Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 15, 1995 TAG: 9505170009
SECTION: MONEY PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A: The office of Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, supplied the following address for cases of veterans who died after leaving Naval service: Bureau of Navy Personnel, Retired Activities Section, Casualty Assistance Branch, Pers 662, Washington, D.C. 20370.
The address is almost identical for instances in which the person died while on active duty. In such a case, you would write to Pers 663.
Dispute with broker can go to arbitration
Q: Do I have legal responsibility to pay fees on a purchase of 20,000 shares of stock when I really only wanted 2,000 shares? During the time the transaction took place over the phone, my wife was ill and I may not have heard correctly when the broker called to confirm the 20,000-share purchase. I could not pay, so the stock is on a margin account for which the broker is charging interest. I want them to be responsible for the interest and fees.
A: If you have a dispute with a broker, you almost certainly will have to go to arbitration. Your agreement with the broker provides for such a procedure.
But you may not have a very good case to present if the broker made a confirmation call and you were distracted. That was the time to settle the matter, presumably by selling the shares immediately. The broker probably would have done that then. The error should have been caught no later than the time when the confirmation statement arrived only a few days later.
You should have sold the surplus shares without allowing them to go on margin at interest. Now you need to ask yourself several questions: How long do you intend to maintain the shares on margin at interest? How long would you expect the broker to pay the interest?
You should try to work out some arrangement with the broker and, if the loss is not too great in the subsequent market decline, sell the shares. If you can't do this, tell the broker that you demand arbitration according to the terms of your brokerage agreement.
Rights to property when couple unmarried
Q: My boyfriend and I bought a house a year ago. He financed it in his name, but the deed of trust is in both our names. There's about $14,000 equity in the house. I'm paying the cable, electricity, phone and water, and he pays for the house.
Now we're breaking up because of an abusive situation. He's trying to give me $2,000 and telling my child and me to get out. Legal Aid can't help, because the house is considered an asset. He never allowed me to work, so I don't even have a job. Will he go to court and say I didn't pay anything on the house and get us out?
A: William Cleaveland of the Roanoke law firm of Rider, Thomas, Cleaveland, Ferris & Eakin, said a court would probably enforce your rights to some of the equity if your name is on the deed to the property itself, not just the deed of trust for the loan. But, he said, there is no "palimony" in Virginia that would require splitting of assets between people who are not married. Unmarried couples have relatively few rights in each other's property. The outcome depends on what you can show a court about who financed what items and who has a legal claim to the property by deed. Your boyfriend might argue that the house is his property if only his name appears on the deed. Cleaveland said your boyfriend might maintain that your payment of utility bills was in lieu of rent. You will have to cite some agreement that the money was your share of the overall cost.
If you have no income, you should seek assistance for yourself and your child from the Department of Social Services in your community, at least temporarily. You should call the Lawyer Referral Service in your community (listed under community services numbers) to ask if a lawyer can represent you in court as part of his or her community service work.
by CNB