You and the law
Edition: Rev. ed.
Publisher: The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.
Published: 1973
Place of publication: Pleasantville, New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 863
Subjects: Law; Popular works
Work titles: Reader's Digest
Table of contents: title: What is the law? : Where our law comes from : The early background of our legal system ; The common law ; Our federal system. How are laws are made and enforced : Our constitutions: basic laws ; The executive ; The legislature ; Federal courts ; State and local courts ; Administrative agencies. Written laws and records : Statutes, regulations and decisions ; Personal and business records. The lawyers and the courts : Where lawyers fit in ; The adversary proceeding-cornerstone of our system; title: ^; title: Your personal rights and obligations : Your rights as a citizen : What makes you an United States citizen ; Sources of your rights as a citizen of the United States ;Your right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press ; Your right to freedom of assembly ; Your right to freedom of religion ; Your right to vote ; Your right to hold public office ; Your right to keep and bear arms ; Your right to individual privacy ; Your right to full enjoyment of your property ; Your right to equal protection of the law ; Your right or privilege against self-incrimination ; Your right to due process of the law ; Your right to habeas corpus ; Your right against double jeopardy ; Your right to a jury trial. Limitation and suspension of your rights : Curfew ; Martial law ; Other suspensions of your rights ; When you must help the police. Your obligation as a citizen : Making the system work; title: ^; title: Your protection against wrongs : What a tort is and how it differs from crime : Differences between torts and crimes ; Elements of a tort ; Who can be held responsible for committing a tort ; Who may not be liable in tort actions. Intentional interference with your personal rights : Interference with your freedom of movement ; Misuse of the legal process ; Interference with your person ; Interference with your peace of mind ; Interference with your privacy ; Interference with your reputation. Intentional interferences with your property rights : Nuisances and what to do about them ; Keeping others off your property ; The misuse of your personal property ; Interference with your contractual and business relationships ; Fraud, deceit and misrepresentation.^; title: If you are sued: defenses of privilege : When you are the defendant ; If you acted in error ; If you acted with consent ; If you acted to defend yourself or others ; If you acted to defend your property ; If you acted to maintain order. Accidental interference with your personal or property rights : Unintentional interference with your rights ; What negligence is ; How careful you must be ; Unavoidable accidents ; Standards of care required of owners and occupiers if land ; Your duty to others who come onto your property ; When negligence is obvious. Defenses against negligence suits : Assumption of risks ; Contributory negligence and comparative negligence ; Last clear chance. Liability imposed by statute : The changing law of torts ; When you are injured on the job ; When you buy faulty merchandise ; Who is responsible- merchant or manufacturer ; The importance of liability.^; title: Righting the wrong: various remedies available to you : Measuring your money damages ; Getting back your property ; Putting a stop to undesirable acts ; The importance of insurance ; The cost of a lawsuit. What to do when a tort has been committed : Getting in touch with your lawyer ; The advantages of settlement ; Arbitrating your case ; Choosing the right court ; The summons and complaint ; The defendant's answer- his defenses. When you go to court : The participants and their roles ; Preliminary steps ; The plaintiff's burden of proof ; Presentation of evidence ; The decision and judgment ; Appealing the court's decision ; Enforcing the judgment; title: Your protection against crime and criminal charges : Basic things you should know about criminal law : What a crime is ; Classification of crimes or offenses ; Parties to crimes: principles, accessories and accomplices ; Crime and responsibility.; title: Offenses against judicial authority, public justice and the general welfare : Treason ; Conspiracy ; Sedition ; Contempt ; Perjury ; Escape and associated crimes ; Your duty to help police ; Probation, parole and bail ; Compounding a crime ; Extortion and blackmail ; Criminal libel ; Forgery ; Counterfeiting ; Bribery ; Misconduct in office ; Interference with a jury ; Obstruction of justice ; Disturbing the peace ; Unlawful assembly ; Riot ; Forcible entry and detainer ; Weapons laws ; Vagrancy ; Bigamy ; Adultery ; Incest ; Other sex offenses. Crime against your person : Homicide ; Murder ; Manslaughter and lesser killings ; Suicide ; Rape ; Abortion ; Assault and battery ; Mayhem ; Kidnapping. Crimes against real property : Arson ; Vandalism ; Burglary. Crimes involving personal property : Larceny ; Robbery ; Receiving stolen property ; Embezzlement ; Obtaining property by false pretenses.^; title: Defenses to criminal charges : Infancy or immaturity ; Coercion ; Mistake of law ; Mistake of fact ; Duress ; Necessity ; Consent ; Insanity ; Drunkenness ; Narcotics use ; Defenses to homicide ; If you acted to prevent a crime ; If you acted in self-defense. Basic things you should know about criminal procedure : The court system ; Rights of the accused ; Arrest and arraignment ; The grand jury and indictment ; The trial and presentation of evidence ; The charge, verdict and sentence ; Motions after trial and appeal ; Essentials of criminal procedures; title: ^; title: Your personal property, contracts and purchases : Your right to own, enjoy and dispose of personal property : What property is ; Acquisition and legal protection of personal property ; Lost, abandoned, misplaced and found property. Patents, trade secrets, copyrights and trademarks : Patents and "design patents" ; The law of trade secrets ; Trademarks and trade names ; Literary property and copyright ; International copyright.^; title: Contracts : The promises men live by ; What a contract is ; Oral and written contracts ; Express and implied contracts ; Why written contracts are better ; Unilateral and bilateral contracts ; Voidable and unenforceable contracts ; Essentials of an enforceable contract ; The importance of assent ; Consideration of the promise ; Legal capacity of parties to a contract: minors and other incompetents ; Legal capacity of corporations ; Lawful object of a contract ; Performing the contract on time ; When contracts must be in writing ; How contracts are discharged ; When a contract is broken ; Remedies for breach of contract ; Defenses to actions for breach of contract.^; title: Sale and purchase of goods : When you buy or sell ; Who has title or ownership ; Methods of shipment and liability for loss ; What happens if the seller doesn't own the goods ; What happens if the goods you buy are of poor quality ; Mail order and door-to-door sales ; Injury from defective products ; Installment or time or credit sales ; Legal remedies of the buyer ; Legal remedies of the seller ; Government protection of consumers. Use and protection of property you entrust to others : What a bailment is ; Conversion ; Responsibility for loaned or borrowed personal property ; Responsibility for rented or leased personal property ; Responsibility for property left for cleaning or repair ; Responsibility for property left in checkrooms ; Responsibility for property left in storage or safekeeping ; Responsibility for property in transit ; Responsibility for property of guests in hotels ; Responsibility for personal property left in pledge or pawn; title: ^; title: Your automobile : Owning an automobile : Buying and selling automobiles ; Financing your automobile ; Keeping up payments if your car is destroyed or stolen ; Selling or buying a car on which payments are still owed ; Required automobile insurance ; Registration of automobiles ; Out-of-state registration certificates and license plates ; Your obligation to maintain a mechanically safe automobile ; Warranties on new cars and replacement of parts ; Warranties on used cars ; Warranties on parts and tires ; Dealing with the automobile mechanic. Operating your automobile : License to drive ; Traffic rules and regulations ; Local traffic ordinances and driving regulations ; Driving with due care ; Reckless driving ; Traffic laws for pedestrians ; Your legal defense against traffic violation charges ;; title: What not to do when charged with a traffic violation ; Suspension or revocation of your driver's license ; Speed traps ; Vehicular homicide ; Driving when you know you are ill ; Driving while intoxicated ; Ownership and operation of motorcycles ; Ownership and operation of automobile. Automobile accidents : Hit-and-run accidents ; If you are involved in an accident ; Don'ts after a major accident ; The possibility of hidden injuries ; Filling out the accident report ; Accidents involving out-of-state cars or drivers ; Legal action that can be taken against the driver after an accident ; When to consult a lawyer after an accident.^; title: Liability and damage claims arising from automobile accidents : Negligence and liability ; Measuring damages ; Unavoidable accidents ; Accidents caused by the conditions of the road ; Accidents caused by-pedestrians ; Accidents caused by the condition of the car ; Accidents caused by the condition of the driver ; Accidents in which more than one person is at fault ; Liability when driving your own car ; Liability when driving a borrowed car ; Liability when driving a rented car ; Liability when driving an employer's vehicle ; Liability of members of your family driving your car ; Liability of guests in your car ; Liability to paying passengers ; Special rules of liability involving children ; Out-of-court settlement ; When you need a lawyer ; When the insurance company may not defend you. Automobile insurance : Proof of negligence vs.^; title: no-fault auto insurance ; Types of automobile insurance ; Financial responsibility laws ; How much insurance you need ; Factors that affect your insurance costs ; Cancellation of your insurance ; Selecting your automobile insurance company ; Dealing with your insurance company and claims adjuster ; What to do if your car is stolen; title: ^; title: Your home, apartment and real estate : Renting your home or apartment: relations between landlord and tenant : What it means to rent ; Dealing with the rental agent ; What's in your lease ; Once you're in- your rights and obligations as a tenant ; Breaking your lease ; When the landlord can evict you ; When your lease runs out. Buying your home : When you look for a home ; The role of the real estate broker ; When and why you need a lawyer ; The real estate binder ; The contract ; The deposit and escrow ; The importance of your deed ; Possible defects in your title ; Insuring your title ; Rights and duties of the buyer and the seller ; Other considerations between contract and closing ; The closing: when ownership changes ; The closing costs. Your home mortgage : What a mortgage is ; Kinds of home mortgages ; The provisions of your mortgage ; Buying the property that already carries a mortgage.^; title: Building your own home or buying a newly built home : Before you build ; What the architect does for you ; Dealing with the builder ; Buying a development house. Ways you may lose your home : If your mortgage is foreclosed ; If your property is condemned ; If your taxes are delinquent ; If you fall into debt ; If your property is used or occupied by others. Homeowners and the law : Your rights as a homeowner ; Your duties as a homeowner ; Your real estate taxes ; Your wife's ownership rights; title: ^; title: Your family : Courtship, engagement and marriage : Legal aspects of adolescent dating ; Engagement to marry and breach-of-promise suits ; What happens to the gifts when an engagement is broken ; Common-law marriages ; Who may marry ; At what age may you marry ; How to get married ; The domicile. Relations between husbands and wives : The marriage contract ; The rights and duties of husbands and wives ; Property rights of husbands and wives ; The husband's responsibility for his wife's debts ; Lawsuits.^; title: Relations between parents and children and schools : Rights of unborn children ; Rights of minors ; When a child is legitimate ; Parents' right to discipline children ; Parents' obligation to support legitimate children ; Support of an adopted child ; Support of an illegitimate child ; Care of neglected or deserted children ; Suits by children for injury or death of a parent ; Recourse for injuries inflicted by your children ; Parents' responsibility for damage and injuries by children ; The obligation to educate children ; Rights of schools and teachers to discipline children ;; title: The school's financial liability for injuries to students ; If your child wants to get a job ; Parents' rights to their children's earnings ; Debts, contracts, lawsuits of minors ; Property rights of minors. When children get in trouble with the law : Legal status of minors who do wrong ; Preliminary investigation of juvenile offenders ; Juvenile court procedure ; Punishment of juvenile offenders ; Treatment of wayward minors and youthful offenders. Guardianship and adoption : When children need legal guardians ; Relations between legal guardians and wards ; Trustees of children's property ; The meaning of adoption ; The importance of a lawyer in adoption proceedings ; Where adopted children come from ; Who may adopt a child ; Legal steps in adopting a child ; Private adoption vs. agency adoption of children ; The danger of adopting a "black market" baby ; When adoption may be revoked ; Adoption of adults.^; title: Your obligations to relatives other than your children : Support of your impoverished relatives ; Legal protection of physically and mentally incompetent relatives ; Commitment of the insane and mental incompetents ; Discharge from mental hospitals. If your marriage is in trouble : When things go wrong ; Some basic definitions ; Separation ; Annulment ; Divorce ; Getting a divorce ; Kinds of divorce decrees ; The defense of condonation ; Collusion ; Alimony and other kinds of property settlement ; Children of divorce; title: ^; title: You job, profession or business; your social security : Your job, employer and wages : Your right to work ; Minimum age requirements for employment ; Wage and hour laws ; Laws concerning employee safety and working conditions ; Unfair labor practices ; Insurance required of employers ; The law of employer and employee ; The employer's rights and duties ; The employee's rights and duties ; Who has an interest in your wages ; Civil service jobs ; Household help. Your job and labor unions : The role of the labor union ; Who must join a union ; Getting into a union- and staying in ; Management actions that affect your union ; Strikes and other union actions that affect you ; Strikes by public workers ; Court action by the public in strikes. Your job as a self-employed artisan : Artisans who usually require licenses ; The artisan's obligations to his customers ; The customer's protection against the artisan ; The artisan's protection against his customers.^; title: Your job as a salesman or agent; dealing with agents : Agents and principles ; Third parties. Your profession : The special status of professionals ; Medicine and related professions ; Law ; Architecture ; Professional engineering ; Accounting ; Teaching. Your business : The three basic forms of business ; The individual ownership ; The partnership ; The corporation ;Your rights as a stockholder ; Your business records ; Taxes on your business ; Terminating a business ; Selling your business ; Bankruptcy ; Dissolving a partnership ; Dissolving a corporation.^; title: Your social security and financial protection : How the government protects your social welfare ; Who is covered by social security ; Social security and the self-employed ; When you are "fully insured" under social security ; Checking your social security account ; How to claim your social security benefits ; Your old-age benefits ; Disability benefits under social security ; Your wife's (or husband's) benefits ; Collecting on separate accounts ; Your children's benefits ; Your survivors' benefits ; Medicare- what it is ; Your hospital insurance benefits under Medicare ; Your medical insurance benefits under Medicare ; Medicaid ; Workmen's compensation ; Non-occupational disability insurance ; Collecting unemployment insurance.^; title: Your veterans' rights : Veterans' rights under the GI bill ; Veterans' rights to their former jobs ; Your GI home loan guarantee ; Veterans' hospital and medical care ; Compensation and pensions for disabled veterans ; Social security and other benefits and the income tax; title: Your money, credit and investments : Your money, bank accounts and checks : What money is ; Your checking account ; Cashier's checks ; Certified checks ; Check clearance ; Endorsements ; Forgery ; Saving accounts ; Federal deposit insurance. Your credit and personal loans : How the law affects credit ; Unsecured loans ; Pawnbroker's loans ; Mortgage loans ; Chattel mortgages ; Life insurance loans ; Interest ; Charge accounts and credit cards.; title: When you can't pay: insolvency and bankruptcy : Your duty to pay ; Insolvency ; Legal proceedings against a debtor ; Favored creditors ; Steps a debtor can take ; Assignment for the benefit of creditors ; Composition with creditors ; Bankruptcy ; Filing the petition in bankruptcy ; Rights and duties of creditors ; Role of the trustee in bankruptcy ; The discharge in bankruptcy ; Advantages of the bankruptcy laws. If you invest your money : Protecting the value of your money ; Savings accounts as an investment ; Certificates of time deposit ; Federal bonds ; State and municipal bonds ; Stocks, bonds and mutual funds ; Common stock ; Preferred stock ; Convertible preferred stock ; Convertible bonds ; Voting rights of common-stock holders ; Legal protection for investors; title: ^; title: Your insurance : The nature of insurance : What insurance is ; Roles of insurance agents and brokers ; When your protection starts ; Dealing with the insurance claim adjuster ; Your recourse against the insurance company ; Government-administered insurance. Insurance on home and property : Fire insurance ; Burglary, robbery and theft insurance ; Floaters; title: ^; title: all-risk policies for personal property ; Floater insurance on personal effects ; Making a claim for property insurance ; How much you can recover from the insurance company ; Comprehensive home insurance policies ; Postal insurance ; Insurance rights and obligations under a mortgage. Casualty and liability insurance : Personal liability insurance ; General liability insurance ; Types of business insurance required by law ; Other insurance that businesses should have ; Rights and responsibilities under liability insurance ; Automobile liability insurance.^; title: Life and retirement insurance : Whose life may be insured ; Types of life insurance ; Life insurance for veterans and GIs ; Life insurance policies issued by banks ; Ownership and beneficiary provisions ; Premiums and dividends on life insurance ; Borrowing against life insurance ; Cancellation and reinstatement of life insurance ; Life insurance trusts ; Retirement insurance ; Fraternal insurance contracts and burial insurance ; Life insurance in business situations ; If you misrepresent your age or state of health in your life insurance application ; Suicide ; Making a claim on life insurance.^; title: Insurance against sickness and accident : Understanding your health or accident insurance policy ; Group insurance plans ; Making a claim on your group insurance ; Private health insurance policies ; Major medical insurance ; Private accident insurance policies ; Private disability income insurance ; Making a claim on your private health insurance policies ; Social security and Medicare ; Workmen's compensation laws; title: ^; title: Your estate, will, and death : Making your will : The importance of your will ; When to make your will ; A wife's duty to make a will ; Types of wills ; Restrictions on your rights to make a will ; Making sure your will really says what you mean it to ; Disinheriting members of your family ; Property you cannot dispose of in your will ; The importance of a lawyer when you make a will ; Information your lawyer needs in drawing up your will ; Format and contents of your will ; Disposing of your property in your will ; Disposing of real estate in your will ; Bequeathing legacies in your will ; Making charitable and educational bequests ; Providing for your wife or husband in your will ; Providing for your children, grandchildren and other relatives in your will ; What happens to your estate if you and your wife die simultaneously ; The advantages of leaving your estate in trust ; Providing for payment of burial expenses,^; title: taxes and debts ; Appointing executors of your will ; Appointing trustees in your will ; Appointing guardians in your will ; Disposition of your life insurance proceeds ; How to change or revoke your will ; If all or part of your will and other important papers ; Keeping your will up to date. If you die without making a will : The meaning and dangers of intestacy ; Court appointment of an administrator ; Court appointment of guardians ; The laws if intestate distribution ; When husband and wife are separated or divorced ; Inheritance rights of legitimate children ; Inheritance rights of stepchildren ; Inheritance rights of adopted children ;; title: Inheritance rights if illegitimate children ; Inheritance rights of grandchildren ; Inheritance rights of parents, brothers and sisters ; Inheritance rights of other relatives ; Inheritance of intestate's share of joint property and community property ; Inheritance in the case of simultaneous death ; Inheritance in case of murder or manslaughter ; When the state may inherit property. Taxes on your estate : The tax bite on estates ; Death tax rate and regulation changes ; Computing your gross estate ; Federal estate tax returns ; State inheritance tax returns ; Exemptions and deductions from federal estate taxes ; Credits allowed against federal estate taxes ; State taxes on estates ; Which state collects the tax ; The importance of estate planning ; The right to minimize estate taxes ; Ways to protect your estate from death taxes ; Money for taxes and immediate expenses after death.^; title: The disposition of your estate : "Proving" your death ; Proving your will ; What happens to your estate if you die intestate ; What is required of executors and administrators ; What the executor does ; Rights of executors and administrators ; Duties of executors and administrators ; What to consider in choosing your executor ; If you are named executor ; When and how the heirs get what's coming to them ; What it costs to administer the estate. When death occurs: burial and duties of the family : Keeping your head in time of sorrow ; First things to do after a death- a checklist ; Death certificates ; Filing the death certificate ; Disposal of the body ; Disposal of organs for medical purposes ; Cemetery plots ; The laws of cremation ; Costs of private burial or cremation ; Burial of veterans and members of the armed forces; title: ^; title: Your lawyer : A little about your lawyer : Historical role of the lawyer ; Kinds of lawyers. When to consult a lawyer : When a lawyer is essential ; Why a family lawyer is desirable ; When you may not need a lawyer ; When you should consult a lawyer. How to find a lawyer : If you can't afford a lawyer ; Finding a lawyer- sources of information ; Choosing your lawyer ; Lawyers who are specialists. How much-and how-to pay your lawyer : The sensitive subject of fees ; Basic fees and expenses ; Paying by the hour ; The retainer ; Contingent fees ; If you are not satisfied. Working with your lawyer : Your confidential relationship with your lawyer ; Giving your lawyer the facts ; Taking your lawyer's advice ; Respecting your lawyer's time ; When you don't understand something ; Legal ethics and disbarment ; Practicing law without a license ; When a lawyer breaks the law ; Legal malpractice suits.^; title: How to become a lawyer : Preparing for a legal education ; Applying to a law school ; What our law schools teach ; Practical experience while you are in law school ; State bar examinations ; Getting started in private practice ; Legal jobs with government ; Clerking for a state or federal judge ; Teaching law ; Public service jobs ; Where you may practice. In closing: the lawyer in our society.