What Does Incarceration Mean To My Property?

Prisons tend to deny individuals freedoms and priorities. Ideally, they do not allow individuals to live their everyday lives like they would when not behind bars. Instead, prison limits your authority, power, and influence. That means that it prohibits some belongings you may possess in your normal life. In addition, running a business from jail is challenging and also impossible. Even worse, prison limits your chances of getting employment and the kind of earnings you might desire and you cannot access your bank accounts or pay your expenses when you go to jail since you are lock-up.

Going to prison also means that you have more expenses than what you can make. You will need commissary money but unfortunately, you cannot earn enough when in incarceration. However, unless the courts direct otherwise, you still keep your property. So, what happens to your home, personal belongings, and accounts when you go to prison? What does incarceration mean to your property, funds, and business?

What To Do First After Receiving A Sentence

It may be tough to figure out precisely what arrangements to make with your belongings and property while going to jail. However, you may first (if possible) reach out to family and friends to see what assistance is available. Still, if all else fails, you may contact a lawyer for further assistance. This is because lawyers may be able to help with more complicated issues like confiscation and freezing belongings.

Upon sentencing, the prison management allows inmates to make phone calls to their lawyers, families, or friends. Through this, you may be able to plan how to secure their property while they are in jail. This phone call may also include the debtors and creditors. In that case, they may either wish to inform the relevant authorities on the period of their incarceration so that if they have subscriptions, they may cut them off for the time they are in prison. They may also call to lock up their accounts. This may be vital to reducing the chances of getting hacked on their accounts and fraudsters stealing their money.

This is because, when you go to jail, everything remains the same. If you do not cancel your TV cable subscription, utilities, or credit cards, the costs and debt will continue to accumulate until you terminate those services. You will walk out with no money and massive debt if you do not have someone to look after your finances while in jail. You should know that if you know you are going to jail but do not make financial preparations, it may lead to severe long-term consequences.

Does The Prison Allow Inmates To Come With Their Own Personal Belongings To Jail?

Upon arrival to prison, the guards may check for contraband as the process to ensure prison safety. Nonetheless, prisons allow an inmate to take with them some of their belongings. Some prohibit outside items for fear of distribution of contraband. However, what you can bring and how much you can bring varies in the jail. However, in general, you can bring:

• Toiletries, such as shower items, toothpaste, deodorant toothbrushes, and toilet paper.
• A music device, for instance, a stereo or portable CD player.
• A watch or clock.
• An address book, calendar, or diary.
• Games and gaming devices.
• Art materials.
• A book of stamps, writing paper, and envelopes.
• Books, newspapers, and magazines.
• Medicine prescriptions, but after authorization from the medical staff.
• Wedding ring.
• Any disability equipment prescription.
• Photographs and pictures, however, with no glass frames.
• Batteries for any devices you bring.

Nonetheless, if you were to bring contraband with you to jail, an officer will seize them and either hold them for return following your release. They may also destroy them if they are perishable or hazardous. Officers may sometimes enable you to arrange for a friend or family member to pick up a specific item. But you must verify with the officer at the time.

Is It True That When You Go To Jail, You Lose Your House?

The stigmatization that when individuals are to go to jail will lose their house is not always true. This is because individuals can make arrangements with either their family or a lawyer on the way forward concerning their house situation. This is crucial because you will need a place to live upon your release. Or for your family to live in while you are in jail. If you have a house when you go to prison, it is crucial to keep it to have somewhere to go when you get out. Hence, you must ensure that you pay your rent for the period you will be in prison.

The family or the lawyers should conduct a housing needs assessment within a few days after entering jail. This evaluation will allow you to make plans and preparations for what will happen to your property, whether you own the house or rent it. Hence, you can decide whether to liquidate the house or rent or where you need to send mortgage or rent payments. You can send a message to your landlord and provide information about other individuals you live with who may rely on you to make payments during the period you are in jail. Since legitimate employment that can make you earn a lot in prison is minimal, you may be eligible to apply for assistance to help pay for your housing. Hence, it would be best if you make crucial decisions on ensuring that you keep your house.

Do I Have To Lose The Money In My Accounts In The Bank?

Know that if you need to establish a bank account for your funds, you must do it before incarceration. You cannot open a bank account while in jail. This is because all banks need you to be present when creating an account. It is vital to understand that even if you have someone looking after your personal belongings, nearly everyone has expenses to pay while they are in jail.

Automatic withdrawals from your account from a monthly TV Cable subscription may deduct money from your account. In addition, credit card payments that individuals pay manually can fall into default and wind up in collections. Of course, if your property is not in the hands of your family, you risk losing everything. This is true, especially if your bank account balance is not high enough to cover automatic withdrawals for your storage unit, rent, or mortgage.

Since banks tend to lock dormant accounts for around 6 to 12 months, you may have issues with the banks if you had funds in these accounts before your incarceration. Hence, it would be best if you make arrangements to prevent the banks from freezing your accounts. Nonetheless, suppose the government believes there is a relation between your incarceration and your funds available in your bank accounts. In that case, they have the right to order the banks to freeze all your bank accounts. They can even confiscate the money. Consequently, all of this may leave you with no money in your bank account. In addition, it may affect your bank credit score.

How Can I Ensure That My Property Is Secure While I Am In Prison?

For security purposes, you will need to inform the relevant authorities that you are leaving your items behind so that they can keep an eye on your house and your property. Moreover, if you have family or friends you live with, you will likely take care of your property. In addition, you can contact your landlord to take care of it so that they do not think you abandon the properties.

Nonetheless, if you live alone, you can select someone you trust to take care of it; or you can arrange for someone to come to your home now and then to check on things and give the impression that everything is in order. This will keep intruders out and offer you peace of mind that everything is still safe. It is very important, you should plan for excellent care for them ahead of any sentence date. If this is not possible for any reason, you should call family, friends, or an animal charity to look after your animals while you are gone.

In addition to that, you have to inform your insurance provider of your imprisonment. This is crucial since your policy may be contingent on someone residing on the premises. Hence, if you are not there when anything occurs, you may lose the insurance cover altogether.

Can The Prison Management Allow Me To Keep My Cash When I Go To Jail?

In almost all prisons in the world, all prison management view cash as contraband; hence they do not allow any inmate to possess any form of money. However, if you have money on you, the correctional officer in charge will collect it, document it, and upon opening your commissary account, they will deposit your money on that account. Moreover, you must confirm the amount you presented and the amount available in your commissary or trust account.

In addition, an inmate may receive any earnings they make while in prison or money that you may receive from your family or friends in these commissary or trust accounts. Sometimes, the facility may allow the inmates to transfer the cash into personal private accounts. Some jails also allow you to maintain money in a savings account that you may utilize when you get out.

The amount you can put into your spending account depends on your conviction and how many Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEPs) you have. This is because the inmates with more IEPs tend to have a larger target spending than those without these benefits. In addition, your conviction period can also determine who much you need to deposit on your commissary account. This is because it might be illogical to deposit thousands of dollars in your commissary account for an incarceration period of one month, having a spending limit of around thirty dollars per month.

However, it is advisable to note that there are no interest rates that an inmate gains on the money they have in their commissary accounts. Hence, it is best to maintain these enormous amounts of cash in an external savings account amounts of money in the external bank. One may contact the bank through the mail or via a lawyer.

Do I Need To Sell My Business When I Go To Jail?

You do not necessarily have to sell your business as a result of incarceration. Seeking legal advice from a lawyer or an attorney is crucial. Most attorneys advise individuals to take care of their own properties and financial position before going to jail. However, this may be tough if you are arrested and unable to get bail. Nonetheless, you can address some issues while meeting with your legal advisors before you officially go to jail to serve a sentence.

In some cases, a lawyer may petition the court for a report date for custody if you are sentenced to jail or prison. This period of time may grant you a fixed amount of time to take care of your business. If you have a lot of assets, it is advisable to place them all in a safe place. You can also assign power of attorney to a family member or a financial expert. When deciding what to do with your property and money, the law requires the Trustees to legally consider your best financial interests.

On the other hand, you will need to have someone else manage your money matters while in jail. For the majority of individuals, this entails temporarily handing over all of their assets to a family member or close friend. However, this model comes with a few complications; since without establishing a legally binding arrangement with those you are handling the business to, they legally can keep possession of your business even after you return back from prison as a consequence.

To avoid such complications, you can legally permit someone to act on your behalf by opening a joint bank account. In addition, you can restrict the other person’s power even further by controlling how these individuals use your business accounts. For instance, you can have the bank set a specific limit on the person’s ability to withdraw money. You can also notify the bank only to allow just deposits and transfers.