Do Americans tend to maintain their charitable giving during hard times? In particular, have they continued to give during the pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn? As an attorney practicing nonprofit law, I have observed an increase in the number of requests to set up section 501(c)(3) nonprofits. These requests suggest that overall giving is up, or at least the desire to help others has become more widespread.

Based upon a September 2020 study by the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, a part of Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, charitable giving is largely holding up. …

There are five main steps to start a nonprofit under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code:

Step 1: Incorporate as a nonprofit in your state.

The most common type of nonprofit is a corporation. The first step to start a nonprofit is to incorporate in your state. The document you file is usually called “Articles of Incorporation.” In some states, it is called by a different name, such as “Certificate of Formation.”

The person who files these documents is called the incorporator. In some states, the incorporator is allowed to pay a reduced fee when organizing a nonprofit. …

Ms. Giddens’ surgeon scheduled her for a craniotomy to remove an arachnoid cyst on her brain, to take place December 16, 2014. In other words, the surgeon was going to temporarily remove a section of Ms. Giddens’ skull so that he could remove a cyst. To avoid the risk of postoperative infection, Ms. Giddens received 1 gram of Ancef, an antibiotic. This antibiotic must be administered within one hour before “incision time,” the time that the surgery begins. Records show that Ms. Giddens received the Ancef at 12:40 p.m. …

When we hear the phrase “failure to diagnose,” we usually think of a physician who missed a diagnosis of a disease or a medical condition. But failure to diagnose can apply to malpractice in other healthcare fields, too. In a recent case, the Georgia Court of Appeals allowed a suit for dental malpractice, based on failure to diagnose a tumor in a patient’s jaw, to proceed.

X-Ray Showed Discoloration

When the patient went to the dentist, the dentist took an x-ray of the patient’s mouth. The patient noticed a discolored area on his mandible, or jawbone. The dentist told the patient that everything…

Marriage can be terminated by divorce, but in some cases, by annulment.

The most common way to terminate a marriage is, of course, by divorce. But a marriage can also be annulled. Annulment rests on the idea that a marriage is voidable under certain circumstances. In other words, if a marriage is annulled, it’s as though there never was a marriage in the first place.

Annulment Under California Law

According to California Family Code section 2210, a marriage may be annulled if:

• The party seeking annulment was under 18 years old;
• A spouse vanishes for five years and so is presumed dead;
• Either party…

When parents split up, whether by divorce or separation, they should try to agree on child custody. If they don’t agree, the court will decide custody arrangements for them. But what exactly does “custody” mean? What rights to the parents have when there is joint or sole custody? The California Family Code explains these concepts.

Legal Child Custody

There are two kinds of child custody. The first kind is legal custody. Legal custody means the right to make decisions about a child’s health, education and welfare. Joint legal custody is presumed to be in the child’s best interest. In other words, the courts…

The “imputed income” rule allows a court to set child support based on what you could make instead of what you do make.

California courts determine child support by using a guideline amount. To determine what the guideline amount is, a court must establish the “net monthly disposable income” of each parent. What that phrase means is how much money each parent has left over each month after paying expenses allowed by statute. Sometimes calculating a parent’s net monthly disposable income requires determining imputed income to an unemployed or underemployed parent.

Imputed Income

Parents have been known to fudge their figures when…

Under this decision, electors may vote for whomever they want.

Polls come out frequently that measure how many people would vote for Donald Trump in the next presidential election and how many would vote for one of the Democratic candidates. But these polls mean nothing unless they are broken down by state. United States presidents are not elected by the popular vote. Under the Constitution, the Electoral College elects the president. The Electoral College is composed of the total number of senators and representatives from each state. …