Law for Dummies 2ND Edition

Find out how to protect your family, your money, your job, and your rights

If you're like most people, you probably don't know much about your legal rights and responsibilities — until you run smack-dab into a messy legal problem. Now revised and updated, this friendly guide helps you get a handle on a wide range of everyday legal issues, decipher legal mumbo-jumbo — and come out on top.

Discover how to:

• Protect your child support rights
• Arm yourself against identity theft
• Clean up your credit and improve your credit score
• Hire the right attorney for your needs
• Draw up wills and living wills

Revised for the first time since 1996, this unbeatable home legal reference is now more indispensable than ever. Updated to cover recent healthcare and labor legislation as well as changes to privacy rights, estate planning, Social Security, and bankruptcy, it offers consumers and small-business owners an empowering guide to legal rights and responsibilities in a wide range of situations.

John Ventura, JD (Brownsville, TX), is a practicing attorney and the coauthor of Divorce For Dummies (0-7645-5058-6). He has been interviewed by CNN, CNBC, the Wall Street Journal, and many other media outlets.

Part I: Basic Legal Stuff.

Chapter 1: All About Our Legal System.

Chapter 2: Do It Yourself: Solving Your Own Legal Problems.

Chapter 3: Solving Legal Problems with an Attorney.

Part II: Laws That Affect Your Daily Life.

Chapter 4: Relationships, Marriage, and Divorce.

Chapter 5: Parenting and Child Care.

Chapter 6: The Law and Your Job.

Chapter 7: Driving and the Law.

Chapter 8: Privacy: Do You Really Have Any?

Part III: The Law and Your Money.

Chapter 9: So You Want to Be an Entrepreneur!

Chapter 10: Credit: Getting It, Using It, Losing It, Rebuilding It.

Chapter 11: Smart Spending.

Chapter 12: Buying and Selling a Home.

Part IV: Tough Stuff: Being Sick, Getting Older, Dying.

Chapter 13: Your Health Care Rights.

Chapter 14: Getting Older: We All Do It.

Chapter 15: Estate Planning.

Chapter 16: Death and Dying: Doing It Gracefully.

Part V: Crime and Punishment.

Chapter 17: Do the Crime, Do the Time.

Chapter 18: Juvenile Law: The Times Are Changing.

Part VI: The Part of Tens.

Chapter 19: More Than Ten Ways to Avoid Legal Problems.

Chapter 20: Ten Common Mistakes Consumers Make When Hiring an Attorney.

Index.