Don’t Make It Easy for Thieves to Access the Identity Information

Identity thieves will stop at nothing – not even the death of the intended victim – when it comes to stealing someone's personal information to commit fraud.

Crafty criminals look for personal details about the deceased in obituaries (in the newspaper or online), genealogy Web sites, death certificates and other sources. Armed with personal information – such as a full name, address and date of birth – an ID thief may be able to obtain a new Social Security card, a driver's license, or loans and credit cards, even though the victim is no longer alive.

FDIC Consumer News suggests that families consider the following actions after a loved one dies:

Limit the amount of personal information in obituaries. "It's a good idea to leave out the exact birth date of the deceased. If anything, provide only the birth year," said David Nelson, a fraud specialist in the FDIC's Financial Crimes Section.

Consider omitting a wife's maiden name because many financial institutions use a mother's maiden name as a security password. "If an obituary publicizes a woman's maiden name and lists her children, an identity thief may be able to use that and other information to order credit cards or otherwise go on a spending spree in the childrens' names," Nelson added.

Obtain several copies of the death certificate and then proceed to close bank, brokerage, credit card and other accounts as needed.

Ask your attorney or accountant for advice about closing and reopening accounts in survivors' names.

Also, quickly report the death to the fraud departments of all three major credit bureaus, which financial institutions rely on when handling credit applications, and the Social Security Administration.

"It's important to help prevent identity thieves from assuming the deceased person's identity before the estate is settled," explained Nelson. "Otherwise, there may be credit extended to the fraudsters that will need to be resolved before distributions can be made to heirs." 

These thieves are the lowest of the low.  Targeting the deceased should be a crime punishable by death from one thousand slices of a very dull knife.

Don’t make it easy for these thieves to access the information.  It is not something that we think about during a time of grief, but in today's world, we have to always be on our toes.

Steps to Choosing the Right Financing for Your Lawsuit

Financing a lawsuit provides monetary help when a person seeks legal remedy in a court of law, and does not have the finances to bear the expenditure. The expenses covered by lawsuit financing companies include attorney fees, medical bills, health care, rent and mortgage, food etc. Cases funded by lawsuit firms include personal injury, workers compensation, motor vehicle accidental injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, product liability, breach of contract, fraud and others.

However, this should not be mistaken for a loan, as it is non-recourse. That is, the client does not have to repay the amount if he or she loses the lawsuit. The risk is undertaken entirely by the companies. A loan, on the other hand, usually has a definite payback schedule within a fixed period. As there is no way of determining how long a case will run, there is no rigid schedule of repayment followed by lawsuit financing companies.

These companies usually lookout for cases that have a strong chance of winning, in order to reduce the risk of losing money. They have an in-house attorney who studies cases, and decides which of those are more likely to win. Subsequently, they fix the amount that is to be provided to the client, according to his or her needs.

There are basically three types of funding:

1. Pre-settlement funding

Companies provide funds before the verdict is announced. These are generally provided when the client, due to some injury or some other reason, cannot work and earn money to pay the fees. If however, the verdict goes against the client, the company does not retrieve the money.

2. Post-settlement funding

Firms give money only after the lawsuit is settled. In such cases, however, they do allow partial advances.

3. Attorney Loans

The firms directly provide the attorney a long-term credit that will take care of all the expenses incurred.

However, before accepting help from such companies, it would be wise to consider the terms of repayment, and options available. The terms include the flat fee and the recurring fee. One should make an exploratory survey of different companies, and choose the one that is the most suitable. However, the chances of getting such funding would be negligible, if a case has a higher probability of losing, because lawsuit-financing firms scrutinize each case very carefully before providing help. Generally, this kind of service is provided to only those whose attorneys are ready to bear the huge expenses, which the client cannot provide.

Some clients are often compelled to obtain lawsuit financing at a high cost. For example, they may either need to pay their medical bills, pay the rent or mortgage, or avail of health care facilities. If there is no other source of income, lawsuit loans are often the best option. It is advisable to involve your attorney in processing a lawsuit loan, since he or she may be able to find you a funding company that offers the best terms. An attorney will also be able to help you review the contract before you sign up with the lawsuit funding company.

Understanding About Commercial Litigation Financing

A person who suffers a personal injury caused by another person  can go in for litigation cases. Similarly, companies too are often involved in litigation. The reason can be attributed to the competitive market and ‘unfair competitions,’ too. Here the simple disputes in the conduct of business and commercial transaction sow the seeds for litigation.

The companies may reach a discord due to various factors. These can be a wrongful termination of an employer or employee, breach of contract, disputes of insurance, partnership, shareholders, bankruptcy and so on. Such disputes of commercial transactions can affect the business of that company. For instance, one of the two companies involved in partnership joins hands with a third party clandestinely. There is a breach of trust and related damages caused on the other company. This ‘cheated’ company can file for litigation against its partner company.  

Finally, the disputing companies try to resolve their ongoing case through the court. This is known as Commercial Litigation. The companies, like the individual, take the help of an expert attorney to protect their interest. The attorney files the case for a contingent fee. The company involved in litigation, with the support of the attorney, seeks the Litigation Financing Company for its expenses. 

The company providing Litigation Financing evaluates the case. If the case appears worthy enough, the company offers an advance, often, termed as litigation loan. These are pre-settlement advances of non-recourse nature. That means the company gets its recovery charges if and only if its client company wins the case. But to ensure proper Commercial Litigation Financing one needs to resort to the attorney.