Title: California: Friend was rear ended on his motorcycle. Person that hit him was uninsured. What are his options?

Question:
So as the title says, my friend was rear ended at a red light on his motorcycle.  The person driving the car is uninsured.  The bike is fine but my friend went to the hospital the following day where he was given pain killers and they offered to wright him off work for a week or two if he wanted (he is stubborn and is still going to work).  My friends insurance says that their is nothing they can do because the bike was not damaged so the in no claim to file.

What are his options?
We don't think he should be responsible for the medical bills?
Topic:
Personal Injury

Answer:
 He shouldn't be.

I don't understand why your friend's insurance says there is nothing they can do; I'm assuming he has liability only coverage (which is a whole OTHER problem on a damn motorcycle)? For his medical bills, he needs to ask his insurance and see if he has UM/UIM coverage on his bike, or if he has medical payments coverage (a/k/a medpay). Both of those things can help defray those costs.

But if your friend only had liability-only coverage, the other people are uninsured, and no UM/UIM/medpay to speak of, your only other recourse will be to sue the driver directly for the costs of your friend's medical care.


Title: Does my dashcam video of someone breaking traffic laws carry any weight?

Question: Specifically the charming human being who blew coal all over the convertible in the lane next to ours taking off with his jacked up pickup. Tennessee.

Answer:
 Yes but its virtually unmeasurable. Here is an article about how full Kindles are heavier than brand new ones https://www.geek.com/gadgets/a-kindle-loaded-with-e-books-is-heavier-than-an-empty-one-1434943/

So as your cam is recording and transcribing 1s and 0s the 1s do increase the matter causing more weight.

Excellent question!Answer #2: If it's just a violation, the police may or may not act. If the violation results in property damage and/or personal injury, the police will most likely do something.

Specifically regarding the act of "rolling coal", you can report that to your local environmental agency (or the EPA directly if no such local agency exists). Trucks that roll coal can only do so via bypassing their emissions controls, which violates the federal Clean Air Act. With your video evidence they may pay a visit to this guy and force him to get an emissions inspection on the spot. If it fails, he is looking at fines plus the cost of restoring the emissions controls.Answer #3: You can always report it, it is up the police if they want to press charges.


Title: [NY] Can my landlady require me to pick up and clean my apartment?

Question:
My lease is coming to an end so my landlady is going to start showing the apartment.  I understand she wants to make a good impression on potential tenants so I made sure everything is generally clean and picked up.  I've already vacuumed, mopped, and done a once over of the kitchen and bathroom.  They're definitely lived in but clean enough I wouldn't be embarrassed to have my girlfriends judgmental parents visit.

I've started packing so there are boxes of stuff around the apartment but I made sure they're out of the way so you can still walk around and get a good idea of the apartment.  Also I have a couple weeks worth of boxboard and recycling stored neatly in a bin that I haven't had a chance to take to the recycling center yet, no garbage or dirty dishes or anything like that.

She came today to "inspect" and freaked out because the place isn't absolutely spotless.  She expects me to take the day off from work, move all my packed up stuff to a storage locker, and scrub every inch of the place so it looks like when I moved in.

I plan on hiring a professional cleaning service when I move out but I feel like her request is ridiculous because I still have a month left before I move and it's really none of her business as long as I'm not damaging things or causing unnecessary wear on the apartment.

Can I politely tell her to pound sand?

Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: Moving your items out before the end of your lease is unreasonable.  You *do* have a general requirement to keep the premises in good condition, including general cleanliness and proper use of the facilities.  So long as your packing and treatment are generally respectful of the facilities, she'd have no authority to order you to move your stuff out.


Title: What would happen if there was a general consensus among US taxpayers to "Jury-Nullify" their peers who are brought to trial over non-payment of taxes? Could the taxpayers unite as a means of peer approved civil disobedience as a show of disgust with tax $ misuse (bailouts, socialized risk, etc.)?

Question: What legal hurdles would such a movement encounter?   Not interested in "such a social movement would be impossible".

Answer: With enough public buy-in to systematically refuse to convict tax evaders, there's enough public buy-in to amend the tax code in the first place and avoid the issue.


Title: SO was assaulted after getting lost while drunk driving

Question:
Throwaway but this happened yesterday:

My GF (20F) was up late into the morning after drinking with friends. Her friends left around 7am and she left to drive to my house against advice and pleads at 8am even though she was very drunk. She had just broke her phone so she was using her iPAD to communicate which somehow broke en-route too. She couldn't find her way and became lost. She stopped for help at a blank industrial store to ask for directions, help, and gas (her car had just ran out of gas). The (1) store worker wouldn't help her until he then lead her back through the shop and into an outside brush area behind the store where he made her strip naked and perform oral sex on him. He clothes were filled with brush/thorns/debri. She was very intoxicated and didn't know why should couldn't say know. He then wanted to have sex with her and he refused and was able to get away to the front of the store where she asked a (2) "manager" for help. He was able to help her and drive her to get gas and go back to the car. She explained everything and was very upset about what happened with (1). He was able to fill her car with gas and then gave his name and # on a piece of paper from the store. She then finally got to my house and was very upset about everything that happened. She tried to explain everything to me the best that she could.

She's terrified to report anything because she thinks its her fault for drinking and driving. She then thinks its her fault for not being able to refuse (1)'s requests. She doesn't want to report it also because she thinks she will get in trouble herself.

I've tried to explain to her that this is completely and totally unacceptable no matter how she got into the situation. We don't really know the best route to go here.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Answer:
 She can definitely go to the police, but given her level of intoxication she should expect to have her version of events questioned and perhaps found to be unbelievable. You should also consider the possibility that she is giving you a version of events that is intended to keep you from getting angry with her for doing something stupid, and *that* may be why she doesn't want to go to the police.

If she truly feels that she was raped or assaulted though, police are the answer.


Title: Some items I bought cannot be delivered by the promised date

Question:
LAS VEGAS.

I hope this is the right place.

I bought some toys to the value of around $160 and paid $24 postage. We are on vacation in America and visited a store in one city and asked for the stuff to be mailed to our hotel that we would be going to in our next city  (due to domestic luggage allowances).
I was assured that the items would be delivered before the date that we are leaving America, but they have sent the package via FedEx ground mail and it will arrive after we have left America.
They say they can't change the delivery, so what are my options? I think I can return the package to the sender, but is it possible to reverse the charges if they refuse to give me a refund?
If they do refuse me a refund and I can't reverse the charges, what can I do as a non-American citizen living in another country?

Update: I have asked FedEx to return the package. The store says they don't do returns. I am going to ask my credit card provider to reverse the charges  (which means they will investigate)

Answer: Ask the hotel to refuse delivery of the package. It should get sent back to the retailer and refunded. If they accept it then you'll need to ask the retailer to send a call tag to have the package picked up. The call tag is so that neither you nor the hotel has to pay for return shipping.


Title: Bicyclist slammed into my wifes car while speeding through school zone. Insurance says its her fault.

Question: [deleted]

Answer: To clarify:  A car and a bicyclist and a car were traveling downhill.  Your wife was traveling uphill.  The oncoming car stopped to allow your wife to turn left but the bicyclist did not.  Your wife turned left and was hit by the oncoming bicyclist.  Correct?  If so, your wife is at fault.


Title: Getting my Hubby’s first born daughter into our family.

Question:
Sorry for the long post, there is a back story! My husband has an 8 year old daughter who currently lives with his ex girlfriends (mother of the child) mom, her grandmother. When his child was two the mother left the state they were residing in and took the child with her to another state due to wanting to go back to her old lifestyle, the mother dumped the child with the grandma and basically is not involved in the child’s life to this day. When the child was taken from him it sent him down a very dark path of depression and destructive choices, after failed attempts at getting her back, so when the grandmother filed for guardianship he doesn’t remember being served the papers and she was awarded guardian ship in a state very far away from his current state he resided in. 4 years later he got his life together to be in his daughters life and moved to the state she is currently living in and has been visiting her weekly for the last two years. All visitations are on the grandmothers terms and she is very limiting, as in he only gets to see her once a week for two hours at only a certain time and it has to be at her house only. My husband has gone along with her wishes in hopes to gain trust and to build a relationship with his daughter, and hoped things would progress over time. Now when my husband has suggested more visitation or being able to do things with her outside of the house, or even having her over at our place (even the two of them) so that I could develop a relationship with her, she won’t budge and tells him it’s a privilege that he gets the time he does. We have been discussing taking legal action for the past year, but are trying to approach this situation gently and come up with enough money. We were hoping to be able to pursue mediation and come to a shared parenting plan with 50/50 custody, but by her actions we feel we might have to take a more drastic approach to get more time with her, as we feel it might be difficult for her to release some control. What should we do moving forward?
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: You can try but given the past history of termoil in the child's life, there's a chance the court will decide to keep things as are since grandma has been the one constant for the child. You would also need to move to where the child is.


Title: [Florida] [crosspost r/divorce] Simplist, cheapest, amicable divorce options.

Question:
Hi !
I'm getting divorced from my husband (see: friend) whom I married a few years back for mostly practical purposes. We're ready to divorce, and neither of us share property, children, no alimony, nothing. Basically, we just want to get the paperwork signed with everything to remain separate as cheaply as possible. we never even lived together. Is something like divorcewriter a good option or would you suggest something else?

TLDR- cheapest suggestions for a divorce where we have no shared property and neither wants to take anything from the other?

Answer: Go to your county web site, there are usually forms to download.  Fill them out, go to the court house with your spouse, sign the forms, pay the filing fee and wait for a court date. Yes, it really is that easy if you don't have minor children and have already agreed on everything.


Title: If I host a party in NM and everyone is underage but they have their parent's consent to be able to drink would it be ok

Answer: No. NM has an exception for if you are the parent or legal guardian of the minor serving alcohol in your home but if you're just some random person then you can be charged with furnishing alcohol to a minor, which is a crime in that state. It's not enough that the parents gave permission.


Title: [Illinois] Possible criminal and civil suit against my son and myself?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Ignore the other parents. Don't even try for one second to reason with them. If you're sued or the police want to talk to you, get an attorney.Answer #2: No. Don't worry about it. If you get anything in the mail regarding an upcoming suit *then* you need to get an attorney. I don't see any legitimate claim here.Answer #3: Based on these facts I see no possible criminal charge, nor do I see any valid civil suit. I'm sure if she's even the type to seek redress instead of just threaten on the phone, that's exactly what she will hear from police or other attorneys. If police show up, or if you do get sued, you need a lawyer. Answer #4: Besides the other good advice, just to give you a bit of peace of mind, consider that the boys were in her house, under her supervision — so it was really on her to watch them. Answer #5: Since the age of criminal responsibility is 13 in Illinois (and 11 federally), there is no way your son could be charged.


Title: (TX) Need advice about how to handle being detained by immigration officers.

Question:
Some weeks ago, I read [this Washington Post](https://wapo.st/2POukg7) article. Basically, people born out of midwives in the Rio Grande Valley area could be suspicious of having fraudulent birth certificates and denied entry to the US or passport reissuance. I am a US citizen, but I am afraid I fit the profile. I am still planning on traveling abroad and not let this control my life, but I am still concerned.

While I plan to visit a lawyer and at least get him/her acquainted with my case, I couldn't wait to ask. What should I do in the event that I get detained at the border and my citizenship is questioned? Should I not talk to anyone and ask for a lawyer? How much should I interact with border patrol agents? Should I actually stop traveling? Appreciate the help!

Answer: Were you born through a midwife or at a hospital?


Title: I need advice on possible adoption fraud

Question:
I fathered a child at 18, her mother and myself were addicted to drugs, at 19 I was diagnosed with an incurable cancer, CML, and I moved out of the State of Maryland to live with my mother while I received a year of health treatment. During that time the child's mother went to rehab in California, and eventually moved the child their as well. We remained in contact and she shared pictures and parenting with me, she never asked for child support. Two years later I moved to Oregon with my now wife, and had a second child. I had a nasty falling out with the mother of my first child and didn't speak to her during my wife's pregnancy. After my second child was born my wife and I contacted the mother of my first child so that we could re-establish a relationship, everything went well and we regularly made plans to meet up which kept falling through on my first child's mother's end. My wife got suspicious and did some research, we found out, that a year earlier, my first child's mother lost custody of my child and my child now lives in Maryland with her aunt. My wife contacted the aunt, who was bothered by the contact. She stated that she was her foster mother, and that she intended to adopt her and threatened us not to interfere, we thanked her for stepping up and let her know that'd we'd like a relationship with the child. The aunt agreed. The aunt later opened up that the child's mother could potentially regain custody and urged us to fight her if this were to occur, we agreed. The aunt stated that during the hearing the Mother told the judge she had no idea where I (biological father) was, this was a lie, as we were in regular contact during that time. I am very frustrated that my child was in foster care and that because of her mother's lies, I was not alerted, had I been, she'd be living with me, my wife and her younger sister. Fast forward, the Aunt has now legally adopted her in the state of Maryland because by the time we sought legal help we were told after of figuring out which state to contact, that the adoption was finalized. Now the aunt refuses any kind of relationship. Is there anything I can do legally? PLEASE HELP

*Update
I contacted some lawyers, and they all have basically said, there is nothing that can be done since paternity has never legally been established, a birth certificate means nothing since we were never married.

Answer:
 In the end you are going to need a lawyer if you want to fight the adoption.

Were your parental rights ever terminated and do you still have any records of the contact you had with your ex over the years? Text messages in old phones and the like.


Title: Politician hasn't paid me for being his Field Director on his campaign.

Question:
I'm a 18 year old who worked on a poltical campaign who was only paid 100 out of the 800 that was agreeded upon. I took that job out of desperation and it has been 3 months since the campaign ended.

I only have 18$ in my bank and am very desperate. I don't know what else to do.

Answer:
 >  100 out of the 800 that was agreeded upon

What state are you in? How was this agreed upon, did you sign a contract?


Title: Wife and I live in a one bedroom apartment that we are trying to find a loophole to get out of. [OH]

Question:
Basically the title says it all.
The lease says that only 2 lessees may live at the residence. My wife is pregnant and will have the child before the lease is up. Is that something that could help or hurt us?
Also the landlord has came in twice without us being in the apartment and without our knowledge. We know someone was in here because the door wasn't locked once and the other time there was calk left out and the bathtub had work done to it. The shitty thing is we can't prove this. It's just calk and a suspicion that we have.
She also says that someone comes and cleans the stairs once and month and that is in the lease agreement. No one has come and we have pictures of the stairwell. The door to the complex is broke, so a lot of bugs in get in the stairwell. She isnt keeping her side of the deal. Is that something we could also argue?
She also guilts you into fixing things yourself because they are short on money all the time, but it feels like entrapment because the lease agreement says lessees can't make alterations to anything to the premises.

We just want out of here. The landlord is a joke of a woman and we have the baby on the way. This was a semi cheap place in a decent neighborhood, but we got hoodwinked. We just wanted a place where we could save up and get a house for the baby.

Answer: None of this is grounds to terminate your lease without penalty. Follow the terms of your lease agreement for lease termination. If no such clause exists in your lease agreement, you will be responsible for paying rent and fees as per your lease agreement until your landlord is able to find a suitable tenant to replace you.


Title: Please help. New roommate is 45 y/o druggie.

Question:
In June a new resident named John began to sublet one of the rooms in our apartment. Since he has moved in, there has not been a single moment where I have felt safe living here.

To begin with, Sage Apartments is advertised as a "student residence" - a reason why I originally wanted to live here. I wanted to live with people around my age with similar interests. John is not a student - in fact he is a 45 year old unemployed man (he revealed this to us a couple weeks in). Now I am not one to discriminate and I would like to give people the benefit of the doubt but John has demonstrated unacceptable actions on numerous occasions.

To begin, when John is home he is relentlessly smoking cigarettes inside of his room. I have already signed an agreement that states there is no smoking allowed anywhere on the premise of Sage Condos. All of the rooms in our apartment are linked by a single air duct. John's room is directly next to the AC unit and so whenever we have the air conditioning running ALL rooms in the house REEK of smoke. In fact, it affecting my work as I have been sitting at my desk and my manager has commented on how my clothes are beginning to smell of smoke. I do not think it is fair that I have to live in a place where my shower towels and clothes smell like cigarettes because a roommate is relentlessly smoking. We have politely asked him to stop smoking inside on several occasions and he lies and says that he doesn't smoke.

Secondly, John has done several shady actions which have raised more than one red flag. I apologize for the bullets, but this e-mail is already becoming very long.

MAJOR RED FLAGS:

- We have seen scary looking middle to older age men leave our condo counting large wads of cash - what if they come looking for money and John is not here?

- He has walked into the kitchen smoking marijuana holding a glass pipe

- Once he left his door open when he was not home and from the hallway we could see a suspicious looking smoking device - something that we do not believe to be just for marijuana (see attachments)

- He approached our roommates asking if we knew "any girls who like to go clubbing" and then proceeded to try and sell us a pair of $1700.00 shoes from Christian Louboutin which he said he "found in the dumpster"

- He informed us that this week someone called the police on him for "suspicious activity" in the lobby. Imagine how we feel having to live with this guy for 3 MONTHS!

MINOR FLAGS:

-  John leaves our front door open over night and when we are not home so his scary looking friends can use our apartment at will - I am very worried about theft.

- He has had people live here for up to 5-7 days at a time giving them the key to our apartment.

- We have heard him sniffing in a suspicious manner from his bathroom on numerous occasions

- On a regular basis he has 20-30 year old girls over (which normally would not be that strange but because he is 45 and because of other circumstances we believe this to be drug related or something else)

- He stays up all night long and sleeps during the day and will often disappear for several days at a time

- He had a dog living here for about a week which he let roam freely in the common space at night time

*The text in this post is from an e-mail we have sent them from last week which they still haven't replied to.*

We live in Ontario, Canada. We have been in contact with the Condo Manager for over a month now and they haven't done anything other than leave a warning. We would love some advice on how to handle this situation. Thanks for your help in advance.

Answer:
 Is this a Sage property in Waterloo?

Go to the office - 8 Hickory Street West, Unit 2 -  in person - and ask to see their standard renter's agreement. Pour through it looking for rules on subletting and/or smoking. If this is a pre-furnished unit, I might think management might have something to say about a sublettor smoking in a designated non-smoking property.  Go in person and demand to speak to a manager.

this guy is subletting? What does the actual renter (that he is subletting FROM say? thats who you should be going after).


Title: Cash and Credit Card info was stolen while asleep on a plane (Louisiana)

Question: I fell asleep on a plane coming from Charlotte to New Orleans 2 nights ago. I noticed while half asleep that the woman next to me was touching my purse but I thought she was just moving it over because it may have moved in turbulence so I just went back to sleep. When I left the airport I realized  all my cash, $130, was missing and my credit cards were out of place. Yesterday morning I woke up to fraud alerts that someone had tried to use my card at Sprint. Over multiple cards, she tried to charge over $2000 to Sprint. So I had to get all new cards. I also had my social security card in my wallet and my passport in my purse so I assume she probably took pictures of those too. I tried going to the airport police in New Orleans and they say it's not their jurisdiction because "it happened in the air". I then went to American Airlines and while they have been more kind and helpful, they tell me they can't do anything without a police report. Id like to have a police report, especially in the event that my identity is stolen but no one is working with me. Any advice would be helpful, thank you.

Answer:
 New Orleans police redditor here:

The first problem is that the Louis Armstrong Airport is not located in Orleans Parish, but is actually in Jefferson Parish.  The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency at the airport and will take reports.  You can return to the airport and go to the Police Office, which is located on the western side of baggage claim.  Your other option is uou can call 504-227-1400 and tell them you want to file an identity Theft complaint.  That complaint you can file over the telephone and you do not need to see an officer face-to-face.  The final option is that most agencies accept Identity theft complaint either where the offense occurred (unless you are at 10,000 feet over the Ohio Valley) or where you live.  You can call your local police department to make sure they will honor a report on your behalf.Answer #2: Freeze your credit with all three bureaus. Immediately. This way she cannot begin new lines of credit with your social security card or other information she has stolen.


Title: [UT] Employer refuses to pay for work that I performed, based on arbitrary reasons? [Long post]

Question:
I originally posted in r/PersonalFinance, but apparently this is the better place for my circumstance. I apologize for the lengthy post. The time period here may or may not be important, I want to make sure.

In November I worked with a Company for a brief time. We agreed to $12/hour wage during training. My first day was a "working interview" on Thursday, November 10th. I worked a full 11-hour shift and performed the job as if a normal employee. The manager really liked me and offered me to stay on.

I have asthma, and had a difficult time with it at various times throughout the day. I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure if it was just me, or the actual work environment itself that was the cause.

The next week, I began working on Tuesday, November 15th. I was still in training, but I worked solo two days of that week on assignments. My asthma continued to be a problem, but I didn't say anything because I was still unsure of the cause. By Thursday, November 17th, it was clear to me that the work environment was the cause of my asthma flare-ups. I informed my manager that evening of my asthma problems. I told him that I would take some allergy medication the following day (Friday) to see if it helped at all. If not, I most likely would not be able to work there anymore. The following day went about as I expected, I still had some problems.

Over the weekend I thought about what I should do, and on Tuesday, November 22nd, I ended my employment there.

During that time, I learned that the company only pays once a month, and that I would receive my check around December 5th.

On December 8th, I still had not received a check, and I returned the work shirt and other work items to them. While there, I asked the manager about my check. He replied that he would talk to the other manager (who was in charge of office stuff) about my check.

The following day (Friday, December 9th) I contacted the office manager via text and asked about my check. She said

> I just received a go from [the other manager], he received your shirt, etc. Please confirm your address.

Wait...what? Were they withholding pay from me because I hadn't returned my shirt yet? That doesn't seem okay to me.

Up to this point, I never signed any employment documents. I guess I should have known better, but it didn't cross my mind that I should have done that my first day.

That same day (December 9th), they sent me a W-9 form and said that I would receive my 1099 form in January. I had no idea that I was an Independent Contractor until this moment.

On Thursday, December 15th, I still hadn't received a check, so I contacted them again. The office manager said that she was having personal/family issues and would get to it on Saturday. Having already waited a month to receive pay, I was frustrated but was very kind and patient.

Thanks for your own patience! Okay here's the meat:

I finally received my check yesterday (Dec. 19th), **for the wrong amount**.

The total days I worked were 5, including Thursday (my first day) and Tuesday-Friday the following week. The check, however, only covered Tuesday-Friday.

I sent the company an email with the details of the error. Their response was convoluted and felt extremely guilt-trippy. They said that they would not pay me the remaining amount because (1) I had not informed them of my Asthma earlier, and (2) it is very expensive to hire new employees and (3) I was in training during that time, it was out-of-pocket money for them, and that a few my assignments had to be redone.

I paraphrased their email, I can link the actual quote if that helps at all.

The amount of money that they still owe me isn't a lot. That's not the point. I feel that I have been mistreated through this whole thing, and that they are trying to bamboozle me out of pay that I earned. Is it just my own errors and I'm out $130 bucks, or am I justified here?

**Update/Edit**: It seems clear to me that I should seek the compensation the company owes me, and that it is possible I was misclassified as a 1099 Independent Contractor. I plan to send the company another email for one last effort before taking legal action. If that doesn't work, I'm not sure exactly what to do next? Contact the Division of Labor? Get a consultation with a Labor Law attorney?

Answer:
 [This rule sets out the allowed deductions](http://www.rules.utah.gov/publicat/code/r610/r610-003.htm#T18). All other deductions are disallowed. In short:

* Deductions that are required by law do not require your authorization. This covers taxes and wage garnishments.

* Deductions that are not required by law but are allowed require your written authorization, and must be one of a limited number of classes. "You had asthma" and "we had to train your successor" are not reasons permitted by law.


Title: OH- Mother has terminal illness, checklist of things to do while she is still able.

Question:
My mother is facing a terminal illness (no sadness or condolences please- she's lived a long and happy life and I'd prefer to keep this all business so I don't cry any more today). We are going over all the things she needs to do in order to make the during/after easier on me (I have no living siblings).

She is remarkably organized- her file cabinet is carefully labeled with banking information, her will, burial plot information etc. so I don't see any problems there. But I want to double check that we haven't missed anything.

She has a will and a living will. She plans to update her will later next week as some of the heirs have died since she had it done.

She has already paid for her burial plot as well as funeral service and casket.

I am already durable power of attorney, healthcare power of attorney, and executor of her estate.

I have been added to both her checking and savings accounts so I can manage things as she declines.

She has added me as co-owner of her vehicle.

I am 100% beneficiary of both her retirement accounts and am over 60. There is no life insurance.

She does have a small mortgage on her home- we will need to keep that going somehow as it will take me some time to deal with all of her belongings. Then I plan to have an estate sale company come and liquidate those things and furnishings I don't want or are too nice to donate.

She has no other debt.

There are some investments, CD's, that we have not gotten into yet. I figure these will pass to me as per her will. I'm in no hurry, but is there anything that must be done?

I hope I haven't left anything out. She wants to make things as easy on me as possible- yes, she's a great mom. But is there anything more we need to address while she is still mobile and of clear mind?

Thank you!
Topic:
Wills Trusts and Estates

Answer:
 It sounds like you have the bases covered. If you haven't recently, the only recommendation I have is to take those documents, the will, the powers of attorney, to a local estate attorney for review to ensure they are all up to snuff. Answer #2: Kudos to your mom. That sounds amazing.

In addition to a quick review of the existing documents, I'd make sure you know what CDs exist, when they mature, and check into beneficiaries of any retirement accounts like IRA or 401k. Answer #3: Having dealt with a few family member deaths, don't be surprised when, after they pass, you get bills for services taken out in their name. The recently deceased are often targets for scammers, and this has happened with 2/3 family member deaths I've gone through.


Title: Been renting out downstairs MiL unit to a friend and her boyfriend. They were set to vacate at the end of the month, she broke things off with him, now he's gone crazy and is potentially refusing to leave (Washington State)

Question:
Things have gotten kind of crazy, so I'll try to sum up as best as I can, although this is kinda long, so I'll give a TL/DR at the end:

My husband and I own a home a little north of Seattle. When we bought it, the downstairs (it's a split level) was already set up as a sort of mother-in-law unit. It has a separate entrance, its own kitchen, and it connects to the upstairs (where my husband and I live) via an interior door and through the laundry room, which we share. We decided to rent out that downstairs unit to my friend (let's call her Susan), who moved in last August with her boyfriend (let's call him Sam)

Now, we'd thought about renting out the space before, and had decided to use a rental agency to manage everything, as well as add better doors and deadbolts to those connecting doors...but when we decided to rent to a friend we figured that wouldn't be an issue, so they just moved in with a verbal agreement about how much rent would be (I know, I know, terrible idea...believe me, it will never happen again, since we'll never be renting it out ever again).

Susan has been a great tenant, paid rent in full and on time every month, and is generally a very nice person. However, Sam has been pretty terrible. He quit his job last November, has not been contributing any income to help her with rent or food, drank an entire case of wine we had left in our garage without asking or paying, watched so much Netflix that we went over our 1,000 GB per month comcast wifi limit, smokes weed in the house despite us asking him to go outside because we can smell it upstairs, and just recently, got a "service dog" puppy who he refuses to potty train...the list could go on.

About a month ago, Susan texted me to say that her and Sam needed to move out (the rent we charged is pretty cheap for the area, but on a single income was getting tough for her) and would like May to be their last month, but was willing to stay longer if it took us a while to find new renters. My husband and I decided that we'd rather not rent the space at all, and were actually pretty excited at the prospect of getting our whole house back.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly until Sunday night. Susan texted me and told me that she had broken up with Sam a few days prior, and that he had been sending hundreds of threatening text messages since. We meet the next afternoon (earlier today/yesterday), and she tells me how he's demanding that she compensate him, that she owes him money, and is saying a bunch of stuff that generally doesn't make any sense (she did crash and total his car this past winter after hitting a patch of ice, but the car was a bit of a junker. The 6 months of rent and food she provided without his help would have more than made up that cost).

Susan has most of her stuff out by now, but she isn't sure what Sam intends to do with regards to moving (he has no income, no car, no place to go next). She's offered to buy him a car to replace the one she crashed, as well as give him $1,500 to help him relocate somewhere. This, however, isn't good enough for Sam, and she's now afraid to go to the apartment by herself, so a couple of her male relatives decided to go there and have a chat with him. This chat happened while I was meeting with Susan, but he refused to talk to them without her there, or let them inside to get any of her remaining things.

So Susan and I both drove back to the house, where she went with her dad and uncle to talk to Sam, and I went upstairs to figure out when my life turned into an episode of Jerry Springer. Because now is where it gets super crazy.

I hear them knocking downstairs, calling his name, and getting no answer. Then all of a sudden tons of shouting, and someone opening the interior door that connects the two units. Sam starts running upstairs yelling for me or my husband (who isn't home) to come downstairs, because he needs witnesses. I followed, at a distance, although I'm wishing now that I'd maybe just called the police. I stood in the doorway and listened to what was maybe the craziest, most out-of-touch-from-reality rant I've ever heard someone say in person.

It wavered back and forth between "you owe me more than that/how am I supposed to eat/you buy your dog better food than you buy me," to "this fucking dog is your responsibility," to "your uncle tried to steal MY fucking dog, how dare he take my service dog," to "what do you have to say about this/shut up, I wasn't talking to you (both said to her uncle within the same 15 seconds)." The crazy just kept on coming.

All Susan would say was "what do you need to leave?" And Sam finally said he wanted $5,000 and a better car than she was already buying him (since now he wouldn't have a garage to work on it). Susan's uncle seemed like he was willing to pay that just to get rid of the guy, and started to say that if Sam would agree to leave and never come back...then Sam proceeded to yell at uncle, because he wouldn't agree to anything, "just give me that money and we'll talk then." At this point the conversation ended, with Sam locking himself in the bedroom with the dog and the rest of us going upstairs to talk.

My opinion is that she owes him exactly nothing, and should file a restraining order. She feels bad for us and wants to maybe pay him in order to get him out of our house and out of her life. Her plan is to talk to a lawyer tomorrow. However, this leaves my husband and I in the scary position of having a crazy person still in our house. A mentally unstable veteran with access to weapons. Who hasn't threatened us in any way (yet), and while his name isn't on any lease, still has renters rights (from what I've read online).

Meanwhile, I've been trying to avoid a full blown panic attack by: barricading the two connecting doors, zip-tying the handles shut, moving our Ring motion sensor inside facing down that stairwell...all very quietly, as this dude seemed unhinged. I've also given our next door neighbors a heads up, made a video walkthrough of our house showing all of our valuables, made plans to leave my dog somewhere else for a few days, and written this post. I'm scared to be here with him downstairs, but also scared to leave him alone here.

TL/DR: My friend was renting our downstairs MiL unit with her boyfriend, while my husband and I live upstairs. The boyfriend is an asshole, but they decided to move out, then she broke up with him a couple weeks before they were supposed to be gone. He went batshit crazy (like, actually mentally unstable, and has access to weapons), and is trying to extort/blackmail money from her in order to move out and leave her alone. She's talking to a lawyer, but my husband and I are stuck with a crazy person living downstairs who scares the crap out of me.

Basically, this whole long rambling post boils down to this request for advice: What should our next steps be? Start an eviction process? For what cause? If she files a restraining order will he get evicted automatically? Should we talk to a lawyer? What kind? Real estate? Do we have cause to go to the police if he hasn't threatened us directly? Please, please, please, any help is appreciated.

Answer:
 Your post is much too long and full of unimportant information, so I apologize but I burned out reading about halfway.

If you have an unwanted tenant after she leaves, you need to give Sam written notice to vacate in 20 days. If he still fails to vacate, you will need to evict him in court.

I strongly recommend people consult an attorney in their jurisdiction to make sure the language in the notice to vacate is correct, and to actually do the eviction for you. An unlawful detainer lawsuit is not terribly complex, but if any mistakes are made from the notice to vacate forward, it can cause you to have an unwanted tenant for several more months. It's a small investment in making sure things are properly handled.

Best of luck; I hope things work out okay. Answer #2: For clarity, let me break out the issues as I see them:

* A person, who happens to be your tenant in the in-law unit, trespassed into your home. You are afraid of this person. You would like to know what your options are in terms of protecting yourself legally.

* You have tenants in your in-law unit on a verbal agreement. One of the tenants is moving out. You are concerned that the second tenant may not, and want to know what to do.


Title: So My School Sucks

Question: So I am a 16 Y/O male, and this one female (lets call her Jenna) told the teacher I was going to blow up the school, yet I didnt say it in a threatening way, but I had even said I was SCARED that It could happen, due to events that happened prior at our school. Jenna had known I was scared of it happening and WAS a good friend I thought I could trust, but nope. Now I have been charged with "Terroristic Threats And Acts - Felony" And "Disruption of a public school" and now I have Court on the 11th, and idk if ill be ok or not, any help?

Answer: Your help is you stop talking about this to anyone but the attorney who represents you. Because you have severe criminal charges as a result of your actions.


Title: Military - civilian divorce in NV, USA, asking about custody rights for a child.

Question: My wife is still active duty Navy, with deployments 9-12 months long, she thinks the court will accept joint physical custody for her (she is not contesting that i have our daughter most of the year). We already got our first petition denied, because the schedule *she* came up with doesn't match her having our kid 40% of the year. She also will not (very adamant about this) WILL NOT voluntarily allow me to have primary physical custody because she doesn't trust that I won't stop her from seeing our kid ever again. What are the chances the court will allow joint custody? And how would we go about getting a schedule around her deployments that would allow 40% custody time?

Answer: She is not going to get joint physical custody when she is out of the country for more than 50% of the year. She's being ridiculous. I'd bet it will work out that you have primary physical custody and she gets visitation depending on her deployment schedule.


Title: Duty Dispute with Int'l DHL and Customs: I do not owe $5,500 in duty for a $460 purchase!

Question:
I purchased a weaving in Nairobi for about 50,000.00 Kenyan shillings - this is equivalent to about 460 US dollars. Unfortunately when the shop in Kenya shipped it to me, and as noted in the shipping paperwork to Customs, the shop listed the sales price at 50,000 US DOLLARS, not KENYAN SHILLINGS. It was a simple mistake - they just indicated the wrong currency.

But as the value was noted as USD and not KSH, Customs charged DHL (and in turn me), a duty of $5,500 DOLLARS.

I've already argued with DHL about this once, as the package was being held in customs. I supplied my credit card statement showing the USD value, pictures of my hard copy receipt in KSH; a picture of the actual sales tag in KSH; documents from the Nairobi vendor. This was a simple mistake and frankly I can't believe DHL or Customs haven't seen it before. Most of the emails from DHL were pretty rude, but whatever - I was trying to be professional and helpful.

I thought it was sorted when the package finally arrived out of customs - but to my surprise when I received the final duty bill last week from DHL, it was for... the same $5,500 USD amount.

I don't want to call DHL back to start this argument again until I get some advice?

Lord I am pissed. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer:
 You should've refused the package and have it sent back ...

Value was declared at 50k US, that is wrong, but nothing you can correct (if customs is stubborn). They go of the invoice + declared value.

If you got the package already, you've created a problem for yourself. You pay DHL, DHL pays tax (customs) and works with customs. You'll need to start calling DHL and somehow interact with their department that interacts with customs.

If you did not get the package yet. Refuse it and have it re-sent.Answer #2: Need to contact the shipper to reclassify and change the declared value on the commercial invoice.  This isn't a hard process, just paperwork and getting DHL to cooperate.

Then they need to resubmit the commercial invoice to DHL so they can adjust the duty on it.


Title: Racially Discriminated against at Restraunt

Question:
Let me preface by stating this did not happen to me and I am asking for a friend without a reddit account. We are located in the Twin Cities (MN) area. My friend is also part of a large somali population here in the cities.

My friend (hereby referred to as Joe, not his name) and another friend had about $50 in gift cards to a particular wings restaurant and went there last night to eat. When they arrived and were seated the manager approached them and told them that they would have to provide proof of payment because "we have had a high percentage of people like you walk out." Note, this wasn't said to any other customers. They produced the gift cards and ordered about $50 worth of food and ate it.

After the meal they were approached again and told the same thing they were told earlier. They gave the gift cards to the manager and she went to ring them in. Both were decline with 0 balance. I'm not sure how this happened or how they got the gift cards,. I believe it was Joe's friend who had the cards. At this point the manager told them not to leave until payment was produced. They had no money on them but they were able to call another friend who showed up with the $50 to pay and leave. As they are leaving the manager tells them "I don't ever want to see you guys at this restaurant again, we know you stole the cards from the rack at the front, we have cameras. Joe and his friend had the cards when they arrived, these cards were definitely not stolen.

As the manager accusing them, the third friend who showed up started recording her. Note, I did some quick research and Minnesota is a one party consent state so correct me if I'm wrong, but this was legal. The manager forcefully took his phone, deleted the footage and proceeded to threaten to call the cops, of which Joe and his friends eagerly agreed too. She returned the phone and called the cops. When the cops showed up, they listened to both sides of the story and concluded by telling Joe and his friends that they couldn't do anything because its private property?

Joe's question is, what was illegal here, can he get any compensation for any of the events, and what can he do without any concrete evidence besides eyewitness statements.

Additionally, I am curious as to whether or not it was illegal to racially profile them by asking for prepayment, and what the cops should have done, if anything, when they arrived.

**TL:DR** Somali friend was told to prepay at wings restaurant, showed gift cards, gift cards declined, friend arrived and payed for him, manager accused them of stealing, friend began recording and manager snatched phone and deleted footage, cops were called, told the parties there was nothing they could do

**EDIT** I am too swamped to reply to all these comments but I want to thank you all for replying. It is clear that my viewpoint was swayed because Joe is my friend. Clearly both parties were at fault but Joe and his friends don't deserve anything from anyone. My questions do still stand, assuming that the gift cards weren't an issue. They are just curious point from myself, trying to learn a little more about the law.

Answer:
 It sounds like Joe's friend is a crook.

>can he get any compensation for any of the events

Really?Answer #2: > I'm not sure how this happened or how they got the gift cards,. I believe it was Joe's friend who had the cards.

Joe's friend is a thief, that's how.

>Joe and his friend had the cards when they arrived, these cards were definitely not stolen.

That doesn't mean shit. Maybe he stole them earlier during his last visit.

>The manager forcefully took his phone,

Definitely not okay, but as you later state, the police showed up and nothing was done so that's about all you could have done.

>can he get any compensation for any of the events

No, there is nothing to sue for here.

>Joe and his friends that they couldn't do anything because its private property?

The restaurant is private property. If they don't want you there, they don't have to let you eat there. That said, they *technically* can't refuse service based on race, but they didn't; they refused service based on the fact that they had stolen gift cards.Answer #3: I see nothing in this post that shows Joe was discriminated because of his race rather than the fact that he had red socks on. Just because someone is a minority, does not mean that every time they get treated badly is because of that.

I also find it amazing how many times people come here to complain about being "accused" of something with no proof, and then they are found out to be guilty of that exact offense and they think they were accused unjustly. Too much television, I think.


Title: Need help & advise. Can I go to jail or is this civil?

Question:
I recently sold some used machinery to a customer of mine (who I had a relationship with). The sale price was $10,250.00 and they paid me via check 9 months ago. The parts were shipped out shortly afterwards and absolutely nothing was said for 6 months. Now they are claiming that they never received the parts and are threatening me with legal action and prison.

The customer is a milti-million dollar manufacturing plant. No reason for them to lie. I am a 5 man shop who is running out of his home and deep in the red with no sign of black this year.

I do not have any proof of shipment. One of my employees (who no longer works for me) shipped out the parts. I have no reason to believe that he stole the shipment, the parts I sold are incredibly unique and have absolutely no street value at all. We also moved 2 weeks after the shipment and I don't have any paperwork, trail or lead for the machinery I shipped out.

Can I go to prison like their legal department says? They are threatening with court, police, etc. I've never had any issues with this customer before.

I shipped out the parts, I just can't prove it. I have agreed to repay the amount they've given me, I just need time to do so. I can't come up with that amount at will.

I would really appreciate any advice or information. I've never had any legal problems other than one speeding ticket about 12 years ago. The thought of legal action makes me freak out. Please let me know if this is civil or the other kind that leads to prison.

Answer:
 This is a civil matter (bassically the lack of fulfilling a contract doesn't constitute fraud unless you had no intention to fulfill said contract).

I have to add that IANAL

But you might want to offer them the parts (you making it again and this time sending it with a form of tracking on it) if that is the cheaper option for you.


Title: [USA, Texas] If I legally bought the Mona Lisa, would anyone be able to stop me from eating it? (I know this is a dumb question and I don't plan on trying, but please answer anyway)

Answer: [Prior discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladviceofftopic/comments/7pztpl/could_someone_legally_eat_the_mona_lisa_if_they/).


Title: Am I legally allowed to ignore my marriage?

Question:
So basically I am from America - specificallytexas.

I got married 2 weeks after I turned 18, with a man I was dating - though I agreed to the marriage I only married him because he said if I loved him then I should get married with him so we can do his papers as he was not a US citizen. I did it because I loved him and wanted us to be together In America legally...........

Anyway fastforward, I’m 21 now. And he eventually left back to his home country and we are no longer together. He doesn’t want to help me file for the divorce and at this point I really don’t even know what to do. I feel held back cause I have to disclose that info to other people I meet, but atthe same time it’s like I don’t know what to do about it either. He hasn’t cometo America in a long time, I don’t have his current address as he refuses to give it to me and essentially only talks to me to insult my lifestyle - not to help me with legal stuff or even payment for filing any papers.

I am not able to rely on anyone such as my parents to help me, so I’m on my own which is fine - NOT looking for people to take care of my mess. I also don’t earn a lot of money, and it varies. Maybe about 1-1.5k every TWO weeks on average - could be WAY less depending on hours. And I still have a lot of things I need to pay for.

So legally, am I required to file for divorce in order to be LEGALLY single/ not in a marriage?

**tldr**: I married a foreign man - COURT marriage-  (whom I was dating) when I was 18. He left America back to his home country shortly after - legit a couple months after. We are no longer together. He refuses to help me in any way, refuses to give me his current address, and barely even talks to me aside from insult / complain. What can I do to officially be free from him?
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 [Here is a good resource](https://texaslawhelp.org/toolkit/void/annul-marriage-i-want-annul-or-void-my-marriage). No, you can't pretend it didn't happen. But you can make it as though it didn't happen through annulment. It's pretty clear that he's conducting a form of immigration fraud and he substantially misrepresented his interest in you if you left a couple months later and doesn't treat you as a spouse. If you report it to proper authorities then you'll never have to see him again because he'll never be approve for a visa after a stunt like ltaht.Answer #2: You will need to get legally divorced if you no longer want to be legally married.  There are ways of doing this when you can't find your spouse, though with the complication of him still talking to you you may want to have a lawyer's help.  There should be Legal Aid that you can contact in your city.Answer #3: Staying married after the marriage has dissolved can have some particularly difficult consequences on both of you. Everything you're doing right now could be considered if he ever shows back up. Money you're earining? That's a marital asset. Buy a car? Marital asset. He incur a bunch of debt? Marital debt.

As someone mentioned, there are ways to do alternative service when you can't find someone or they aren't cooperative. No state forces you to remain married to someone forever. Read [this](https://info.legalzoom.com/can-husband-file-divorce-cant-his-wife-texas-26101.html) for more information.


Title: [Australia] My work demands that we search through all cars before they leave the car park

Question:
Hey,

Where I work there is a drive through parking area to make entering the store more convenient and carrying large objects out of the store to the cars easier (large items such as tables, leisure settings etc).

There is a small sign, about A3 size at the gate which has the terms of entering the car park. One is that all cars must be checked before they are let out (there is a boom gate). My boss has insisted that I must check all cars, open doors, check the trunk, look under seats etc for stolen goods. He basically threatened to fire me if I do not do this.

Most customers act offended and claim that it is illegal. Are they correct? (I hope so, it seems like a very invasive thing to do, and the small sign is surely not a reason to be able to do it).

Thanks.

Answer: What if I refuse the search - am I now forever trapped in your parking lot?


Title: [IN] 15 year old girl stole mothers phone with alot of personal information.

Question:
She has been stealing from her family for quite a while now, everything from money to valueable electronics. She stole the mothers phone and took it to school with her where it is believed to be given to someone. It is not locked and has SSN, Banking info and passwords on it.

The girl gives the same "I don't know where it is" statment when it is clear she has taken it, she does this often with everything she steals and if found it's "I didn't know".

That was yesterday morning, is there any way to get it back?What legal action should be taken? She does not care for punishments.

Answer:
 Why haven't you called the cops?

>That was yesterday morning, is there any way to get it back?

 Ask the school to ask around.


Title: I believe someone is trying to scam me, I've reported suspicious activity to police but they say they can't do anything

Question:
I work in a small office building for a company that has less than 10 employees.

Yesterday as I was leaving for lunch, I noticed that there was an old, beat-up, commercial sized van parked in the drive way, which in itself is suspicious for where I work. At that point a man came out from behind our building (also incredibly suspicious) and said he was looking for the person who drove the Jeep.

I am the only one in my building who drives a Jeep, however I own another sedan that I occasionally drive, and on that day I had driven the sedan.

He told me that the driver of the Jeep had hit his van earlier that day and drove off, and that he knows there is a Jeep owner who works here because he drives by and sees it everyday.

I should add that our parking lot is concealed by trees and the vehicles are not visible from the road.

He then gave me a description of the driver of the Jeep - 6ft tall, dark hair, and beard, and told me that he works on the second floor of my building.

That description matches my co-worker, although how this man would know that co-worker is on the 2nd floor is also very suspicious because we deal with our clients strictly via phone and internet.

After repeatedly telling him that he must be mistaken, he eventually left.

I wrote down his license plate number and called the non-emergency police line to report the suspicious activity. They dispatched an officer out, he took a look around and basically told me that there was nothing they could do.

I am worried about this guy showing up again. I am worried for my personal safety and for my property. Where I live and work, it's not always feasible for me to drive the sedan so the Jeep is my main mode of transportation.

What can I do?

Answer: This sounds like a fishing expedition. Con men will tell a story with things they know to be real (someone here drives a Jeep and another employee has a beard) and fill in the rest with educated guesses (the man with the beard works on the second floor). They are counting on people being helpfull by correcting their mistakes and confirming their gueses. Once they have gathered enough information they can pose as a legitimate member of the comunity and move on the Stage Two of whatever they have planned. You did the right thing by sending him off. Continue to do so and warn others so they can do the same.


Title: I was given a flat rate quote from an electrician. Upon completion of the project he tried to charge significantly more with an hourly rate.

Question:
I was looking for an electrician to install two ceiling fans I had already purchased. I called a company after a recommendation from my mom and was given a quote of a flat rate of $120 per fan installation if there was no framing, and $95 per fan if there was framing. There was no mention of any hourly fee. I was very naive and did not get this $240 quote in writing.

They came today and I had issues left and right with them off the bat. They showed up earlier than their scheduled time frame so I was was not there during this but my parents and two roommates were. They didn't put any plastic down when installing the first fan so my roommate's bed and room were covered in insulation with fiberglass and drywall. Then they installed the fan blade on the wrong side because they thought "that side's color matched the furniture" and said it would be an additional $85 to flip them over. These were all things I would have grumbled about, maybe written a yelp review over, and then moved on, but the last straw was when they tried to hike up the price unexpectedly.

As mentioned, I was told it was a flat rate of $120 per fan because I didn't have the framing. When they finished they told my parents they charge $170/hour so it would be $510 PLUS additional charges for framing.... however they would give a 10% "discount" because I was referred by them. The total was $569.94. They did not leave any sort of invoice so I don't know all of the exact numbers for the additional charges.

Unfortunately my parents somehow didn't think anything of this insane number and my mom paid them with a blank check I had signed for the job that morning. As soon as she told me the job was "a little" more than quoted I called their office and let the receptionist know what was happening. She assured me she would relay everything to manager and have them call me back to get this sorted.

While I was waiting for their call I went to look up their reviews on yelp (something I should have done to begin with) and found I was not the first person they had done this to. Almost every single review in the last 2-3 years was 1 star, with tons of warnings to get a quote in writing from them because once they complete the work that number will skyrocket. Many also wrote about their struggles to get any call back from the company once they complained - especially when their case was being handled by the owner of the company - and many accounts of him being incredibly hostile.

I called the office again after waiting for an hour and the receptionist said she had escalated my complaints to the owner of the company but he was in the field with an "electrical emergency" and she had no idea when he would be available, but most likely later in the afternoon.

I immediately called my bank and put a stop payment on the check. I knew once they cashed it there would be no way for me to get my money back. The bank was even nice enough to waive their stop payment fee once I explained the situation to them.

Not surprisingly, the owner has not called me back. I'm assuming he will not until he realizes my check isn't going to clear.

I have nothing in writing and no proof but I will look in to ways to record the owner once he calls me back. I am happy to pay the $240 I was quoted for the work, but there is no way I'm paying almost $600 for the installation of two fans. I would not have let them do the work if they had told me that number upfront.

Was putting the stop payment on the check the right thing to do? What should my next moves be? I want to protect myself from these guys the best way legally possible.

&#x200B;

TLDR; I was quoted $240 flat rate fee by an electrician to install two ceiling fans. They finished the job and suddenly said they charged $170/hour + other fees, bringing the total to $569.94. I put a stop payment on the check but need help with next steps.

&#x200B;

Thank you in advance for the help!

Answer: Without a written price agreement, it's commercially reasonable to charge an hourly labor rate. ***However***, $170/hour sounds too high for an electrician. Depends on the locale, i.e., market.


Title: Employer won't pay last paycheck, back pay, expenses. Owed approximately 25k. Not sure if I need legal representation or what the right "next step" is. Michigan.

Question:
I recently left a position (sales) that I held for over 10 years.  My employer is a small business, sole proprietor.  I left on November 16 (end of pay cycle), told the office manager it was my last day and left a resignation letter on the owners desk.  At the time of my leaving I was owed, and had for a time willingly deferred about 20k in commissions because the company was supposedly struggling and I was trying to help out.  The next week I was told by the office manager that they couldn't afford to pay me my last check on time (2 weeks plus $600 commission) but I'd be paid the next week and they'd work on paying my back wages in the next few weeks.  The next week came and went.  Yesterday I was told that I would get paid but not sure when and back wages were not getting paid.

I'm a little tired of being the nice guy and want to know what the next step should be.  Do I need an attorney?  Should I contact the labor board?

This is for Michigan.  I was salaried.  I always exceeded my goals and was very profitable throughout my employment.  I now know that I should never have deferred my wages (lesson learned).  I left a nice resignation letter thanking the owner for the opportunity and offering to help if I missed anything while handing off my duties.  I believe there may be some bitterness because I'm leaving and I think there are some legitimate money issues.

&#x200B;

Answer:
 The salary is pretty non-negotiable in every state including Michigan.  You can file a wage complaint here, and the state will be more than happy to stomp on them, you can do it online:  https://www.michigan.gov/lara/0,4601,7-154-59886_79554---,00.html

For the back commissions, odds are you'll probably have to file a lawsuit though it's possible the Department of Labor will help with that too.  If they do not, talk to a competent attorney in your jurisdiction.

Always start with using the government, instead of a lawyer, because the government doesn't take a percentage, the lawyer does.


Title: Charges dropped in exchange for testimony - if it goes badly can they still be charged?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 If she lied in the testimony, or misled the prosecution about what she was going to say during the deal, yes.

But generally the deal doesn't hinge on the other party getting convicted or anything.


Title: Mother died with no will. Everything transferred to her separated spouse (my stepfather). He is not honoring agreements the family made of how to disperse the funds. As her only child, do I have any legal rights here? More in post..

Question:
Alright, ill try to be concise here.
Around 6 months ago, my mother passed away suddenly.  She was young and did not have a will.  I was her durable power of attorney, but i understand that means nothing now that she died.

My mom and my stepdad were separated (not legally) and living apart at the time. They still retained joint ownership of the house. The family met to try to agree what to do with all her assets (house, accounts etc). We agreed to put everything in my stepdads name to avoid probate. We agreed that my stepdad would put the house up for sale and when it sold he would transfer my mothers share to me.  The house has sold over 2 months ago now and he has since decided not to honor the agreement. This was, of course, not a written agreement. Just a verbal agreement with me, him and my uncle.

Do I have any legal rights as her only child? Could I potentially still try for a probate hearing to analyze and disperse her estate more fairly? This is Tampa, Florida.
Topic:
Wills Trusts and Estates

Answer:
 Under Florida law, when somebody dies without a will, leaving hid/her children and a spouse who is not a parent to the kids, the kids are entitled to 1/2 the estate.  See http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0732/Sections/0732.102.html

The transfers to your step-father were probably not effective - I don't think you can agree to bypass probate like that. Check with a florida estate attorney. Also, ask about the separation thing - that may mean that your step-dad isn't entitled to anything.


Title: [U.S.] If i were to build a hover bike, what laws would be involved with its use?

Question:
It's a bit whimsical, but i saw videos on youtube like the Colin Furze and Malloy hoverbikes, and I keep feeling the urge to try and build something similar. Now, the project will take a lot of time and resources to build, so in the meantime i wanted to ask about government regulations in the U.S. regarding devices like this.
What would you classify a vehicle of this nature as? Would I be required to have a pilot's license to operate it legally? Would any laws related to its use be affected if it was unable to travel above a certain height off the ground? I live in FL, if the laws in my state are any different.
I know it's a crazy question to ask. I justed to see if anyone had any answers.

Answer: The laws of thermodynamics would be a big factor. As would Newton's laws of motion.


Title: (New Jersey) Kicked out of residential health care facility by abusive owner with no warning and no cause.

Question:
I had been living in a residential health care facility since I had been homeless, had had a nervous breakdown, was put in the hospital and it was the hospital social worker who put me there after discharge, but the owner kicked me out suddenly with no warning and while taking my rent money and running (this place was sort of a fusion of a health care facility & a boarding home, but not a nursing home)...all while threatening to call the cops if I wasn't out of there before he arrived the next morning (this was like 11pm August 3rd). I had violated no rules, done nothing wrong and this was after I had paid the month's rent earlier in the day. He was verbally abusive, and this on top of the social worker at the hospital having put me in this place without notifying me of what a full month's rent would be. Furthermore he presented to me a 30 day notice he claims I gave him (but which I had had no knowledge of, meaning he most likely typed it up himself and forged my signature on) only to say 'this type of place doesn't allow 30 day notices' and basically implying residents of such a facility had no rights at all. The way he did this was in a verbally abusive way much like what a domestic abuser would do to their victim. On top of that he threatened to kill me on top of that if I wasn't out of there before 9am the next morning...

What are my legal options? I tried reporting this to the police but they refused to take a report claiming it'd be very hard to prosecute.
Topic:
Real Estate law

Answer:
 When did this happen? What type of agreement did you sign when you moved in? It doesn't sound like you were a tenant as much as you were a patient.

If he was threatening to call the cops, you should have let him.


Title: [ALBERTA] Boyfriend's condo board now considers me a "resident" and has banned me from their surface parking lot. Just found out they don't actually have bylaws. What to do next?

Question:
My boyfriend and I live in different cities for 8 months a year. We're both law students. During that time I come to town once a month for a weekend and stay with him. I park in "visitor parking" and have a valid tag, given to us by the condo board. I never had issues.

In May, I returned to my city to work for the summer. All my belongings (save for toiletries) are at this location, and I stay here most nights a week, usually 4 nights. I spend the weekend at my boyfriend's apartment, rented from his parents. I often spend 3 nights a week there, but I'm conscious not to occupy the space for longer than needed, and it's rarely there during daytime hours. At night, I'm usually the only car parked there. Sometimes I'll spend a weeknight there, totalling 4 nights a week.

On June 13 he received a letter stating that **because my car was parked there for four week days (NOTE: NOT CONSECUTIVELY), they were going to consider me a resident of the building. Because residents are not entitled to use of the visitor lot, I would be towed next time I parked there**.

The issue is this: after much foot dragging and name calling on the property manager's part, we jumped through all their hoops to obtain the "OFFICIAL" bylaws (because they were adamant the ones we had weren't "official").

HERE IS THE ISSUE:

The official bylaws are just Appendix 1 of the Condo Act of Alberta and one amendment from **1986** that states you cannot park for more than 3 days (no specification of if thats 3 days EVER or 3 days in a week/month/year etc), and otherwise you have to call a now-out-of-business property company. Which obviously I can't do.

The condo board has not, for over 30 years, passed their own bylaws and are just using these extremely vague and not building-specific bylaws from the Condo Act. This seems wrong, but even if it isn't, I still haven't broken any rules.

I've parked there at most for 3 days in a row, and I very very rarely have my car in the visitor stall during the day. They say that they have a "rules package" that the owners never even received, and they have these "parking rules" (again, that only enforce the 3 day rule) posted in the elevator, which we never use because he lives on the second floor. There are no other posted parking rules outside/on signs, on the exits, or have been sent to any of the owners.

We have no idea where to go from here. There is extreme street parking restrictions on the street, and I can't apply for a street pass because their building has too many residents under City Bylaw. We're having his parents/the owners try to attend a board meeting and meet these guys halfway. I'm totally willing to make amends to my parking habits so long as they can clearly tell me what the rules actually are. I want to be able to park without getting towed when I'm back for Christmas and whatnot.

___________________
**TL DR** Condo board is enforcing rules that aren't in their bylaws // enforcing some "rules package" that the owners of this condo do not have. They've banned me from parking and they have  no condo bylaws that i have clearly broken to uphold their ban. What do I do next?

Answer:
 There's another way to look at this - which is that you are admittedly, a resident in the Condo. You are there 3-4 nights a week, and if everyone used the Visitor parking 3-4 nights week, there would be no visitor parking available for actual visitors.

The Condo may not have the Bylaws to back up their demand, but that doesn't stop them from revoking your visitor pass or calling a towtruck. Your recourse would be to take them to court, argue that they are in breach of their bylaws, and maybe get back the right to park as a visitor.

Of course, the legal cost of hiring a lawyer, or the personal cost in time and stress of doing it yourself it pretty high. Not to mention that your boyfriend would have pissed off the condo board so much that he will *never* get a free pass on anything ever again, and will never get any sort of favour or special treatment, not matter how reasonable.

Visitor parking is intended for people who drop by infrequently for short periods of time. Just pay for parking if you're going to be there that often.Answer #2: What is the parking situation for residents? If residents can park on the street and can't park in the visitors lot I would assume they have their own lot. It may just be a matter of getting a second resident parking permit.


Title: Virginia - Is it legal for my boss to take tips?

Question:
So I work at a food place. We use an dual iPad screen for transactions. One for me, and one for the customer to see the order. After I swipe their card, the customer must finish by selecting an option on the tip menu. I record the numbers each night, we pull in at least $200 a night when it's busy. The employees get none of it. We can only get the cash tips which when split comes out to like $4 each on average. Is this legal? If not, where could I report this to to have it changed? I'm not even mad about not getting the money, I'm mad that customers think we are getting the money that they chose to add onto their bill.

TL;DR: Boss is taking all of the credit card tips. Is it legal and could I actually make this change?
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 It's very illegal, and your employer is not only stealing from you, but also an idiot leaving a big fat audit trail.

Contact your state department of labor and file a wage theft complaint. Answer #2: Illegal as sin.


Title: Do I lawyer up or see what happens?

Question:
Was told to post this from r/TIFU. This happened Sunday afternoon at a gas station. I cooperated with the officers seeing as I did nothing wrong and was let go after I have a written statement.

So here we are at the end of our friends’ bachelors party stopping to get gas for the last bit of our drive. I decide to use the restroom because we have a 2 hour drive ahead of us and I tend to need to pee a lot.

I’m peeing and doing my business and I do the usual shake and stuff myself back into my boxers, wash up, and head back outside to pump gas. About 30 seconds later my buddy yells out, ‘can we help you!?’ I turn to a lady frantically writing something down and she yells back, ‘Your friend in the red shirt jacked off in front of my kids and now the police are on their way!’ Naturally I turn around and think to myself, ‘damn who the hell does that? What a freak they are.’ I quickly realize I’m in a red shirt and my heart rate accelerates.

A cop whips in and I walk forward and say to him, ‘Hey I think you’re looking for me.’ He and I then walk around his car and he asks what’s going on and I let him know I used the bathroom and some kids were in there. Then when I came back outside a lady was screaming that I apparently jacked off in front of them. He then let’s me know I’m not being arrested but for safety’s sake he’ll be cuffing me and I’ll be in the back of his car for a while so he can get statements. An hour or so later the cop comes back and asks for a written statement from me. I proceed to write it all out while answering some questions. After all that is done he lets me know I’m free to go and he’ll be in contact with me over the next week or so while the prosecutor figures out what to do.

Now I’m back home and in bed trying to figure out if I’ll be a pedophile come next week.

A bachelors party isn’t a bachelors party without some cops, eh?

TL;DR. I peed next to some kids and their mom thought I jerked off in front of them. The police arrived and I spent a bit of time in the backseat. Don’t know what’s next.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 Don't speak to the police again (or the prosecutor) unless/until you have an attorney. If they call to tell you that you're off the hook, great. If it is anything but that, you tell them that you won't answer any more questions until you retain an attorney.Answer #2: If you are contacted again, you should get a lawyer. Don't speak to the police again without a lawyer.

If you were handcuffed, you were not free to go. Did the police read you your miranda rights before getting your written statement? If not, your statement will likely be ruled inadmissible, however it would have been in your best interest to not have spoken to the police without a lawyer. Answer #3: Don't talk to the police any further without a lawyer.


Title: My teacher is grading us on if we wear certain clothes this week. [Minnesota]

Question:
Hello.

I am in high school right now and this week we are having a dance, and to promote awareness of it the NHS and Student Council has a certain way to dress every day. For example, Tuesday was "Hillbillies vs. Hippies" and Wednesday was "Whaki Khakis". If you participate by dressing in those certain clothes, you will get a ticket during lunch that puts you into a raffle where you can win a gift card. We don't get punished in any way by not dressing up.

But a teacher is, and that is what I am imploring about. Our fourth block teacher is grading us if we participate in this optional activity (I guess you could call it an activity). On Tuesday I got a 0 out of 10 because I didn't dress in the stereotypical hippie or hillbilly attire. If it helps, we were not told that we would be graded on these things, the teacher simply told us on the day we were being graded. If we didn't have khaki's on Wednesday the teacher said that we could borrow one "from your dad - it is Whaki Khaki's after all". This class is called Leadership 101 and is a high school class with no college accreditation.

I am wondering if the teacher has the authority to do this and if not, how to end this. I would also like to know what statutes/codes/laws the teacher derives this authority, if at all. I am going to go in and talk to a school administrator about this to see if I can put an end to this - I don't like that we are being graded on an involuntary school activity/awareness/promotion.

Edit: Minnesota Public High School

Answer: Not a legal issue. Complain to the principle if you don't like it. Answer #2: Even if you complain, teacher can always just award extra credit for participation. Then it will be 100% allowable.


Title: In jail in County 1 while a court date in County 2

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 His attorney in county #2 should notify the court, and they will either (a) continue the case until his release, or (b) produce him from the county #1 jail.

Stuff like this is extremely common, and the court should know how to handle it. But they need to know about it if they don't already. Answer #2: Inmates go to court all the time. He can tell them (officers) he has court and needs to be transported.


Title: Hot Water At Work

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 1. You are liable. You threw an object at a coworker and it hit a client.

2. The client could. You could also face battery charges.

Depending on how he proceeds, you could face criminal charges if anyone goes to the police


Title: [PA] Is it legal for me to be expected to be on call 24/7?

Question: I am a clinical supervisor for a home health care company. My company recently told me that I am expected to be on call 24/7 moving forward. I am expected to receive calls from our on call case manager, then return the call to the nurse providing care within 15 minutes. When I signed my contract with the company I was required to be on call for one week out of every five weeks. However, now I am always on call for my office. The only compensation I am receiving is two hours of PTO each week that I am in call. I have signed nothing agreeing to this new policy. Is this legal?

Answer:
 You mentioned your contract. Are the terms of your employment dictated by that contract? What does it say about changing your on-call availability and compensation?

PA is an at-will state, which generally means that absent an employment contract (including a union) or a working in one of a handful of very special, unique fields, they can change your employment conditions as long as it's not done retroactively. It's okay to say "starting tonight, your pay is $7.25 / hour and you're on call 24x7". It's not okay to say "starting yesterday, your pay is $7.25 / hour and you're on call 24x7".

But since you mentioned "contract", that might change things.


Title: Mom's New Husband used Shared Credit Card to Buy Things (CA)

Question:
My mother and my new stepfather made the choice to open a shared credit card together, on which my step father paid to have his teeth fixed, paid for a Harley Davidson Motorcycle, and paid for an attorney for his son. This ended up being a large sum of money that my mother is now having to make the payments on because my step father decided he no longer wanted to make payments, and he doesn't care because his credit is already bad. What options would my mother have for making him pay if the need arose? (CA is United States, California)
Topic:
Credit Debt Bankruptcy

Answer: They are married. Her money is their money. She made the choice to marry him and share finances.


Title: Help! I'm being strong-armed by a law firm!

Question:
Hi fellow Redditors,
&nbsp;

I am being strong-armed by a law firm and need some advice as to my rights regarding trademarks.

&nbsp;

I submitted an application for a trademark for my startup, which was approved. A month later I received an email from a law firm stating that a company (their client) was opposing my trademark. They stated "application and intended use of your trademark conflicts with our client’s trademark rights, especially considering our client’s name and the connotation of its trademarks, as apparel for pets is within the reasonable zone of expansion of our client’s clothing goods. Your use of the mark is likely to cause consumers to mistakenly believe that your dog accessory is sponsored by or affiliated with our client and would therefore likely be an infringement of our client’s rights."

&nbsp;

The company behind the opposition has sold human/people clothing since 2001 and has not introduced any new items relating to dogs or animals in general. What's similar between myself and this company opposing my trademark, is that we both have the same first 4 letters in our company name, "RUFF." After researching, there are countless other companies with LIVE trademarks that have the same part of the name. My company is not actively selling products quite yet, as I'm still in the launching phase.

&nbsp;

Relevant info:
&nbsp;

My startup is based in **Texas**.
&nbsp;

Theirs is based in **New Jersey**.
&nbsp;

(I can PM the trademarks if needed)

&nbsp;

My question is, how serious should I take this law office & opposition? They are emailing me asking me to abandon my trademark by certain deadlines. An extension of time to oppose was granted by the USPTO until mid-November. According to them, I am in good standing. What I'm concerned about is if the law office can/will take civil action against me.

&nbsp;

Please help :(

Answer:
 You can't post identifying info.

The person who holds the trademark is allowed to oppose yours. No one is strong arming you. You should probably get a lawyer due to the complexity of IP laws.


Title: World Wide crime, time served in the US, am I safe to travel abroad?

Question:
Hey /r/legaladvice

I'm not sure if this fits this sub perfectly because it's more of a world-wide issue I may or may not have, but I figured I'd toss it here and be directed elsewhere if someone thinks it fits another sub better.

In 2010-2012 I was involved with a group that committed cyber crimes. I was young, curious, and really really dumb, and I committed a litany of different cyber crimes. These crimes reached through out the globe, probably affecting the vast majority of countries world wide.

In 2012 I had a morality change, grew up a little bit, and got myself out. I ended up striking up an interest in cyber security, and became the polar opposite of who I once was. I fought for the good guys, reporting and fighting against malware and hacking groups.

In 2014, my past caught up to me and I was arrested by the FBI. After a short legal battle, I plead guilty to my crimes and got a rather fortunate sentence of a year in prison. I served my time, got out in mid 2016, and completed probation about 18 months ago.

Now that I'm back on my feet, I'd like to start traveling abroad again. My buddy had a wedding in Taiwan 4 months ago, and I've been invited a few times to go overseas to different Asian and European countries.

However, I've declined all of these requests because I'm unsure on how to tell if these other countries, which were surely affected by my actions in 2010-2012, still wish to punish me for my crimes. Would they recognize the time that I served here in the US, or would they look to punish me using their own legal system? I simply do not how to tell if I risk being arrested upon entering these countries.

My lawyer has been less than helpful on the topic, so I figured I'd ask you guys for advice.

Thanks in advance.

Answer:
 Nobody here knows whether there are active warrants or criminal investigations in other countries. A conviction and serving time in one country doesn't stop another country from prosecuting you, nor does your US sentence automatically do anything about any other convictions.

There isn't really a safe way to determine whether the Taiwanese government is interested in you, unfortunately. You can ask - applying for a visa is a good way to do that - but they could well tell you you're clear to travel and then arrest you when you show up. I would speculate that it's unlikely, but it's not impossible. You could try engaging a Taiwanese lawyer to look into this and find out if there's an outstanding warrant, but even that comes with risks.

Only you know what your tolerance for risk is and how serious your actions were, so only you have the information needed to make a decision about travel. I don't envy you this one - but I will congratulate you on turning your life around.


Title: Cousin died months ago and the family just found out through a Google search

Question:
Let me preface this by saying my mom’s cousin was a loner.  He always had been, but he would stay in touch with the family calling around birthdays and checking in every so often.  That being said he lived on the west coast (CA) while most of our family is on the east coast (NH/MA/PA) and he rarely visited.   Obviously, if we’d known he was sick or anything we would’ve flown out there to be with him.

We just found out from doing a search online that he passed away a couple of days before Christmas.  Several family members have been trying to reach him for months to no avail and just recently came across his obituary online.  As far as we know, there’s no-one he was super close with that would have dealt with his belongings and such. The obituary is actually very well written and nice but just says he died from natural causes and there is no contact information.  My mom posted in the guestbook asking anyone close to him to get in touch, but as of yet, we’ve had no responses.

My mom and aunt are adamant that he would’ve had theirs or my grandma’s contact information on him/with his legal documents and we’re all wondering what happened to his things.  He’d had a house he lived in alone for years and my mom is pretty certain he had a will.  We don’t particularly want anything of his, but it breaks us up to think that he died alone and that all of his things might’ve been thrown out.  We’d also like to find out more information surrounding his death considering he wasn’t that old or sick (as far as we know)

So I guess my question is, are there any legal avenues we can use to go about finding more information surrounding his death or what happened to his belongings/will/any other documents he may have had?

Answer: Contact the coroners office in the county where he died and maybe the police department where he lived.  You can also contact the probate court of the county he lived in to see if anyone opened an estate on his behalf


Title: Went to a Chiropractor for stress, and now he's calling my work and harassing me.

Question:
Good day all.  I went to a chiropractor in Westfield, New Jersey after having them come into my workplace (I wasn't informed that it wasn't a sanctioned event) for help with Stress Relief (as advertized) for only $49.

After giving them my insurance card, I was told that I had 25 covered visits to a chiropractor.  I was told the only thing that wasn't covered was a one time fee for the initial X-rays ($500).  I had no problem with paying for that.  I went through a long talk about how bad my health was, how i already had an autoimmune disease (never told me which one), my spine was all twisted, and that he was the one who could help me.  I'm a 31 year old that's relatively fit, but I was worried that some unknown issue could be affecting me.  He did some quick procedures and told me that he NEEDED me back the next day to verify the results of it.  I didn't want to take my chances so I made an early morning appointment so I can go to work afterwards.

I get there, and the doctor comes in 30 minutes late.  He ended up talking to me for an hour and a half about how he's the only one who can help me and how great chiropractors are.  After his long talk, he tells me to lay on the bed and he runs some clicking device over my back and tells me that i'm done.  When we get to the front counter, he tells the receptionist to charge me another $500 before running to the back.  After asking about the 25 covered visits, the receptionist tells me that it's for a chiropractor, but that's not what he is so nothing is covered.  After i tried to protest, the 'doctor' came back out and told me that there is a way to have the visits covered.  I told him that I do not want a credit card, and they promised me that 1) That it is not a credit card, and 2) that they will only check to see if I would be accepted.  I was told that I had to pay the balance in full right then and that's why the (credit card) will help me.

I felt like they lied to me every step of the way, and when I had brought up how I felt wronged from them and would like a partial refund for the second visit that i was told was covered, they fought me over that.

So i went to the internet.  I gave them a bad review on Google and the BBB and explained my experience.

Now they are calling and emailing my workplace to get me in trouble because I wrote it during work hours.  They are actively harassing me to get me fired for giving them a bad review and are saying that I'm harassing them.  While i feel like i have a right to speak out against them (and they have plenty of bad reviews already), I feel like they are going out of their way to silence me from speaking my opinion about their shady practices.

If there is anything that I can do to protect myself from them because they said that they will go to the authorities (to my job).  Should i just back down and delete the comments?

Thank you for listening.
Topic:
Removed - PII

Answer:
 OP contact your state Board of licensure [here](http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/chi/Pages/default.aspx)

This is NOT standard chiropractic practice in any way. If he isn't a chiropractor then what is he?  Why is he representing himself as one?

You could tell him you will report him if he doesn't leave you alone. And doesn't charge that credit card either. He misrepresented the cost to you, this could be fraud. Pear report him,  no matter what you do.

Edit to fix the link Answer #2: I would agree to delete the comments, to secure your job. Chiropractors are known for this tactic, people who go eventually find out. You don't have to be the crusader leading the charge on this one. Answer #3: If he's not a chiropractor, what is he?


Title: Premature newborn with medical problems. Have already used all of my pto with my employer. Cannot afford to take time off unpaid with fmla. Are there any laws that help a parent in this situation? Live in Indiana USA

Question:
Never posted anything meaningful to reddit before so hope I’m going about this correctly. I am just looking for any helpful advice during a very tough time in our lives.

My daughter is 6 weeks old. Her expected due date was today but she was born 6 weeks early so had to spend several weeks in the nicu. She was doing well and discharged. We had her home for a couple weeks then she developed a new medical issue that requires hospitalization and surgery. In the hospital now. Will need at least the next couple of days off work and maybe longer while she has the procedure and recovery. I had already used all of the available paid time off with my employer during the nicu stay and the bonding time when she came home so have no paid time off left. I know I can attempt to get fmla and take time off unpaid but this is our only income so can’t really afford to do that. My employer did start offering a 2 week parental leave this year but is denying me because my daughter was born last year.

I am just searching for any advice that I may not have thought of to help in this situation. Are there types of paid leave or disability that we may qualify for in this situation?

Answer:
 Not that I'm aware of.

There might have been some types of insurance you could have had (like AFLAC) that would provide you lost wages in this type of situation, but unless your state has something better than the feds offer, then you're likely going to be unsuccessful getting any paid leave here.Answer #2: NAL, but I work in a NICU. There isn't any law that can force your employer to give you more paid leave, but there are resources out there to help families with preemies. Your daughter may be eligible for SSI because of her prematurity or medical issues stemming from her prematurity.

You should ask to talk to a social worker the next time you go to the hospital. The NICU I work in has a social worker all to ourselves, and she's very experienced with hooking families up with resources. In addition, if you're worried about hospital bills, your hospital should have a financial department who can work something out with you.Answer #3: There are no laws to require your employer to keep paying you once your PTO runs out.

Are there no friends/family to help your wife while you go back to work?Answer #4: Your child could qualify for SSI if your household income is low enough.  The application can be done online at ssa.org.  Answer #5: Paid or not, I'd recommend  applying for fmla in order to protect your job. You can also apply for intermittent, allowing you to take time off as needed without going completely out.