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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
What are the chHds' rights in
a questioned paternity case?
Dear Jim: My friend’s
husband recently passed. A
woman claims he was the
father of her baby. Does this
child have any rights?
Dear Reader: Your friend
is twice suffering -■ first
dealing with the loss of
her husband and then this
“other” woman trying to
pile scandal onto her grief.
Unfortunately, your
friend could be headed into
a potential legal quagmire.
Over decades and centuries,
the law has evolved with
respect to protecting the
rights of illegitimate chil
dren. While they are not
necessarily given rights
equal to legitimate children,
modern law generally favors
legally “recognizing” fathers
of illegitimate children; the
law has come to frown on
illegitimate children being
discriminated against due
to the circumstance of birth.
When you are dealing with
the death of any parent
there are different rules
for property transfers “out
side” a will from those that
have to pass through an
estate first.
As to each of these inqui
ries the analysis differs.
“Death” benefits or life
insurance are common
examples of property that
“pass” outside a will; which
means the payments are
tax-free, not even subject to
inheritance taxes.
Death may be the trig
gering event that transfers
rights property, but only
named beneficiaries receive
their benefits, as opposed
to heirs. Thus, when you
purchase life insurance, you
designate named beneficia
ries and, when you die, only
they receive any benefits,
even to the exclusion of any
your (other) legal heirs.
What is environmental health?
By CARLA D. COLEY
Contributed
The Environmental
Health Section of the
Houston County Health
Department is a branch
of the Division of Public
Health and is part of the
Department of Human
Resources.
We are based in each
county health department
and not only enforce rules
and regulations, but pro
vide many useful services to
the public.
As environmental health
specialists, we help protect
against environmental fac
tors that may adversely
impact human health or the
ecological balances essential
to long-term human health
and environmental quality,
whether in the natural or
man-made environment.
Environmentalists are
referred to as “health
inspectors” and to some we
are known as sanitarians.
By whatever name we are
called, we provide primary
prevention through a com
bination of surveillance,
education, enforcement,
and assessment programs
designed to identify, pre
vent, and abate the envi
ronmental conditions that
adversely impact human
health. We enforce rules
and regulations of the
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Many of us have life insur
ance policies. Since they
specifically designate who
receives
benefits,
illegiti
mate chil
dren will
receive
only what
is stated
in their
father’s
policy.
But,
when ' it
comes to
Jl
Jim Rockefeller
Columnist
agO rockefellerlawcenter com
more generic forms of com
mon “death benefits,” like
Social Security, any minor
child is entitled to benefits.
Here, rules are set by the
policy or government pro
gram, as opposed to state
statute, and the legal status
of the child may or may not
be important - the text of
the policy or program con
trols. Broadly speaking, the
father’s acknowledgment of
paternity or a post-mortem
DNA test may be all that is
needed to qualify the minor
child to benefits.
Trusts are estate plan
ning devices specifically cal
culated to avoid inheritance
and/or capital gains taxes
for investments. Trust
property (“corpus”) passes
(again, outside the will) to
specified individuals and/or
a class of beneficiaries as
defined by a trust.
Whether a father’s ille
gitimate child would receive
any of this corpus is a mixed
bag of the language to the
trust document and state
law.
Most of us never accumu
late enough wealth to use
one and, if we do, we pay
an estate planning attorney
lots and lots of money to
avoid legal confusion, where
county and the State and
provide a variety of servic
es designed to protect the
community from potential
public and environmental
health threats.
There are four levels of
Environmental Health
Specialists that provide envi
ronmental health services
in the State of Georgia.
Their position classifica
tions vary according to levels
of supervisory responsibil
ity and programmatic activ
ities. Environmentalists
provide services that are
broken into five different
mandated programs: on
site sewage (land use), wells,
rabies, food service, tourist
accommodations, and pub
lic swimming pools.
In addition, we provide
other services such as inves
tigating sources of lead
poisoning in children with
elevated blood leads, work
ing complaints related to
West Nile Virus, and help
ing to provide safe food and
shelter during natural and
man-made disasters.
There are other programs
that may not be offered
in all counties, but many
larger health departments
throughout the State may
also provide services related
to indoor air quality, radon
and asbestos, and inspec
tion of tattoo and body art
studios.
Perry Parkway
an unaccounted for illegiti
mate child may, or may not,
be entitled to benefits from
some of the father’s trust.
Things become much
trickier with respect to the
“estate” of the deceased.
Whether a father dies with
or without a will (called
“intestate”), the father’s
left over property (and
debts) has to be “probated”
to determine who receives
what. Each state’s law gov
erns this distribution.
For instance, in some
states, a surviving spouse
might automatically and/or
minimally receive some of
the estate.
Consequently, while the
specifics of the will often
are important, so is the
law of each state. Frankly,
this is such a tangled legal
thicket, I cannot describe
all possible scenarios in a
single column!
The best I can state is
that an illegitimate child
may still have some rights
and the father should have
had a will carefully drawn,
to account for such a pos
sibility.
My hope for your friend
is that none of this matters
and that she can just move
on with her life.
She probably deserves
better than this.
Warner Robins attorney
Jim Rockefeller is the
former Houston County
Chief Assistant District
Attorney, and a for
mer Florida Assistant
State Attorney. Owner of
Rockefeller Law Center, Jim
has been in private practice
since 2000. E-mail him at
ajr@rockefellerlawcenter.
com. Visit www.rockefeller
lawcenter.com for past col
umns and Frequently Asked
Questions.
We also work with the
public regarding general
nuisance complaints and
provide educational mate
rials and guidance when
appropriate. Many times,
we will serve as a referral
source when the complaint
does not fall under our pur
view of services.
Several years ago,
the National Sanitation
Foundation International
published an aphorism
regarding environmental
health and sanitation that
reads, “Sanitation is a way
of life. It is the quality of
living that is expressed in
the clean home, the clean
farm, the clean business and
industry, the clean neigh
borhood, the clean commu
nity. Being a way of life, it
must come from within the
people; it is nourished by
knowledge and grows as an
obligation and an ideal in
human relations.”
As environmentalists, we
hope that we can foster this
ideal through our involve
ment in the community
and through education and,
when necessary, enforce
ment.
Over the course of the
next several months, we
will be providing informa
tion regarding our list of
services and offering educa
tional information through
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LOCAL
BIOS password can be cleared
bear TechnoFiles: I
recently bought a used
computer at a yard sale
add need to clear the sys
tem password when you
fii l st turn it on. This isn’t
the Windows password,
but the one that comes
u|i before the computer
even boots. Any sugges
tions? - Bootless
bear Bootless:
It sounds like you need
to clear the BIOS password
before you can get in and
affect any changes. There
are a couple of ways to try
to do this. One is through
software and the other is
to open the case and locate
sohie jumpers. Since there’s
always the risk of knocking
soinething loose whenever
you get inside the case, I
suggest you try the software
solution first.
You can download a utility
called “PC BIOS Security
arid Maintenance Toolkit”.
You’ll have to do this on a
working computer, of course,
arid depending on how old
your yard sale find is you’ll
have to copy the files onto a
flclppy disk or a USB drive.
Do a Google search on the
utility’s name, save it to
your hard drive and follow
the directions. It should
clear the BIOS password,
which you can then choose
to set a new one or simply
don’t bother with it.
Getting inside the case
isn’t all that bad. You’ll
nOed to look for jumpers
ori the system board that
reset/clear the BIOS pass-
What is your desired outcome for today?
lam on the phone daily,
conducting coaching calls
with clients. It doesn’t
take them long to learn that
early in the conversation,
I will say, “What is your
desired outcome for today’s
call?”
May I suggest that you
start using that question
with those you influence?
I have a client who com
plained that “People are
always interrupting me.
They knock on my door and
ask if I have a minute to
talk. Believe me, it often
takes longer than a minute!
Tkey often ramble, not clear
about what they want. How
cdn I break them of this
habit?”
This person has a heart to
help! I know his motive is
honorable. With the advice
I offered, he is now more
helpful tkan ever, AND he
reduced the length (and
number) of interruptions!
I suggested that ke answer
the “Can I have a minute?”
question with this response:
“Sure, what is your desired
outcome?”
Not allowing the conversa
tion to start without a clear
response was a hard change
fdr him to make. Some of
those he serves gave him a
hard time about it, asking
what had gotten into him.
I suggested he say, “Oh,
I’m just working on using
niy time better. I find that
if I’m real clear on the out
come I want to achieve, I
stay focused in my actions.
Sb, what do you want to
accomplish?”
Very quickly, my friend
realized that many inter
rupters are not clear on
what they want to achieve.
The question stumped sev
eral of them. They stam
mered and wanted to get on
with their question, but my
friend would not let them
proceed until they identified
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Jason and Tlina Ashford
TechoFiles
word. Unfortunately these
jumpers are rarely labeled,
so you might want to try to
find a schematic of your sys
tem board on the Internet.
Look for a manufacturer’s
name and model number,
something like ASUS, Intel
or Mach Speed followed by a
series of alphanumeric char
acters. If you can’t locate
a schematic of your board,
you might try the following
locations: Near the edge of
the system board, close to
the CMOS battery, or by the
processor are common loca
tions.
Once you locate the jump
ers, you either need to
remove the jumper cover
if one is one, or short the
two pins if there is no cover
present. You can buy a
jumper cover or simply use
a flathead screw to create
a bridge between the pins
while you boot the computer
- not for the faint of heart,
but it works. Once the pass
word is clear, you can leave
the jumper in the state you
found it. Good luck! -Tina
Dear TechnoFiles: I
have three grandsons,
and they are pretty hard
what outcome they sought.
Most folks now start think-
ing about
their
answer to
the ques
tion before
they
knock on
his door.
With those
who don’t
catch on so
quickly, he
is patient
and he
Dennis Hooper
Leaders Building
Leaders
asks them to sit down and
think. He helps them find
their own answer by asking
a few additional questions.
“What is it that you want
to be different after we fin
ish talking? Whatever that
is, that’s ‘your desired out
come’ of this conversation.
Maybe you want to obtain
some information. Maybe
you want to explore the
advantages of options you’re
considering. Maybe you need
a decision from me, so you
can take the next step in a
project you’re handling.”
With that kind of nurtur
ing dialogue, folks quickly
learn what he means by
“What is your desired out
come?”
Assessing Your
Leadership Skills
-SBS/person
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SATURDAY, MAY ft 2007
on DVD’s. Several times,
the DVD’s they’ve gotten
for Christmas have got
ten scratched or broken,
despite my best efforts to
keep them in their boxes.
I have a new computer
with a DVD burner and
I’m wondering what’s the
best way I can copy their
DVD’s so I can keep the
originals safely locked
away from little hands?
E.J. in Perry.
Dear E.J.: Copying
DVD’s is a little more com
plicated both from a techni
cal perspective and a legal
perspective. Legally, the
Motion Picture Association
of America would surely
argue that despite having
purchased the DVD, you
don’t have the right to make
copies- even for your own
use. To that end, all DVD’s
are encrypted preventing
casual copying without some
serious software. Even if
you copy the disk, the file
sizes are such that the files
will not fit on a standard
DVD without reprocessing
and compressing the out
put to fit on a small capac
ity disk. Programs such as
AnyDVD by slysoft.com will
decrypt the DVD, and pro
grams like Ahead’s Nero at
www.mero.com will burn the
DVD after compressing the
files, but it’s not a task for
a beginner. So, as much as
I hate to admit it, the short
and easy answer is protect
those DVD’s because copy
ing them is a bit harder than
you’d think. -Jason
My friend has reported
an interesting and benefi
cial side effect of asking this
question. He finds that as he
starts on a new task, he asks
himself the same question.
“What is my desired out
come in the next ten min
utes?” He used to get dis
tracted just by looking for
something in a file, for
example. He’d read some
thing there that reminded
him that he should make a
phone call. He’d make the
phone call, and that would
lead to something else. He
found himself doing things
he never intended, which
resulted in delaying the
objective he initially had in
mind!
This is a very simple yet
intentional change you can
make! Try it for a week,
and if you find it to be help
ful, continue it for a month.
When you make those unex
pected interruptions more
effective, you’ll want to
make “What is your desired
outcome?” a habit!
Dennis Hooper helps lead
ers serve their organiza
tions better. Send your ques
tions and ideas to Dennis at
dhooper2@juno.com, or call
him at 478-988-0237.
F. Dennis Hooper
Certified
Leadership Development Coach
Building leaders and
organizations of excellence
(478) 988-0237
5A
47200
dhooper2(fl)juno.com
|| 48081