been communication, communication with the other side. They’re going to know too that you’re laid off because they’re obviously at some point not going to receive any funds. But as far as the payor is concerned in the one who’s ordered to pay support, you need to file a request to modify it so it reserves your retroactivity back to the date of the filing. Now again, the courts are closed. You’re not going to get into court right away, but you need to fight. You need to contact us and we need to file a request to modify based on these circumstances. Now again, another theme that we’ve said is I can’t, I can’t advise my client to violate a court order. So you need to do the best that you can. And again, I think anyone under these circumstances who’s receiving the funds is going to understand that you can’t give them all of what you’ve been giving them, but be reasonable, you know, don’t take advantage of this situation.
SPEAKER 2 29:31 – 30:56
And again, we need to file a modification immediately so that we preserve the retro activity as far as the receiving parent, one who receives the support. Again, understand that this is going to be something the court is going to consider as a basis to modify downward your support. And, so you just need to understand, I mean, everybody’s, you know, hurting right now and maybe a conversation with the other side, obviously reach out to us, but, you know, talk about what your expenses are. You know, what you can live with or on. you know, and maybe we can come up with a stipulation that’s during this time to avoid court entirely, but it’s absolutely going to be effected. you know, I was in a, in a restaurant the other day and there was not, it was a huge lunch crowd that always was there. There was not a soul in there. And you know, you think of the waitresses and waiters that rely on it heavily on tips and all of the restaurants are closed. So again, you know, you have to be reasonable. You have to understand that there are going to be significant changes to what you’re receiving or what you’re paying obviously.
SPEAKER 1 30:57 – 31:08
And when you say, I’m going to go back to your earlier point about reserving a retroactivity just for lay people who don’t understand the legal terminology, can you elaborate more on that
SPEAKER 2 31:08 – 32:01
specifically Absolutely. What that means is when you file paperwork with the court, when you file your request to modify it is it is filed stamped on a certain date. Okay. And so because the courts are so impacted or were so impacted that usually you get a file date, a stamp, and then the date for you to go to court is months later. So what I’m saying is that the court will go back to the date that it was file stamped or very near thereof to that date and modify it backwards and then forward-looking. So just because you’re not in court, it preserves when you ask for the modification, not when the court date was.
SPEAKER 1 32:01 – 32:22
And now as the pay your in the meantime. So you’ve as the PR, you were laid off or your work was reduced, and you were converted to part time and you filed the motion. What do you do in the meantime Do you can deal, do the best that you can and pay as much as you can or do you,
SPEAKER 2 32:23 – 33:28
I mean, I can advise you not to pay that amount. You know, you’re ordered to pay $500. That’s the court order. So you have to do the best you can, you know. And I know for a lot of people they’re not going to be able to pay that, but I can’t tell you, don’t worry about it, don’t pay it. Obviously I can’t do that. But I think again, communication with the other side goes a long way. Like, look, I can’t give you 500 bucks but I can give you a hundred dollars and, and you know, just that communication and if they’re okay with it, we can draft a stipulation that’s a temporary order and then it will become an order. So then you’re not in any trouble for violating any order. Again, it’s reaching out to the other side, trying to, you know, seeing what you can do to put a temporary fix on this. And then again, the courts are still open for that purpose. We can file a stipulation. No one has to go to court for that there. They will receive those, they will file those. And then I think that protects everybody.
SPEAKER 1 33:29 – 33:53
And one last point, Christie, if you suspect that you are, that your company is going to downsize or begin layoffs, does the suspicion, I mean, what do you do if you have that suspicion Do you reach out in advance and say, Hey, I’ve, I suspect that the company is going to do a, B and C or do you wait until it actually happens and then act
SPEAKER 2 33:53 – 35:10
No, you, you do it immediately. You keep the lines of communication open and if you’re suspecting that you are going to be laid off or anything to that effect, absolutely communicate that ahead of time. then we can get a stipulation in place or you can get a stipulation in place before it actually occurs. So then again, you’re not relying on a retroactive order in that regard. I think the minute you know that there’s a suspicion or that there are rumblings in the office or whatever, maybe you’re just told by your employer that that’s, that’s a potential possibility. I think you reach out to us. and, and communicate that with, with us. I’ve already received notice on cases of mine about that issue. So the, the more than I can and if I’m receiving that notice and my client’s the one that gets the support, then I can reach out to them and say, look, this is what’s going on. You know, it’s sort of lessens the blow and then we can all work together to figure out what, what, what, what is reasonable and what we can do to help the situation.
SPEAKER 1 35:11 – 35:22
Thank you. And then I’m going to give all the rest of you an opportunity to chime in and if there are any additional points that you would like to make. Gina, I’m going to start with you.
SPEAKER 2 35:24 – 35:38
I feel bad for those that are receiving support and relying on the support because it looks like deep layoffs are coming. There’s many businesses that are closed and it may require a
SPEAKER 7 35:38 – 36:09
change in lifestyle. It may require moving in with parents for awhile. It may require renting a room for a while. There may be some severe adjustments that need to be made for the short term. The economy will bounce back. This is not the first time we’ve had these sort of of crises. There was nine 11 that happened. We all remember 2008 times we’ll come around again and we’re all going to need to make some adjustments in the meantime.
SPEAKER 1 36:09 – 36:13
Thank you Gina. Rebecca, would you like to chime in
SPEAKER 4 36:14 – 36:38
I don’t think I have anything to add. Just I realize everybody is going through a really, really tough time and lots of uncertainty and I think the thing that you might want to just keep in focus is this is about your children. Make sure that your children have what they need and it may be sacrificing by to everyone but do everything that you can to help the kids get through this.
SPEAKER 1 36:39 – 36:41
Thank you Rebecca and ms Shariece,
SPEAKER 3 36:43 – 37:30
I was listening to your talk right up radio ironically this morning and they were just discussing how all of us need to be mindful of, you know, kind of the financial crisis that may be occurring and to look at our budgets, look at the things that kind of are not most important that we spend tons of money on, on a monthly basis. I E I mean obviously the gym is important but most of them are closed right now. Look at your monthly subscriptions, maybe have to put some of those on hold. So I think it’s a good time for all of us to just kind of reevaluate some of our budgetary items for the next month. Cause at the end of the day we do want to make sure the children are taken care of and if that means no Starbucks or you know, I have to work out from home, those are decisions that were, are going to all are going to need to make at some point. So just keep that in mind.
SPEAKER 1 37:31 – 37:33
Thank you. Shariece ms Colleen
SPEAKER 2 37:34 – 38:31
and then with that in regards to finances, is that I I know that our, we were discussing prior to recording that HUD is giving some sort of HUD mortgages. They’re giving some sort of forgiveness or deferment or or whatever, but check with your individual lenders. Cause I know that with student loans you can defer student loans based upon financial hardship. And I wouldn’t be surprised that if a lot of the larger lenders are going to be offering similar types of programs, but the more that you know, the better off you’re going to be and then you know what those options are and that takes away from panic and then you’re not making the best decisions. So just don’t be afraid to reach out and just research and find out what programs are going to be available to you and then take advantage of those, to, to, to your family’s benefit. So, and there’s nothing wrong with asking for help during this time
SPEAKER 1 38:32 – 39:02
and I do want to take, cause we do have less than a minute left in this, I do want totake an opportunity to thank all of you for taking the time out of your day to addressour legal community and give some guidance. I know we did not get to the topic ofproperty orders or sales foreclosure things of the source, so we’ll address those atour next topic. In the meantime, if you’re joining us or if you’re going to bewatching this later, please send us your questions. We’ll answer them for you andgive you as much legal guidance as we possibly can. It here at family law matters.Thank you guys and thank you all for joining.
