Title: I am being reverse blackmailed by my doctor and my cousin and girlfriend

Question:
**TL; DR at the bottom. Feel free to skip this background story.**

I am 22 now, and my gf is 21. She is pregnant with our child and very recently pregnant. We are both substance users (but we both plan to quit).

In an unrelated story, my doctor is my cousin's friend's father. This gets complicated here. My cousin, Johan, and said friend, Tom, did something extraordinarily socially not acceptable and illegal. No one is dead or raped, but in this society, they might have several years for it. I know of it by chance. I confronted Johan about what I know, and he confirmed it, but then told me that Tom's father is in on it and does several other not related illegal things.

Thus, this leads us to the first blackmailing. Tom's father does not know that Johan knows or that Johan is my cousin or that Johan and Tom did that thing. I was careful not to make any explicit agreement with Tom's father, but essentially, I was able to obtain a good amount of drugs.

In this time, Johan, Tom, and I use almost every prescription drug with what we considered of recreational value. My use of stimulants was getting chronic, and I started using meth. Pharma meth is not often prescribed, and both Johan and I were nervous about insurance picking up on how much we were prescribed and the variety of that. I started using street meth, and I was using fentanyl then and Roxycodone and Xanax already.

Now going back to pregnant gf, Julia. Julia started using meth when I use meth. She only uses meth and Xanax and sometimes MDMA but never opioids. Note that all this is only possible because Johan and I are implicitly blackmailing Tom's father.

Tom's father is actually a psycho for real. He morally has no problem with this arrangement, but he does not like the risk that Johan and I pose.

Now at this time, he knows that Johan is friends with Tom. And furthermore, he found out my relationship with Johan, and then found out about Julia. This is where we have reverse blackmailing.

There's a more complicated outer story that I don't understand very well, but essentially he can reverse blackmail me by having something on Julia (information that he obtained illegally I assume).

Also, he is now free to not prescribe my anything, but what he has on Julia and me won't affect Johan, so he'll continue to give Johan what he wants and continues to let me have roxycodone and Xanax (I assume he's hoping for accidental overdose.)

Johan doesn't care about Julia though he cares that I care for her I hope. Johan wants me to essentially betray Julia and not do what Tom's father wants, which Julia wants me to do.. This is where we have third blackmail. What he wants me to do is legally risky, and I would say I have a 65% chance of being caught. It's not something very bad or harmful to other people or morally wrong, but I just don't want to be saying it here.

I know I'm fucked. I've seen some of the threads here, and you all don't need to tell me. If I am caught, will the fact that I was blackmailed reduce legal repercussions? Also, what would be the best way to keep Julia out of any legal fallout that might occur? Johan and I have documented Tom's father's bullshit very well, so we have solid evidence of some shit he has done, and I have documented Tom's father blackmailing me. I suspect Tom's father knows that I will potentially be caught and is therefore asking me to do this. He has what he has on Julia, so he knows I won't tell law enforcement about him. Essentially, carrying this out is allowing myself to go to prison. However, things may change that will allow me to tell law enforcement about him, but this will only occur after I am potentially caught. This, is there any best move I can make?

**tl;dr:**i first blackmailed my doctor to prescribed me drugs I wanted, but then he reverse blackmailed me, and now I'm forced to carry out some task where I will likely be caught and sentenced to prison. What options do I have?

Answer:
 This sub does not give advice on how to break the law. The only real advice that can be given is to:

1.) Stop using drugs. Seriously.

2.) Your pregnant GF needs to stop doing drugs like yesterday.

3.) Stop breaking the law. This most definitely includes blackmail.

4.) Consult a criminal defense attorney, tell them everything, and let them sort it out. Be prepared for them to suggest you confess to the police in exchange for a lighter sentence, along with a need to testify against the doctor.Answer #2: Children adopted into stable homes have statistical outcomes almost as good as children born into those homes, in case anyone gives a shit about what's best for the baby.


Title: Employee at a large mobile carrier only handed me contracts at the signing screen

Question:
I recently upgraded my phone with my mobile carrier and they had a deal going where I could get a smart watch added for 1/2 price, around $7 more a month so I took that. Imagine my shock when my bill comes and I find out that my bill is about 60% more than it should be. Turns out that one of the agreements I signed wasn't what it was presented as, and as this company does all their signing and contract agreements on an iPad the agent would hand them to me saying this is for X and it would already be on the signing screen with no obvious way to return to the contract. It turned out that one of the contracts was for a data plan for the smart watch which left me on the hook for an extra $45, is there any form of legal action I could take?
Topic:
Consumer Law

Answer: “I’m sorry but I need to read this before I sign it. How do you go back a screen?”


Title: UPDATE and a question : (FL)DCFS is very insistent on my cousin living with me but I can't care for him.

Question:
https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/57mk0u/fl_dcfs_is_very_insistent_on_my_cousin_living/

They brought my cousin around in one of the attempts to get me to take him. When she asked him if he wanted to live with me his answer was "nope, never". That seemed to seal the deal for them on that issue.

But now the DCFS worker that was so insistent seems to think lying about my income as an excuse not to take him. She mentioned having the IRS take a look at my taxes. Does the IRS even listen to random pushy DCFS workers? Would it cost me anything if they do? I'm not hiding money and I don't lie on my taxes.

Answer:
 > Does the IRS even listen to random pushy DCFS workers?

no

i'd be tempted to file a written complaint with the county and state heads of dcfs reporting this, but probably better to just document the threats, and ignore them

if she shows up at your door again, call the copsAnswer #2: They can push and cajole you all they want, but there is nothing CPS can do to make you take a child. Continue saying no and continue elevating to CPS management. Answer #3: I got downvoted for expressing this view on your original thread, and I expect I will again, but I'm glad your cousin got input into the process. It was really disturbing to see all that arguing about what would be best for him, coming from a position of ignorance about his actual concerns and needs.

For your tax question, the worst outcome - if the case worker somehow does convince the IRS to audit you - would still not be that bad: they'd ask for your old bank statements and paystubs, realize everything you said was truthful, and move on. The IRS doesn't have the resources to keep bothering people without some reason to think they've done something wrong.


Title: [IL] what rights does someone with IBS have in the workplace? Nearest bathroom is 1/4 mile away and my boss is getting on my case.

Answer: Restrooms must be reasonably accessible to workers. A 1/4 mile doesn't sound reasonable. If this isn't an exaggeration, that is a workplace violation.


Title: Mail Order BDSM

Question:
I'm in Washington State but I may be moving to Colorado. I was browsing the web late at night and came across a site called filipinocupid.com .  I'm not sure if this site counts as a mail order bride site because its setup as a regular dating site like OKCupid with the only difference it is setup for people who want to date a woman of Filipino descent.

For a long time, I have had a sexual fantasy of having a really hot foreign maid live with me, cook for me, clean up after me, and be willing to have dominance and submission roleplaying  and other sexual acts with me. It's sort of a fetish about having a beautiful girl be  my own sexual slave (not a real sex slave but a girl who will roleplay as one in the bedroom in a BDSM type of way).

I also like to  follow the law and I try to avoid getting into grey areas with the law. Hypothically  If I were to ask one of these girls that I met on filipinocupid.com if they would want to enter into the type of relationship I just mentioned is there any way it could be seen as human trafficking under the law? And is there anywhere in this plan where I would run into legal trouble? Could this been as coerce in any way ? If I were to do this I would be very open from the beginning with the girl about what my intentions are.

Answer:
 Just sounds pretty risky for the reward, especially with potential immigration and prostitution problems.

Why not check out fetlife or other bdsm social sites to see if there's people in your area who'd be up for being your maid?


Title: [Indiana] Is this child abuse / neglect?

Question: A family friend of mine has three children, and has made little to no effort in raising her children. The one I’m concerned about the most is the middle child, who is approaching 4 and still is not potty trained and only speak a handful of words. He’s been tested, and there’s nothing medically wrong with him as to hinder that; his mother simply doesn’t work with him. She’s made no effort to help him, and has made no indication to do so in the immediate future. Since I would personally consider this to be ignoring a child’s educational and social needs, would this be considered child neglect and/or grounds for government intervention?

Answer:
 The comment pattern at this moment frustrates me. While the upvoted answer to contact CPS is not wrong, as they are generally the arbitors of what is and is not neglect.

However, a CPS WORKER, u/napalmenator, is downvoted -3 at this moment, and is entirely right. There is no law that says one must educate or socialize a toddler/preschooler. The child is presumably fed, clothed, bathed, and not abused physically or sexually.

Being a lousy parent is not illegal to charge a parent as abusive or neglectful, nor remove a child from the home. You should contact CPS if you are concerned, but in this situation, I would not be surprised if they do not intervene. They may offer support such ss parenting courses, but if the child is physically well, the mother is not going to lose him for what you describe. Answer #2: No. A parent is not required by law to educate a 4 yr old nor socialize them.

Now, if this state is caused by something else (locking kids in closets, treating them like animals) then THAT would be abuse.

But, not getting services for a delayed child is not illegal. The child can access services once they get to school.

Being a shitty parent is not illegal.


Title: Are these kinds of things enforceable at work? WA State

Question:
WA State. Tacoma City.

I started my second job today and saw these in the employee handbook. Just curious if it's okay for places to do this or not, no real idea myself.

Edit: forget the pics because I have a bagel for a brain.

http://m.imgur.com/a/TxlWq

Answer: The fines are not legal.


Title: So I tapped someone at a stop light yesterday, and by tapped, I mean tapped, probably less than $100 damage combined, now she is claiming she was injured, should I get an attorney?

Question:
There is no possible way she could have been injured, I was going less than 5 miles an hour when I tapped her, my truck has 1 very tiny little dent on the number, her bumper popped out of the clip a little bit, other than that, not so much as a scratch

She didn’t even want to take my insurance information at first, there were no police called, so no report filed, she got out and walked to the back of the car, and I watched her drive away

Do I have any options at this point?

Edit: this was in Pittsburgh PA
Topic:
Insurance

Answer:
 Let your insurance handle it, it's what you pay them for.

If she is injured, they will handle it up to your policy limits.

If she isn't, they're better at sorting out that BS than you are.


Title: How to depositions work and why can't you plead the 5th?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: You can always plead the fifth if you have cause to do so.  The fifth isn't a blanket "I don't want to testify" right - it's only in those situations where your answer may incriminate you.


Title: Is it legal for my employer to use my personal time (PTO) without my permission?

Question: I live and work in Rhode Island.  I noticed yesterday that my employer deducted 6 hours of my personal time (PTO) on Christmas, when the store is closed and neither I nor any other employee works.  I don't yet have access to my pay stub to check whether or not I was actually paid for this deduction, but I did not request to use this time to be paid.  When they changed the PTO policy in the spring of 2016 we were told we would no longer get paid for holidays and instead earn extra PTO.  They never said they would be using our PTO to pay us for this, or any other, holiday.  I'm just trying to get a basic understanding of whether or not this is legal so I have that information when I speak to a manager about this.

Answer: Not a lawyer but: It may have been an automatic payout at the end of the year. Some states require this by law. You may have just lost it at the end of the year. That's legal in some states.Answer #2: It's not "your" vacation in the sense you think it is. It's pay you're entitled to, but you don't have absolute control over it. An employer can decide to pay you paid leave even over your objection.Answer #3: What does your employee handbook say about paid time off? People post here all the time without actually reading or posting what it says


Title: Landlord trying to sue me for the contract I broke.

Question:
Hello everyone,

I want some real help on this problem. If you're going to come in here and give vague advice or point me to a link that will provide no specific advice, then don't bother commenting.

Also, this thread is not for telling me about the mistakes I made. What's done is done, so let's move on.

Story: I moved into this house in Aug 2014. I moved out without contacting the landlord in Jan 2015. I paid rent for Jan 2015 as well.

**I'm in Kansas

Rent was $300.

My mistake is coming back to bite me in the ass now. The landlord is telling me that he is going to sue me for the rent I owed plus all of the accrued late fees. In the contract he wrote that late fees were $10/day late. So he's saying he wants to sue me for somewhere around $15,000 - 20,000. The amount I had still owed him would have been about $2000. He is also saying that he will be garnishing my wages for the next 5 years.

I'm a broke college dude. I literally have nothing under my name. He sent me terms to settle the debt. He wanted about $2500 to cover his attorney fees and the utilities he was paying for me. I'm not sure why he would be covering my utilities though. I was renting a room in a four bedroom house. One of our other roommates skipped out and we were stuck paying her utilities. He also didn't pursue her.

I honestly would love to settle with the guy. I know what I did was wrong, and he deserves his money. He just won't negotiate with me. He drives a nice truck, so I honestly think he is just being a dick about this whole thing.

Questions:
Is he actually able to sue a tenant for $15,000? Can't those fees be considered unrealistic, thus negligible?

How can I know if he really is going to sue me or not?

Basically... WHAT CAN I DO TO NOT BE SUED FOR A BAJILLION DOLLARS!??

Hopefully one of you expert peeps can give me some advice!

Thanks!!!

TL;DR
If you're down here reading this, then you will not be able to give any sort of advice to me. Sorry!

Answer: Late fees of $10/day are almost certainly unenforceable.   Liquidated damages (where the contract specifies a measure of damage) have to be reasonable good faith estimates of what the actual harm is.  It cannot cost $10/day to handle a late-paying tenant account.  The entire late fee should be void as an unconscionable penalty. Take that into account when settling.


Title: I've won my civil court case! The loser appeals. I can't afford to pay a lawyer to fight the appeal... what happens now?

Answer: A case that has already won before a jury is highly likely to generate some sort payout, even if the amount the jury awarded is somewhat reduced through appeal. Your lawyer's not going to want to kill the golden goose, talk to them about working out a deferred payment until after the appeal is heard & the settlement is payed. Your lawyer might also try negotiating a settlement with the losing party for less than the initial award, in exchange for dropping the appeal.


Title: What is the statuary rape laws for washington state for two consenting minors?

Question: For example, if two 14-year-olds both consented to sex, would it be illegal? They are both minors but I do not know if there is a Romeo and Juliet law that would make it legal cause they are of similar age.

Answer: Neither can consent to sex.


Title: Due to an incident my mother lost custody of me, and CPS lost all my documents when custody was transfered to my father. What can I do to get replacements.

Question:
When I was thirteen, CPS took me and my brother and gave our fathers custody.

My brother got all his paperwork, no problem.

But CPS lost my birth certificate, Social, and half of my vaccination records.

I was able to get a copy of my birth certificate, and a photos can of my social. After a few months of my father and stepmother trying to get my official documents, my caseworker quit, closed the case, and told them only I could get them when I turned 18.

When I did I got a replacement social, but turns out it's already in use by someone in Colorado or someplace. Because of that I couldn't sign up for health care, until my job provided it. Now I'm trying to build up credit but am ineligible due toy social.

Is there any way I could get a different #?

Answer:
 There is effectively zero chance that someone else is "using" your social because, at some point during your life, you lost the paper card with your SSN on it. It doesn't work that way, and it takes much, much longer than a lifetime for SSNs to be recycled.

Mush more likely they accidentally gave you the wrong number or that you've accidentally been using the wrong number your whole life.

Have you gone to the social security administration office in your area and asked them to verify that you were given the correct number? Bring your birth certificate, your driver's license, and any other proof of identity you have.Answer #2: You have a missing social security card when you're 13. You have someone using your card in Colorado. Want to bet where that card ended up? Maybe it wasn't the caseworker but I would bet someone stole it.

Maybe it is a typo on the card and they gave you the wrong number. Maybe.

It sounds like you are a young so you may be able to get a new social security number. However, this could cause issues if you have any education such as college or high school.


Title: Ex girlfriend and mother of my son waited until I was in the psychiatric hospital and lied on a PFA (protection from abuse) order leading to me being homeless and stranded. How can I fight it?

Question: We were arguing the day I went to the hospital and it ended with me walking in the road trying to get someone to stop and talk to me/help me. My ex filed the PFA saying I got physically aggressive and pulled her away from our son causing her to fall down. I've since got my own apartment and am working but my family and friends are 1600 miles away.

Answer: You're missing a lot of important information here. Why did you go to the hospital? What is your end goal here? Where are you located?


Title: (California) Ex FWB went through my phone and is messaging my current gf with the contents (update from before)

Question:
Original:
I will try to keep this as brief as possible. I used to see this girl. She used to spend nights. She was quite cool and sane for a while, but that obviously did not last and I cut all ties. Well, what I didn't know was that when she slept over, she would go through my phone (it was password protected, so she must have seen the code). She somehow took all the texts, Facebook messages, pictures, and all that and sent it to her phone for some weird, fucked up reason. Now that I've broken it off with her, she is sending collages of texts, pictures, and Facebook messages to my girlfriend. Some of these are naked photos of both me and other women (I'm stupid and I don't delete anything sent to me). She's done this once before and my girlfriend stupidly deleted all of the collages, but she sent them again to my girlfriend with a threat that if my girlfriend tells me about getting them again, she would send them to my Facebook friends and family.

The only issue is that there is no concrete evidence that I hold that it is her. I know it's her through complicated measures, but I am sure it is nothing that holds up well in court. She sends these pictures through a surrogate Facebook (using the face and name of one of my other friends weirdly enough, but the Urls are different). She unknowingly exposed this Facebook url to me earlier when I was still talking to her. There is also no one that would have had that kind of access to my phone except her.

My question here is what are my options at this point? Restraining order? Should I hire an Internet detective to tie the account to her? If and when I prove that it's her, where do I stand legally then? I just want this nightmare to be over.

Update: It's been almost three weeks. I was given solid advice from a user here to block and ignore (had my girlfriend do the same). She is not contacting my girlfriend from another account. This time, she also adding pictures from my girlfriend's computer. Private pictures she had never sent to anyone. While girlfriend was away staying with me, apparently her door back home became unlocked and her door was wide open randomly. I doubt this was the crazy ex fwb doing this (girlfriend lives pretty far away), but this is the kind of mindset she's put me in.

Is there truly nothing else I can do? My girlfriend has even turned on the log in verifier on Facebook, but ex fwb somehow bypassed that and is logging into her account through "Puerto Rico" (she's likely blocking the IP). We're stuck and she's poisoning the relationship. I'm truly lost and even scared. What else is she going to do? How do I put a true stop to this?

Answer: This is more life advice than legal advice. As long as you are honest with your girlfriend about your sexual history before the two of you got together, it shouldn't bother her. Unless of course....Answer #2: She put a key logger on your computer and your new girlfriend has logged in to Facebook from it. Clean your computers and change all passwords. Continue to block her.


Title: Karate Contract Says That There Are Only Three Ways To Cancel

Question:
This is a throwaway account for this question. California is the state.

So, a bit of background.  I wanted to enroll my 5 year old daughter into a martial arts class because...why not.  It's a good extracurricular activity that could provide some benefit to her later in life.  So we found a place close to home, went through the trial period and decided to sign her up.  My girlfriend was the one who signed her up and in so doing, signed a contract that seems weird to me.  If I had been there, I wouldn't have signed it.

The issue is this.  My daughter is starting to say that she doesn't want to go and if she really feels that way, then I don't want to force her and will try something else that she does like.  But the contract says that we are obligated for the full year of payments unless we cancel.  Cancellation, per the contract, "can be made for the following three reasons only" - of which we have to pay a $250 cancellation fee.  The three reasons are -

If a student becomes disabled in which case proof of condition must be submitted from the student's physician.

If a student becomes deceased (God Forbid), in which case nothing applies.

If a student changes residence beyond 25 miles of the school in which case, proof or residence and the new name/address of employer is required.  They even say that a "residence investigation will be conducted."

So I am wondering, is this even legal?  I can't cancel a contract because my daughter doesn't want to go?  I can't just ignore this because they will send any unpaid fees to collections and that will mess with my girlfriends credit, something that she has worked hard to fix.  Any input from you guys would be appreciated.  I just wanted to have something productive and fun for my daughter and I don't think that I should have to give them a dime if she decides that she doesn't want to do this anymore.

Answer:
 Of course that's legal.

You owe the year of payments.  If they wanted you to just be able to stop at any time because someone changed their minds, they wouldn't need the contract in the first place.


Title: [Update] [TX] Landlord fining me $100 for charging car - they towed my car!

Question:
https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/6vnir1/tx_landlord_fining_me_100_for_charging_car/

Summary of previous post: I charged my plug-in hybrid yesterday at my apartment's parking garage after previously being told not to once. They sent me mail in the afternoon that said I am being fined $100.

====

Last night when I got home I parked in a normal parking spot, no charging, no violation whatsoever. Haven't had a chance to do anything about the fine. This afternoon, my car disappeared!! Apparently they towed it for charging yesterday (I was not charging today and do not plan to do it at home anymore).

I need the car for a very important event tomorrow so I had to pick it up today, so I ate up the fee. However, this towing event seems illegal to me, even if I admit that I was in the wrong to have charged my car yesterday.

Here is what is in the lease regarding parking:
>We may have any unauthorized or illegally parked vehicles towed or booted according to state law at the owner or operator’s expense at any time if the vehicle:

>(a) has a flat tire or is otherwise inoperable;

>(b) is on jacks, on blocks, or has a wheel missing;

>(c) takes up more than one parking space;

>(d) belongs to a resident or occupant who has surrendered or abandoned the apartment;

>(e) is in a handicapped space without the legally required handicapped insignia;

>(f) is in a space marked for of office visitors, managers, or staff;

>(g) blocks another vehicle from exiting;

>(h) is in a fire lane or designated “no parking” area;

>(i) is in a space marked for another resident or apartment;

>(j) is on the grass, sidewalk, or patio;

>(k) blocks a garbage truck from access to a dumpster;

>(l) has no current license or registration, and we have given you at least 10 days’ notice that the vehicle will be towed if not removed; or

>(m) is not moved to allow parking lot maintenance

Am I correct to think this is illegal towing? What can I do to recover the fee? I paid with a credit card. Should I try to dispute it with them or will I lose the dispute, since all the towing company did was to follow the apartment complex's instruction?

Answer:
 The towing company is just a third party and doesn't care why or who told them to tow a vehicle -- so don't dispute it.  You absolutely can go after the apartment for the tow, since I'm assuming that you had the vehicle listed on your lease and it was properly tagged (if that's required for your complex).

I will say this:  when going after them for the tow, stick strictly to the facts of the tow itself.  Your car was removed from the premise when it wasn't in violation for anything in the lease and you incurred costs.  An unpaid fine (just or unjust) doesn't appear to qualify as a violation.Answer #2: If this happens again, and please don't park on property if at all possible, call local PD to report your vehicle as missing.

If you must park on property, take a bunch of pictures when you park. Show your tag/space number, show where you are parked, document, document, document.

So that when PD does show up, and calls in to check the tow yards, you have pictures proving it was a legal park, and you can document with PD you are disputing the tow.Answer #3: They can tow your car just for having a flat tire? That must be fun.. Answer #4: I would definitely be combing through all the paperwork they gave you when you moved in to find the exact (if any) rule that exists that you supposedly violated.

Were there incidents before this where they gave you warnings? Crazy that they went straight to getting it towed.


Title: [OH] Any liability for rescinding two-week notice?

Question:
BEGIN SUPERFLUOUS BACKGROUND

I work part-time at a foodservice job and go to college. New manager was scheduling me more hours than I wanted and also scheduled me for dates I requested off with no notice about needing to come in before posting the schedule. I decide now's a good time to quit anyway and say I could make one of the conflicting days but not the former and to consider it my last day (13 days notice).

He e-mails me today days after I sent my resignation message (and followed up in person telling him these dates and that I sent him an e-mail. I CC'd other managers who all got that message and mentioned my resignation to me in-person) claiming I just mentioned it in passing, I didn't send any e-mails, I still needed to tell him my conflict and last day, and implying my notice was insufficient and I was being unprofessional.

I figure I was being overly professional and tell him to consider my resignation effective immediately and attach my other e-mail. He has no problem receiving that message and calls me. As you might suspect we have a productive debate about professionalism and integrity which ends in us reaching a substantive resolution and have found 3 signatories to help us get it ratified into law.

END

I figure employment at-will and respectful professionalism are both two-way streets, am I wrong legally? Only concern of mine is my two-weeks could have been an informal contract, but that seems like a reach. This was a dick move but I'm not worried about the reference beyond my dates of employment.

Answer: You have literally nothing to worry about. This a part-time foodservice job.Answer #2: There is nothing legal here. You can quit or they can fire you without any notice. 2 weeks is a professional courtesy not an implied or verbal contract.


Title: [WA-US] Partner gaslighted me into changing antidepressants leading to serious health impacts. Is that domestic violence and physical abuse that I should report?

Question:
I suffer from depression and anxiety, but had them under control thanks to an antidepressant. Late last year, my partner began telling me that I seemed withdrawn and/or agitated all the time. They thought it was because my antidepressants were not working anymore. They also told me the kids were scared of my mood swings. I was shocked that this was happening, but trusted my partner.

My doctor said the medication could have lost some effectiveness, so he suggested changing medication. For four months, I tried different combinations of medication and I suffered significant side effects and withdrawal symptoms  including suicidal ideation (something I had never had before). I finally found a medication that seems to be working as well as the original one.

On reflecting on the experience, I realized my depression and anxiety were not having any impact on my daily functioning when I switched meds. Nor were my children actually worried or scared about my behavior. I got gaslighted into making a serious medical decision that caused me harm and potentially great harm.

Is this domestic violence that can be reported? My partner has never been physically violent, just emotionally abusive. This feels like a dangerous escalation and I am kind of paranoid about it. Emotional abuse isn't generally something that will support legal action like a TRO?
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: Why are you not filing for divorce?


Title: My boyfriends hand got caught in a machine.

Question:
If I recall right I posted the after surgery picture some time ago, but that's beside the point.

I'm not quite sure if there is any legal steps that need or could be taken, but we’re walking into the whole situation blind, and that's a bit scary. I'll start by saying we have it a lot easier then most in these situations.

We live in nebraska, and he works at a union job. His hand got smashed over year ago, he's gotten to keep his job and so far we haven't had to worry about medical expenses. He lost most of his grip strength in his left hand and they likelihood of him getting it back is... unlikely. They have him working "light duty" they contacted his doctor telling them they had light work he could do, but when he got there they just made him sit in a chair all day. Literally. He's allowed a ipod, but even then  he was going crazy from literally doing nothing all day, he said the days would drag forever.
If they did give him a task they would be pointless or dangerous, like they would have him do things like dust... the factory made him sign a waiver for aspeatious, like its a known problem, and beyond that the factory supposedly has grime you would need a power washer ro get through, so a handrag did nothing. Or the tasks would be few and far between. To me it felt like they were trying to get him to quit.

He recently got yelled at for his boss and suspended for two days for "leaving early" to go to physical therapy, he said they said they were going to look more into it legally and bring him back in two days and he probably won't lose his job. But at this point he doesn't want to go back. he didn't sign up for a "desk job", and he cant get another job in a factory anymore, and what's more is he told me he's afraid of working with machines now.

To be honest we might have arrived to physical therapy may be 15 or 20 minutes early, but they often times let him in early, and he has to wait for me to pick him up and drive him (which is a whole other mess driving him everyday to pt, hard to find a job when you have to drive someone to pt at random times in the day) and he wanted leeway time if i got caught in traffic before or after picking him up.

I just don't know where we should go from here or what we need to do if we need to do anything.

Thank you all for your time.

Answer: He needs to talk to his Union about this. It's what he pays his dues for. They have lawyers that can advise him on his options.Answer #2: He shouldn't give up his job without compensation from the employer.  The workers compensation insurer and employer may want to settle the claim and these actions are just part of the negotiation for settlement.  You might want to talk to an attorney.


Title: Twenty year old warrant

Question:
I just received a letter about a warrant that was issued for me in 1997.  This is the first notice I've ever received about this. Is there not some kind of statute of limitations on these things? I was convicted of a dui, I was young and wreck less back then and did some of the requirements of my conviction, but I did not complete everything. I worked a job at the time, where I traveled a lot. I got distracted with work and life, and moved to a different part of the state, and kinda forgot all about it. Despite several encounters with law enforcement in the last twenty years, never has this warrant ever come up. I'm going to call them and see what they want me to do tomorrow, but I'm curious if anyone has ever heard or seen of this kind of thing, and what should I expect?

Edit: All of these events occurred in Louisiana

Answer:
 > Is there not some kind of statute of limitations on these things?

The statute of limitations dictates how long after a crime you can be *charged*. You have been charged and convicted already. Now you have a warrant for failing to abide by the court's orders.

You need to hire a lawyer where the warrant was issued to sort this out for you. Expect to pay a large fine, at minimum. Spending some time in jail is not out of the question either.


Title: Whats the worse case scenerio?

Question: I was driving to cash my check, and I pulled into a parking lot, I had a stop sign, looked. Both ways, no cars.  So I make my turn into the parking lot. As I make my turn a car going 70mph, who didn't take the stop, hit my driver's side.  I still only have my permit and there wasn't a licenced driver in the passenger, but it was clearly her fault.  She got off the car and acted as if it was my fault and wanted my insurance information and proceeded to call the police.  Me, furious , I drove off (even tho it was her fault)

Answer:
 You turned what would have been a minor infraction into a serious crime.

Exchanging insurance information and reporting an accident to police is what you are supposed to do. Leaving the scene of an accident is a serious crime which can include prison time in most states if anyone is even slightly injured.

Contact a criminal defense lawyer now. You are in very serious trouble. Answer #2: You made it way worse by leaving the scene. And how is your car drivable if you were t-boned by a car going 70mph?


Title: Hey?

Question: Just a quick question. I don't have a lawyer but I'll be questioning the police officer who arrested me . How should I bring up a conversation I over heard him and his partner had calling me a " waffle face."

Answer:
 Not sure if troll.

You can just ask, "Did you call me a waffle face?"

But it will almost certainly have no bearing at all on the criminal case against you.

Which a lawyer would have known.

Which is why it's good to have a lawyer.


Title: Can I legally do anything as a student if I fear that I am not reviving a quality education from my school? (OR)

Question:
[Oregon] First time poster, sorry if I mess up anything. So I am a high school student, and if I feel that my teachers are unable to teach the resources they are supposed to. My school also has far less language options than other schools in my district, and I am sorta expected to learn a language not taught at my school because of cultural reasons. And I have already attempted options through community colleges to no alail. I may just be sol, but if there are any possible ways to force the district to let me move schools that would be great! P.S. I have already tried petition transfers multiple times.
EDIT: Yes I know the title is messed up, damn auto-correct.
Topic:
School Related Issues

Answer: Is your argument that the school is not living up to its state-required obligations, or that they're just shitty?


Title: [UPDATE][CA] Driver hit my car, insurance won't do anything. Need advice on what to do.

Question:
https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/48nslz/ca_driver_hit_my_car_insurance_wont_do_anything/

After three weeks for silence, I got a letter saying that the other guy's insurance has ruled that I hit HIS truck, even though I'm the one with the concussion and my insurance company refused me coverage because they said it was his fault.

What do I do now? I'm very scared and upset.

Answer:
 > What do I do now?

Start talking to personal injury attorneys. If his insurance wants to play hardball there are plenty of lawyers who will happily slap them for you for a small piece of the pie.


Title: Vacation leads to demotion. California.

Question:
Hi, I wasn't quite sure where to ask this but I thought maybe this would be the place.

Back in October 2015, I was hired at a chain retailer. Before being hired, I explained that I already booked and paid for a vacation in February of 2016. The manager said it was no big deal and she hired me on the spot. We electronically have to request time off, so she showed me step by step how to do so that day.

Fast forward to February. I've checked my requested time off every week and it still had yet to be approved or denied. The day before I leave for my vacation, I am given the schedule (We only get a 2 day advance notice of the schedule. Work week starts Sunday and we get the schedule friday evening) and I'm scheduled for the whole week.

I politely remind my boss that I'm out of the country and she says "No, you're not. You don't have any time off requests". This is something everyone in my store knew about and I'd talked to her about my excitement for weeks at this point. I pull up the request on the computer and it had all been denied THAT WEEK.

I explained that I already paid for this vacation and can't get it refunded and she begrudgingly took me off the schedule.

Fast forward to yesterday. I got home from out of the country to a voicemail saying that since I hadn't show up to any of my shifts, I would be terminated by Thursday (This was now the sunday after).

I called (very panicked) and told her I just got back. She kind of laughed it off and gave me my schedule for this week.

I come in today to find that my position was gone, I'd been demoted,  my hours severely cut (3 days at 4 hour shifts) and the whole store was talking about it. Apparently she was telling other associates that just because I requested the time doesn't mean I get it.

I don't know if I have ANY legal right here. I suspect I don't but I thought I was ask just in case. Can she demote me for taking a vacation? Especially hiring me with the knowledge that I had paid for this vacation over 4 months ago?

I know for sure the time was requested in the system because I was able to pull it up each week leading up to the vacation.

Advice/help would be greatly appreciated. All the stress I burned off is back ten fold :/
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer: If you're an at-will employee then no laws have been broken. If your hours have been cut substantially you may qualify for partial unemployment.Answer #2: After you get a new job, you should let the higher-ups in the business know what happened.  With few exceptions (cough...walmart...cough) many employers realize their best assets are their employees - what this manager did to you was bad and more importantly is indicative of terrible management planning. Answer #3: Nope. You have no legal rights that were infringed. This is what at-will employment is. You can attempt to file for unemployment due to reduced hours, but since you took time off after it was denied, I doubt you get it. Start looking for a new job.


Title: Taking pictures of email inbox (VT, USA)

Question:
I work at a small company in Vermont that’s basically a tourist store. We have Vermont everything. As far as I know, it’s family owned and operated. I’m not sure if that’s too important.

Anyway, there’s 2 stores in one mall and they’re right across the hall from each other. I mostly work in the larger of the two. I sometimes log into my gmail account to get some writing done when no customers are in (which is most of the time). Last time I did this, I must’ve forgotten to completely log out. I probably just closed the tab and left it.

Today, I’m in the smaller store across the hall and my least favorite coworker is in the larger store. She goes to log into the company’s email to sort that stuff out. That’s when she sees that I’m logged in instead. I don’t find out right away of course since I’m across the hall.

Later, a different coworker calls and tells me to transfer stuff to the larger store. I go to the store with the merchandise I’m transferring and am greeted by the furious coworker there. She informs me of my honest mistake and I’m surprised because I thought I logged out. She asks if I want proof which I don’t really need but she shows me anyway.

She pulls out her phone and shows me a picture of my inbox with my little profile thing expanded so you can tell it’s definitely me. She took a picture of my inbox! I’m also fairly sure she sent it to one of the management people.

So now I’m here, trying to figure out if what she did is illegal and if I can do anything about this woman. Any advice would be appreciated.

TL;DR: coworker took a picture of my inbox without my knowledge previously, what can I do if anything?
Topic:
Computer and Internet

Answer: That was not illegal of her to do. She did not illegally access the account, and it's legal to photograph pretty much anything you can see with your own eyes in a public space, which work is included in.


Title: Made two very big mistakes while I was engaged to a woman

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Yes, you made huge mistakes.

Yes, you are completely screwed - you owe the money for the credit card and the auto loan yourself.

She has no reason to refinance or pay her loans because her credit is shot anyway, and she has no reason to be nice to you - she already got all she could off you and moved on to the next guy(s).

You need to pay those debts, then sue her to reimburse you... and as you will find out, even if you win, collecting will be essentially impossible.

I am genuinely sorry that you find yourself in this situation... but you signed all those documents and they are binding.

You could try to take the car from her since your name is on the title... but I am not sure if the headaches will be worth it. Check with a lawyer is the wording and order of the owners on the title would allow you to sell that car without her permission if you got possession of it - if possible, you should do so in order to protect yourself against future liability.


Title: NJ- Can you claim unemployment if you quit your job? There was a good reason for quitting which was because my mother had Parkinson’s and could not help yourself. I am currently looking for a job, but not getting one. Can I claim unemployment?

Question: This is NJ btw

Answer: I think you have to be fired or laid off in order to get unemployment anywhere. Not quitting. Answer #2: So you quit your job due to your mother being sick? No, you would not be able to get unemployment. Your mother may qualify for disability though so I'd look into that.


Title: Obscene images posted of minors in Facebook group.

Question: I scrolled through facebook today in one of the local groups I'm in posted some pretty graphic images. There locaton says my hometown I'm currently visting. I reported there profile on fb. I took a screen shot of the material and the users information. Should I make a local tip to law enforcement or let it go? I absolutely did not click on the link. Location is north Carolina.

Answer:
 >I took a screen shot of the material

Saving child porn is a felony, you should DBAN your hard drive. Make sure you back up your important personal files first.


Title: What are the legal obligations of pregnant women in the U.S.?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Not that I know of. Pregnant women will walk into the ER in the middle of labor never having had any prenatal care or done anything at all to encourage a pregnancy. You have all the same rights to your body as a non-pregnant person, but in some places you can get in trouble for harming the baby.

But just because it's interesting, my hospital specializes in detoxing heroin babies. If the mother has a history of drug use it the baby is showing signs of withdrawal, we do a tox screen. And depending on the circumstances, if the mom agrees to rehab the baby isn't always taken away. We try not to separate children from parents, unless there are serious problems.Answer #2: > Is she required to see a physician, for example? Take prenatal vitamins? Be genetically screened? Anything?

Nope, nope, nope and nope. There are many things that are *wise* to do that would make simply terrible laws, and most of the things you describe aren't really required for a healthy pregnancy anyway, though of course they can be helpful. I do know that in a few states, first cousins who want to get married have to get genetic screening.


Title: Bad city sewage design seems to have flooded my house

Question: Long-time lurker & First-time poster; Need a direction and this thread was my first thought.  Wife and I bought a brand new house in Texas; first month in our sewer line backed up whilst I was showering.  I noticed standing in my dirty water, shut off the shower, then saw (and smelled) the sewer water coming up the tub drain.  Called the homebuilder (house has a 1-year warranty right off the bat) and he sent his plumber out to Roto-root the main line going from the house to the sewer; said it was weird because it’s a new house and we ONLY flush TP (wife’s ‘stuff’ goes in garbage only to prevent this).  Three months later, happened again right before thanksgiving.  Rooter dude came out, did his thing, said it might be a city line issue.  A third time, it happened; this time homebuilder called the city because it doesn’t make sense and the city flushed the main line and found a bunch of mud.  Well, last night it happened a fourth time but unfortunately the wife and I were both out and the toilet flapper valve happened to be stuck open, so with the clog, the master bedroom, bathroom, and walk-in closet were under a half-inch of water when we got back to the house.  Called the homebuilder and called emergency cleanup services; luckily they got it all before any damage was done to the walls.  But it’s going to cost me an insurance claim and a $1k deductible.  Homebuilder says it’s the city main line; city just keeps coming out to flush it when he calls them.  I’m worried that they’ll keep bandaid-style doing this; what can I do to get the city to fix their main line?  Also, am I in the hole for the deductible or can I get them to foot that bill?  Not a legal expert or anything; explain it to me like I’m five ;)

Answer: Do you have a backflow valve?


Title: [FL] Ford claims that a car purchased from the dealership is not eligible for lemon law?

Question: So... pretty much the dealership in Florida really looks like it's scamming my mother. She purchased 2016 Ford Fusion SE from said dealership as a new vehicle (according to her purchase documents). Since purchasing it, she's had a lot of issues with it and really just wants Ford to buyback the vehicle. However, they claim that because it was owned by the dealership it is not eligible under Florida lemon law. I looked into it, and it appears that the title is a 1st owner title, and thus should be eligible under the law. What exactly should we do? We've started calling lawyers, but aren't really sure where to go from here.

Answer:
 First, you begin by familiarizing yourself with the process.  Lemon law is pretty complex.  The Florida Attorney General has a great summary page full of info here:

http://www.myfloridalegal.com/lemonlaw


Title: [MN, USA]Should I be concerned my lawyer has ran for a position of a district judge in the past and was a municipal prosecutor ?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: A large number of defense attorneys used to be prosecutors.


Title: Nevada, can you run away from security guards?

Question:
If you are not threatening them, can they put their hands on you?

If they tell you to remain where you are, and you refuse to obey, can you face legal action against you?

I want to know if the guy in this video could have just bolted and what would have happened if he did so.

Long story short his friend was prank calling the store, he was there to get some footage of it, and they found out he was in on it and security was being bullies.

So could he have just walked way?

Could they have stopped him? If he did, could they have put their hands on him?

Any legal trouble you can get in if you just run from the enemies of fun and awesomeness?

Answer:
 > If you are not threatening them, can they put their hands on you?

Depends.

> If they tell you to remain where you are, and you refuse to obey, can you face legal action against you?

Depends.

> I want to know if the guy in this video could have just bolted and what would have happened if he did so.

What video?

> Long story short his friend was prank calling the store, he was there to get some footage of it, and they found out he was in on it and security was being bullies.

Somehow I suspect there are some details from the "long story" that are missing here in the short version.

> So could he have just walked way?

Depends.

> Could they have stopped him?

Depends.

>  If he did, could they have put their hands on him?

Depends.

> Any legal trouble you can get in if you just run from the enemies of fun and awesomeness?

Depends.

Hope this has been helpful!


Title: 17 from New Hampshire

Question:
I recently got 3 court summons for transporting liquor, having 1.5 g's of weed on me, and having pipes. I am 17, live in NH, but was caught in ME. I have court in two weeks, and have never been in trouble. Any idea what is going to happen to me??? I was driving but didnt get a speeding ticket fortunately.

I don't really understand what hiring a lawyer would do. Instead of just telling me to do that it would be helpful to tell me why I should get one. I don't see how it would many any difference.
Topic:
Drug Possession

Answer: You should seriously look into hiring a criminal defense lawyer.


Title: Social Media... Things

Question:
Hey all. Just curious what laws/precedent has been set for workplace social media... things.
I am looking to get out of my current job with a stressful boss etc. Since the store opened last year, I have been the sole creator and the main poster for all of our social media marketing. I have been "admin" while the owner an my bosses are "editors,"and the pages are full of my photos and captions. I want to leave with a bang when I find a new gig, and think it'd be funny to change the names of the pages to rid of the company's name, then to post to the followers about how sad the company is to see my coworkers (who are also quitting because insane boss) and I go and what great employees we have been to the company. Could this legally backfire on me? Can I call them my pages although they've been used for a business? Thanks!
Edit: This is in the US, in WA state.

Answer:
 They own the account and the content that they paid you to create.

They could sue you, and obviously if any future employers found out you would not be be hired.


Title: (Ireland) Lease for house was signed with woman who is going through divorce with husband. Husband turned up to house today and said because we were paying his wife and not him that he would be changing the locks on the house next week

Question: Can he do this? What should I do?

Answer: No he can't just come in and change the locks if you have a valid tenancy agreement. Have a look at your lease and pay rent to whoever signed as landlord. If the husband shows up again call the guards.


Title: Does filing single for taxes void marriage certificate?

Question: The girl im talking to has been married for a little over 2 years and has 2 kids. She filed as single as of this tax season.  Well she moved to texas about july 2016. Does filing taxes as single void her marriage certificate, because she's under the impression it does. She's done with her previous dude, what should she do if its not void. He has not paid an ounce of child support.

Answer:
 No. A divorce legally terminates a marriage. She should speak to a divorce lawyer; she can likely get child support ordered as part of her divorce, which would then be enforceable (through wage garnishment or contempt hearings, for example).Answer #2: If she's not single, she can't file as single. Filing as single may get her in trouble and will in no way make her marriage invalid.

(Also, she probably would have gotten a better refund if she filed as Head of Household instead of single and that is a legitimate filing option if she meets the criteria, which she might, depending on the exact move-out date.)


Title: [CA] Is it legal to tape someone in your own home without their consent?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Possibly. CA penal code 632 subsection (a) says the following:

>(a) Every person who, intentionally and without the consent of all parties to a confidential communication, by means of any electronic amplifying or recording device, eavesdrops upon or records the confidential communication, whether the communication is carried on among the parties in the presence of one another or by means of a telegraph, telephone, or other device, except a radio, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment.  If the person has previously been convicted of a violation of this section or Section 631, 632.5, 632.6, 632.7, or 636, the person shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

Your boss' soon-to-be ex-wife has just as much a right to privacy in her home as he does. Because your boss is not a party to his wife's conversations and is intentionally recording them to gather dirt, he is eavesdropping.


Title: I'm a young photographer who fucked up. Can I do anything about it?

Question:
Im a young student photographer from Ottawa who was approached by a young (17) girl who was graduating. Given that she lives south of Toronto (5.5hr drive), I sent her an estimate - basically guessing how much it would cost me for the trip + how much time of work it would take. All and all, the estimate came to 365$.

A week before the shoot, I told her I would be staying two nights at the hotel rather than one, which would increase the estimate by 80$. She said "yeah thats fine".

Fast forward 2 weeks later, the shoot is done, im back home pics are edited and I send them (1600pics) her way. It was practically a day and a half worth of pictures with a party and what not. Even stayed late and everything.

I start filling out the invoice to charge them and turns out the estimate was way off. It originally came to around 600$. I send her the invoice saying its alot more and I understand, hoping they would still cover it given the fact that : 1. I went above and beyond their expectations, and 2. They are rich as fuck. (Just being honest).

As expected, they are concerned with the price saying its not what we agreed to, which is fair, so i send her and invoice with the hotel and gas cost matching the initial estimate. So it goes down to around 500$. (Keep in mind the 365$ on the original estimate only has one night's stay at the hotel)

She then asks me to deal with her mom as she will be making the payement. So I send her the invoice for 500$. She replies saying that its not what the contract said (there was no contract... i know, a mistake) and that she will only be covering 365$ and not a cent more. I inform her that there's not two days worth of hotel costs and that since I stayed late as they requested that the hours also changed a bit.

She then basically told me 'idgaf, take it or we can go to court and good luck' followed by 'you negotiated with a minor and not me, blah blah blah.

Given my financial situation (student), the bills on the card from hotel and gas cost, the lack of a contract and what not, I decided I had no real choice other than to take the money and run.

**
Basically wondering if I made the right call or if I should've fought it out and hoped to receive proper compensation for the work done.

Side note : (I'll accept it if you say something along the lines of "you're dumb and you did this to yourself" cause I kinda did....)

Topic:
Canada

Answer:
 Stick to your estimates.

If you need to revise them, let them know immediately. In your contract, ensure you've got a defined overage rate.

The fact that they're rich is irrelevant.

In this case, bill them for the $365 and chalk it up to a lesson learned.Answer #2: At this point you have no recourse. But you learned something, which might be worth it for you in the long run.  Chalk this up to experience.


Title: Mother of my child threatens to kill herself and waves knives around, what can I legally do to get custody of my child?

Question: My ex wife likes to throw fits, threaten to kill herself and waves knives around. She also has a history of overdose and attempted suicide. We have joint custody but she is the primary in Oklahoma.  My son (11) messaged me saying he was scared because his mother and her bf were fighting (yelling not physical) he told me his mother was threatening to kill herself in front of him and his lil brother. I called the cops and dhs. I live two hours away so I wasnt able to go get him. By the time the cops came she calmed down. I later called dhs and because there was multiple calls about her they were going to "investigate." Today I got a call from her threatening to take us to court to raise our child support (who cares). It seems like these "situations" are happening more frequently and I am scared for not only my son but her other child. Is there anything I can do to get my son out of that situation and get custody of him? She also refuses to meet me halfway and will not let me see him on my designated weekends and holidays. Any advice will be appreciated.

Answer:
 File for custody. I would go with an emergency order due to threats to child.Answer #2: You file for custody. That's the only way.Answer #3: Given the recent case of a woman murdering her children during a divorce, you would think they would be more proactive. Answer #4: > She also [...] will not let me see him on my designated weekends and holidays.

For many courts, this alone is enough to change the custody agreement in your favor. So I would think you could mention that in addition to the threats that imperil the life of your son which will justify the emergency petition your lawyer files tomorrow or the next day.


Title: Injured Ballet Dancer, Company Won't Renew Contract

Question: I'm writing this on behalf of a friend who is a ballet dancer. He has been injured for most of this season and has had surgery, but he is expected to make a full recovery (he is being paid through workers comp). The company he dances for refuses to renew his contract because they claim that they are unsure he will recover, they want to wait till he is fully recovered to give him a contract. The complicated part is he is from out of the country and is here on a Visa which will expire before he is supposed to be fully recovered (the ballet company handles the Visa). We have looked over his contract and were unable to find anything that references this situation. Should the company be legally required to renew his contract since he was injured on the job? This is in TN.

Answer: If the contract is silent on the matter, then they do not have to renew if they have doubts about his ability to perform the job due to injury. (or virtually any other reason)


Title: Police want to put a camera on my house to watch my drug-dealing neighbors.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Cop here, if you have questions about the installation just ask them.

If you don't want to do it feel free to tell them no.

They can find somewhere else to put it...a light pole, another neighbor, etc.

Thanks for your help!


Title: [ON] Trespasser broke leg escaping property...help?

Question:
We have a pool in suburbia, and a trespasser last night (went for a swim, left evidence) broke their leg after jumping over our fence on to the city path next door.

Apparently we slept through the knocks on the door, ambulance, and police cars that followed this incident and only found out after asking our neighbour who they went to for help.

After calling the police, we were never contacted as our property isn't even on the police report... so my question is what, if anything, should I do from here?

I'm not looking for vengeance or anything like that but am concerned this could come back to me in some way and want to make sure it's properly documented so we aren't facing legal action for someone elses stupidity.

Should I tell my homeowners insurance?
Should I insist that our property is on the police report as they were trespassing?
Should I get a pitbull? (joking)

To satisfy the Bot, I'm in Ontario Canada.

Thanks!

Answer: IANAL. I would call the police and report the trespassing, then call my homeowners insurance to let them know what happened. That in and of itself shouldn't raise your rates because you're not making a claim, but it'll cover your rear later in case the trespasser tries to sue you. Often your insurance carrier won't cover an incident if it wasn't reported to them within a fairly prompt time frame.Answer #2: The trespasser did not break their leg on your property.  They broke it on the sidewalk.


Title: (CA) Withholding my last paycheck, what to do?

Question: I worked for a very popular store that I call "the B".  It's going under and for the last year I would work 6 hours a day and was denied breaks because management said they don't have anyone to cover that. I quit 2 months ago and have not received my last paycheck.  I called the other night and asked that they mail it to me, but was told no, I have to show up and fill out more paperwork.  I do not have the time as I am working full time now and I walk to and from work, walking 3 miles a day and getting there is another 2 miles.  Am I crazy or do they have to make sure my pay is gotten to me?  Can I file a claim with the state or should I seek legal counsel?

Answer:
 File a wage complaint online with the state department of labor. It is free.

/threadAnswer #2: When I quit a job years ago, the assistant manager denied I had any more checks coming to me.  I didn't think I got my final check, but he said I did.

I searched an online "find money" site through the state years later, and found it there.

They should just mail you the check, and they cannot legally avoid giving it to you. If your Social Security number is on it then it is yours, one way or another you will receive it. They are deliberately making it difficult, most likely because they are running out of money perhaps.


Title: Both parents have passed away in the last few months brother is executor. Haven't seen anything...

Question: Need some advice on tying loose ends and completing due diligence. The past few months have been tough. My father passed away few months ago and my mom just passed away fighting breast cancer. During this time my brother had inserted himself as POA etc. As my dad got older my brother drew up a will for my dad and was named the executor. (still haven't seen the will) My brother isn't a very communicative person and generally does things thinking it's the best course of action without seeking others opinions. In his eye he "acts in everyone's best interests". My parents got divorced 5 years ago and did a reverse mortgage. They split the assets and my brother inserted himself as the mediator, executor etc all using legal zoom. In the last year he has invested a considerable amount of money into the house and he thinks he is going to get some from improving the house. The reverse mortgage is tapped completely. (supposedly there might be an additional loan he took out, idk) I've have had multiple conversations with him that the likelihood of gaining any money from this scenario is very slim. These conversations never went well. Fast forward to today. My brother liquidated my mom's bank accounts, 401k and placed them in his own bank account before she passed. He told me he was going to do it and I said OK. My brother historically hasn't handle finances well. He's a bright guy but had recently asked my mom for 8k to fix my dads house and never paid her back. Now my concern is he is using my mom's money to fix the house and will never recoop it. What should I do here?

Answer: The will has to be filed with the probate court and the probate court has to appoint him executor of your parent's estate. If you don't think your brother is doing what he's supposed to be doing in his capacity as executor, your first step would be to get a copy of your parent's probate files to see exactly what he has been doing.


Title: Now that recreational marijuana is getting legalized in Canada, what are the legal implications regarding drug testing here in America? [USA-SC and other states that haven’t legalized]

Question:
With the news about Canada legalizing recreational marijuana, I made a joke to my friends in our group chat on FB about making a trip up there on the day the legalization becomes official in October. This actually ended up sparking a small debate about drug testing and the implications of doing drugs in a country where it’s legal then coming home where it’s not legal. Is it possible to refute the test if you provide documentation that you were somewhere that it was legal to do said drugs in? If so, how can you go about it? And what can be done for a right-to-work State such as South Carolina where they can fire you and not provide any reasoning for the termination?

(Employment law flair added since it seemed like the best fit for this post)
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 If your company has a drug testing policy then they likely have a no drugs policy. It doesn't matter where you consumed it.

They can also fire you because you ate pancakes in Canada even if it's legal.


Title: [FL] Employment Law - My employer is trying to make me pay for a conference they required me to attend!

Question:
Hi guys,

I would appreciate any legal advice you could offer me. I work for a small medical clinic in Orlando, FL. When I came on to my current job they told me that after 90 days I would be eligible for health coverage. After 9 months there I have yet to receive said coverage, even after months of asking about it. Because of this, I have found a new job with much better benefits. I put in my notice 3 days ago and today my employer notified me that they will be taking money out of my check for a conference that I was required to attend over a weekend in October. It was $800, which means I am essentially working a week for free! I am livid, especially after them not fulfilling their promises of health coverage. I looked up the FSLA guidelines on this, but it wasn't very specific about whether the employer is required to pay for the conference - it really just touched on whether the employer is required to pay ME for attending, which isn't relevant since I am salaried anyways. I feel like this is major crap, and just reaffirms why I found a new employer. This conference was definitely for the benefit of the employer, and while I learned a lot, I would not have gone and paid $800 myself to attend.

Sorry for the rant, but if anyone can give me some advice on this, and possibly include some references so I have proof when I approach my employer about this, I would so appreciate it!

Thanks in advance!

Answer:
 Was there anything in the handbook, offer letter, etc. about having to repay training costs if you leave within x amount of time?

(Disclaimer: I won't be able to help you even if you can answer this question, but the answer might be useful to other posters more knowledgeable in FL law.)


Title: [Union County, North Carolina] If someone has made a threat to shoot up my school, am I allowed to leave?

Question: Not without parent/teacher permission or signing out. Just flat-out leaving. Today, more than half of the school was gone as shooting threats were made for today and the 6th of November. Along with me being nervous and on edge for most of the day, both of my parents did not make an attempt to pick me up from the school and did not take the threat seriously. Would have I been allowed to just excuse myself and walk away from campus?

Answer:
 Nope.  Otherwise they're would be random threats all the time just to get everyone out of school.   If there's a threat,  notify the teacher or admin and let them handle it.   Answer #2: You wouldn't be able to do that without there being a threat.Answer #3: Um.  No?

You'll need permission or you can absolutely face consequences for just wandering away on your own.


Title: My cousin was wrongly accused of bringing drugs on a flight into the US and was forced to strip down naked, got inappropriately searched, then arrested and deported to Colombia [Texas]

Question:
Hi everyone,

Sorry I don't have all the full details yet since we've had very limited contact with my cousin during this whole ordeal. I will update as I get more details and facts.

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My cousin is a Colombian citizen. He is in his late 30's and is a professor at his local university in Colombia. He was coming into Texas on a tourist visa to spend the holidays with my family. When he stepped off the plane in Texas some people told him he had to follow them to a room. In the room they accused him of bringing drugs on the flight into this country. He strongly denied any of this as he was just coming to visit my family for the holidays. They wouldn't believe him and they forced him to strip down naked. He says that they did an anal cavity search several times and were painfully grabbing and squeezing his testicles. They accused him of bringing drugs in some coffee packages in his luggage but they opened it and found nothing but coffee. They took his phone and chained him up at his legs and hands and arrested him. They did not give him any food and they have deported him to Mexico and he is now getting ready to board a flight back to Colombia.

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My mom was waiting for him at the airport and the people at the airport told her that he is being deported because an immigration officer suspected that he was going to overstay his visa. They say that they saw evidence of this on his phone? I don't know how factual that last sentence is that is just something my mom said.

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This is obviously a load of BS as he had no intentions of staying. He even showed them documents from his University showing his contract as a professor but they told him they didn't believe the papers.

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What can/should we do here? We feel powerless. He is not an American citizen or resident.

Answer:
 Even not being a resident, he still has some legal rights. You could consult a civil rights attorney or immigration attorney to get an idea of what your options are.Answer #2: An immigration attorney may be able to uncover more details. Your cousin will now have  hits in CLASS/TECS/whatever is being used these days.

He could reapply at the Embassy and see what happens but that's a decision  to make with his attorney as he could be interviewed by DHS, DS, DEA, or any combination (the Embassy cannot arrest or detain him however its possible they could turn him over to local law enforcement and that would be something to avoid).

If it really was only a question of the CBP officer having a bad day and referring him to secondary then it's possible this could get worked out however you'll want more info. There's a difference between being suspected of drugs and being suspected of being an intending immigrant.

If CBP has applied an ineligibility under INA 212(a) then he's going to need an attorney and comprehensive effort to get a determination  that it was applied in error.

If he does apply again and they start to deny him he should politely request as much info as possible at the interview as otherwise the sheet he'll get handed won't say anything specific about him other than the INA cite denying the application.

Sorry this happened to your cousin and good luck


Title: [CO] Boyfriend and I are (kinda) buying a house. How do we make this the safest for both of us?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 > we've decided the best course of action is for one of us to buy a house and the other become a resident until we do get married

Absolutely not. This is the worst course of action.

> What is the best way for us to make sure that we are both safe from getting screwed over in event of a break up?

Put your name down on loan docs. The "best" thing you can do is do a contract that spells this out i.e. lie to your bank.

> boyfriend has come up with my lease having a security deposit equal to the amount I pay

Oh goody, so you aren't even going to have record that you ever acquired any interest in the home whatsoever.

Only way to do what you want would mean for your boyfriend to give a contract which would serve as a lien against the home which would need to be completed BEFORE purchase i.e. for you to lie to the bank.

Sub can't help you commit fraud. You either gift the cash to your boyfriend and he gets loan or you go to bank together.


Title: Reported to the BBB...

Question:
So, to start off let me just say I'm trying to start a little computer repair gig. I wanted to earn some money while going to college. I have a "Google Business" for my computer repair service. I haven't completed all of the paperwork yet but I'm fixing out all the details like, the site and potential advertisements. I added a live chat option to my site so I will be able to contact customers on the fly. That was when I was contacted by a "potential customer". The following was the conversation.

**Customer Support (System Message)**

Welcome to our site, if you need help simply reply to this message, we are online and ready to help.

**(Me)**

Hello!

**Customer**

I need windows 8 reinstalled on my PC, I do not have the disk can you take care of this?

**(Me)**

Certainly!

**Customer**

17:25and how much would you charge?

(**Me)**

Thank you for contacting us! If you are looking for an estimate depending if you have the windows key, the price could be cheaper.Do you have a windows 8 key on you?

**Customer**

noand no key

(**Me)**

One minute please

**Customer**

That's illegal \- I am going to contact the authorities and name your business to the Better Business Borough!

**(Me)**

What are you talking about sir?

**Customer**

Also your business is listed at a Home address \- i will be in contact very soon!

*Visitor has ended the chat.*

I'm not sure if I'm going to get in trouble, I don't plan on running a business its just a service I was going to do and register as self employed. Am I going to get in trouble?

Answer:
 BBB is not a legal entity (they're a private company with basically no teeth) and I very seriously doubt that you even have an entry on the BBB website now, nor that most people would bother looking there or care.

Personally, I'd just ignore it.

Make sure that everything else you do is in order though -- file your taxes, register your business, yadda yadda.


Title: [NYC] Currently have 21 points and two more pending tickets. Worth fighting?

Question:
Due to poor decisions and pleading guilty to early tickets, I have accrued 21 points on my NYS Drivers License. I currently have a pending 6 point speeding and 3 point stop sign ticket. Is it even worth it to hire a lawyer to fight these when its most likely an uphill battle? I am also trying to return to the Army, and would like the ability to drive during my service.

Side note - I've never been in an accident, just traveling frequently to Upstate NY I would get caught speeding at early morning or late night with clear roads. Should've invested in a radar detector lol

Answer:
 > Should've invested in a radar detector lol

Or just slowed your ass down lol.

If you have a defense against the tickets, consult a lawyer.  Otherwise, you can show up to court and hope the officer doesn't show and the ticket is dropped (if where you got the ticket in NYS allows for that).


Title: My fiancé is facing jail time for our wedding day.

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
DUI

Answer:
 He's lying to you. Don't marry him until he gets his life back on track.Answer #2: Step back. There are issues here that mean you should protect yourself legally and not marry him. He needs treatment first. Answer #3: The most likely (and perhaps only) explanation here is that he has lied. Which is troubling not just because it was a lie, but because how hard is it to do a class 12 times when the alternative is GOING TO JAIL? This guy has problems. Let him get his own lawyer and work this out before he drags you down with him.

Sorry, I veered out of /r/legaladvice into /r/relationships but both are relevant here. This was not a clerical error.


Title: Speeding Ticket in CenCal

Question:
I need some legal advice on this, I can't afford the $400~ and I believe extenuating circumstances give me a case.
I was issued a court date I cannot go to without punitive action from my current employer (first strike in a 3 strike policy)

On the night in question:
I had been weening myself off of my anti-anxiety/anti-depressants as my medical provider denied my request to see a psychiatrist.
I happened to be dealing with a great deal of work related stress at the time.
-I was asked if I would be willing to work at a different store location that week, said "No." but was scheduled anyways for the day I had told the manager I would be starting work at a second job.
-Yet another manager decided to shout at my coworkers for some perceived inadequacy on my part while I was helping a customer.
-My union steward expressed a deep unwillingness to do anything to help me.
These are the things that were predominantly on my mind at the time, I entered a state of automaticity(highway hypnosis) and subconsciously began attempting to match speed with the cars in front of me. (The only vehicles on the road until the ticketing officer pulled a u-turn behind me.) Upon noticing the U-Turn, I snapped out of it, but never thought to check my spedometer.

This was my first night driving home from a weekly tabletop session in a 2007 aveo, when I'm accustomed to driving a 2003 chevy venture with cruise control engaged on said road.

The officer wrote that I had been going 75 in a 55 zone, evaluated using MVARS.

Is there any evidence I can furnish to help make my case, what can I do to avoid paying this outlandish fine?

Answer:
 The worst thing you can say in court is that you were speeding because you are weening off psychotropic medications and were both not paying attention to the road and not in conscious control of your vehicle at the time of your ticket.

Go to your court date and ask for a reduction in costs or a payment plan. Do not tell them you weren't paying attention while driving.


Title: [MI]Girlfriend has threatened to not allow me access to my unborn child and "be so screwed I'll have to live with my parents". What can I do?

Question:
Hello people of legal advice, maybe you can help me.  I've been searching the internet (next step would be to look into a lawyer but I can't really afford that.  I make $10/hr and am finishing my last semester of my bachelor degree.  To say money is tight is an understatement.) and everything looks like I'm going to get royally screwed.

So to start things off, my live in GF and I have been in a rocky place for the last few months.  On top of this, she accidentally became pregnant.  I do not want this child and said as much; but, she wants to keep it.  Even though I do not like her decision, i refuse to be a deadbeat dad.  I might not want to be a father but I'm going to be the best one I can be.  Fighting ensued over the decision (for a few weeks) and things have become livable again (not great but not constant fighting).  During the fighting, she was constantly threatening me with the title.  Basically that she'll "just be done and I'll never get to see my child and be so screwed that I'll have to go live with my parents".

After talking with a friend who has dealt with some custody issues, she advised me to start recording her when she went on tangents like that.  So I did.  I have about 10 recordings anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes long of her just belittling me and threatening me or my family into not seeing my unborn child.  I also have a few pictures of her smoking pot after she knew she was pregnant.  Though she did admit this to a nurse at her first checkup and was told to stop or cps would get involved, so I don't know how much that will be worth.

I can provide more information if required, but I have a few questions about this whole situation:

1. She currently lives with me and receives assistance from the state (Wic, food stamps, and has applied for disability).  Is there anyway for me to avoid paying child support while we are together?

2.  If things don't work out (not looking promising at the moment), what are my options?  I'd really like to have at least half custody, I don't want to pay child support (especially if I have half custody), and with where she would be living I might even want full custody (she would go to her mom's house where 2 of the 3 people there smoke pot and cigarettes in the house.  I don't know if both have their medical cards but I do know one of them does).

tl;dr GF got accidentally pregnant and is threatening me with insane child support/not seeing my kid.  What can I do?  Another question is:  She lives with me and I pay all the bills but she receives aid from the state, how can I avoid paying child support while we are together?

Any advice would be appreciated, thank you.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: Michigan is a two-party state when it comes to recordings.


Title: UK - Family member disabled, parking fine for not displaying in a private car park.

Question:
A family member is registered blind and therefore disabled, parked in a disabled parking space in a 'Lidls' car park. She did not display her blue badge as she hasn't applied for one yet. Since the incident, she has applied and in the process of getting an official disabled parking badge.

Obviously in the time my family member and driver (for anyone thinking she drove herself there!) were shopping, a UKPC parking attendant has seen this and given her a penalty of £50. She then appealed and proved that she was disabled with a certificate of visual impairment, recognised by the UK government as a document proofing you qualify as a disabled person. UKPC are fully aware that she has proven she is disabled but are still saying she must pay the penalty as there were signs on Display that clearly stated you must display an official parking badge to park in a disabled bay.

They will not accept the visual impairment document (As recognised by UK government) as proof of disability. They have said they want to see a blue badge within 35 days or the penalty will potentially double. As she is in the process of applying, since the incident, she will probably not have this in time. And even been told this by a government telephone advisor.

Does she stand anywhere in this matter? Can the charges still be applied? If not, then can anyone suggest a route to go down?

TLDR; family member parked in disabled bay in a privatly owned car park, contracted by a parking company called UKPC. She does not have a disabled badge, despite being registered disabled and proof with a government recognised document. UKPC will not accept proof unless blue badge is provided. Advice?

Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer: Of course she needs to pay the fine if she didn't comply with the requirement to display the disabled placard.


Title: Pulled over and photographed

Question: [deleted]

Answer: I can't imagine why he would be connected to the police. It was probably just some weirdo. Either way, it is not illegal for someone to take your picture while you are in public.


Title: [Nevada] Collection agency is suing me for an unpaid ambulance bill that I never requested in the first place

Question:
So for context, I was living with my piece of shit transphobic dad back in 2015. After years of mental abuse, I tried to end my life.

They called for an ambulance, I ended up in a mental hospital, and while I was there my dad basically moved all my stuff out into storage.

He put all the bills under my old name, and I think the only thing my insurance covered was the hospital bill. I have absolutely no intention of paying for that ambulance, because I didn't even ask for it to begin with (as stated in the title.)

So for the past two-three years, the collection agency has been trying to get a hold of me, but now they're finally suing. They still only know me by my birth name, and friends are telling me not to give them any information that they could potentially use against me. But I'm at a loss for what to do.

I'm finally about to pay for my top surgery, so this is just really getting in the way of things. :( Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

(edited to try formatting a little better. first time on the computer so sorry)

Answer:
 >I have absolutely no intention of paying for that ambulance, because I didn't even ask for it to begin with (as stated in the title.)

That unfortunately does not matter. Sorry.

>They still only know me by my birth name, and friends are telling me not to give them any information that they could potentially use against me.

They have found you still if you know they're suing you...

>WHAT SHOULD I DO??

Pay the bill. Answer #2: We get this same question (usually for people experiencing seizures or mental breakdowns) multiple times a year. The answer is always the same. You owe the money. Answer #3: You pay. You rode in the ambulance so you pay. There is no other magic answer

They will sue, win and do whatever the law allows to get their money (wage garnishment, bank seizures) Answer #4: Just because medical treatment was forced on you doesn't mean you don't have to pay for it.

If you want that to change then you should be out trying to get laws passed to make the state to pay for any forced medical procedures.

And yes, everyone knows how absurd it is to straddle depressed/suicidal people with almost insurmountable debt but no one really cares enough about them to pay for the treatment they demand be forced on them.


Title: Apartment lease offers free WIFI, but imposes device limit not mentioned in lease.

Question:
*Edit* the apartment is in Ontario, Canada

Recently my girlfriend and I signed a one year lease to an apartment. In the lease document it states that Free WIFI is included with no mention of a device limit. When I went to go pickup the keys the guy that manages the property mentioned that we have a 4 device limit for the WIFI.

This is the first apartment I've lived, I've never encountered problems with device limits living in houses with my own router, so I wasn't really thinking to ask about a device limit beforehand. To me free WIFI means free WIFI with no restrictions on usage.

Between the two of us we have 6 devices that regularly use the internet, and would like the ability to let our visitors use the WIFI when they visit.

Is there any legal grounds with the lease not mentioning the device limits, to have them removed, or at least have an amount knocked off our rent so we can purchase our own internet?

Thanks

Answer:
 > To me free WIFI means free WIFI with no restrictions on usage.

That's an unreasonable assumption.  There are always restrictions, on everything.

Your options here are to try to break your lease for cause(unlikely to work) or to negotiate a change with the building.  Answer #2: Is this limit in total or at one time? 4 devices connected at one time per unit may be a technical limitation.