I need a urgent answer on law about documents.

[jafo]

Trainman I don't know you or your wife to be. I have been a member of this board a long time and am married to a Dominicana. I truly wish you the best in your marriage .

I have a prenuptial , I believe the term is (fair and councincuable) excuse spelling .
This basically means that you cant put things in a prenuptial like , ( I get everything , you get nothing , and when i say get out you must leave immediately.

You can NOT put things in a prenuptial that are illegal .

You may love your wife to be and her child very much as i do my step daughter . But she is not mine and not my responsibility should we divorce .

Child support is mandated by the courts for YOUR BIOLOGICAL CHILDREN , or adopted children . Do not put a clause in your prenuptial indicating child support . Salary's expenses change , it would be ill advised to agree to something that you have no way of knowing.

Alimony can be a set percentage for a specified period of time (2 two years) 17% not a dollar amount.

I would further recommend not commingling funds it muddy s the water as to what belonged to who before and during the marriage.

Your assets should remain separate .

Personal property should be addressed . Example her primary vehicle is hers , her personal property clothes , jewelry , family items passed down .

She should have her own lawyer represent her at the signing. You should get a receipt that she paid for this service herself. If not it spells problems in the future should a divorce actually occur.

As a side bar my wife had no problem signing a prenuptial , because it was pretty fair. And as she stated if I was after your money I just wouldn't sign.

Discuss the terms , agree to disagree without being disagreeably. And if you cant come to terms , put everything on hold or part ways .

You both deserve protection with today's divorce rates.

If your already married its to late to make changes . Its a prenuptial , pretty much guaranty it wont hold up if changed after marriage.

I AM NO LAWYER , BUT DID MY HOMEWORK AND HAD A GOOD LAWYER , WHO WOULD NOT TOUCH A PRENUPTIAL THAT SHE THOUGHT COULD BE CHALLENGED.

Once again best of luck if you think there is something I can help you with PM me .

 

[jafo]

Forgot to answer , I believe you can have the document canceled . Need all copy's go to attorney have them witness Codicil canceling previous document . Then all originals and copy's are destroyed. You don't provisions added to document .

You want one clear concise document with no mention of any others .

Again not a lawyer.

 

[SKY]

A good prenuptial is like iron over here. The guy that owns or did own the Bologna Plaza in Sosua was married to a Dominicana and got divorced from her. She got the middle of bagel, as the prenup stated that whatever is in her name is hers and his name his.

Eduardo (I think that was his name) did do the right thing and buy her a nice Condo and take care of her and the child he had with her. And they did part friends.

 

[Trainman33]

I called them and got a lame excuse from the secretary that Fabio could not be reached because his car did not start today. They said they took a message but I don't know.

 

[SKing]

I called them and got a lame excuse from the secretary that Fabio could not be reached because his car did not start today. They said they took a message but I don't know.

Wow, his car's starter is connected to his phone? That's a new one....
You're getting all of the signals that this might not be the firm for you, pero tu eres lo que sabe.

SHALENA

 

[La Rubia]

Did you sign it?

My fiance wants a prenuptial agreement that was made without the clause that Maria and I asked for of equal division of the money we earned during the marriage in case of divorce destroyed and thrown out as well as cancelled. The agreement is also missing provisions for her child or future children.
Your lawyer Aileen Espinosa said that this is an official document that can only be canceled by the notary but not destroyed. A lawyer in Santiago told Maria that the contract can be destroyed if it is Maria's presence. Can the cancelled document be given to Maria? Can it be amended so it has the provisions we want in it?

Best regards,
Mark Meunier

I'm confused . . . . . Was it signed? How does it become legal if you (or she) didn't sign it? If you did sign it, wouldn't you have read it and known it was missing important pieces.

I think Mr. Guzman is on the board to give general advice, but if you've already contracted him you should handle it off the board. If you want to complain about the service he's given you, that's appropriate. But I would find it highly unprofessional if he'd answer you about your case on the open forum.

BTW, good luck to you. It's important to get legal documents the way you want them, especially as pricey as they end up being.

 

[La Rubia]

Sometimes you gotta keep it real. With my situation I just feel that its incompetence. I mean, come on....lawyers are supposed to know the law. Knowing that one little piece of info would've saved me a lot of steps in what I was doing preparing for my trip.
Same here with the emails and no answer, even PMs but hey, you know what? You live and you learn.

SHALENA

I think a lot more real research would have been in order. Trust but verify X 4 usually applies to most information in the DR.

I'll have to look up the actual question you posed and see the answer. What I would have asked anyone is what statute, law, etc. applies to your issue. Then after referring to that original source document, you could have come up with your own conclusion, which you could then again pose a question about. It's very weak to hinge an entire proposal on one comment made by one lawyer on an open forum.

So while I don't doubt that you are unhappy with the answer you got on this forum, you do understand you get what you pay for and you share a part of the responsibility of not following up.

So, continue to let people know how unhappy you are with the Guzman answer, that seems fair. I think someone who has paid for legal advice or service from them and is not getting serviced has a much more legitimate beef. (Which appears to be the case of the OP.)

 

[SKing]

I think a lot more real research would have been in order. Trust but verify X 4 usually applies to most information in the DR.

I'll have to look up the actual question you posed and see the answer. What I would have asked anyone is what statute, law, etc. applies to your issue. Then after referring to that original source document, you could have come up with your own conclusion, which you could then again pose a question about. It's very weak to hinge an entire proposal on one comment made by one lawyer on an open forum.

So while I don't doubt that you are unhappy with the answer you got on this forum, you do understand you get what you pay for and you share a part of the responsibility of not following up.

So, continue to let people know how unhappy you are with the Guzman answer, that seems fair. I think someone who has paid for legal advice or service from them and is not getting serviced has a much more legitimate beef. (Which appears to be the case of the OP.)

ummm, please show me where I said my entire proposal was "hinged" on what Mr. Guzman stated, as it was not, and I never said that. Another one that may need to put their reading glasses on.
Would it have saved me some steps knowing the truth? Definitely!
Was my trip adversely affected by his incorrect information? Not at all.

Like I stated before, a lawyer should know the law and if they are not sure...shut up, ignore the question as they seem to do when it is convenient for them.
No I did not pay for any information, and thank God I didn't and thank God this was not something that caused me any adverse harm.
I'm just telling it like it is, and from what I hear, I am not the only one unimpressed...so sorry if you Guzman cheerleaders are getting upset. I'm a little tart at time but I don't mince my words, and I don't ride on the coattails of the masses.

I DID NOT PAY FOR THE INFORMATION RECEIVED BY GUZMAN, IT WAS STATED ON AN OPEN FORUM. Does that change that fact that it was wrong?
Your honor, I rest my case.

SHALENA

 

[HumbleHindu]

I called them and got a lame excuse from the secretary that Fabio could not be reached because his car did not start today. They said they took a message but I don't know.

In response they are same as Dominicans, they will not answer. I had to sent minimum ten mails to get some response. For your information I am a client of Guzman.

 

[Criss Colon]

I guess Lic. Guzman must like me!
I sent him an email regarding an urgent real estate matter.
Got two emails,one from him,and one from his office in SD.Both that same day!
I met with two lawyers in his SD office the next day.
They listened to my problem,outlined their plan,and gave me a fair quote for their services.
I accepted the plan,and quote.
I have returned once to sign some papers,and they are proceeding with my case.
I have been extremely pleased thus far.
I will report back when the case is resolved.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

 

[Bronxboy]

pero tu eres lo que sabe.

SHALENA

English please!!!! lol

 

[SKing]

English please!!!! lol

Jajajaja.....umm, sorry, I mean...Hahahaha.

CHAL?NA (SHALENA)

 

[Fabio J. Guzman]

Oh, boy!

First, there are two persons named Fabio Guzm?n in the firm.

One is me (Fabio J. Guzm?n Ariza). I'm semi-retired, I don't see clients, I don't answer their e-mails or their calls. Lawyers in the firm consult me on important cases, management issues, strategy, etc. and I talk to them, review important briefs, etc. Since January 2006, I have stayed happily at home in Santiago cultivating my little garden: reading and writing about the law and about language, editing a legal journal . . . and, once a week, answering legal questions on dr1. The first two I do for fun and money; the last, for fun only . . . until things like this happen.

The other one is my son (Fabio J. Guzm?n Salad?n). He?s a very bright 27-year-old, with both a law degree (summa cum laude) and an MBA from one of the top schools business schools in the world. Everybody can imagine how proud I am of him.

Neither of us is nor has been the attorney to the couple who began this thread, nor, until now, have we known about their existence.

Enough for that. Now to answer the question asked.

Prenuptial agreements in the Dominican Republic are done in notarial form (acto notarial or acto aut?ntico). This means that it is prepared by the notary and signed by the parties in one original. The original document, by law, must be kept by the notary. All the originals prepared by the notary in a given year are bound into a tome or protocolo the following year, which must be kept by the notary until his or her death or disbarment. When the notary dies or is disbarred, the protocolo is awarded by court order to another notary in the jurisdiction.

The parties to the acto notarial are given certified copies of the original, never the original, which is kept forever in a notary?s office. For example, I have in my office in San Francisco de Macor?s actos notariales, in French, dating from the Haitian occupation of the Dominican Republic (1822-1844), which were in the protocolo belonging to my great-grandfather Buenaventura Ariza, which I bought in court when I became a notary. From time to time, I?ve been asked to certify copies of actos containing deeds of sale as far back as the 1890's.

That?s why a prenuptial agreement, once signed, cannot be destroyed. It stays in the protocolo of the notary that prepared it. That does not mean that it will be valid forever, however. The parties can anytime go back to the same notary or to another notary and revoke it by signing another acto notarial to such effect.

Another thing. The actos notariales are signed by the parties. The notary reads it to them and asks them if they are in agreement with its contents. So, if signed by the parties, it is because it reflects their wishes.

Finally, as for the various complaints above, every client of Guzm?n Ariza is advised from the beginning of the relationship of our communication policy, as follows: ?We answer e-mails within one business day. For example, an email received Monday will be answered, at the latest, Tuesday; an e-mail received Friday will be answered, at the latest, Monday. In case of an emergency, please use the phone, DO NOT SEND AN E-MAIL. Phone calls will be returned the same day, if received before 2:00 p.m., or the next morning if received after 2:00 p.m. In case of an emergency, please advise our operator of the nature of the call, and one of our attorneys will attend to you immediately. We urge you to write us at complaints@drlawyer.com if you find that a member of our staff is not following these rules?.

Compliance with this policy is monitored daily because we know it is what makes us different from many other Dominican firms. Associates who violate this policy lose their bonuses, or, ultimately, their jobs. I think that there are very few other firms around ?if any? that do this.