Money Making Schemes

Nagesh answers:

EBay and craigslist would be your best and easiest choices. StuhHub is another good site and TicketsNow if you’re desperate.

Nagesh answers:

I can see some pitfalls in arrangements like this. Primarily there is no legal protection for the “adoptive” parent nor for the child. In a regular adoption, the birth parent relinquishes his or her legal right to the child and the adoptive parent assumes those rights. So, there is no question as to where a child should be if a conflict arises. The problem with this scenario is that an “adoptive” parent could raise this child for 10 years and then the birth parent come back into the scene and demand custody of the child again. If the birth parent is not stable, the child could end up getting hurt and the “adoptive” parent would have an uphill battle to keep and protect the child.
Moreover, the birth parent could kidnap a child and the hands of the police would be tied given that the birth parent is still the legal parent even in a situation where the child has never met or has rarely seen the birth parent.
Also, in this situation, unless the birth parent agrees to pay child support, it is grossly unfair to expect a friend to take on all the financial and emotional burdens and then the birth parent just waltz in and want to take the child back after a few years.
In a perfect world, where we could expect all parties to act maturely an in the best interest of the child, informal agreements like these might work but we don’t live in a perfect world and I worked in a law firm long enough to know that when it comes to money and children, people are far from perfect and things can get very, very ugly very very quickly.

Nagesh answers:

Banks maintain two figures for an account. The ledger balance (current) and the available balance.

When you make a deposit to your account the bank looks at the MICR line to determine how to collect the check. It assigns availability on the deposit depending upon how quickly it can collect on the check.

If the check is local and your account is in good standing your deposit is usually available to you the next business day. If it is cash deposited at a teller or a check drawn on that bank it usually is available same day. Most checks are collected in 3 business days, but can be legally held for up to 10 days (20 for new accounts) if the bank suspects fraud or you have bounced items on them.

Nagesh answers:

Unless you are in one of the major cities in the US, chances are that your apartment does NOT have to be inspected. If you feel there are dangers, contact the local building inspection department with your concerns. If they find issues, they will inform the landlord that they must be repaired. HOWEVER, be aware that, if they find the premises not safe for human habitation, you will be required to leave and to leave quickly.

Nagesh answers:

Legally it may be okay but caring for three smaller children is a huge burden to place on even the most mature and responsible twelve year old. There are other ways for him to earn a bit of pocket money (chores around the house, helping neighbors) and for him to learn and gain more responsibility and maturity that don’t entail putting your other children into his care, even for short periods of time. (Surely as a mama of many you know how quickly kids can get themselves into a great deal of mischief – or danger.)