With year-end approaching, it is time to start thinking about moves that may help lower your personal tax bill for this year and next. Whether or not proposed tax increases become effective next year, the standard year-end approach of deferring income and accelerating deductions to minimize taxes will continue to produce the best results for all but the highest-income taxpayers, as will the bunching of deductible expenses into this year or next to avoid restrictions and maximize deductions.
California has a severe shortage of affordable homes, prompting legislators and policymakers to push for changes in local zoning rules that would increase the housing supply. However, many communities fiercely resist measures that could change the character of their single-family neighborhoods.
Like a judge presiding over a trial, an arbitrator charged with arbitrating a dispute must not only treat all parties fairly, but must avoid doing anything that might suggest his or her decision was affected by bias.
In a divorce, custody of children may be awarded jointly to the former couple or, if circumstances warrant, a court may give sole legal custody to only one of the parents. But what happens if a parent with sole custody makes a decision that the other parent thinks is not in the best interests of the child?
Most businesses need work to be performed on a schedule, and this can be especially true in the entertainment industry, with its opening nights and “the show must go on” tradition.
It is a scene certain to show up at least once a season in any TV crime series: the accused, unhappy with his or her attorney, stands up and demands the right to appear “in pro per” – to act on their own behalf. While it may make for great on-screen drama, in real life, litigants who represent themselves usually don’t fare much better than do-it-yourself surgeons.
