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CO Implied Contract Employment Wrongful Termination.

Maryland based telecommuting company terminated me due to minor tardiness. Back story: company culture hires friends who are often sub par professionals. I applied for a sales job, and with a stellar resume, was promised the world by CEO and President. ‘You’re the first REAL sales person we’ve hired’ ‘You’re going to go far here you’ll be a sales team leader’ ‘ your supervisor won’t get in the way we’ll manage that’ ‘your income will increase quickly as we roll out a new product’ etc... All verbal quotes during my recruitment. Started job, supervisor is a time clock stickler, I haven’t punched a clock in over 10 years. I was 13 minutes late twice in 2 months, 1st was a warning, and second time I am fired. The supervisor kept me isolated (left out of group chats, no contact for weeks, no 90 day review as promised or any feedback given) and failed to warn me of impending issues or termination. We’re a remote team of 4 so isolation sucks. Bullying? The CEO was aware but failed to support my position and obvious ‘salary mindset’ that needed correction, or leniency. Does implied contract in CO enforce the reasonability for me to be supported and retained in the company towards our agreements? Thank you all

You were fired for being tardy on two occasions. This is a legitimate cause. Whether this was wise on the part of this company, given the nature of your work, is certainly debatable. But there's nothing illegal here.

How do you know if someone sues you?

[deleted]

You get legally served documents. If you avoid getting served then it is generally posted in your local newspaper

My sister is being charged with multiple felonies for possession of meth and grand theft auto in California

[deleted]

Consult your local Bar Association to find an attorney for your sister. If she qualifies for a public defender, take that option. She needs an attorney one way or the other.

(Please read) Worried about the repercussions of missing a lot of school, and what the consequences will be considering my situation at home.

For the last year my situation at home has deteriorated up until about a month ago. Old stepdad came back from prison and everybody fell into his trap. Just psychotic drug addict bull crap. There was a lot of physical abuse towards my mom from him, and we got evicted because he caused her to lose her job. We finally got a house and things were going better for a few weeks, then got the worse they had ever been. It got very physical between all of us and he attacked me and my mom. He want arrested even though this happened multiple times... Wtf... HE IS IN PRISON NOW AND THE SITUATION HAS SO GREATLY IMPROVED. But all of this led to me missing a lot of school. The school police officer is aware of what was going on and helped me get through a lot of it and the vice principal knows some of the details. Anyway, I missed enough school to be summoned to court, yay, because that definitely helps the situation and doesn't cause panic on top of depression and PTSD. My question is do you guys think the courts will attempt to remove me from my home? I'm 16 and I'm closer to my family than anyone else and I could not handle being taking away from them. I only ask because my mom did not do more to prevent this from happening and I have had truancy problems in the past, and my grades are not very good. But everything is improving. Idk why they would decide to do this 25 days before school is over but it is what it is. TL;DR: worried about being removed from my home due to truancy and an unfit home environment (which has improved) Thank you guys

Nobody can tell you for sure. However if this is juvenile court (works with CPS) then they will want to try to keep your family together. They don't like to break families up if they can help it. You're 16 now, look into whether your state allows you to take a high school proficiency exam. My state does and my eldest just passed it (at 16). It counts the same as a GED and you'd legally be able to leave school

[NYS, Texas] Can I get back child support paid from an inheritance?

I'm the adult child in this situation and I'd really like to help my mom out. My father shirked his financial responsibilities for years while my mother raised me and my sisters. Now he's on SSID and lives in section 8 housing. They both live in NY. I just found out that my grandfathers estate in Texas is being closed and he's likely to receive a very large inheritance. He owes about $50k in back child support. I've recently reconnected with extended relatives on my fathers side of the family which is the only reason I know about this. My uncle is the executor of the estate. Is there any way to claim any of the money before my father gets it? I know my uncle is planning to deliver a check to him in about a month and I know that my mother will never see a dime if it has to go through my father first.

There are several ways to do this. All of them involve either hiring a lawyer in Texas or if your mother went through the Department of Child support enforcement in NY having them either seize the check when received by your dad or contacting the uncle and making a claim on the share due to your father.

Litter returned to owner. Hero or Lawsuit Waiting to Happen?

In the video, we see someone littering by throwing the trash out of the window. One, two, and the boxes keep coming. The people behind them in traffic are incensed. One man rises to the challenge, our hero, and throws one of the trash boxes back into the passenger's side of the car. Does this full strength overhand throw 3 - 4 feet from the window make him a hero or someone a personal injury lawyer can't wait to get a call about? Explain your reasoning?

What are some legal ways to get out of high school at 14 in Minnesota? (please read the details before you respond that it shouldn't happen)

I am from another country. I moved to the United States two years ago, and I am not the best with sppken English and am hard to understand. I love learning, but I very much hate school because everyone here is hostile and "xenophobic", as my friend put it. I enjoy marching band. The people in it are very friendly, but I spend the rest of the day constantly stressed about how everyone else wants me dead. My relative I live with has talked to the principal in October and again in November, and nothing happened for the better. I am wondering what legal ways there are to leave school and get a job or study for the GED alone instead. Ways that won't get my relative in trouble with the law please.

MN requires you to stay in school until you're 17, at which time you can drop with parental permission. Absent a court order, you're stuck. You could always try home schooling. It sounds like you're going through a rough time. This may sound lame, but is there a school counselor? Principals generally aren't the best source for dealing with day-to-day student interaction issues.

Can I tell a traffic cop the following when asked to search? "In the interest of time, I don't consent to searches." Especially when in a hurry to get somewhere? (Kansas)

Also, does having a CDL change this situation? Or would it only matter what vehicle I'm driving in (a vehicle not requiring a commercial license vs. one that does?) --- Whatever your answer is, please back it up with a source so I know that your advice is correct. Thanks.

You can deny for whatever reason you want. Doesn't mean it will stop them if they're going to search anyway. Answer #2: You can tell the cop that you don't consent to search because you're afraid the aliens will come down and kidnap you if you don't get home by the time Jupiter sets. The bottom line is that if the cop has probable cause to search, he'll search, with or without your consent. If he doesn't, your reason for refusing is irrelevant.

(LA) My 94 y/o aunt Co-signed on her son's student loans & he's since died...

My 55 y/o cousin passed away several years ago with about $30k in unpaid student debt (private loans not federal) held by Navient. His mother originally cosigned for his loan. I found out last year that she had kept up with the monthly payments on his loan since his death in 2013. I called Navient to try and get a modification but because she had been current, they were unwilling to modify the loan, even under the circumstances. She lives on $800/mo social security and I told her to stop paying on the loans, 8 months ago. The loans are now in default and a Navient collections agency is calling her. The good news is they're NOW willing to negotiate. My question, what recourse is there on Navient collections on a 94 y/o woman if she simply does not pay? If she agrees to make a modified payment on the loan and passes away, what happens to the unpaid balance? She has NO ASSETS other than her house. Can they put a lien on her house The Navient collections agent wouldn't answer my question as to what happens to the balance when she passes away.

Private loans are not typically discharged upon the death of the borrower and the co-signer remains liable. Louisiana allows judgment liens on homestead property, so they could put a lien on the house minus the $15k homestead exception. Upon her death, Navient can collect from the estate. Answer #2: So while in the past private lenders were very unwilling to discharge upon the death of the primary borrower, this is no longer the case. I'm not saying it's a slam dunk but it would certainly be worth it to reach out to their escalated customer service area, in writing, and ask for a discharge of these loans. I would include her financial information and the death certificate. https://www.navient.com/about/who-we-are/leadership/advocate/default.aspx Under the circumstances, i would actually be very surprised if they didn't quietly agree to relieve her of the loans. Keep in mind that if they do write them off, she may be taxed for the written off amount.

Left my abusive husband. Do I forfeit my home doing this? (Portland, Oregon)

This weekend my already emotionally abusive husband admitted to a party full of people that he visits sites that depict, in his words, “hot dead women who have OD’d.” This was it for me. I am a mother to a daughter. I have four amazing sisters. My company is 90% women. I fucking love women. (I love men, too!) I left our primary residence and I’m temporarily at one of our rental homes until Friday. However I’ve heard leaving my primary puts me at risk of forfeiting rights to my home. I’m not adverse to selling, but I’d need time. I had a meeting with a lawyer today who didn’t show, so my apologies for having to ask on here; I am pretty freaked out and looking for a bit of guidance. Thank you so much.

You haven't lost the house. The disposition of the house will be taken care of in the divorce; but leaving temporarily doesn't give up your rights to it.Answer #2: > I’ve heard leaving my primary puts me at risk of forfeiting rights to my home. You should make a mental note to never take any further advice from whoever told you that.

Boss is keeping money for herself.

So I work at a bar and recently we held a charity event. It's an annual event and has been going on for the last 3 years. I was told recently by a close source that the money from the event did not go to the charity but instead into her own pocket. I know that I shouldn't go on this source alone but I really wasn't surprised when I was told. My boss is an absolute penny pincher and I can guarantee that she did this. Who/where would I go to get this checked out?

You could start with contacting the charity that she is using to advertise but not donating to.Answer #2: r/legaladviceuk

I live in [IA]. My niece from [NC] is in a dangerous living situation. Is there a way for me to take custody? Is there anything I can do?

[deleted]

If the child is being abused then you need to call CPS. If there is DV going on then you should also call the police. If CPS chooses to remove the child you can get in contact with them and let them know you would like let them stay with you.

Does it violate the Florida Bar Code of Ethics by forgetting to serve Judge with recusal papers?

I'm currently fighting a custody battle in Florida with my child's father and the judge seems extremely bias. On October 27th I had my attorney file for a recusal of Judge because I'd come to the realization that the current Judge wasn't going to be fair. So for the last 2 months I've been waiting on the judge to respond to the recusal filing and now my attorney informs me that he filed the recusal request but had forgotten to "serve" the Judge with it. Do Motions for Recusal of Judge have to be served to the Judge AND filed with the court too or is my attorney simply lying to me? Did he commit an ethics violation by keeping me in the dark about my case?

You aren't going to get a new judge just because you don't like this one.

I don't want the father involved

I (26F) don't want anything to do with my baby's father (21M). I'm giving birth in a month so I can't wait any longer to figure this stuff out, I don't want him in the room, outside the room or in the hospital. I want him nowhere. I don't want him to hold my baby after it's born (keeping the gender a surprise), I don't want him involved in anyway. He's not abusive or anything but we weren't ever really together so I don't know him that well, it was just sex and I **do not** like him. He goes out of his way to be an asshole, he induces stress levels just by breathing, I honestly wish anyone else on the planet would have gotten me pregnant, not this scum of the friggin Earth. He's asked to be in the delivery room and had the nerve to get sad when I said no. But can I ban him from the hospital? I don't want him to hold the baby after it's born. He even suggested we live together for a few months after the baby is born because other than breastfeeding he doesn't want me to be the primary caregiver and that he wants to spend just as much time with our baby. I'm giving birth to the child, shouldn't I have a right to be the primary caregiver for a few months after my baby is born? I just don't want him there as a father but he wants to, how can I go about this? Topic: Custody Divorce and Family

You don't have to let him in the room in the hospital, but you cannot stop him from petitioning for custody after the baby is born.

My twin and I have very similar first names. We keep being given the same SSN.

We are international students so we just applied for SSNs and received the same number. We have appealed multiple times and some say it's being worked on in the head office but most workers are really unhelpful. The supposed person of contact working on the case does not return our calls. The problem is that we were in a different city for the summer and the person is in that office. Now we are back to school and there is no other way to contact them other than by calling them repeatedly and having no response. It's been over 3 months and we haven't had any progress. Is there something we can do legally that can accelerate this process ?

As a former international student, I found the office of the ombud was amazing at getting red tape cut. Give it a try. You should also have a dean of international students who might be able to help.Answer #2: Maybe talk to your Congressperson?

Flight leaves in 12 hours and hotel is unresponsive

Hi everyone! First time posting on this sub, hopefully it belongs here. My mom and I (in Michigan) booked a hotel room at the Marco Island Hilton for Thursday, June 22 (tomorrow) through Sunday, June 25. A week and a half ago, my mom was looking at the Hilton's website when she saw a notice from the hotel. The notice stated that there was a small electrical fire, the sprinklers had flooded the hotel, and they were completely closed until further notice. We have contacted the hotel and corporate through phone and email an absurd amount of times. Up until today, there was no official notice from the hotel or corporate about the fire. In fact, we received several automated emails from Hilton confirming our reservation and asking us to upgrade. Each time we called or emailed the hotel and corporate, we were told that we would be relocated to a different hotel. Each employee's answer varied. One employee told us we would still be somewhere in Marco Island. Another said we would be in Hilton Naples. Another said we would be in DoubleTree/Hampton. Today, less than 24 hours before our arrival, the mass email notice from the hotel finally went out. This morning, someone from the hotel called us and said we would be in the Ritz Golf Course Hotel in Naples. Not a minute later, there was a message left on my mom's phone from the hotel, letting us know that we would be placed in the JW Marriot in Marco Island. We just got off the phone with corporate. My mom was disconnected from two other people after being on hold for 15+ minutes until she finally got on the phone with an employee who said that we need to contact the hotel directly. So now, 12 hours before our flight leaves, we are trying to contact the hotel, but the phone rings endlessly with no answer. We have also emailed several people from the hotel with no response. If we decide not to go (because we don't know where we're going), we are out over $1000 on airfare that is nonrefundable, and we cannot get on the phone with Delta because the hold time is over two hours. So we can't confirm our reservation, we can't cancel our reservation, we can't find out options for refunding airfare or getting credit, and we're supposed to get on a plane in 12 hours. On top of this, there's horrible weather on the Gulf Coast right now so we might not even be able to land. Do we get on our flight and hope for the best? Do we stay home and eat the cost of the airfare? This is the only time my mom and I both have off this summer and we were really looking forward to being on the beach. This has been a nightmare and any advice at all would be helpful. Thanks!

Here is [Delta's information on Cindy](http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/advisories/tropical-storm-cindy.html). See if you are one of the airports listed. If so, you can make a change to the ticket for a later date with no change fee (though you may be charged a difference in fare). Make sure you follow the instructions. Otherwise, call the Ritz and the Marriott and see if either have a reservation for you. If they do, get the confirmation number. If neither do, call back national Hilton again and do not get off the phone until they give you a hotel name and a confirmation number.

[CA] Roommate destroyed apartment and left

So this is somewhat of an update/escalation from [this thread.](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/5896bx/ca_roommate_bounced_and_left_stuff_behind_hasnt/) The roommate mentioned in that thread came back yesterday and cleared out his stuff...but not before literally destroying the apartment. He broke windows, the fridge, stove (electric, thankfully), tore doors off, smashed holes in walls, tore up carpet, and generally wrecked everything apartment related he could get his hands on. He didn't steal or break anything of mine (except a couple pots and pans, which were the murder weapons) but he trashed everything else in every sense of the word. I...I am at a total loss as to what to do. I had an appointment set up with the leasing office Monday to talk to them about him just leaving but this rather changes the color of that conversation. He's still on the lease. AFAIK he still has a key but I'm not sure. I can't pay for all this. There's no way. This is many thousands of dollars of damage. EDIT: I cleaned things up as best I could and I called the leasing office's emergency number. The manager was definitely unhappy but she noted that I was straightforward with her. I turned over his contact information to her and they're going to do...something. I have no idea. I couldn't get a straight answer out of her if I was going to have to cover this. I made it clear that I had no money and if I were to be pursued for the cost of the repairs there was virtually no way I could cover the cost as I have terrible credit from medical debt. No word from the roommate yet. The manager called a locksmith and had the locks changed then gave me a new key. No clue if it's legal but it was not my decision and it prevents him from coming back so I'm not inclined to challenge it. Now we play the "wait and see" game. Topic: Landlord Tenant Housing

You are on the hook for the damage, assuming you are both on the same lease together. You can then sue him for whatever you had to pay as a result of his damages. Answer #2: Call the police and make a report. Then notify the landlord and your rental insurance.

My sister's complicated divorce

Hey everybody. My sister wants to divorce her husband. He is not a good father at all and almost never spends with my niece. she is a beautiful, charming 3 year old that is impossible not to love. They (sis and dirtbag) have a shared bank account, where they are supposed to put money in 50/50 to take care of her expenses. They decided on 200 hundred a week, to cover daycare, and their shared cellphone plan under my sister's name Not only that, but he is leasing a Jeep, taking my sister's money to pay for it, and doesn't pay a single penny towards healthcare that they have a family plan on. He's not taking care of his daughter at all, and I think they talk shit about me, because she acts cold when she comes home from seeing them. I love her with all my heart. Oh,and he fucked up his taxes from 2015, his fault, and now he owes them a grand. They filed married, so my sister had to pay that as well. He doesn't provide any.money or care for his child. They want divorce, how can they go about this the easiest way possible, and have him pay child support? I think he should have to pay as much as possible, he makes good money but spends it on bullshit like new clothes (expensive,) and those hats with the stickers. My sister is so stressed, my family is trying to support her I'm every way possible. She had student loans to take care of as well What's the easiest way to go about this? Not to be a bitch but she deserves as much child support that she can get because she pays for everything herself, and is so stressed out that I see her crying all the time. I love her to pieces and it breaks my heart. I want her to be happy. I want him to pay his fair share to the maximum he can Is this possible? What Is the easiest way to do this?

Your sister needs to speak to a lawyer. That is the only way to make sure Someone is fighting for her best interests.

Can a telemarketer call for a wellness check for a customer?

I need help... I work for a company as a telemarketer. I was speaking to a man in his 80's who mentioned being on O2 and that he wasn't feeling well. A nurse came to his home and I set up a callback. After I called back, he was speaking much lower but was still in a good mood. We went through his info and he spoke to me and responded. My work requires me to send people through a third party verification system after my part is done. I came back from a brief 2 minute hold and he was silent. I could hear his tv but he would not respond. Sometimes people pretend the line went dead but my call was to help him avoid a fee and he was very interested in getting it done. This was yesterday, his phone hasn't been picked up since and he is always good about answering. It was busy for hours and no just rings. I am so worried about him and want to call a wellness check but my boss says it violates cpni... What can I do? United States for location.

you call. you know it’s the right thing to doAnswer #2: CPNI consists of your account and call records held by your telecommunications provider. It's private information provided for account purposes only, as well as call records and account settings and stuff like that. Unless your company is his telecommunications provider, you don't need to worry about CPNI at all, because you don't (shouldn't) have it in the first place. Directory information (that is, his name and number) is not considered CPNI. I have no idea why your boss thinks that would violates any rules about handling CPNI. You should be fine. You can call and get him a wellness check. I can't imagine how you'd get in any legal trouble for that.Answer #3: Yes you can call in a wellness check.

My apartment wants me to resign parts of my lease because they say they "made some mistakes". Can I refuse?

[deleted] Topic: Landlord Tenant Housing

yeah, you should refuse. unilateral mistakes do not void a contract.

When and where did it become established that you can profit from your misfortune? I'm asking for a legal history lesson.

In the American legal system, victims of crimes can benefit financially by demanding phenomenal amounts of money to compensate for their suffering. Their lawyers also benefit financially. I don't think a court system should allow anybody to profit from any type of dispute. All disputes and crimes should be considered as an unfortunate aspect of modern society, and our goal should be to understand and reduce these problems, not profit from them. A legal system should not allow people or businesses to demand financial or other compensation. If a doctor makes a mistake and hurts a patient, the legal system should try to figure out if there is a way to reduce similar problems in the future, such as by changing medical procedures or training courses. We benefit by learning from mistakes, not by allowing victims to acquire phenomenal material wealth. Society should take care of people who are victims of accidents, but the philosophy that we can compensate a victim with material wealth is ridiculous. Our emotional craving for material items is fooling us into believing that material wealth is the source of happiness, but I suggest we stop promoting such a crude attitude. When our legal system has to deal with crimes that are much more destructive, such as burglary, rape, and murder, then in addition to learning from the crime, our courts should also pass judgment on whether any of the people involved are displaying such undesirable qualities that they need to be restricted from certain jobs, areas of the city, or activities, or whether they are so destructive that they should be evicted from society. I don't see any point in punishing these people, or in rewarding their victims with material wealth. I would like to know where, when, and how the current situation became satus quo. Please show me the history.

I don't have a history lesson for you, would you settle for a read-the-sidebar lesson? > Hypothetical posts, political posts, law discussions should be posted on /r/legaladviceofftopic.Answer #2: This is potentially the dumbest, most inaccurate, thing I've ever seen posted here. Answer #3: Read less Drudge Report. The US does not have a tort problem. Victims are sometimes able to get back their demonstrable financial losses, and those are typically only things like lost wages, medical bills, damaged property, etc.

The US Postal Service will not deliver mail to mailboxes in the lobby of my apartment building, citing liability of having to have a key to get in the building. However the door isn’t locked during business hours. Is this legal? What happened to “rain, sleet or snow?”

If the doors are always unlocked when the carrier comes by, why did the key come up in the first place?

Rear ended and sore

Good morning all, On my way to work I was rear ended and was not at fault. My car has significant damage and my back and neck are sore. Going to go to the hospital later today or tomorrow. What is the best way to tackle this? Never been in this situation before.

Do you have insurance? File a claim with your insurance after you visit urgent care/ER and bring up your injuries. They can do the rest for you. Answer #2: There's no reason to wait if you're hurt -- go get checked out now.

Downstairs neighbor complains about walking noise.

Jacksonville, Florida: My girlfriend and I have lived in a top (3rd) floor condo for the past year (her dad owns) and the guy downstairs consistently thinks we're being too noisy - a fact which he expresses by banging loudly on his ceiling. We have reduced our noise level to a minimum and now the only times we get banged at is when our dog gets excited (jumps up and down) or when we have guests for dinner who aren't use to walking on tiptoes (essentially). Some background on what's happened thus far - before move in: Neighbor has complained about previous tenants noise to landlord and HOA who communicated complaint to our landlord (girlfriend's dad). First day girlfriend moved in: steam-cleaning apartment, guy came upstairs to tell her she was being too noisy (~6:30-7:30 PM). Since then for the past year - bangs at least several times a week, often multiple times a day during normal noise such as: getting out of bed, walking from couch to kitchen, dog jumping off bed, cooking in kitchen. If I make irregular noise (heaven forbid) such as putting together a piece of furniture I am guaranteed banging (I even put things on my bed prior to nailing them and have still been banged at) often in repeated rhythm to whatever noise I am making. Also, despite us being experts at quiet walking now, we had a roommate for 3 months who was somewhat heavy-set and who would consistently get banged at while walking around the house. I have talked to my neighbor - once. Since I am not (ostensibly) the one with the noise problem (i.e. he thinks we're too noisy not vice versa) I allowed the onus to be on him to communicate with us which unfortunately did not happen until 7-8 weeks ago when my girlfriend, upset at the banging decided to stomp at him. While I admit it was pretty funny to listen to them stomp at each other for ~20 seconds I also regret it as it's counter to the goal of minimizing our noise that I've tried to achieve. He came and knocked (banged) on our door, started yelling at us and I did my best to remained calm. He ranted about our lack of respect for elders and how he never has complaints about his downstairs neighbor before. My girlfriend said something I can't remember in anger. I asked everyone to take a step back and calm down. I asked him what his name was (I had not met him up until this point) and essentially my mantra for the rest of the conversation was "[Name], we are very quiet neighbors, I regret that you feel disrespected by our volume but we are incapable of really lowering that volume level, because we have already made ourselves as quiet as we can be." This is true. We had carpet. We walk quietly. We don't throw parties. We rarely even have guests. Since that conversation he was quiet for about a week, but has since begun banging again, especially so if we ever have a guest. I recognize that most of the solutions will probably involve talking to the neighbor. While I put on a very level, calm front (irl), I do not think I could have an extended conversation with the guy because my blood boils every time I think about him. So in summary, is there anything I can legally do to stop this my downstairs neighbor banging or get him to move? It has gotten to the point where I am actively nervous walking around my own home, and am especially nervous if I have guests. My girlfriend has complained that loud noises essentially make her cringe in any situation now. If no legal recourse exists, what can/should I do?

Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done. However, have you tried ignoring him and simply going about your day? If he comes to your door, don't answer it. If he's banging on his ceiling, keep going about your day. You are allowed to be comfortable in your own home. Relax, and tell him to go away.

(CA) How will a hospital collect on my parent's bill after her death?

Mom passed away a few months ago. She has an outstanding bill for an old hospital stay of around a thousand bucks. I had my phone number down on her hospital intake form as her home number, but that is the extent of it; I'm not down as responsible for the bill and none of the letters or messages have mentioned me. I do receive collection calls on my home answering machine which I have not answered. I am aware they can go after "the estate." But, what does that actually mean? I'm still ironing out the issues arising from her passing, I have to keep her "estate" funds fluid while I try to handle everything else, and on my list of to-do's, this bill is not high on my priority list. How, exactly, does a hospital collect from a deceased person's "estate?" If they ding her credit, my first reaction is "who cares?" But I am wondering what I am not seeing here. Thank you in advance for advice and perspective. I'd love not to have to pay this bill at all... without going into too much detail, there's a disabled family member she leaves behind who is going to need every penny to keep going forward in life, and I'm trying to protect his assets. Credit card companies have forgiven her debt entirely, but I called them myself. I have not responded to calls about this. Again, thank you for any advice. I am the executor of the estate, but I am also managing a special needs trust into which a great deal of this "estate" will eventually be placed. Edit: Mom's "estate" was in a trust. Apologies if I'm conflating terms that don't mix, this is truly out of my realm of understanding. Topic: Wills Trusts and Estates

anything that's her property and passes within probate (via a will or not) is her estate, so property, money, cars, clothing, etc. anything held in a trust, or otherwise not through probate, isn't. if you are the executor of the estate and don't understand what an estate is get an attorney ASAP, there are too many risks, even just accidental ones.

AMA with Institute for Justice Attorneys Robert Everett Johnson, Sheldon Gilbert, Robert McNamara, and Paul Sherman on June 20th.

r/legaladvice is very pleased to announce that on June 20th the [Institute for Justice](http://ij.org/) will be making four of it's attorneys available for an AMA. IJ focuses on issues relating to economic freedom, civil forfeiture, the First and Fourth Amendments, and other issues. The participants will be: * [Robert Everett Johnson](http://ij.org/staff/rjohnson/). Mr. Johnson is one of the hosts of the IJ podcast [Short Circuit](http://ij.org/about-us/shortcircuit/) - a biweekly podcast about interesting cases coming out of the courts of appeals. He is a nationally-recognized expert on civil forfeiture. He joined the Institute in 2014 and litigates cases protecting private property, economic liberty, and freedom of speech. Before joining the institute he worked in private practice, clerked for Justice Kozinski on the 9th Circuit and Justice Kennedy on the Supreme Court. He previously conducted an AMA [focused on civil forfeiture](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/52l5n8/iama_im_robert_everett_johnson_an_attorney_at_the/). * [Sheldon Gilbert](http://ij.org/staff/sheldon-gilbert/) is the director of the Institute for Justice’s Center for Judicial Engagement. Before joining IJ, Sheldon worked as a litigator for the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, where he represented the Chamber in over 400 cases in federal and state courts addressing a host of important business law issues—from property rights to free speech—including nearly a hundred cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. * [Robert McNamara](http://ij.org/staff/robert-mcnamara/) serves as a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice. He joined the Institute in August 2006 and litigates cutting-edge constitutional cases protecting free speech, property rights, economic liberty and other individual liberties in both federal and state courts. obert’s writing has been published by outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and dozens more nationwide. His opinions and views on legal issues have been featured in radio and television programs ranging from National Public Radio’s All Things Considered to Fox News Channel’s Hannity & Colmes. * [Paul Sherman](http://ij.org/staff/psherman/) is a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice. He joined the Institute in July 2007 and litigates cutting-edge constitutional cases protecting the First Amendment, economic liberty, property rights and other individual liberties. Paul has extensive experience litigating First Amendment cases and has helped to develop IJ’s occupational-speech practice, which seeks to create greater constitutional protection against occupational-licensing laws that burden speech. In addition to his work on occupational speech, Paul has litigated numerous campaign finance cases. We're very excited to welcome the attorney's driving some of the most interesting civil litigation cases there are right now. Of particular interest to the reddit community are their expertise on civil forfeiture, free speech, search and seizure, and licensing requirements. I know I'm excited for this AMA and I hope you all are as well. The AMA will open at 11am Eastern/8am Pacific and they will begin answering questions at 2pm Eastern / 11 am Pacific. You can also post questions here and we will port them over to the Live AMA when it starts.

Thanks to the mods for hosting the IJ and Volokh. I really appreciate they are not trying to get AMAs from only one side of the political spectrum.

I'm not sure if this is legal advice, but I will post it here anyways? [NY]

I want to get to know one of my high school teachers better. I graduated high school, but are you allowed to meet any of your teachers for coffee in like a city after you are a graduate? Is this a legal encounter? Is there a number of years you have to wait for this?

Getting coffee with a teacher is legal, even when you're still in high school. It may raise perception problems, and get the teacher disciplined, but isn't illegal. When you graduate, even that appearance of impropriety is minimized. However, any sexual relationship would likely have to wait until you're 18, even if you already graduated (although that varies by state).

Can my parents be forced to sell their home to pay for medical and nursing home expenses?

Throwaway because this includes some personal information. Location: Jacksonville, FL, USA. Currently in Saint Johns county but might move to Duval county. My dad has terminal cancer - he probably about 1-3 years left if he's lucky. He found out right after my parents sold their house; they were about to close on a new house near his new job, but my parents didn't close on the new house in the end because the cancer is aggressive, and they knew he'd have to stop working to get surgery, chemo, and radiation. The surgery left him unable to work or drive, and he needs some help preparing food and with certain articles of clothing. Right now his appointments are so frequent that he sees a doctor and/or physical therapist almost every weekday. At some point, he will have to enter assisted living, a nursing home, or have home nursing, and these are very expensive. It can be extremely difficult to get a spot in a Medicare-covered nursing home, and I doubt Medicare's home nursing would be enough hours to allow my mom to keep a job. He's on private insurance and will be switching to Medicare soon, and we're all worried that the expenses of assisted living or home nursing will eat up the money they got when they sold the house, leaving my mom unable to buy a house after he passes away. My parents are currently staying with friends but will have to relocate soon, and they want to buy a house, which my mom could stay in long-term. My mom gave her career up for our family, and if nothing else, my dad wants to make sure she has a home and will be ok after he is gone. They'd leave enough money in the savings account to pay his deductible and a few years of his $5000 Medicare Part D donut hole, plus some extra for a couple of bucket list trips and emergencies. They'll also have a little money coming in from my dad's Social Security, and my mom will get some part time work as a cashier or something once they move. My question is, will Medicare look at how recently my parents bought this house and then force them to sell it and pay medical bills/nursing home expenses with the money? My understanding is that if you have a home, they can't force you to become homeless to pay your bills. But they can force you to retract monetary gifts given to relatives (ie if my dad "gave" me $20k, and then went bankrupt from nursing home and medical expenses within the next free years, they could force me to give the $20k back). Is there a similar policy with recently bought houses? Could my parents buy a house and then be forced to sell it? They would have NEVER sold their original home if they'd known they would end up in this situation. Additional information: I do not live in the same state; I can only take limited time off from work, and my family refuses to move closer to me because they have a better support network in their current city, as well as a whole team of doctors. There is no other family in the city, and no other family that can come help. Some old friends in town have been helping out, but only sporadically, and it's difficult to arrange. Tldr: My dad found out he had cancer right after my parents sold their house, so parents are currently homeless and staying with friends, but getting kicked out soon. Could my parents be forced to sell a recently purchased home to pay for medical or nursing home expenses? They would have NEVER sold their original home if they'd known he was sick. Edit: I'm guessing all their retirement money is fair game? I'm not expecting ANY inheritance from my family; I just want to know if my mom will be broke and homeless after my dad passes away, because that's his worst fear. They saved up enough for him to retire, but not her, and I don't think she's contributed enough to Social Security for her to be eligible for it. Edit part 2: The old house was sold almost 7 months ago.

Medicaid, not medicare is your concern. Don't listen to anyone here who gives you an answer who is not a Florida attorney or does not know Florida law. We have very specific laws regarding our homestead and protection from creditors. I suggest that your parents talk to an elder law attorney in their area. Find one that specializes in medicaid planning. Answer #2: Not in your state, but here in TX - and im guessing in most states. The home is unique among assets. No one wants mama to be homeless, including uncle sam. Here, the home is actually one of the best and safest places to put your $$$ into that wont be affected by medicare. There are people that have uncle sam paying for their nursing home that own million dollars homes. For a real answer, you need a Florida atty and some one familiar with medicare. Answer #3: You need a attorney familiar with your states medicaid and Medicare laws. Here in South Carolina the medicaid look back is five years. My father and his aunt had an attorney set up the deed to her house so that she had lifetime rights to the house and then my father would get it. But you need an attorney to set this up correctly.

Kept Tip From Work. Boss threatens legal action.

Need advice asap. Boss says tips are to be split. Guys gives me tip of $60. I only dish out 20. Boss calls me on it in front of other employees. I state I am not comfortable having this convo in front of people. Boss tries to have it anyway. I resign. Boss threatens legal action (via text) on my drive home. Says will pursue if I dont dish out by morning. Help. New Jersey.

So your job requires you to split tips and you failed to do so? Your course of action here is to split the tip appropriately. You took money that does not belong to you.

Resigned w/two week notice from remote job in CA and am being forced to report to office daily to collect next two weeks income.

As the title states I put in my resignation with two weeks notice from a field sales job in CA and was told that unless I am at the office every day for the next two weeks I will be absent and not be paid and will be guilty of insubordination.

Sounds like your work location changed for the next two weeks. There is nothing illegal about that. You could refuse and just make your resignation effective immediately.

(MN) Possible abuse going on next door and I'm getting a threat

I am a single man living in an apartment next to a couple with children- a girl 3 and a infant son. They seem very pleasant when I meet them, but I hear disturbing things. In the middle of the night, I woke up to, "You will shut up!!!!" And they just kept yelling at the infant to shut up. The dad called is daughter a f-ing little brat and struck her hard enough that I heard it over here. I made a call to cps after I saw her with a cut lip just wandering around alone and pouting. They did a welfare check but did not take the kids. The same day, I received a typed threat under my door that I will be killed if I persist with the recent mistake I made, signed Your Conscience. I am looking for places to move out to, but I'd have to live here thru May so as not to break my lease. What should I do?

Call the police on the non-emergency line. Show them the letter. Tell them to call CPS again. Answer #2: >The same day, I received a typed threat under my door that I will be killed if I persist with the recent mistake I made, signed Your Conscience. Call the police and make a complaint with them. Give them the typed threat, etcetera.

Property manager lied about parking situation at house my fiancé and I are renting.

I’ll try to make this as thorough as possible. I currently live in the state of Illinois and back towards the end of April signed a lease with a reality company in Iowa (house is still in Illinois). The house we are renting does not have a garage, but a single car parking space in front of the house that would require the driver to back out into a busy street (not ideal). Right next to the house is a vacant parking lot that could fit about four or five cars. Back when I was first shown the house in the middle of April, the renovation workers were parking in the lot next to the house. When I was shown the house, I asked the agent multiple times if the lot was ours (I even have a text where the agent said the lot was ours). This led my fiancé and I to signing a two year lease on the home. Fast forward to May 1st and I got the keys to the house and began moving things in. On the evening May 2nd my fiancé got back into town from school and we began and as we were moving her stuff in got a knock on the door. It was the owner of the car dealership next door, and he claimed that he actually owned the lot next to the house we were parking in. He said if we didn’t move our cars or parked there he would tow them. We argued for a minute but decided to leave and go back to my apartment (lease is up May 31st). The problem is that we now only have one parking space (there is no street parking due to how busy the road is the house is off of). We can’t even move the rest of our stuff in because there would be nowhere to park the moving truck. Since then, the realty company has been extremely unhelpful about resolving the situation. They didn’t start to make any attempts to fix the situation until when actually went to their office. They claimed on Friday they were going to double check the property lines to see if they could add more parking, or work out a deal with dealership for us to use the lot next to the house. As of today they haven’t given us a single update or returned our calls. The lease also doesn’t specify the parking situation, and I’m not seeing a clause that will let us back out within 30 days. Are there any other steps we can take to get out of this mess?

This is going to be a hard lesson for the future. Landlords' words mean absolutely nothing unless it's written in the lease. Full stop. Answer #2: What does your lease say about parking? Does it describe the property you leased? Unless the lease in some way specifies that you're entitled to the lot, you're probably limited to whatever you can work out with your landlord. It sounds as though they've offered to allow you to move to a property with a better parking situation. That may be the end of their responsibility in the matter.

Paramedics in Las Vegas, Nevada.

[deleted]

>Either way, after we closed our tabs we decided to head downstairs and I blacked out/passed out due to dehydration/heat exhaustion. Next thing I remember I’m strapped to a bed inside an ambulance. Wow, sounds serious. >I am not longer comfortable given that I do not know who they are, that for all I know random people might be kidnapping me trying to pass off as paramedics. Uhh.... >A doctor comes to me and asked me what was the issue and I gave him a brief summary of the ordeal, which he found incredibly weird, out of line, and a waste of time for everyone. Yeah, bullshit.

Reasonable disability accommodation for rideshares?

This is a pretty minor issue so I decided to post here instead of /r/legaladvice. For some background, I get motion sick pretty easily and severely. To the point where I've puked from riding on subways. For cars, I can get motion sick if I ride in the back, but the passenger seat is more or less okay. For rideshares, I almost never call shared rides because I really need to be in the passenger seat. If the cost is extremely high and I have dromamine, I can occasionally take a shared ride and risk riding in back. The incident: a week ago, I called a rideshare. When the car showed up, the driver refused to let me sit in front, despite me pointing out that I'll get motion sick if I sit in back. Would this be considered disability discrimination? At what point is motion sickness a disability and at what point does an action arise to discrimination?

Motion sickness is not a disability.

[serious] I want to make marijuana edibles and distribute them to dispensaries to sell in CA...how can I do this legally?

> how can I do this legally? You can't. Marijuana is illegal under Federal Law everywhere in the United States.

Can I sue my father for sexually abusing me?

My father sexually abused me for years. He has admitted that this is true to several people. He’s a lawyer making a good salary while I am struggling to meet the copays for therapy. I think he should at least be responsible for paying for my psychological treatment. Is it possible to bring a civil suit? How do I go about finding a lawyer? The state is Massachusetts.

You could try reaching out to RAINN about options. Answer #2: IAAL but not *your* lawyer and not admitted in MA. First of all, I am so sorry this happened to you. Turning to the meat of your questions: >How do I go about finding a lawyer? My best advice would be to research litigation related to the clergy child sex abuses and reach out to the attorneys who represented the children in those cases. They'll be experienced in delayed childhood sexual abuse cases. Not sure what the rules are for naming particular attorneys here but if you Google the John Geoghan litigation, you may find the name of one particular MA attorney who is well known in this area of law. There is also a Wikipedia article regarding for the Boston sex abuse scandal that talks about other cases. If the attorneys you find via that route cannot represent you, ask if they can recommend someone else. I would expect this type of case to be handled on contingency (you don't pay unless you win and then you pay 25-30% of the recovery to them) and I would not agree to pay an attorney hourly if I were you. >How much can I ask for? Likely quite a lot of money, particularly if you have documented mental health problems stemming from his abuse. It would not be out of the realm of plausibility to demand a figure with seven figures. >What is the typical duration of this type of case? I don't know about MA in particular but I would expect this sort of case to take several years if settlement can't be reached. Answer #3: How old are you? Answer #4: The bar association has a referral service for finding lawyers.

Is this considered animal abuse? (FL)

I recently worked for a farm where a few kittens were dropped off on the property. During my time there I learned that workers who lived on property who are under the influence were cutting the whiskers off the cats and shaving body parts like their tail with horse clippers for fun. Additionally the owner of the property has dogs that run around during the day and repeatedly attack the cats resulting in multiple bite wounds in the course of a few months. Workers including myself made my boss aware of the dangerous situation the cats were in, seeing as these dogs kill small mammals like squirrels routinely on property, and the problem was ignored and never addressed and one of the animals has gone missing after a resulting dog and cat fight that I was not there to witness. I have pictures of wounds resulting in these dog attacks and additional before and afters of shaved areas and whisker trims and have witnesses to dog attacks on the animals by multiple people. Is this considered animal abuse? Potentially under this stat. (2) Fla. Stat. §828.12 (2013): A person who intentionally commits an act to any animal, or a person who owns or has the custody or control of any animal and fails to act, which results in the cruel death, or excessive or repeated infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering, or causes the same to be done, commits aggravated animal cruelty, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or by a fine of not more than $10,000, or both.

Have you called animal control and asked them to go check on the cats?Answer #2: The people shaving/de-whiskering the cats *might* rise to the level of animal abuse (up to the local animal control officer really). The farm owner refusing to accept any responsibility for the care of unwanted feral cats illegally abandoned on his property is unlikely to be held liable. If you could track down the original owner of the kittens who dropped them off, they could potentially be held liable for their illegal actions (presuming it wasn't a specific arrangement w/ the property owner - doesn't sound like it was)... You could also call local animal control and let them know someone abandoned cats, nobody wants them, and they need a trip to the animal shelter...Or you could bring them to the animal shelter yourself...

Is an employer required to provide heat? Help

I'm in Georgia USA. The company I work at was bought out. We'll be moving buildings in about a month. However, our branch manager who owns the current building and will be leaving the company has decided he does not want to pay for heat and has gone so far as to *remove the thermostat*. It's below freezing outside and when I come inside I still have to wear two jackets and a blanket. Is there any legal way we can pressure him about this? At the very least, would the new employer be required to pay for heat? It's honestly absurd.

Does your office have running water for bathrooms and sinks? Letting the building freeze risks the pipes bursting. It may be valuable to point out that repairing this damage may be more costly than paying for heat. There may be damage caused to computer equipment due to condensation. There are a lot of hidden problems this can cause.Answer #2: Is the company leasing the building from him? I imagine this would violate their lease. Answer #3: Bring in a space heater. Answer #4: no, sorry. they are not legally required to heat or cool your workplace.

[ND] I was attacked in a hotel room by an adult male while I was a minor. Is it possible to press charges?

About a year and a half ago I was staying in a hotel room with a friend of mine. I was seventeen, and he was eighteen. The two of us got into an disagreement, and he cornered me and began hitting me several times. I never fought back. I do not have any physical or photographic evidence that this occurred, but there were a few other people who heard the story from both of our sides after it happened. If I could get them to testify, along with my own testimony, would that be enough to have a legitimate case? This guy has a history of being violent towards others, so if I needed people to testify that this is a pattern for him as well. I don't think this guy would deny it if he were to testify, but I can't imagine he would admit to it either. I'm guessing he would choose not to say anything. If I were to file a case, I would only ask for $1 in damages. Would I have enough to file a legitimate case?

This is one of those times where it's important to distinguish criminal charges, which are largely about the state using its monopoly on force to control lawless behaviour, and a civil suit, which is largely about making the plaintiff whole on some injury. Criminally, sure, you can report this to the cops. A year and a half after the fact, if neither of you was injured, odds are good they won't follow up, and no charges will be forthcoming, but you never know. Civilly, if you have any damages as a result - hospital bills, or the loss of your hotel room, or whatever else you may have spent as a result - then you can sue him to get that money back, if you like. You can't, however, make numbers up: if you don't have $1 in damages, you can't claim $1 in damages. I'm not aware of a situation where ND's civil system would award punitive damages for assault in the absence of any injuries.

Issues with upstairs neighbors.

Hello, I live in a downstairs apartment in Gardena, CA (Los Angeles). My neighbors upstairs are a large family in a 2bedroom dwelling (2 parents, 4-5 kids). They moved in a few months ago. We try to keep to ourselves and don’t bother anyone. We have dogs but they are small, indoor, and we walk them in our small patio lawn so they don’t go out. Only times they bark is when someone knocks or stranger walks in but they cease pretty quick once they know nothing is wrong. Neighbors upstairs have wood flooring, they are always yelling,running,jumping, rolling wheel toys (sounds like a skateboard). The noise is amplified and vibrates the house. I already have had conversations with neighbors and landlord but nothing ever happens. I told the neighbors that noise itself doesn’t bother me but vibrations from them horsing around does. They always say how loud our dogs are yet they yell at each other and play guitars, recorders, accordions, etc. they will go on for hours and our dogs don’t go past a min and maybe only 2-3 times a day from when parcel deliveries come. My landlord says they have already asked but he seems to just not want to try anything. I asked landlord if maybe it was carpeted (previous tenants had it carpeted) but landlord said he already spent $100 on a piece of carpet for the kids room, issue is that they run all over the halls and living room areas which pass down to us. Noises are from 7am-10pm in random chunks. The parents are stubborn and kids seem to be hyper all the time. What are my options? Only issue on my part may be they start an issue about my dogs but they are up to date on vaccinations and small indoor but I haven’t gotten their licenses since in LA county they must be fixes but haven’t had the time to do and they are 10+ years old and pretty lethargic so hasn’t been much if an issue. Me and my gf always record and take video of their noises. I just want to know what my options may be. I don’t like drama but we both work and go to school so it is driving us nuts. Only reason we bear with it is because its hard to find a 2bedroom with private patio (small lawn) for $1250/mo and would have to pay more if we moved away, and walk our dogs outside which takes more time out of our busy schedules. Ive written what I could on my phone so sorry for typos or if I lacked details.

Get the dogs legal immediately. Continue working with the landlord. If they break a noise ordinance you can call the police. Check with your local code enforcement to find out what the local occupancy limits are. The FHA gives families with children some leeway when it comes to occupancy restrictions per bedroom, but unless the bedrooms in your apartments are quite large it seems unlikely that seven people in two bedrooms isn't violating a city code.

Facing 9 day out of school suspension due to accusations of making "racist memes", I didn't do it and there is no tangible proof, their "solid evidence" is my ex girlfriend and her friends telling the administration I did it. Where the hell do I start?

Start with your parents.

I [18/lives in California] want to order my friend [16/lives in NY] a zippo lighter and lighter fluid, is this legal?

He wants me to order him a lighter and fluid along with it via amazon, is it legal?

He'd be doing it himself if it were legal to do so.

(Pennsylvania) Had a psychiatric breakdown that resulted in hospitalization before college classes started, now I'm being charged for the classes I didn't attend

[deleted]

>But is there anything I can do about this? You haven't yet been provided a final answer from the school. Until you have, there aren't any next steps to take. Instead of waiting (an entire month) for their response, take control of this, contact them and ask for an update.

Company I hired in 2016 never cashed my cheque and now they are demanding payment [Canada - N.S)

I hired a local service provider in early 2016 and paid by cheque. This week they contacted me saying that they never cashed the cheque and are requesting payment in another form. Unfortunately my bank was absorbed by another one and I can't go back in my records to look to see if they amount was withdrawn - I'm waiting to hear back from them about it. I'm mostly just interested in finding out what the statute of limitations with this sort of thing? I never signed anything when I hired them and the whole thing seems slightly suspicious. But on the other hand I understand if I received a service, I should pay for it and I don't want to risk having the bill sold to a debt collector. So, can they legally do this after 2 years? What sort of questions should I be asking before handing over any money?

The statute of limitations for written contracts is likely far longer than 2 years in your jurisdiction.

Just bought used car

Yes best title ever. So this car has not been registered and needs engine work before being able to pass smog. Can't renew unless it can pass smog, can't pass smog until its drivable. I had it towed to the dealership and basically they're closed today and he had to leave it on the road. So basically I'm praying to the gods of karma, never going to sin again and hoping an officer doesn't pass by it. This is California and I believe the law is that it'll be impounded just for being on the road even parked. I was visited by a couple officers when I was having it towed and they wished me luck and didn't give me even a slight problem. They ran the plate and vin so if they had something to say they didn't mention it. So I'd like to hear it from Reddit: will the car still be there after 24 hours? If it gets impounded by police I have to renew the registration which is impossible since it's not running, just sitting right outside the gate at the dealership waiting for service. Pray with me and advice me. *Edit* Thanks very much for all the replies and info. First purchase so I'm still learning. Also never trust google maps as I thought I could trust them when it said their hours on the dealership was closed today and it was actually open. So life lessons all around. Ended up pushing her straight inside an hour after they opened so it sat for about 4 hours with no problems. Now let's just pray the repairs are less than 3000.

>will the car still be there after 24 hours? Maybe. Maybe not. We're not psychics.

5 Million dollar civil suit for car i wasn't driving (Washington D.C)

First post, here goes. I received a summons. This was from a car accident that happened 3 years ago. I let this girl borrow my car which resulted in an accident. Went through the whole insurance game, and they found her not at fault and were able to write me a check for the total loss of my car. Fast forward to now, and I am getting summons because the other driver in the accident has gone through "life changing injuries, and incomprehensible trauma." She is suing for $5,000,000 Let me add that both of the drivers in the accident were not the owners of the car. The owner is suing the two of us for the pain and suffering of her mother who was the driver. My questions are the following: 1. This was through an insurance company that I no longer use, can I still call them up? 2. Both summon's came to my address. I am no longer in touch with the girl that was driving my car. Can I let the court know that I don't know where to contact her? I am really stressing this, and would be grateful for any advice. The summons has a conference for settlement on March 16. Thanks again,

You need to contact the insurance company, even though you no longer use them. They should still be responsible for providing your response. If not, they will gladly let you know. Note, this must be done rapidly so contact them soon.

[MA, Boston] Husband and I are relocating to Boston with a one year old and newly pregnant. When do I need to disclose baby and pregnancy?

We are currently searching for apartments (in JP and Roslindale for those who are familiar). Initially when contacting property managers we let them know we had a baby and we quickly noticed that all communication ceased when we did that. We tested this by contacting with different names and phone numbers and saw that if son was not mentioned, communication continued but with mention, it did not. Now that's not the reason for the post. Husband and I went to the city this past week to check out places. We did not disclose our baby or pregnancy, but we quickly realized why they didn't want kids. Houses built before 1978 are likely to have lead unless they have been de-leaded. From what I've read, de-leadind is expensive and the landlord has a responsibility to de-lead if he does test, so most places don't and make you sign a disclose. Landlord has a responsibility to test if there is a pregnancy or if children under 6 reside in the residence (please correct any of this if I'm wrong). We thought it was ok to not disclose kids when checking out properties because it would be discrimination. I'm obviously concerned for my baby and the one on the way and don't want to risk exposure. Question here is: when do I have to inform of child and pregnancy? I would preferably disclose after signing to prevent retaliation and rent going up. Though illegal, I really don't want to have to get a lawyer to deal with this. We are just starting our careers and cannot afford much at all, and Boston is super expensive!

Noooo! The fair housing act makes it very clear that landlords shall not refuse to rent to families with children. https://www.rentprep.com/legal/landlords-refuse-rent-families-children/

[FL] I feel like I was just robbed by a toe company.

Long story short I tried to put the convertible top on my car down and it stopped halfway, a police officer stopped by and called a tow truck by my request, the tow truck showed up, looked at it and said they couldn't fix it then charged me $65. I was afraid to tell them I wasn't going to pay for fear of getting towed. So now I have a $65 dollar charge for them doing absolutely nothing but showing up. My question is if I were to dispute the charge could they show up and tow my car or something? Should I dispute the charge or should I take my loss and chalk it up to a learning experience? (I ended up just driving the car home with the top stuck int he up position. The worst part is I got home and used a flashlight and found the tools I needed to put the top down manually. Ugh what a terrible night)

Man, I'm mad. I thought there was actually a company that sold toes. Thanks a lot OP, way to disappoint.

Boss Demoted me While I am off due to sickness and Ask Me not to Get Sick again

So uhh I had a surgery and my boss asked me to have to be off for one month. I am supposed to go back to work next week but boss emailed me last night. Told me he has decided to demote me so office can function better. He also asked me to make sure not to get sick again (which of course I can’t promise) Today my boss texted me again and asked me why I haven’t replied (I am still off) I really want to quit now (not only coz of this) and want to give my two weeks off. However, I am providing for my family (parents bankrupt) so I know I’d better quit after finding a job. But i just feel so sick of it and I know I will suffer every second if I still work there. So I wonder if there is anyway I could quit and maybe get some insurance from the government? Thank you!

An important question you need to answer is: were you on EI sick leave? A decrease in pay upon returning may not be legal if you were. A decrease in pay would potentially be a valid reason to quit and draw EI. You can call an EI office and ask if your situation would qualify. This is assuming you have worked enough hours to qualify for EI. I am assuming you have a valid work permit or are a permanent residence. Answer #2: Someone more knowledgeable than I may be able to answer this: Would this possibly cover constructive dismissal to allow an unemployment draw?

An iPad Broken With Malicious Intent

Good evening Reddit; ​ Now, I'm going to put this in as less of a whiney-teenager way as possible. Me and my Father do not have the greatest of relationships. My parents are divorced, and I visit each parent weekly on a shared custody plan. ​ The other night, I was met with unfortunate circumstances. I had already been struggling with depression since my early teens, and I am 16 now. I had been communicating with a friend from school via Instagram that night. I had remarked to her that, as a result of the unfortunate events faced earlier that day, the thought of suicide by overdosing had crossed my mind. However, something must have gotten miscommunicated in these messages. My friend had thought that I had actually Overdosed, and contacted emergency services. Police and Paramedics arrived to my home, but after learning the story and ensuring that I was okay, they left. Sometime during all of this, my father showed up. ​ After the police left, my father wanted to have a quote-unquote 'Chat' with me. Understandable. My father requested to see the messages exchanged, which were on my iPad. I handed him the iPad, just so I could prove that the entire incident was a miscommunication. However, my father said something along the lines of 'Don't worry, I'm not gonna violate your privacy', before bringing the iPad down twice over his knee. The unit is bent, screen shattered and ripped clean off. Obviously completely unusable and unsalvageable. ​ Following this incident the next day, I met with my school's Police Resource Officer, but to hardly no avail. He stated that, morally, he should be obligated to pay for it. But, Reddit, there are a few variables in play here. ​ \~The iPad was a gift to me from a close friend about 2 years ago. They had gifted it to me since I was using a very old iPod Touch, and they had just acquired a new iPhone. I did not pay them for the iPad \~I am 16 Years Old, therefore a minor. \~The iPad was in no way payed in the slightest by my father, who destroyed it. \~The incident took place on my mother's estate, not his. ​ My question is, what sort of legal ramifications can I pursue to ensure the iPad is fully reimbursed should an internal agreement not take place? ​

> what sort of legal ramifications can I pursue to ensure the iPad is fully reimbursed You're a minor under the care of your father. The answer is very little.

Realtor sign caused damage to my car

Hi all, I just have a quick question: Does a realtor have any liability for their for-sale sign damaging my car? What happened was it was in the dirt next to my driveway (for the empty lot next door). Wind blew it over onto my driveway at an angle while we were out. We pulled into our driveway and the sign scraaaaapped down the side of our new SUV. The quote is for 2,430.00 to have it repaired. It has to be repaired because the scrape went all the way to the metal and will oxidize eventually. I contacted the realtor and asked them to move their sign (we set it back up straight but didn't want to actually move it). They did, within a few hours, move it about 6 feet away from our driveway, but they did not respond to me personally. I wonder if it's unreasonable to ask them to help pay for the damages their sign caused our property, on our property, and if they choose not to, if I should take them to court and sue, or just let them slide? Oregon, USA

You literally said "the wind blew it...". You've already put the fault where it lays. Answer #2: This screams shared negligence. You hit an obvious thing that wasn't moving.

[Kansas] Person who looked after my dog is refusing to return her. How do I get her back?

About 6 months ago my wife and kids had to move out of our house while we waited for our new house to be ready. We had to stay with family that didn’t want a dog in the home. We had an 8 year old golden doodle that we did not want to get rid of so we asked my wife’s grandma to watch her. A few months later one of my wife’s distant cousins said he could take her to his house as he had a large backyard and another dog to socialize with. We agreed however he knew we would be taking her back when our home was ready. Fast forward to this last week and we get moved in and we try contacting him to get our dog back and he won’t respond. Finally he replied saying he is keeping her and there was never and agreement for us to take her back. I was pretty upset and shocked when I had heard this is what he told my wife. How do I go about getting her back? I have her papers from when we registered her. A good friend in Indiana was the one who bred her and could verify it’s our dog. As well as about 8 years of photos with her and our family. Is there anything I can do to get her back? Do I have any leg to stand on? I have never heard of anything like this happening before and since we never got her chipped I don’t know what to do. Any help would be really appreciated. Thank you. Also we are located in Johnson county close to Kansas City, KS.

If you have proof the dog was registered in your name, then what they have done is stole your dog. contact the police and take it from there. As he says, there was no agreement to give it back, which implies there was no agreement to keep it permanently. Answer #2: Not a lawyer, but if dog is registered in your name, you have evidence of purchase, then call your local police department (they might refer you to the local police department the man lives in) and they could escort you back to the guy's property and help you get the dog back. Try to go at a time you know he will be home

My paycheck is addressed to someone else

Hi I'm a high school student working for a certain sandwich franchise in Texas and today I got my paycheck, but somehow they screwed up and its addressed to someone else but the hours and total amount are correct. My manager says they she can send it back to corporate but from hearing previous stories it sounds like they will drag they're feet about it and wait till the next pay period to fix it. Can I still deposit the check without consequence at my Chase ATM or will it raise red flags or do I need to send it back? Sorry of this sound juvenile but I'd just like to get my money that I worked for.

do **NOT** deposit a check in your account with someone else's name on it.Answer #2: Depositing a check that isn't made payable to you is a good way to get busted for fraud. If they don't rectify it and get you a new check, payable to you, in a timely fashion, contact the Texas Department of Labor and file a complaint.

Nude/topless maids legal in Texas?

I apologize if this isn’t the correct place to ask this question but I’ve searched online and can’t seem to find a direct answer. I’m thinking of cleaning houses topless or in lingerie, or maybe possibly nude but I’m not sure if this is legal in Texas. If anyone could help me out I would appreciate it greatly.

Maybe see if there's a service already running that you could hire out to? There is/was one near where I live. From what I heard, they also hired a driver/body guard for each maid.Answer #2: Texas delegates regulation of “sexually oriented businesses” (key words) to cities and towns, so you could check your local ordinances. However, I’m not really sure that what you’re proposing would fall under the definition of a sexually oriented business, since you’d probably not have a fixed location. Furthermore, there’s no real ban on toplessness anywhere in Texas law, although you may get hit with a disorderly conduct charge in public. I’d check with a local attorney.

Am I obligated to pay tuition after dropping a class for what I believe are valid medical reasons?

I live in Virginia and attended a public graduate school part-time (I am also employed full-time) in Virginia. This semester, I registered for classes but dropped two weeks after the tuition liability drop deadline because of medical issues I am having and because of medical issues my wife has been having. Specifically, I had back surgery, but the pain has been holding steady or getting worse, depending on the day. She was diagnosed with a serious but somewhat treatable disease. The combination of both our problems and my full time job meant that for me, personally, continuing grad school was going to be too much, so I dropped. They have very strict requirements for exemption from paying two-thirds of my tuition (about $2,000), and I am trying to get our doctors to write out exactly what they want to hear, but I am worried that it won't be enough to convince them. Part of the problem is that I am not dropping for any sole medical issue – the combined stressors are what drove my decision to quit. My questions are: 1) Is registering for classes more or less equivalent to signing a contract for services? Am I obligated to pay? 2) I find it ridiculous that I dropped about 20% of the way through the semester but they want more than 60% of the tuition. Could I attempt to legally negotiate a lesser amount if they do not exempt me? Would hiring a lawyer be worth it financially? Topic: School Related Issues

1) Yes and 2) >I find it ridiculous that I dropped about 20% of the way through the semester but they want more than 60% of the tuition. You do understand that the costs they incurred in offering this place are basically fixed? That is, they can't go out and find another person to take your place when you dropped it so there is no way for them to ameliorate their loss. You'd have to look at the contract you signed to find out if you have any recourse.

[Texas] My friend was discriminated against because he is Mexican and barely speaks English but he's afraid to complain because he's here illegally

My friend went to a store to return something he bought there before. The girl working at the returns counter did not speak English and she couldn't understand him. She had to get a manager who spoke Spanish to do the return. This experience made him feel singled out and humiliated. The girl paged her manager's name over the store paging system and basically put my friend on display for everyone to see and hear. He's also upset because the store didn't have a Spanish speaking associate at the counter already, because it's located in an area where many Mexican people live so the employees should speak Spanish too. He wants to complain about this incident to the stores upper management or head office but he's afraid to because he's here illegally and he is scared of being arrested or deported. What are his options? Can I complain anonymously on his behalf and keep him anonymous? He's been humiliated and we don't want this happening to anyone else.

There is nothing illegal, or even ethically wrong here. If someone shows up at work speaking a language I don't, it's reasonable for me to page someone else who speaks that language. Answer #2: Paging someone to accommodate a language barrier is pretty much the opposite of discrimination. Answer #3: Tthere is no legal obligation for a private company to provide service in any particular language. Answer #4: So....wait....he received service in his language and he wants to complain? Maybe he should be calling to compliment the store. They are not obligated to have Spanish speaking employees at every registers every moment they are open.

Uncle blackmailing me for inheritance

Hello, thank you all for the help you provide on a daily basis. I can't fully express my gratitude to you all. My grandmother passed away two months ago and left me a large majority of her inheritance trust. Upon hearing about this my uncle has been pissed. He claims that my grandmother has two birth certificates and two passports and believes there is a case for social security fraud. So he is black mailing me saying he wants a check or he will report this to social security. He claims social security will take everything from the inheritance if I do not comply with writing him a large check. Very large. Now, he was already receiving a relatively large sum from the trust as well as my grandmother's house in Mexico that he has been living in. This was all detailed in the trust. My questions... What should I do? I'd rather lose my entire inheritance than write that snake a check. With him being left the house and money, if he DID get social security to step in then he would not receive those things- so in your legal opinions, does he have ground to stand on? Do I have enough to sue for black mail?

This is more extortion than blackmail. You can report him to the police.

I need advice on my legal standing with my bio-dad and my adoptive dad...

I'm 46, born and raised in the Bay Area of Northern California and now living in Omaha, Nebraska. My mother had me at 18 as an unwed mother. My biological father has denied parentage (left the state when he found out he knocked up my mom). Then I was adopted by the man my mom married when I was 1 year old. He and my mom separated when I was 15. My adoptive father and I became estranged almost 30 years ago and haven't spoken. I did have one dinner with my bio-father when I was 21 and no contact since then. I was able to find my half siblings that he had after me on Facebook and my one brother verifies that some family members have verified that I "exist". My youngest half sister has listened to family members that say that I was only contacting the kids because I am a gold digger ... She won't speak to me. I am not a gold digger, but, rumor has it that both my biological father and my adoptive father have made out very well over the years in California real estate. From time to time I wonder if I will ever see a dime of inheritance from either one, and if I have any legal grounds if I'm not named in any wills... I have had abandonment and attachment disorder issues throughout my life relating to male abandonment stemming from these "fathers" leaving me at formative places in my life... Money doesn't solve those problems, but, it wouldn't be a horrible thing to have, maybe buy a house, have some financial security in my lifetime...

If your adopted father dies intestate (without a will), you would've considered a natural heir in most states and likely be entitled to a portion of the estate. If either of your fathers has a will, they can name you as an heir or not. While you could challenge the will if you are not named an heir, your lack of relationship with either of them makes your chances of prevailing very, very low. If your bio father dies without a will, it is very very unlikely you would be considered an heir, even if you fought to be considered in court.

Quitclaim deed?

[deleted]

Quitclaim deeds usually say $10, because they're recorded and you don't want to publish how much you paid for something as a matter of record (usually). Don't sign the quitclaim until you have an executed purchase contract. I have handled the purchase and sale of HUNDREDS of real property parcels, and I would never ever take an opening offer. Come up with a number that works better for you, add $10k to it, and negotiate it with the buyer.

As a 17 Year old, is it legal to have sex with another 17 year old?

In California. Need help because ex's mom is threatening me with calling the police for having sex with her daughter a while back and I would like to know if I can actually get into legal trouble with this (i'd like to not end up as a registered sex offender) All sex was consentual and encouraged by both parties; both of us were always sober and always used protection in the method of both condoms and birth control (although im not sure protection matter, legally speaking)

California makes things tough by not giving any Romeo and Juliet exceptions or alternative methods to make things easier. You both statutorily raped each other in this case. Things could get messy if she does pursue this.

Live in MA, strong suspicion neighbor built a shed in his driveway without permits....

So my question is more or less as the title explains. I live in a small residential community and one of our neighbors is building an extension on the small shed in his driveway. The neighborhood has always had issues with this individual and just over the weekend he mentioned not pulling permits or doing anything except building on to the existing shed. My question is- how do i follow up on this? Is there somewhere i can pull records, or call to see if the proper permits were pulled? Is this something just an ordinary person can do, or do you need a lot of experience, legal degree, etc to make sense of this? Thanks in advance.

To answer your questions- go to the city hall/town clerk/records office and ask them how to get records of the permits - they are publicly available. Whomever you talk to will tell you the proper procedure to pull the records. On a side note- does this shed affect you at all? Your narrative doesn't mention that you are harmed in any way by it. Are you just being that obnoxious nosy neighbor that wants to be up everyone's ass all the time? How about just leave the guy alone if the shed isn't bothering you?

24 year old male and 17 year old girl in true love -- nothing physical till she's 18. Possible legal problems?

I am an international grad student in a prestigious US university. To blow off steam after an assignment, I went online on a website that lets strangers around the world do a text chat and met a Latina girl there. *She lives in Mexico*. Initially, on chat, she told me she's 19. So we started talking and we both liked each other since we both have the same interests and thoughts. Our talks were *strictly non-sexual*, about general things in life. Then, we both started to like like each other and one morning, after a week of having met here, she told me: "I can't do this to you anymore, I'm actually **17 years and 11 months**. I will be 18 in a month". I got a little upset and confused. I'm an adult and she's not... well, she's 17 years and 11 months so she's almost an adult, but technically she's not. I have strong ethics and wanted to stop talking but she pleaded that it's only a month. So, I finally gave in and I'm still talking to her. She told me she loved me over a voice note one day and I said it back -- because I really do. We have decided to meet in the USA **after one entire year of staying in conversation online**. *By then, she will be 19*. And of course, there's *no possibility of any sexual or physical contact* between us during this time. Facts: * I'm an international grad student in the USA. * She's in Mexico. * There's no possibility of any physical contact. * We will meet for the first time after 1 year, when she will be 19. She will come to the USA where I study. * This is true love, as true as it gets. Now, legally, is there a problem that I said 'I love you' to a 17 year 11 month old girl and have been in a distant relationship with her? Any chances of me getting in trouble when she finally meets me in the USA after 1 year (when she's 19), since our relationship began when she was 17 years and 11 months? I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm crazy or something, but I've worked very hard to get admission into this university in the USA and I don't want to screw things up. Any chances of legal problems? Thanks! Topic: Criminal Law

This will surely end well.Answer #2: Don't share nudes and no sexting and you'll be fine. Also, consider that she's already lied once about her age and may still be lying.

Neighbors dog keeps finding a way in to my yard, and attacking my dog.

Title pretty much sums it up. Today is the third time its happened. The neighbor keeps putting up wood or cinder blocks over the holes the dog digs, but the dog just finds another way in after a while. It wouldn't really be a big deal, but my dog is very protective, and does not like this dog in his territory. They usually fight it out, which leaves my dog with some pretty big scratches on his face and neck. None of them have been very severe, but I'm afraid that it's going to escalate to a dangerous level at some point. Unfortunately this all happens while I'm at work, and I have no idea where my neighbor is during this time as well. Can someone please let know what course of action I can take for this? I am located in Oklahoma. Thank you! EDIT UPDATE: Just created an update post for this [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/5zyix0/update_neighbors_dog_keeps_finding_a_way_in_to_my/). I would like to thank everyone for their replies and suggestions! You rock! Topic: Other Civil Matters

Cheapest. Fastest solution. Don't keep the dog outside unsupervised.

Father In Law threatening to kick my wife and I out of a home he purchased as an investor for us as a wedding gift. Is there any legal recourse for this?

In June 2018 my father in law offered to buy us a home closer to home as a wedding gift and wanting us to be near by. We politely declined as we wanted to take our time with picking a home and certain circumstances led us to feel we were being forced into this. Long story short, we ended up accepting the offer that same month. Paperwork was filed (my wife signed as the owner/occupant and him filed as owner/investor) and he provided a 20% downpayment for us knowing that we didn't have the funds to make the down payment while also paying the rest of our apartments lease which would end in December 2018 on top of the mortgage. We moved in at the end of the year and for the past three months have finally settled in all whilst he has been coming in and out at his own leisure to handle small tasks at his own discretion and without our consent. This involved painting rooms, replacing furniture, and other menial things. In February we spoke to him and requested that while we appreciate what he has done that we would prefer our privacy and to take care of things on our own moving forward. He agreed to taking a step back after painting the basement. A week ago he finished this project (along with demolishing a wall without even discussing with us prior). During a visit to my in-laws home, my father in law bombarded us about giving him access to our bedroom and all the rooms in the home so that he could replace all of the windows. We stressed that we would decline him servicing the windows and later in the day my wife would reach out to him about leaving things to us for the sake of our privacy. We got a response today through a phone call from him demanding that we move out immediately. While I do not think that circumstances will escalate that far, what options do we have to combat this in the case that we are unable to come to an agreement? At this point we are looking to move his supplies and tools back to his home and change our locks. I don't want to appear ungrateful or unappreciative, because we definitely are, but we've invested a lot into this home already to fix it up and we feel like he is really overstepping his bounds. What should we do in the worst case scenario? Tldr; Father in law is an investor on our home and after being told we no longer want him to come in and out on our own accord is now threatening to kick us out. Can he do so even though my wife signed on house as the owner/occupant?

If your wife is on the title to the home then he cannot kick her out. He can go to court to try to force a partition sale however. Are you positive she is a co-owner of the house?

My Step-Brother Violated My Privacy

so a couple weeks ago when I went to work, my step brother went into my room and onto my laptop that i guess wasn't locked.. He then went through all my photos on my laptop, found my "lewds" (didnt have any actual nudes) and then sent them to his own email using my email, which i was logged on to. He didn't delete the sent emails and a few days later i found those sent emails. I went to my mom, and her and his father confronted him about it... he was going to move among other reparations but he was allowed to stay in the house, mostly because of me... which may sound weird but he has issues with alcohol and i was worried he would relapse and worse... We live in NJ and and I was wondering if I actually could press charges, whether criminally or suing him or whatever... I tried to look up the laws myself but I didnt know if they really applied as some of the language is confusing. Any Help would be appreciated, thanks

Assuming you're both adults, your best bet is probably to just move out and get your own place where you can have 100% privacy. I highly doubt the local police are going to care about this and there's nothing for you to sue him for.

Say that I, a 17 year old in the US residing in the state of Oklahoma am gifted a firearm. And if I used that weapon in self defense at home as an adult how would that play put legally assuming that justification isn't the issue but rather the ownership of the weapon?

Whether or not you would have a valid defense of self defense would not hinge on if you were 17 at the time that you were gifted the firearm.

Alabama - Do I have the disclose sexual partners to my spouse’s lawyer?

I have a couple questions. I am currently going through a divorce. We're in rural Alabama, and have two kids. This is an At Fault Divorce, with a Sole Custody Suit, that he filed on me with false allegations- that my lawyer believes we can prove to be false. However, there are two issues, that are kind of related, and I’m not sure how to deal with them, or even think about them. First, I had to answer an evidence Inquiry, of around 200 questions. In it, they asked about all current, and previous, sexual partners. At the end of the Inquiry it says I have to keep that information updated. I am legally separated, with a temporary custody agreement. Do I have to update the Inquiry if I have a one night stand, or new lover? Or is the "update order” legal? The judge is very conservative. My lawyer, and a previous lawyer I consulted, both told me she was going to hate me. One, we had an open marriage for several months before he filed. Two, I’m an atheist. Three, I identify as bisexual. Both lawyers advised me to fly under the radar- basically to become saintly and perfect. Is there anything I can do if the judge finds against me because she doesn’t like who, or what, I am? Is there any way to prove that, if she does? Am I being paranoid and/or stupid? I feel like my lawyer answers my questions knowing he’ll have to deal with this judge again and again.

If you don't trust your lawyer, you should get a new lawyer. Nobody is going to be able to give you better info.Answer #2: IANAL If you haven't had any one night stands, lovers, etc. I'd recommend not doing so for now. No matter what you're legally required to do with the form, there's no chance it could help you, and there's always a chance it could end up ugly. Especially if the judge finds out, judging from what you've said of him, there's a good chance he would see it as an affair because legally you are still married. Also, while I would guess the odds of you winning, especially against a judge, religion and sexuality are both legally protected (I don't think that's the right term but still) so if the judge rules unfairly because of that, you could have something to work with. Although, depending on if you've put that you've had a same sex relationship on that form as long as you don't say anything about it, the judge won't likely know

Girlfriend keeps waking me up, I lashed out and hit her, she left, threatening to call the police

She's been doing this for at least 12 months. Every time I start dozing, she jumps on me or shakes me or shouts in my ear. It drives me absolutely crazy, I have asked her so many times not to do it but she thinks it's hilarious. It's like a torture to me. Last night, we were both on the bed, I was exhausted. I was looking at reddit on my phone and dozed off. She jumped on me, screamed at me to wake up. I don't really know why or how it happened but in my sleep-stricken state I punched her in the face and kicked her off the bed to get her off me. She definitely had a cut lip but I don't know if she had any other injuries. She was in an absolute state and no matter how much I apologised, I couldn't calm her down. She called a friend of hers who collected her later on and I got one text saying she's had enough and is going to call the police. I've never been physical with her before, so I'm wondering how much shit I am in. Can I claim self defence? I don't think I can. I don't really believe myself if I was to say I thought I was in physical danger. It's just such a horrible shock to the system being woken up like that, over and over again, but I do feel like it was an involuntary reaction. But aren't involuntary reactions things like when you're on drugs? I'm from the UK.

Get an attorney if charged/interviewed by the police. >She's been doing this for at least 12 months. Every time I start dozing, she jumps on me or shakes me or shouts in my ear. It drives me absolutely crazy, I have asked her so many times not to do it but she thinks it's hilarious. It's like a torture to me. Next time this happens. Break up with the girl before you hit her.

Insurance Fraud? I am afraid I am going to lose my car. What are my options?

This is in California. On March 9th I was in a car accident (100% not my fault) my car was put in the body shop for repairs, all covered by ins. Last Friday the body shop called and said my car was ready for pick up but they hadn't rcvd payment from the ins yet. I contacted my ins and they said that body shop was paid, the check that the ins sent to the body shop had been cashed. The ins sent a copy of the cashed check to the body shop. The body shop says that the cashed check has my signature on it! I never handled the check, it was sent directly to the body shop not to me. Now they won't release my car to me unless I pay them $4560.00. I am worried that I am going to lose my car. The body shop says the ins won't tell them where the check was cashed, but if you have a copy of the check wouldn't that info be on there? I am contacting ins today to ask for a copy of the check for myself and see what they are doing about this. The car is a 2011 Nissan Sentra with 43,000 miles on it and it is in pristine condition. I have full coverage on it but don't see how I could make a claim on it if the body shop sells it to recover the $4560.00. I think its a scam by the body shop personally. UPDATE: Insurance is now tracing the check. The check was not mailed to me and did not need my signature since I signed the limited POA. The body shop and I have filed a police report. The insurance co and the body shop both have samples of my signature and the clearly do not match what is on the check.(I have chicken scratch for writing and the signature on the check is just pretty and flowy). I am going today to sign an agreement with the shop that they will not lien the car or charge me for storage. The investigation through the ins and the bank could take up to 90 days and my car will not be released until the shop gets paid.

This needs to be worked out by your insurance company asap. Call your local agent and get them working on this. See if they have any advice even if you made the claim through the other parties insurance. You can also call the other parties insurance agent and see if they can help. Answer #2: In addition to calling your agent, contact the [California Department of Insurance](https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0500-about-us/05-contact/). They take this seriously.

Person unintentionally sent me money on Square Cash, months later disputes with bank, am I responsible for paying?

[deleted] Topic: Computer and Internet

Yes, of course you are. It's not your money.

Legal Ways To "Punish" Employees That Quit Without Giving Notice?

[deleted]

Don't punish them at all. They can quit anytime they want to. Slavery has been illegal for a long time now. Answer #2: Texas, like every state except Montana, is "at will." Meaning your employee has the right to quit without any notice and YOU have the right to fire someone with no notice and no reason. So either side can end employment on a whim. The answers you are getting here are the same as if someone posted "I got fired today for no reason and I want revenge against my boss."Answer #3: Retaliating against employees to quit is a great way to have more people give no notice out of fear you will be awful to them for their notice period. Answer #4: If one employee quitting without giving notice is causing such severe time management issues for you, I have to wonder about your time management techniques. Perhaps you need to look at yourself and wonder why an employee would quit without notice. I'm sure you've fired employees without giving them notice. Why do you feel it's ok for you to do that but not the other way around? Are you special?Answer #5: /r/pettyrevenge is that way ---->Answer #6: Maybe learn how to staff your business properly instead? Just a thought.Answer #7: Don't do any of that. If you can't handle an employee quitting without notice, you probably should find a different job.

Fucking lawyer (x-post from r/offmychest)

I was told to post this here, and I'm in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A few month ago, I got busted for marijuana possession. Just two weeks ago, I found out I had a warrant out for my arrest, and took care of that. The police told me to be at court at 8:30 A.M. on 2/18/15 for an arraignment (for those of you who don't know, I was suppose to show up, and they would tell me I fucked up, and to be at court at a later date to get officially charged). I was content with the punishment I expected which was some fines, and six months probation. A friend later told me that I definitely did not want to be cool with the charge because I will lose access to student loans. Then I panicked and though, "better lawyer up." Searched google, and read some information about this lawyer who is in a near-ish city. I called him. We talked for a bit, and he said he deals primarily with weed possession and welfare charges, so I was in good hands. He also said he thought he could get me out of the arraignment. I asked him if that cost me anything, and he said no; he would take care of it. He called me again a few days later, and we worked out a payment plan and he said again he was going to take care of the arraignment. I didn't hear anything from him since then, and with the arraignment being tomorrow(today), I called him at roughly 2:00. No answer. That's fine, I'll leave a message, and he'll get back to me. He didn't. Surely, seeing how he deals with this stuff all the time, he has taken care of the arraignment? Nope. I now have a warrant for my arrest again. I tried calling him just before I went into class, and he didn't answer, so I left a message again. My mother called him 15 minutes after I called him, and he talked to her, and explained he would talk to the judge. He also went on to tell her that he was waiting on a contact from me, and $50. WHAT THE FUCK!? IF HE HAD TOLD ME HE WANTED MONEY UP FRONT, I WOULD HAVE GIVEN IT TO HIM. I've been out of class for an hour now, and have tried to call him 7 times. Each time it went to voice mail. I'm so pissed that he just let me fall on my face, and that because I didn't show up to the arraignment, I don't get to just show up to the police station and have a free court date; this time it will cost money. How much? No idea. Thinking I need a different lawyer...

If the lawyer in question told you not to show up at arraignment, you were misinformed. If one of your friends or the Internet told you, you are looking in the wrong places. As far as money up front, that should go without saying. The first rule of criminal law is you get your money up front. I'd question any lawyer that would start making appearances without having been paid something. A breakdown in communication is usually the lawyers responsibility, however you really haven't asked a legal question and you have some seriously wrong ideas about what the process is like. I'd ask for a sit down with your attorney and have him to ELI5 it for you. Answer #2: >I asked him if that cost me anything, and he said no; he would take care of it. He called me again a few days later, and we worked out a payment plan and he said again he was going to take care of the arraignment. Maybe the lawyer, or maybe you not understanding the payment plan, or neither of you communicating clearly. Do you have a legal question? Answer #3: > Then I panicked and though, "better lawyer up." You got what you deserved. Anywho, he said he thought he could take care of the arraignment. Clearly some miscommunication. Calm down, stop blowing up his phone. See if you can schedule a time to meet with him or a scheduled phone call.

Can I break a lease and not face an eviction if I'm breaking it due to my disability?

I'm a disabled american (new mexico), my disability being my several mental health related diagnoses (social phobia, agoraphobia, bipolar, general anxiety). My apartment complex has been the victim of numerous car thefts and drug dealings and the anxiety is getting beyond me, I'm terrified of it all. I was wondering if I can get out of a lease legally and not face an eviction? If I could maybe get a written statement from my doctor and present that? Does the ADA cover anything like this?

No. Talk to your landlord and make a deal.

[Illinois] is it possible to report that i was held hostage in a stranger's home 2 hours away being sexually and mentally abused?

if it was 2 years ago, is it too late to contact police if i was lured through the internet and agreed to meet and get picked up and come in their home, is it still a crime? what if there's no evidence is it still a crime if i'm over 18 is it a crime that there were four other people in the home who did not intervene what is the process to report it?

Report it. You don't know what the police can find. It is not to late. Answer #2: I'm going to assume, for the sake of my answer, that this is not a troll post. > if it was 2 years ago, is it too late to contact police Report it. The Illinois statute of limitations for felonies is 3 years. > if i was lured through the internet and agreed to meet and get picked up and come in their home, is it still a crime? If you were held against your will and sexually abused, yes, those are crimes. > what if there's no evidence Your allegations and eventual testimony are evidence. Once you report to the police, it is up to them to gather more evidence if they can, and up to the prosecutor to decide if there is enough evidence to charge and prosecute the case. All you need to worry about is reporting it. > is it still a crime if i'm over 18 Kidnapping and sexual abuse? Yes, those criminal laws apply to adults too. > is it a crime that there were four other people in the home who did not intervene Possibly. Report it and the police and prosecutors will decide, based on the evidence. > what is the process to report it? Call the police. Unless you are in immediate danger, call the police non-emergency number.

Employer says to dress warm then tells me to take off my jacket because it's not part of the uniform?

So I work outside in New York and we are required to wear a uniform. We are provided a light jacket and a collared shirt for work. The weather has been getting colder during winter and my employer has said to dress warm. So I put on my black down hoodie under the light hooded jacket they give me. Both my down hoodie and the jacket are black. My employer then tells me to take off my down hoodie because it's not part of the uniform. I am freezing without my down hoodie under the light jacket. Is there anything I can do in this situation where it is cold and my boss says dress warm then says to take off my warm clothing because it's not part of the uniform? Should I go to HR? What can I do in this situation?

You could wear long sleeves under your clothes, or long johns, or thick socks. Dressing warm isn't limited to wearing a hoodie with your uniform. Assuming you're an at-will employee, your boss can fire you for refusing to comply with dress code. I'd imagine they don't have a dress code for your undergarments. Throw on a pair of thermal leggings or a thermal long-sleeved shirt under your uniform.

[NJ] Joke Diss Track on another student, can the school legally take the video off YouTube or SoundCloud?

So I have a joke diss track on someone in the works and I want to put my name on it, I'm scarred that the student who I made the diss track on will go to administration about it. Am I protected by Freedom of speech/Freedom of Expression even if offensive humor is used? Both me and the student I'm doing the diss track on are 15. I'm sorry if this sounds like a joke or if I'm on the wrong sub for this I don't know where else to go for this type of information. Please reply as soon as possible.

They can ask you to take it down and punish you if you don't. They don't really have the power to force YouTube to take it down, unless a copyright strike is filed, which might work. From a practical standpoint, this isn't a hill you want to die on. Pick your battles.

(Neb)

Hello everyone. I’m in a bit of a situation. I slept with a woman I knew from high school, as she was having troubles with her fiancée, and it seemed like they were pretty likely to break up. We were hanging out more and more, and I was never much of a drinker, but she was so I just went with it. We ended up having sex several times within the span of about a week; and then she dropped me like a hot coal and wanted nothing to do with me. Fast forward to now. She has a child, and she is still with the same fiancée. It looks like they are raising it together, but I have some concerns it could be mine. She had stated (before we stopped talking) that she was pregnant, but had a car accident and told me she miscarried. She didn’t specify who’s it was, and I just took it as a “I don’t know who the father is”. I believe she lied about the miscarriage and ended up having the baby anyway. It’s more than possible that it’s my child, considering we were seeing each other around the conception date. However, it seems the fiancée and her are still together for the long haul. What are all the ways, legally, this can come back around and bite me in the ass? I can’t really get into the situation; she doesn’t really want contact and wants to “make it work” with her fiancée. Any comments on my part would be destructive to their relationship, so I am trying to stay out of it. However, in the long term, if they don’t work out, will this come back and haunt me? I’m not worried about shared custody, I would agree to that in a heart beat. I’m more concerned with her coming after me for child support.

If you want to know, you have to establish paternity through the court. Since they are not married, there is not a presumptive father. Assuming the fiance is on the birth certificate, he is the legal father regardless of biology. He can dispute paternity of it comes to light he may not be the father. In that event, the mother can pursue child support and require you to take a paternity test. You can get ahead of this and file for custodial time yourself. If it turns out he is the father, there is nothing more to do. If it turns out you are, you can assert your right to visitation and increased parenting time as the child gets older and it becomes more appropriate. If you are the father and decide you do not wish to be involved, the fiance can adopt the child once they marry. You can best achieve establishing paternity and custodial time by hiring an attorney in the jurisdiction where the child lives.

NYC - Is it illegal to distribute food to the homeless in NYC? If so, what ramifications would occur?

My friend and I want to drive around with a bunch of lunch bags(PB&J, banana, and water) and hand them out to the homeless. But we aren't sure if we would get in trouble or not. Thanks in advance for any helpful advice.

Even better: join up with a group who already does this, like the Coalition for the Homeless. Information on their vans that go around distributing meals: http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/take-action/volunteer/

House got egged, have proof

My house was egged last night on christmas and I have security cameras installed so it was all caught on tape. Although the cameras are not super HD, I can make out what car it is and I even know who owns the car. I have history with the person which is why I was able to identify his car. However, the cameras did not catch the plates or a clear image of his face. What can I do with this?

Second time in 2 days that I've posted this: If you suspect a crime has occurred call the police. How is this such a common question around here? Do police need to start advertising their services?

New neighbor called cops on my to report an abandoned vehicle - Oakland, CA

I live in Oakland, CA and I just got home and received a "Courtesy Warning" about my car. I'm not sure for what as out of the three descriptions given, the officer didn't tick any of them. It could either be Section 10.28.030, 10.64.170 or 12.24.070. I don't know because the officer didn't check anything off. I'm slightly pissed because I never had problems parking my car on the street until the new neighbors moved in. I don't have space in front of my house, so I park it across the street. There are 3 spaces available daily across the street since the neighbor takes up 1 of them. I'm not sure what to do about it. I plan to call the cops tomorrow (I'm going to try all three numbers since I don't even know which one I apparently broke). What should my approach be about this? This is obviously the new neighbor, who is not even fully moved in, being as ass. What I want to know is what evidence are they using that my car was abandoned? Is this notice even legal since they didn't even tick which one they were "warning" me about? I don't know what to do and I want to do something since I think this will start to become an ongoing battle with my new neighbor. UPDATE: I talked to the police department and basically as long as the notice is taken off my car, they can't tow it since it means it's not abandoned. For those that say I'm assuming, well, apparently I'm not the only neighbor that has had issues so far with the new move-in.

All three of those sections deal with leaving cars on the street for more than 72 hours. Just make sure you move the car every 3 days, and try to park it in a different spot. I dealt with this in a nearby city--I had an older car parked in a very nice neighborhood, and was cycling to work most days. So sometimes my car didn't move for a week. I got one warning and two weeks later they gave me a ticket. So I got in the habit of driving the car around the block and parking it 20 feet further down the street every couple of days. It's a pain in the ass, but it keeps you legal and un-towed.Answer #2: Not legal advice, but Local advice from someone who is also fond of both Mexican street food and felines. A much higher percentage than normal of people in Oakland are VERY protective of the parking directly in front of their homes. Unless the new neighbors across the street are otherwise scary, it may serve you well to just go across and chat with them, and see if they mind you parking there, since you don't have street parking in front of your place. Otherwise, (if it was them calling parking enforcement) they will continue to make parking there a pain for you. Answer #3: Let us know what happens after you talk to the police. As long as you are following the parking rules you should be fine. You could perhaps put a sign up on the dash that says something like "vehicle not abandoned, driven everyday. Call Bobby @ 555-fake-number if you have a problem.

My mailman has claimed to post office that I leave my door and window open and that my dog is a threat. My window and front door haven't been opened in years. They are now demanding I sign a commitment to restrain my dog. [CA]

My dog always barks at the mailman through my door. In the past the mailman has repeatedly told in me in private, quote "Close the damn door." Never said anything back and filed a few complaints with the post office. Nothing happened. Shortly after the last complaint I sent I received a hold on my mail and a demand that "I will keep my front door shut and my window shut." But as the titles says, they've been shut for years. How do I clear this up and get my mailman to stop harassing me?

If the local post office isn't going to take your complaints seriously, you can escalate the issue: https://emailus.usps.com/emailUs/iq/usps/request.do?forward=emailUs This is not a legal issue but a postal service issue. Mail carriers have wide latitude to withhold delivery if they feel threatened by a dog, but language such as what your carrier used is considered unacceptable.Answer #2: I'm confused. If the door and the window are always closed when the mailman comes, when/how is he asking you to "close the damn door"? Are you communicating through a screen door? Answer #3: I’m a mailman. I hate seeing a dog behind a screen door or any other kind of non door. I want the actual door closed. Mailman follow routes and you should be able to predict the time within an hour when he appears. Why not just keep the door closed? Edit: I saw the comment showing what kind of door it is. Not good enough imo. I’d probably hold your mail too. Answer #4: The fastest/easiest way? Close your door. It sounds like you're leaving something out here.Answer #5: Have you asked yourself why it's so important to him that you close your door? Maybe he's had run ins with dogs in the past and every time he has to walk up to your door it's awful. I know a few mail carriers. They deal with a lot of dog issues.

Catfishing Issues

Fool me once... ​ So, I've been talking with someone who purported to be a woman in her early 20s for about a month and a half now. We have spent a good amount of time texting and were becoming good friends. Until today, of course, when I suddenly got a message from her mother telling me I'd been reported to the FBI because she was underage. Oh joy. ​ Things to know: 1. I explicitly asked her her age the first time we ever talked, and told her if she was underage I had no business talking to her. 2. I've never said anything that could be construed as sexual or solicitation, and neither has she. 3. I have literally every message we've ever sent saved, so I can prove that I didn't know, and that I was never anything other than a friend. ​ How do I protect myself? I understand the mother's anger, of course, but I've got a double whammy here--I just lost a good friend who never really existed, and now I might have to deal with whatever the hell this turns into. Given the court of public opinion on pedophiles, I really do not want to be accused of such, nor do I want my and my family's life turned upside down. What if I lose my job? ​ What's my next move? Do I call a lawyer, and if so what kind? Should I expect a midnight raid? Is this a long-running scam and I'm about to get asked for money? I think that last one's unlikely since I haven't said anything to put myself in a pickle, but I'm kind of freaking out here.

There is no girl. There is no mother. This is a scam. Ignore and move on.

Court date already passed when it was given to me (Canada)

So in October I was given a court date for a small offence for early December. But in late November I got a call that my court date was delayed until January. I picked up the papers in November saying when my court date was, but i didn't realize until today that it says my court date is on Wednesday January the 8th, 2014. All of this happened in 2014, and the 8th of January is on a Thursday this year. Does this mean I don't have to show up to court or can I get a lawyer to throw it out of court or something?

You should contact the court and clarify when they expect you to show up. You cannot get the case thrown out because of a clerical error in scheduling.

(SC) Can I break my lease due to excessive construction noise?

I live in a townhouse in South Carolina and my community was bought by a new company who are building new apts about 50 feet maybe less away from where I live. I work 3rd shift, get home around 7:30am and have to sleep from morning til afternoon. That's when construction is most active. I have tried to block out the noise but nothing works. It's affecting my health and my job. I want to move, what should I do?

Look at your lease for requirements for breaking your lease. Legal construction next door or your work schedule are not reasons to break your lease without penalty.

[CO]Let someone borrow car and it's wrecked

Alright for starters, I've learned my lesson and will never trust someone enough to loan them my vehicle ever again. So, I met this kid a couple days ago and became friends with him. I'm currently unemployed and he told me he was going to build a barn for some cash and offered me a job to help him out and get some of the cut and I agreed. I had to leave early for a family dinner and he asked if he could take my car back to work to finish the job and I agreed. When my dinner was over at 9:30pm I texted him to come and bring the car by and I could bring him home to which he agreed. 30 min pass by and he still hasn't shown up so I call and text him and he won't respond or answer my call. He eventually texts me and apologuzes and says he's headed over and then the same thing happens again. This continues to happen repeatedly to which his reason is that some girl lead him on and then ditched him and he's too upset to drive. Finally around 5am he shows up with my car and comes inside. When he passes out I go outside to check out my car and my left side mirror is completely removed and is sittong,in my passenger seat slightly broken, my right side mirror's paint is scraped up, my back left tail light is broken, and my back left fire's rim is scratched up,and it's a metal rim. There is also paraphernalia in my car with needles and in my trunk are some pieces to a car that's not mine. I took pictures of all of this. What do I do? If I call the police will I get in troubke for the paraphernalia and car pieces in the trunk if he denies it all? I'm just not sure on my next best step because I'm almost positive he doesn't have the money.

I am not sure what questions you are really asking. Call your car insurance company about the damage, sue this kid for the costs of the repairs (if you think that you can get any money from a drug addict), and that's about it. Cut all contact with this guy.Answer #2: Call the cops. They'll believe you, since why would someone call them about it if the paraphenalia was theirs? Also, maybe whoever the guy hit already called them, and they can quickly connect the dots. IANAL but you probably wont be held liable for any damage he did with your car.

I grew up in Florida, but was born in Canada and am an Illegal immigrant. What can I do to work legally?

Basically I was born in canada, moved down to Florida permanently with my parents when I was 5. After graduating highschool (age 17,) I temporarily moved to Canada to get my passport (been staying temporarily with my father's cousin and now with my grandmother). Now that I have one (age 18), I will be going back to florida as that is the only place I have support. The family that currently lives in Florida is my Mother, Father, Sister, and brother (Brother is a US Citizen, was born in florida). I've spent the vast majority of my life in the states, and I feel much more of a US citizen than a canadian one, but of course on paper the opposite is true. What can I do to work legal in the states, given my history in the states? ~12-13 years

You need to speak to an immigration attorney. Are either of your parents citizens?

[IL] I want to take friends who failed to pay me to court.

My car was hit back from someone I know back in November. Since I knew her I didn't think it was necessary to call the police. So I tried to make an insurance claim but the person driving has a suspended license and the insurance company couldn't cover it. Now since She has failed to pay me and doesn't seem like she will I am deciding to take her to court. So my question is since my car is technically my uncles(It's under his name), can I take my friend to court without getting my uncle involved? I am the one responsible for the car, I am the one who drives it, I am cover with our insurance. I also want to say that I have messages with her boyfriend were we talked about payments, and also him on video admitting fault, will this be enough evidence for the judge to rule on my side?

This kind of sounds like a case of win in court lose in reality. They sound like the kind of people that will lose badly in court. They they will not make the payments which means that you can just ruin their credit. If they were going to pay they would have. Pay your uncle and apologize. Then wipe those people out of your life and be glad it is a small amount.

[NC] Can my HOA force me to pay pool dues if I don't want to use the pool?

I bought a house in an HOA five years ago. At the time I didn't realize the HOA requires some houses to pay $250 membership fees for the community pool. My house is one of those in the "mandatory membership" category. I've tried to appeal and ask if I could not be required to pay the dues but the HOA has said no, I have to pay pool dues even if I don't want to use the pool. Legally, can an HOA force some homes to pay pool dues? If I refuse to pay the pool dues, what legal repercussions could I face? Do I have a case should I decide to fight the HOA? The way I see it an HOA can't force people to pay for a luxury like a pool. Thanks for any advice.

>Legally, can an HOA force some homes to pay pool dues? Depends on the community covenants and bylaws. >If I refuse to pay the pool dues, what legal repercussions could I face? Liens against your house, possible eventual foreclosure and auction of your house to pay those liens. >Do I have a case should I decide to fight the HOA? Unless there is no basis whatsoever in the governing documents for this mandatory fee, no.Answer #2: You bought the house with a covenant, check what it says. But it seems unlikely you can get out of this. If you didn't want to pay pool dues to the HOA, you shouldn't have bought a house with this clause of "mandatory membership" to the HOA community pool. It is usually almost impossible to get out of these types of covenants, so pay up or sell out.

(US-Texas)Credit card fraud refund that is not mine. Should I have kept it?

Hey everyone, First of all, this issue has been resolved and I already called Capitol One about it. I am just curious what would have happened. My credit card account info was stolen a month ago and was being used to buy a bunch of stuff. It ended up being around $1,900. The weird part is, the person using my account actually changed the payment bank and paid off the charges(probably with another stolen account). So after Capitol One called me about possible fraudulent charges, they assumed the bank account was mine and sent me a check for $1,900. I called today to tell them it was not my money and at first they were adamant that I should be okay to deposit it into my bank account. I had to clearly explain the whole process to the account specialist that it was not my bank account that was used and the check should not have come to me (I am not missing a dime from any of my accounts). Eventually they realized the error and many times said thank you for my honesty and to just destroy the check. The guy even made a joke about depositing it into his bank next time. I am just wondering about the what-if scenario if I kept the money. They sounded so clueless on the phone and the more I talked to them the more I was like wow, why did I even call. I should have just deposited the money and kept $2,000 in my bank for a year waiting for them to realize what happened. Would the other bank eventually came knocking at Capitol One's door which would have trickled down to me after I cashed that check? Thanks!

You made the correct decision (not cashing the check and contacting the bank). Someone would have realized $1900 was missing at some point and you would have been expected to pay it back.

Need a Lemon Law for Houses

I’m pretty sure I’m screwed, but I thought I’d check with experts just to make sure. I bought my first home in December of 2016. It’s the upper left unit of a fourplex. Home inspection went great, the place was built in 1976 but the previous owners did a lot of renovations and it’s a very contemporary home. A little backstory even though it may not be completely relevant... I’m a lady who has had no real home maintenance experience thus far as I’ve always rented previously and had landlords to handle things that went wrong, or lived with a significant other who fixed things. Also, I live in Anchorage, Alaska and the ground moves a lot between earthquakes and freezing/thawing each year. Anyhow, this summer I started noticing bulges in the ceiling where nails (screws?) were starting to poke through. It’s gotten noticeably worse as summer progressed into fall and winter. There are cracks all along where the ceiling meets the wall in almost every room, plus cracks along the ceiling from one wall to another in the hallway. My kitchen cabinets even don’t meet the ceiling anymore, there’s at least a half inch gap between them. Now that this has started happening, you can see where it was covered up previously. There are pieces of plaster falling down from the the cracks where the ceiling meets the wall. You can tell where someone threw a bunch of spackle and then painted over it in all of the seams because it doesn’t match the wall mudding. It’s pretty obvious that someone fixed it up just enough not to be noticeable while trying to sell the place. Since I am not very knowledgeable in regards to home ownership, I’m just wondering if I have any options here. Other than contacting a contractor and paying to have my ceiling fixed myself. Since the HOA pays for the roof, etc (basically everything outside my inside walls), I was only given renters insurance when I bought my home and I think that only covers my material possessions inside. Edit, I checked and I do have a “quality plus condominium” policy. Any help would be appreciated.

> Since the HOA pays for the roof, etc (basically everything outside my inside walls), I was only given renters insurance when I bought my home and I think that only covers my material possessions inside. You need to double-check this ASAP. Renter's insurance **is not** the proper policy for you. You need a homeowner's policy. Homeowner's policies for condos are different than single family homes but they're still homeowner's policies. A renter's policy **does not** cover the liabilities you have as a homeowner.

[FL] Can a individual who committed a traffic(criminal traffic) offense as a juvenile be treated as an adult if the proceeding lasts on past their 18th?

Florida. 17 year old male here. Have 15 or so open/unpaid traffic violations from the past year. Just got my 3rd knowingly drive on a suspended license charge and will be going to court for it. I have one more DWLS charge I'm still going to court for(judge is expecting me to get my license and possibly get the charge dropped/reduced by the state), I plan on at least getting a payment plan setup, however, even if I didn't just get another DWLS charge, I have so many infractions to where the points more than likely would DQ me anyway from un-suspending my license). License was originally suspended due to the amount of school absences I had. Impossible to get it the original suspension lifted until the age of 18 because of the fact that I was kicked out of school for having unrelated felony charges. Anyway, back to the point. Being that my current court proceedings are going to obviously last until my 18th birthday(I turn 18 on Jan 22nd -- next month), and to my understanding, since this is my 3rd DWLS conviction, it'll be upgraded to a felony, can that happen since I'll be an adult during the final court proceedings, and sentencing? I'm aware that any juvenile criminal offenses have to be dealt with in juvenile court as a juvenile unless it's been decided to charge the juvenile as an adult, but because all criminal traffic cases are dealt with in the same way(juvenile or not), I'm wondering if the judge is required to sentence an adult that committed the offense as a juvenile as a juvenile?

Is this the kind of life you want to set yourself up for at 17 years old?Answer #2: My legal advice is the same as that given by Jim Carrey to his client over the phone in Liar Liar.

Could copyrighting compromising selfies be a way to protect, or at least inhibit their distribution under penalty of law?

A recent post got me thinking that if you sent a SO naked or semi-clad selfies, and they were properly copyrighted, couldn't you at least make the argument that if that SO ever distributed them they would be met with considerable punitive measures? With the proliferation of that kind of media, I'm wondering if there isn't a way to at least offer some basic protection from unauthorized distribution. Thoughts?

All photos are automatically copyrighted by the photographer simply by virtue of taking them. Civil copyright law provides for damages, which really aren't "significant punitive measures" unless the photographer has evidence they actually lost money as a result of the violation. Copyrights also have to be registered before suing (not to have the rights themselves), which does take money and effort.

Washington State, Possible Dental Malpractice, Unsure If I Have A Case

Basically, I went to the dentist on XX/XX/XXXX date. Approximately 3 to 4 days later i developed a severe viral infection in my mouth that spread to other parts of my body. I was on vacation for the holidays in Minnesota so i went to an urgent care clinic and a PA diagnosed me with Coxsackie. He said that the corollary evidence suggested i contracted this infection at the dentist, given the timeline and incubation period of the virus. I am now stuck with an urgent care bill and a dental bill that i dont neccesarily feel like i should have to pay, IF the virus was caused by the dentist. I realize it will be hard to prove but what can i do to at least get the dentist to cover my bills? Do i have a case? I can provide more details if you like. Thank you for your time.

In any malpractice case, you have to prove that the doctor (dentist in your case) fell below the standard of care, which caused you harm. Usually, this requires that you be able to point to some specific act that, if done (or if not done), would have prevented your injuries. This is usually done with expert testimony. I'm not a doctor, but risk if infection seems like a pretty common side effect of any medical procedure. In order to see if you really have a case, you should consult with a medical malpractice attorney - specifically one who has experience with dental malpractice cases (they are a bit if a different animal from regular malpractice cases). This attorney will want to review your medical records to see if there is evidence if substandard care. Also, I don't know how high the bill is, but medic malpractice cases rely a lot on expert testimony, which can cost thousands of dollars. It may be that your damages simply don't merit the expense of a claim.

Moved to OH from CO 6 mo ago. Boss wants me to transport expensive car, 4hr drive. Haven't gotten OH license yet and lost my CO license last weekend. Am I legal to drive

My friend was pulled over 4/20 in OH with me in the passenger side. She had an expired license and was not allowed to drive away. He used my passport to confirm my identity, but said he couldn't let me drive her truck because he couldn't verify that I had a legal driver's license since my driver's license is still registered to CO (sounded like total BS to me). My boss wants me to drive a mercedes to Columbus next weekend. I would just go get a OH license, but I don't have a car right now and am not sure I will be able to get it done with my work schedule. I will be in the car for four hours there and back- I'd like to make sure that if something happens I am not going to have to leave the car stranded somewhere because police can't verify that I am a legal driver. Any advice? Topic: Traffic and Parking

If you have no drivers license currently and on your person, no, do not drive. And no, before someone asks *again*, using someone else's drivers license will not get you out of trouble, it'll just put you in even more trouble.

We took in a 18yr old so he could finish high school...not working out what are our legal obligations to evict. MN, Ramsey county

we never charged him rent/utilities. there was no string attached except that he attend school which he is not. So in essance he broke our verbal agreement. He was 18 when we took him in so never a minor. At what point is his left behind materials considered abandoned in which we can dispose/donate them and change the locks? If you have questions will provide info. Thanks in advance! No formal written agreement, how ever do have witness to verbal agreement. Topic: Landlord Tenant Housing

There are two possibilities, and it's not clear from your post which applies. If he moved out voluntarily, and left some stuff behind (as in hasn't been back in at least two weeks, and didn't tell you he would be on vacation), you can assume that he moved out. You still have an obligation to return his stuff, but you can change the locks & rearrange the room. If he is still lives there, you need to give him notice (30 days in Minnesota) that you are terminating his lease, and he needs to be out & have his stuff out at the end of it. If this is the case, you cannot change the lock or otherwise kick him out until the notice period is over. And after that you still need to follow eviction procedures.

Can my spouse refuse to let me back in? [VA]

Hi! Hampton Roads, VA My husband and I have been married seven years, and have a 3 year old together. Throughout our relationship, we have lived together in a house he owns. About four months ago, we started having problems and I began spending most nights at my mothers place, about an hour away. I also began seeing someone, and spending time at his place. About two months ago, my husband decided he wanted me back and we've been working on our relationship; so I've been splitting my time between my mom's house and our house. I also start a new job on Monday, minutes from our house; but the hours will make it impossible to drop out son at daycare if I try to do it from my mom's house. However, he just told me on Friday that he's now seeing someone and that I'm not welcome in our home anymore, and he will have the cops arrest me for trespassing if I come home, because I had moved out. We haven't had any kind of separation agreement or divorce hearing; no custody hearing or anything either. No court hearings at all. Will he really be able to keep me from coming home tonight? I know since the home is his, eventually he'll get it in the divorce. I just need a little more time to save up for a rental deposit and to find a new apartment nearby.

The cops aren't going to do shit. You're married and you live in the house. If he wants you out he can divorce you. You should hire yourself a divorce lawyer.

Would hitting someone for blowing smoke in your face be self defense?

As the title says, if someone blows smoke in your face (weed/vape/cigarettes) purposefully, would hitting them be an act of self defense? I know throwing liquid on someone is considered assault, so I'm wondering if the same is true for smoke.

I'd sure as hell not want to make that argument. It's a disproportionate response.

Who is at fault when a driver honks and a startled cyclist falls down and gets injured?

in BC, Canada

The cyclist. It's not reasonable to assume no one will Honk on the road

Landlord telling tenants we must pay for her chimney to be swept, must use a sweep of her choice

New York, upstate Today we received an email from our landlord of a list of maintenance people who will be coming into our house to service and install various things. This is a monthly thing so we just deal with it normally. The difference is this time she wants us to pay for half of the cost to have the chimney to the fireplace cleaned. Which a secondary source of heat during the winter because the furnace struggles to maintain the temperature during the winter. Backstory: A month ago I went over a few things with the landlord that needed to be looked at. One of them was that the air flow in the chimney didn't look good after being used all winter. She then scheduled a chimney sweep to come into our house to look at it (gave us one hour notice she was entering our home while we were at work and had to rush home to put the dogs away). The chimney sweep said yes it needed to be cleaned. I was told to coordinate a time for cleaning. I've been busy and haven't gotten to it in the last few weeks. In the email she says that the last tenant took care of it so we should to, but she is willing to cover half the cost the first year. We must use the chimney sweep she chose. I'm not sure how to reply to this, it isn't in our lease that we are responsible for maintnenance costs, in fact we had it taken out of our lease before signing. We haven't paid for any other maintenance related to the furnace breakdowns. We intend to give her 30 days notice of move out this week on a month to month lease because of the constant issues and cost and are afraid she will try to take this out of our deposit. Are we actaully responsible for the chimney? What should we do if she takes this out of our deposit next month? Thanks Topic: Landlord Tenant Housing

> The difference is this time she wants us to pay for half of the cost to have the chimney to the fireplace cleaned. Is this part of your lease? If not, tell her to go pound sand. If she tries to take it out of your deposit, take her to court. Answer #2: Tell her you won't pay for anything you didn't agree to pay in your lease. You're also not responsible for paying to fix her car, her dental bill, or anything else you didn't agree to pay.

[IA] I just got a letter from half of my complicated landlord situation essentially telling me I need to move out one month before the end of my lease or she'll evict, yet she has no grounds.

So I got back in town from a vacation to find a letter from the woman who owns my house in my mailbox. I say "woman who owns my house" because she both is and isn't my landlord. I rent a house from a woman who is going through legal problems of her own, and its actually her mother I pay my rent to, as per the lease we both signed. To spare you the details, she was very behind on house payments, so her mother bailed her out but said they are renting out the house and she and her kids would move in with the mother. So, back to the present, I am in very good standing with the mother. I have never missed a payment, and have taken care of the place. I don't sell drugs, I'm not a danger to anyone, and again I have never missed a rent payment. She has no grounds to evict me just because she wants the house back, correct? Also quick edit: she of course included in the note "Please contact me. NOT my mother. She is NOT the owner. I am." so. yeah.

Does it state a reason? Don't ignore it--talk to your landlord. Explain that you have another month on the lease, and that you can't be evicted early without cause. If she wants you out early, you can agree on a buyout price.Answer #2: I’d ignore them, it takes far longer than 30 days to evict someone. They want you out a month early. You’ll be gone before the case even goes to court. I doubt the court would even waste time with it.Answer #3: She can't just kick you out, she would need to file eviction paperwork and take you to court. It takes months to do that. You are fine for now. Talk to the person you signed your lease with. That is the only person, legally, you care about now.