A Dutch Man’s Quest to Change His Legal Age What Is Age but a Number?
a new house, drive a different car. I can take up more work. When I'm on Tinder and it says I'm 69, I don't get an answer. When I'm 49, with the face I have, I will be in a luxurious position.” Interestingly enough, Ratelband’s request wasn’t dismissed outright by the court. The judge found merit in the argument and said that people desire to change things about themselves all the time, adding that maybe age was one of those things we should consider — “maybe” being the operative word. The court ultimately decided that “Ratelband is at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly.” But the judge added that changing his legal documents would have “undesirable legal and societal implications.” The court added “[T] here are a variety of rights and duties related to age, such as the right to vote and the duty to attend school. If Mr. Ratelband's request was allowed, those age requirements would become meaningless.” Today, Ratelband is 71 and continues his battle to change his age in the Dutch court system. If the case had been brought here in the U.S., his quest to be younger on paper would have been fruitless because we have age discrimination laws that would protect him in buying the new house that he wants. He would also have the freedom to drive that different car and take up more work without societal rules impeding him if here were here in the U.S….God Bless the U.S.A.!
In 2018, Dutch native Emile Ratelband was 69 years old. The thing was that the motivational speaker and founder of the
Ratelband Research Institute didn’t want to be 69. So, he went to a Dutch court and petitioned for the right to change his legal age. His intention was to change the year of birth on his birth certificate — bumping it up by 20 years. As a result, all records would show him as 49.
Why did Ratelband want to change his age?
He told the court he didn’t feel like a man who was going on 70. He said he felt good — he felt like a man 20 years younger. He even said his doctors agreed and that they’d told him he had the body of someone younger. But there was another major reason Ratelband wanted to change his age. He said doing so would increase his overall happiness and would be helpful on dating apps. He would no longer have to deal with the ageism that came with being 69. Ratelband even went as far as to say he would be willing to delay his pension benefits another 20 years if need be. In an interview with Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, Ratelband said, “When I'm 69, I am limited. If I'm 49, then I can buy
Owner’s Title Insurance vs. Title Fraud Insurance
Providing Extra Protection for Your Investment
Going through life without insurance is a risky thing. There is life insurance, health insurance, long-term care insurance, car insurance, hazard insurance, wind and hail insurance, flood insurance ... You get the point. Without insurance, an unforeseen event can deplete your savings or even send you into bankruptcy. These types of insurances offer protection during unexpected future events. In real estate transactions, however, there are owner's title insurance and lender’s title insurance, both of which protect you in the event documents, and they even cover events that are not discoverable in the public records. Not often, but sometimes, the title insurance company must defend the owner/lender when someone claims an ownership interest in the property. If the claimant was to prevail, damages are paid up to the limits of the policy, which is the purchase price of the property or, in the lender’s case, the amount of the loan. Lenders almost always require a lender’s title insurance policy, and the owner's policy is issued simultaneously. Title insurance is very important to have because without it, you would have to defend such a claim yourself, at your own expense. If the claimant prevails, you could suffer an irreparable loss, such as losing the title to your property, gaining an unwanted co-tenant, or a host of other possibilities.
There is a relatively new type of insurance available called home title insurance. Unlike the other forms of title insurance — which protect against circumstances arising from the past — home title insurance protects you from future criminal events involving the title to your property. The title insurance issued at the purchase of the property does not protect against events occurring after the policy is issued. Title fraud happens in various ways, such as when a rightful owner of the property (often an older adult) is convinced, under false promises, to sign over the title to the property, or when the rightful owner’s identity is stolen. After this, the bad actor can conduct a cash-out refinance or sell the property to an unsuspecting purchaser. In either case, the fraudster walks away with the cash and leaves the rightful owner left to deal with the fallout. I don’t know of any closing attorney who offers title fraud insurance, but these days, it would be a good idea to make sure homebuyers understand the difference between title insurance that insures marketable title to the property and title insurance that would protect them from title fraud and identity theft in the future.
2 www.eversolelaw.com
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