Identity Theft: Protecting Our Children

Did you know that identity theft can happen to children? A toddler could be in debt for $25,000 or your teenager can have $100,000 in unpaid credit card activity. That’s a pretty scary thought isn’t it? How can this happen if they are only children or in some cases, babies? As long as there is a social security number, a thief can use that to open bank accounts and credit cards.

Imagine your child applying for college and can’t get financial aid because his credit id destroyed or shopping for a car only to be denied because his credit is in ruins. They had absolutely nothing to do with it yet they are paying the price of identity theft. Parents don’t know this happened and by the time they discover it, it’s too late. The three major credit reporting agencies are Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. Here’s how to apply for your child’s credit report to monitor their credit history now and consistently in the future to ensure they are protected.

Equifax:

Parents or legal guardian can send their request to:

  • Equifax Minor Child Department
  • PO BOX 105139
  • Atlanta, GA 30348

Additional information that will need to be sent includes:

  1. Copy of your child’s birth certificate
  2. Copy of parent’s ID or guardianship papers
  3. Copy of your child’s social security card
  4. Child’s address
  5. Child’s full name
  6. Child’s date of birth

Experian:

Send your request to:

  • Experian
  • PO BOX 9532
  • Allen, TX 75013

Send a letter requesting a copy of your child’s credit report and the following information:

  1. Copy of parent’s driver’s license
  2. Proof of the parents address (copy of utility bills, bank statement, phone bill, etc)
  3. Copy of child’s birth certificate
  4. Copy of child’s social security card
  5. Listing of previous addresses in the last two years
  6. Child’s full name

Trans Union:

Start by sending an email to childidthft@transunion.com to request that your child’s credit file exists under their name or social security number. TransUnion will investigate and when they find the file, they will contact you via email and request the following information:

  1. Copy of your child’s social security number
  2. Your child’s address
  3. Your child’s full name
  4. Your child’s date of birth
  5. Parent’s driver’s license with current address
  6. Utility bill that has the same address

Send this information to:
Trans Union
PO BOX 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834

Don’t let this happen to your child. Protect them now so their credit won’t be damaged when they’re older. Identity theft is all around us and no one is 100% protected, not even our children. Start now to monitor their account and ensure they have a clean slate when they are ready to buy that new car or start college.

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The Will

A will is a formal document, by which a person, called testator, institutes one or more successors, so that they ensure the execution of his will after his death. To be valid, certain form conditions are required because the will is a solemn writ. Besides these conditions, the legislator adds some more for each type of will.

From this point of view, there are three categories of will:

  • Ordinary or common wills: handwritten will, authentic will secret/mystic will.
  • Extraordinary or privileged wills: military will, marine will, a will made during a contagious disease.
  • Simplified forms of will, especially allowed by the lawgiver, like those concerning money deposits according to special settlements.

The handwritten will is valid only if it is written, dated and signed by the testator’s hand. Its advantages are that it is easy and accessible to any literate person; it can be written anywhere and anytime, without witnesses. It doesn’t need any expense for editing. As disadvantages, it can be easily destroyed or stolen after the testator’s death. It can contain confusing or contradictory formulations.

The hand writing can be achieved with any instrument (ink, crayon, paste, paint, coal) and on any material (paper, cloth, wood, plastic, glass), in any language (even dead, like Latin).

Authentic will

This is the will authenticated by a public notary. This is a public authority writ, so its proving force is much stronger, because it’s containing is checked by a notary. Also, it is available for those who can’t read or write and don’t have access to the first type.

As inconveniences we mention the fact that it requires expenses and time loss, by complying with all formalities, and it doesn’t ensure the secret as good as the handwritten will.

Mystic will

Mystic/Secret will is written by the testator or another person, but signed by him and presented to the court for effectuating overprinting formalities, settled by law. It is an intermediary form between the handwritten and authentic will. It borrows the pros and cons of both. It is almost unused in practice.

The origin of the word “testament” is Latin, meaning “to assign”.

The testator can assign testamentary executors, who make sure his dispositions are being accomplished. The will is essentially revocable. Until the last moment the testator can revoke or modify his dispositions, this being an absolute right.

The testator must meet some conditions though: he must express a valid consent, he must have capacity to entail, the will object must be possible and licit, and its cause must be licit and moral.

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