Articles written by Raymond Bilodeau

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About me - Raymond Bilodeau

Semi-retired lawyer, varied experience, including a lot of legal work for and with mentally handicapped, juveniles, parents of handicapped children, health law and most non-criminal legal areas. Focused on legal services for low and middle-income people. Former

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Personal Finance > Financial Planning The difference between a living trust and a living will: 1 of 5
Living WillA living will, also known as a health care proxy, is a document granting someone the right to make medical decisions if you are not able to make your own decisions. That is, you are comatose, in a permanent vegetative state or otherwise deemed incompetent. The living will can specify your wishes with regard to keep... More..
Law & Legal Information > Lawyers & Legal Advice Do-it-yourself legal tips: 1 of 4
Getting do-it-yourself legal tips from non-lawyers who may just by sheer luck have avoided problems is dangerous. The old saying that a person who represents himself has a fool for a client is true. There are a lot of places to get forms and books, but no place to get years of experience and formal training.Having said that, ... More..
Personal Finance > Managing Debt Can student loans be included in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy?: 1 of 3
Student loans must be listed as a debt in any Chapter 7 filing. Most student loans cannot be discharged in a Chapter 7 without a showing of "hardship," which is more than just difficulty paying the loan. If student loans were easily dischargeable, no lending entity would want to lend a student money, and the rest of us would ... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Thoughts on God Is God responsible for the good and the bad?: 10 of 22
I don't see how this is possible to debate. God not only, by definition, created all things, God maintains all things in existence and controls all their actions or failures to act. "Free will" in a creature controlled every second is absurd. If you make a defective automobile, it will not avail you as creator of the automobi... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Political Issues Should health insurance companies be "for profit"?: 5 of 10
The question is in-artfully posed. The question should read, should health insurance (or any insurance company) be a for-profit corporation or other for-profit legal entity? Insurance works by spreading the risk and cost of an event among the insured. The more insureds you have, the cheaper the cost of insurance and the less ... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Political & Economic Theory The economics of health care: 1 of 1
Health care costs are largely the result of unintended consequences - in this case, of separating the cost from the recipient and requiring payment of insurance premiums by non-recipients. The first unintended consequence was that medical care providers shifted from non-profit entities to profit-making entities, then insuranc... More..
Home & Garden > Real Estate (Other) The eviction process: What if your tenant won't leave?: 9 of 17
Evictions are painful for both landlords and tenants, especially if the reason for the eviction is nonpayment of rent. A tenant who can't pay the rent is unlikely to be able to pay a new rental's first, last and security, which are often required. The law provides means for removing the tenants, usually by having some legal a... More..
Sciences > Zoology Do organisms always evolve into more complex forms?: 5 of 8
This is a deceptive question. If stated as, "Do organisms always evolve?", clearly not. Sharks, horseshoe crabs, bacteria, cockroaches, archaea and many other organisms are substantially the same as they were millions of years ago.If stated as, "Do evolving organisms always evolve into more complex organisms?", then the only ... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Government & Policies Should Congress set limits on the compensation of corporate executives?: 7 of 11
Strangely enough, the question of Congress setting limits on corporate executive salaries is being treated as "socialism." Corporations were one of the earliest forms of socialism, going back to the Roman Empire. Individuals pooled their money for business or charitable purposes. Business entities were controlled by the perso... More..
Personal Finance > Personal Finance (Other) Steps to contesting a will: 8 of 12
Contesting a will is not complicated, but also not easy to prove. First, you must get and read the will. If the will has not been offered for probate, you cannot contest it. Once part of a probate court record, it is a public record, unless it has been impounded by the judge for some reason. Impoundment is rare. Many wills ar... More..