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When spouses separate, the world does not stop moving forward, despite the emotional turmoil. Everyday expenses still pile up. A joint debt, or obligation, remains a joint debt, for which the creditor can pursue either of you individually or jointly. The same way that a creditor can go after a co-signor of a loan, joint debts are payable and enforceable against both spouses even after the marriage ends, unless the debts are settled as part of the divorce or renegotiated with the creditor....

Manhattan real estate mogul David Winoker died in a skydiving accident along with his instructor. Winoker was a 49-year-old father of three. His instructor was 25-year-old Alexander Chulsky of Brooklyn, reports Fox News. The cause of the accident may lead to a wrongful death lawsuit against Skydive the Ranch in Ulster County, though there may be a bar to recovery, Just days before Father’s Day, Winoker jumped from the plane with Chulsky....

Don’t lend money to a medical marijuana company. Don’t even contract with a medical marijuana company. If a recent Arizona case is any indication, it’s a pretty bad idea. A state judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by two individuals who lent a Colorado medical marijuana company $500,000. Michele Hammer and Mark Haile sued the company, Today’s Health II, after it failed to repay the loan and interest fees. Unfortunately, the judge has refused to enforce the underlying contract....

The backlash against the new Arizona illegal immigration law continues to grow as the possibility of an Arizona boycott emerges. As Tanya Roth wrote in a prior post, the state recently passed a tough immigration law that is drawing some powerful critics, including President Obama, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder. The law makes it a state crime to be in Arizona illegally. Roth wrote on Monday:...

Want some good economic news that might apply directly to you? Tax refunds are up! In fact, on average, income tax refunds are up 10% from a year ago, due to tax credits included in the economic stimulus package according to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman. In 2010, the average tax refund was $3,036, up $266 from 2009, USA Today reports. “The Recovery Act is a major factor behind these larger, record refunds,” Shulman said....

Part of a $20 billion fund for BP victims can be claimed as quickly as two weeks. Sound too good to be true? Well, of course, there is a catch: you can’t sue. The April 20 oil spill that blew over 170 million gallons of crude oil into the water has been a very costly mistake for British Petroleum. The BP quick pay program is designed to ease the administrative burden for BP and allow claimants to get some much-needed funds....

Gawker, the audacious upstart media company that lost a privacy trial to Hulk Hogan in Florida recently, is paying heavily for its audacity. Today it formally filed for bankruptcy and is entertaining offers from prospective buyers, reports Recode. But don’t wave goodbye to Gawker yet, as it is still a feisty company, and this is not clearly a sign of defeat. In fact it’s a sign of more fight. Although it announced its intention to file for Chapter 11, the company’s owner Nick Denton said that he intends to continue to publish and to fight the legal battle against Hulk Hogan, sponsored by billionaire Peter Thiel....

The Toyota Congressional hearing findings may start affecting the way all new cars are manufactured in the United States. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday that the agency might start recommending that all new vehicles sold in the United States be equipped with a brake override system that would prevent unintended acceleration. These recommendations come in light of the Congressional hearings into Toyota’s safety issues. Over the last week, Congress heard testimony from researchers, politicians, victims of Toyota’s accidents and the families of fatal accident victims....

With the job market still struggling and the housing market in the tank for the foreseeable future, it still feels like the Great Recession is as great as ever. Since financial hardship still a factor in so many parents’ daily lives, supporting their children can be stressful and sometimes nearly impossible. Non-custodial divorced parents usually have a child support agreement that they must abide by to do just that. But what do you do if, in these tough times, you have a major financial set back?...

Is it illegal to ride your bike against traffic? The answer may not seem so obvious, especially since riding a bike seems so casual compared to operating a motor vehicle. Even so, bike laws are fairly strict when it comes to certain rules of the road. This includes things like riding a bike while inebriated – which can potentially get you busted for a DUI-related offense in many states – and, yes, riding your bike against traffic....

Sweet Cakes by Melissa isn’t so sweet, after all. Last year, the Oregon bakery got into trouble with the state’s Bureau of Labor and Industries for violating a state law prohibiting sexual-orientation discrimination in places of public accommodation. Aaron and Melissa Klein, the owners of the bakery, refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, citing their religious beliefs. After an investigation, the Bureau determined that their business had violated the law....

Feeding a hungry person is good. It is simple and basic in an otherwise morally complex world. Or is it? In many places around the nation, giving food to a homeless person in public is prohibited. Restrictions are reportedly on the rise, and the reason cited generally by those in support of these measures is that homeless people are too visible, which is bad for business and other people’s enjoyment of public parks....

The NCAA has been sued in a class-action lawsuit initially brought by a student-athlete who lost his scholarship and alleges a violation of federal antitrust laws. The NCAA, according to the lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California, is making money off of the backs of college students and simultaneously standing in their way of getting a better deal. Annual revenues for the NCAA were $614 million while the direct expenses for operating the games totaled $59 million....

Are there legal limits when it comes to landlords raising rent? This question often comes up at the end of a lease term, when a landlord will typically raise the rent if a tenant wants to enter into another rental agreement. Generally speaking, unless there’s a specific law in place (like a local rent control ordinance), there is usually no limit on how much a landlord can raise the rent. But this can also depend on other factors, including the type of lease at issue....

The Labor Department this week announced the expansion of overtime pay for salaried workers. This is expected to affect millions in the middle class. The Obama Administration hopes the measure will improve pay for people working over 40 hours a week on salaries of up to $47,000. “The middle class is getting clobbered,” Vice President Joe Biden said, explaining the rationale for the regulation. But already opposition is gathering on the right....

As part of his re-election campaign President Obama has been talking about his commitment to small business and the tax cuts he’s gotten during his term. When he says it, there are 18 small business tax cuts passed during his administration. Like most campaign talk, those numbers are somewhat inflated. Obama counts tax extensions and renewals as separate measures, reports CNN. All in all there were 14 unique tax breaks for businesses and 5 of them are still in effect....

As we have discussed, police use social network sites to plan covert operations and catch criminals, but now they are also using Facebook and Twitter to communicate valuable information and public updates. The Sacramento Police Department is at the forefront of law enforcement agencies around the country posting real-time updates about traffic accidents and officer-involved shootings, the Associated Press reports. In the beginning however, police departments mainly used social network sites as an investigative tool to crack down on criminal activities, as previously discussed....

Horror stories about scalpels and sponges sewed up inside patients after surgery aren’t just myths. It turns out preventable mistakes like that do happen, more often than you may realize. Surgeons are human after all, and things can go wrong during surgical procedures. But some mistakes are so big that they’re known as “never events” in the medical community. Those are things that never happen for a legitimate reason. Perhaps “never events” is a misnomer....

The number of deaths from vehicle accidents nationwide reached a record low in 2008, according to figures released today. Experts are pointing to last year’s peak of $4 per gallon gas prices and increasing seat belt use to explain the numbers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) estimated figures for 2008 show that 37,313 vehicle drivers and passengers were killed in vehicle accidents in 2008, the lowest number of fatalities since 1961, and also the lowest fatality rate ever recorded (1....

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (Dem-NY) is seeking to pass a cadmium ban in Congress after reports that there are large amounts of cadmium in children’s jewelry sold in retailers such as Walmart and Claire’s. We wrote about how Walmart responded to the investigative report done by the Associated Press by pulling its cadmium jewelry from its shelves in our Injured Blog post here. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Schumer announced this past Wednesday that he plans on putting legislation before Congress next week that would ban cadmium in children’s products....