What to do if you are facing prison time in Phoenix
Hi, I'm Howard Snader, I'm the owner managing partner of the Snyder Law Group. The Snyder Law Group has been serving the Phoenix metro area and everything related to criminal defense for literally 30 plus years at this point. And today, I want to talk to you about a question that came up from a client recently who had just been arrested. It's kind of interesting, because I've had clients arrested all the time over these years and some asked some questions, some ask some other questions. This client like asked all of them all at one time, and I figured what better way to communicate the information than might be to do this type of video. Normally, when somebody is arrested, my information is how to contact a bail bondsman. Or how to go out and hire an attorney. That's not what we're going to be talking about today. His questions concern the steps, he should be proactive about knowing that he's facing serious felony charges that could likely result in a long prison term, and how we can best set himself up financially and protect his assets, what he can do in the short term, to make sure things are gonna run as smoothly as possible while he's out of custody. So with that in mind, I wanted to address just a few of the basic questions that come up beyond bond and beyond court appearances and beyond hiring the attorney. First up was, let's talk about powers of attorney. In many cases, my clients are not able to get out of custody, but whether out of custody, or in custody, you may want to consider doing a power of attorney that gives somebody you trust access to your assets, your financials, who can close down your house, your apartment, who can take care of your pets who can take care of your bills. more applicable when you have a jail term, and you're gone for anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, who's going to just run your day to day stuff while you're gone. So a power of attorney might be really important to have done, you just have to have the right person that you trust and make sure it's a power of attorney that is good enough for what you want to accomplish. In many cases, banks have their own forms. Doctors may have their own forms, so we can do a general power of attorney. But sometimes the institutions want their own own form done. In addition to the power of attorney, something else you may want to consider is how can you liquidate some assets. Obviously, you can do the real quick stuff like selling things, or going to a pawn shop or trying to auction them off. What I normally am dealing with are larger dollar amounts. And for that kind of thing, we look at refinancing a home or putting a second line home equity line on the house. At least in my office, I have referrals that I can send people out to some people that can get it done very quickly. Some people that can go to the bank or take time and find a better interest rate. But you need to understand the mechanics of how that works. So yes, it is a refinance as you may be able to pull money out depending upon the equity you have in your property. The nice thing is it gives you a line of credit or cash. So you don't have to go to a bondsman you don't have to pay their 10% fee. The recent client paid a bond of $75,000, he had to come up with $7,500 and then put up the collateral in his house as security for his release, that $7,500 is far more than whatever the interest would have been on the same loan had he had a line of credit or credit card with that much equity on the card. So hypothetically, if he had a home line of credit for $100,000, all he would have had to do is write a check for $75,000. to the court, the court would issue the bond he'd get out and at the end of the case, he get a $75,000 back, he wouldn't be out the additional 7500 He had to pay to the bondsman. So if you can develop a second line of credit, if you can get those finances in order, if you need help doing that, we can help you get that done and get it done pretty quickly in most cases. So the power of attorney, the how to develop a line of credit. The next thing was should engage in any counseling services. As I always tell my clients, counseling services never hurt and may help. And I say that because if you learn one thing in counseling, great if you're getting a plea offer from the state are trying to resolve the matter. And the prosecutor is sitting on the fence as to one plea or another. The fact you've been going to counseling or dropping clean new ways. Things like that can really really make a difference. So I would encourage you, yes, go get a counselor. If you can't get one or find one. You don't have an insurance company that would recommend one. Then again, I have referrals all over the place for those counselors needed for whatever your issues are.
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Snader Law Group
tel:602-825-3031
Phoenix, AZ