Title: Smoking marijuana in an apartment complex, Eugene, Oregon.

Question:
So my buddy, lets call him John, has some really bad reactions to marijuana. Long story short, his dad messed up his childhood and gave him PTSD so every time he smells people smoking it, he gets an anxiety attack. So last night, while he's trying to sleep a couple kids light one up a floor below him and he notices the smell. This is a college town in Oregon where weed is legal, but the complex has a strict no smoking on property rule.

So John goes downstairs to report the use, he didn't cause a big scene cause he knows its a weekend, it's a college town, they are gonna do what they want. So he goes to the leasing office and asks them to enforce their no smoking rule, and they basically tell him tough luck, there is nothing we can do. My question is does he have options for legal action or any way to make them enforce it? It is specifically written in his lease that their is no kind of smoking inside the apartments, and no marijuana allowed on property.

Answer:
 > It is specifically written in his lease that their is no kind of smoking inside the apartments, and no marijuana allowed on property.

His lease is *his* lease. It specifies what *he* is or is not allowed to do. He cannot force the landlords to enforce his lease against other people, nor can he get involved in the relationship between the landlord and the other tenants. Unless his lease specifically guarantees him a smoke free environment, there's really nothing he can do.


Title: Unauthorized use of my voice in a movie

Question:
I recently learned that secretly recorded conversations I had with an individual have been used without my knowledge or authorization in a documentary film, a film that just debuted at a film festival and has been purchased by a media company.
Do I have recourse?
I am in California.

Answer: When you say "secretly recorded," what do you mean? Was this part of other audio you voluntarily recorded (e.g., "off the record")? Was this part of an interview, and you were unaware you were being recorded? Was the recording done in public or private? Over the phone or in person? Do you know who took the recording, when, and how?


Title: Abusive ex appointed his gf guardian while in prison

Question:
Tennessee is my state for reference. My soon to be ex husband, who’s going to prison for abusing our children and me soon (felony convictions), informed me today that he had a POA drawn up to give her guardianship. This woman has not been around them but for twice (without my permission), is still currently married herself, and has shown damaged my property before it was returned to me. He told me she will get visitation now, while he’s in prison. Can this actually happen? Can she really get visitation rights?

I am freaking out and trying not to have a panic attack. I’ve been fighting so long just to keep my kids safe, and I thought it would be over.

Answer:
 >He told me she will get visitation now, while he’s in prison.

A POA is for his *financial* interests. It has nothing to do with visitation/custody.


Title: Girlfriend's mom is a LAUSD teacher and potentially got pneumonia from striking in the rain?

Question:
My girlfriend's mom contracted flu-like symptoms and had them for a week before checking in at the ER. They told her she has pneumonia. I don't know much about pneumonia, but my girlfriend thinks she could have gotten it from being out in the rain for hours. Is there a way to determine the source of pneumonia with sufficient precision?

From a legal standpoint, what can she expect? Her health insurance is likely to cover this, right? How will the teacher's union be involved, if at all? Is legal recourse advised? Is there a facet of legal liability to this?

I'll try to provide more details if required.

Answer: Who are you trying to sue? The rain? Her health insurance should cover it


Title: [MI] I want to write a will to leave everything to my dad.

Question:
So for the record, I’m not planning on dying anytime soon.

My family has a great relationship and I am in a position (which I got to with my father’s help) that I own a house in cash and I will be leveraging it soon to buy another house, then another.

I plan to have 2 houses by the end of 2019 and 4 by the end of 2020. (Landlording)

I already have my dad set as my beneficiary for my IRA and 401k, but I’m looking to make sure that he ends up with my properties if I die.

I am a single 24yo with no kids, so I assume he would get everything anyway, but I just want to make a will or something to guarantee that everything ends up in his hands if anything happens. How do I go about doing this? Is this something simple enough that I can just use legalzoom for?
Topic:
Real Estate law

Answer: Having an estate attorney draft a basic package setting up your will and any other forms you might need is good risk management, and generally doesn't cost much. If you're designating a single heir, you can probably get it done for a few hundred dollars at most. Doing it right is worthwhile: you won't be around to sort out any mistakes by the time they become relevant.


Title: What are the laws on breastfeeding and cannabis use in Oregon? Will CPS take your baby away if tested positive? [serious]

Question:
Topic:
CPS and Dependency Law

Answer:
 Will CPS be notified if you baby tests positive for any drug including pot?  Yes.

Will they investigate to make sure your baby is safe?  That's their job.

Will they automatically remove your baby? Depends on if it is creating an unsafe home for the baby.


Title: Sister got pregnant with an IUD (FL)

Question:
So this happened three years ago but my sister and her husband had three kids and were done having kids. She had an IUD placed and became pregnant with TWINS! As far as we can discern, the IUD was in the appropriate position when this happened. The IUD was removed and she had the babies who are thankfully healthy. Now she loves her twins just like all her kids, but she suddenly went from three kids (manageable and financially doable within their means) to five kids (whole different ballgame and financially they are having some difficulty). Does the IUD maker bear any financial responsibility for their device failure? Has anyone ever been able to litigate this successfully? If so, has too much time passed? She's not looking for a huge payout, just help with basic needs (e.g. clothes, daycare, food, etc).

&#x200B;

Thanks

Answer:
 IUDs do not carry a 100% pregnancy prevention rate.  The manufacturer carries no responsibility for your sister finding out she was pregnant, not aborting, then carrying the kids to term.Answer #2: No. The IUD is not guaranteed at 100% to prevent pregnancy.Answer #3: > She's not looking for a huge payout, just help with basic needs (e.g. clothes, daycare, food, etc).

If contraceptive manufacturers (none of whom guarantee 100% effectiveness) had to pay the expenses of children, IUDs would cost $2 million and condoms would cost $800 each. No, there is no case here.Answer #4: No chance in a law suit. IUDs are 99% effective. Meaning about 1% of users CAN end up pregnant. Otherwise I'd have been able to sue when I got pregnant for the 2nd time. Condom broke.

If they were 100% done having kids, then tubes being tied or vasectomy would have been a better (not cheaper up front) option. She might have a case if she'd taken more permanent measures and the procedure failed.


Title: My friend was just arrested for speeding away from a cop.

Question:
He was arrested a few hours ago, for speeding away from the police on his motorcycle. He just got his prison number, there is no information on visitation or bail yet. His family are foreign and don't speak English well so they asked me to find out information for them. I don't know how any of this works.

They're all U.S. citizens. He was arrested in King County, Washington. He sees a judge tomorrow.

Do we find him a lawyer? What can we do for him?

Answer: Yes. You need to find him attorney today if possible


Title: Desperately need peace of mind in New Hampshire.

Question:
Good morning everyone.
I am hoping someone can put my mind at ease regarding a parental rights matter. I will try to keep this short. I read the FAQ before posting this so hopefully I am staying true to the guidelines as I have never posted here before.

To summarize, I have run into a difficult situation with my ex-boyfriend with which we have two children. I say my ex-boyfriend because I think it is important to note that we were never married. It has been well over 10 years since our split but we have both remained a constant in our children's lives. There was no legal binding, we never went to court but we agreed to split everything 50/50. So all care costs, taxes and visitation has been split right down the middle until my ex fell on hard times and then everything changed.

He lost his job. Why he does not have a job to this day is a mystery to me but he started getting unemployment and when that ran out he started getting food stamps and heating and electrical assistance through welfare. Everything else he has paid for through retirement accounts. Now this is where it has gotten complicated...

My oldest son (whom my ex claims on his taxes) started college this year. My ex has not filed his taxes for several years for reasons unbeknownst to me but as a result my son was not able to apply for financial aid. Because of that my ex has been taking money out of his IRA to pay for his college which in turn has put him in a position to lose all of his government assisted benefits.

This affects me directly because the kids are on welfare health insurance under his name. One of which is listed as living at his address even though they are with us equally 50% of the time and I am afraid that the government is going to come after me to support him and the children financially. I have the ability to put the children on my insurance which I am willing to do. I haven't because by having them under his name enabled him to receive benefits. I should also note that I have been paying more than 50% for all of the kids needs as far as clothes and basic living essentials, sports, transportation etc. etc.

So I guess my question is, should I be worried? Does he have any legal grounds to come after me financially? What is the likelihood that it would even get to that point? I am very scared right now as I am on a very strict budget and I live literally paycheck to paycheck. This could potentially ruin me. I would appreciate any feedback.

I have spoken to a lawyer friend to arrange a meeting (which I can't afford but he is willing to do this as friend and is not representing me) but that won't happen until next week and I have officially hit panic mode so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

Answer:
     There was no legal binding, we never went to court

I know it seems impossible given your financial situation but you need to get this guy into a courtroom and settle this stuff. Your ex is committing tax evasion by withdrawing money from his retirement accounts and not paying taxes on them.

See, here's how retirement accounts work. Let's say I earn 10 dollars. I put 2 dollars in a retirement account. I'm allowed to tell the government that I only made 8 dollars and I pay tax on that amount. HOWEVER if I withdraw that 2 dollars before I'm at the legal retirement age I must pay the taxes on it that I didn't pay when I put it in the account.

That's what your ex is doing, it's tax evasion, it's a crime, and you need to get after him to get this settled in a legally binding way. He needs to wake up because he will eventually get caught and have to pay. It will end much better for him if he files back taxes and gets on a payment plan with the IRS. If *they* come looking for *him* it's going to be very bad.


Title: Contract case: "be terminated or resign" vs. "leave the company". [SD]

Question:
I am looking for a case to use as an example for a small claims suit.  I refused to sign a contract with my former employer (while I was employed there) that required me to reimburse them for training if I were to "be terminated or resign", and later signed a contract when they redrafted it and changed the language to "leave the company".  I have run this by a lawyer and he opined that a judge would likely agree that I am not obligated to reimburse my employer upon termination, especially since I still have a copy of the unsigned contract.  (I would think it doesn't matter, but I was terminated after refusing to support their illegal activities.)

Does anyone know of a similar case which I could use to bolster my suit?  This is in South Dakota.  TIA.

Answer: OP- the revised language is broader and seems to expose you to more situations where you would be obligated to repay your training costs.


Title: what would happen if i were to call the police on an instagram account that is bullying me and others?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: so what exactly are you doing in this video? Anything illegal?


Title: My friend is about to sue me over injury during a sport event

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Generally people who play sports assume the risks of those sports. A person playing the game who injures another player in the ordinary course of game is generally not liable for the damages.

If you are sued, you need to respond and you may need an attorney.


Title: So... crush...sent ... now I'm scared

Question: So... I'm a college student. There was a girl in my class that i started having a crush for. I over heard her name and search her on a social media account. I messaged her anon. And she was upset at first and then she ask for more info. I described myself and then she requested a pic. I never insulted or was vulgar to her. I sent her a pic and once she said no to me. And I was a gentleman. It wasnt a nude pic. I told her i would leave her alone and gave her my full name to prove to her that I will never message her again. Now I'm scared because now a days everyone can claim harrassment. Is that enough to charge me? Before you say creepy. I see how it seems. But I'm ugly and I was nervous to approach her irl.

Answer: There is nothing illegal here. Please talk to a therapist.


Title: Dwi- fst question

Question:
I was arrested for dwi. Cop did the eye test and walk the line. Failed to have me stand on one leg.  NHTSA has stated in its Standardized Field Sobriety Testing training manuals that “IF ANY ONE OF THE STANDARDIZED FIELD SOBRIETY TEST ELEMENTS IS CHANGED, THE VALIDITY IS COMPROMISED.”

Cop completely skipped one of the 3 standardized test. Could this make my fst inadmissible in my case?
Topic:
DUI

Answer:
 What's your location? In most cases, a DUI charge is followed up with a breath test or a blood test (or your refusal). In general, a police officers reasonable belief is going to be enough to charge you.

If you want to fight it on these grounds, you can hire a DUI attorney. They work hard to analyse the police officers actions and the validity of the testing procedure and equipment. They might be able to help you.


Title: Serious (but admittedly ridiculous) question: I would like to have some sort of outrageous funeral procession. What are some of the more extreme options that are completely legal/realistic? (Think along the lines of a Viking funeral)

Question:
EDIT: OHIO, UNITED STATES.
So I'm not very religious, and have a pretty "interesting" family. At a traditional funeral recently, I realized that I do not want my life celebrated in such a way. Would like my funeral to be entertaining in some capacity. I initially thought of a Viking funeral, then wondered if it'd be legal for my two brothers to shoot at my body when I'm pushed out to sea. I realize how incredibly illegal this all is, and would like to know what some alternatives are? I'm not a satanist, hardcore atheist, or follower of any agenda. I just want to know about some unique and legal options I have.
Side notes-
-I'm 27/M and have no health issues or any reason to believe I'm in any imminent danger.
-Obligatory recognition of how this looks like I am trying to be a "tough guy". Certainly not what I'm implying. This afternoon I sprinted about 200 yards because a bee wouldn't stop circling me in a parking lot.
-I hope I'm not offending anybody!
Topic:
Wills Trusts and Estates

Answer:
 I studied death in college and wrote a paper about interesting ways to handle cremains (also dry burials, but other than [a green burial,](http://www.gravematters.us/faqs.html) your options are going to be limited in the US). I would recommend some of the below:

1. [Be interred in a coral reef](http://www.eternalreefs.com/)
2. [Be shot into space](https://www.celestis.com/)
3. [Be made into a diamond](http://www.lifegem.com/?gclid=CjwKEAjwr_rIBRDJzq-Z-LC_2HgSJADoL57HnJdkmINWvbJfuvb9fD2mAsIH_XeMpvx8pdUlcxC5hBoCKH7w_wcB)
4. [Be put into tattoo ink and tattooed onto a living person](https://www.tattoodo.com/a/2015/03/memorial-tattoos-ashes-in-the-ink/)
5. [Be blown into a glass keepsake](https://www.spiritpieces.com/)
6. [Be exploded as fireworks](http://www.heavenlystarsfireworks.com/)
7. [Be made into pottery](http://www.eternalware.net/faq.html)Answer #2: The only approved "[Viking funeral](http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/2/wwii-veteran-given-viking-funeral-coast-guard-agre/)" I'm aware of in the US occurred after the body had already been cremated, and the Boat carting the ashes was set aflame and adrift. But they also had to have another boat standing by to monitor the flames until it went out. Answer #3: With enough money, a funeral home can probably make many things possible.Answer #4: You haven't given your state. Or even country. But most states/countries have rules about how you can dispose of a dead body. So you need to look into these. Answer #5: In general, the disposal/dispersal of cremains is less regulated than the disposal of a human body. Have you considered cremation?


Title: My mom got kicked out of her two year school program

Question:
My mom has been going to school for the past year to get her radiologist technician associate degree. last week my dad sold our house, and she had to be there to sign the title over, so she left 10 mins early ( she told the people she was working with that she was leaving early), today, when she went back to school, they said they "terminated" her, she had been studying and working her ass off for a year, she has payed over 20,000 dollars in tuition. I have never seen someone so determined, how can they just nullify a year of her life and take 20 grand? This is complete bullshit and I am livid right now.

A little expansion on the leaving early, she has a time sheet, and although she left at 3:50 that day, her hospital tech supervisor signed for 4:00, that same day, her teacher came to see her, and watched my mom walk out of the hospital without saying anything. After that, she told my mom that when she needs to leave early, she needs to reflect it in the time sheet, my mom interpreted this as " be sure to remember this next time" she made a mistake, and didn't change it for that day, when she turned her time sheet in on Thursday, they accused her of "falsification of records" and terminated her. WTF

WHAT CAN I DO? I can't watch my mom cry,

Please help

Edit: Texas
Edit 2: words

Answer: this is definitely not the whole story. but if it is, whomever kicked her out was obviously in the wrong and so you should go up the chain of command or hire an attorney. the idea that they can expel a student from a practicum without serious cause is just stupid. there's no way, even in the school's policy that she could be expelled for the reason stated above.


Title: [California] Cars being serial stolen on my street. Cops unwilling to help. Anything we can do as a community to help legally?

Question:
There is the same 2 people in a white mini-van who steal cars on our street. This started about 3 moths ago, and about every 3-4 weeks another car goes. We have cameras set up (none of our neighbors do) so we know it's the same people, but the resolution is low and I don't know how to enhance it, so we can't get plates. My car was stolen about 5 weeks ago, and a neighbors just last night. The police are unwilling to see the film we have (2, the other video was corrupted). It's almost a risk of parking near you house of getting your car stolen. It's always the same people at the same time, but irregular schedule. We are very frustrated and don't know what to do or where to go. Even a redirect would be helpful, thanks.
Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer:
 >The police are unwilling to see the film we have

Do you mean the uniform officers who take the initial police report or the detectives who investigate the case after it gets assigned to them?

I think a detective would be very interested in the video, even if it is of bad quality, anything can help.

If you haven't had contact with a detective, try that first.  If you have, and that detective did not want your video, you can always escalate and complain to his/her supervisor....and up the chain of command.
Answer #2: You could install a GPS tracker on likely theft targets.

This can be done in many ways: Newer GM vehicles have onstar, which can locate a stolen car via GPS and Cell.

Other vehicles can connect a cheap cell phone from https://www.freedompop.com/ and hook it to a battery pack, so it can stay active until it is stolen.

Find out where the cars are going, and report it to police.  Tell em that this is the location of the chop shop, onstar says it is here, gps says it is here, etcAnswer #3: If this is affecting your entire neighborhood, it would be really beneficial if you *and* your neighbors could take this to your mayor or city council. All of you showing up and asking why the police aren't terribly interested in your video evidence would probably get the ball rolling.


Title: The boat I lived on sunk, now the cops are after me.

Question: I lived on a boat at a dock but the city I live in passed an law where there can be no more live aboards. I could not get in contact with the original owner of the boat so I towed the boat out to the bay. The boat sunk and now the cops are after me, trying to charge me with felony abandoning. I recently found out the owner has passed away. The boat title isn't in my name, nor is the registration or any other paperwork. I only lived on it & paid slip rent at the dock where the boat was tied up. Can I get in trouble?

Answer: I went to a law school that specialized in Admiralty law. Sadly, I thought it was dumb and took no classes. I have failed you.Answer #2: Why did you tow the boat out without getting permission from the owner? If you couldn't get in contact with him (because he's dead), why didn't you just move out of the boat?


Title: [NJ] Car accident & Liability insurance. Now got a letter I don't understand

Question:
Over a year ago, I was in a car accident.  I was hit by a semi-trailer truck on the highway (while driving a Prius).  It totaled my car and apparently there was ~$8K in damages to the semi.  I have liability insurance which covers up to $10K.  Today I got a letter in the mail which states:

> The summons and complaint in the above-entitled action having been duly served on the defendant *my name*, and the defendant *my name*, having been defaulted for failure to appear in the action, and the plaintiff having filed an Affidavit of the amount due:

> IT IS ON THIS 27TH day of May, 2014,

> ORDERED, that judgement be entered in favor of the plaintiff *truck company name* against the defendant *my name*, in the sum of ~$8K with costs.

I'm not clear on this letter.  Does that mean that it will go to my insurance company's collection to be paid, or are they saying that I am *personally* liable in spite of having insurance?

EDIT: I will also ask the private law firm that my insurance company outsourced to. However that company works for Geico & not for me.  So there is a huge conflict of interest in their legal advice.

Answer:
 > Does that mean that it will go to my insurance company's collection to be paid, or are they saying that I am personally liable in spite of having insurance?

You are personally liable, no matter what.  The insurance company may pay on your behalf, but you hold the liability, not them.

I'm a little unclear as to what's going on here.  It appears you were being sued - did you know this?  Did you present a defense?


Title: Cell phone tower/Residental building (Maryland)

Question:
My great aunt lives in a small elderly apartment building three stories tall.

So as I have been told the owner set up a contract with a wireless company and they put up at least two large omni directional cellular [antennas](https://i.imgur.com/ZXBbKYF.jpg) and roughly seem about atl east ten tall each on the top of the building. She says since they have gone up she has been having health issues and feels sick a lot.

I have never seen cellular antennas this large on a small residential building, what the legality of this?

Answer:
 > She says since they have gone up she has been having health issues and feels sick a lot.

She is imagining things.  There is 0 validated evidence that cell towers cause any health issues, and plenty of evidence that it's all in the heads of the people who live there.

If the building is zoned for it, it's perfectly legal for them to do it.  Cell towers are everywhere


Title: My employer is forcing me to use my PTO (vacation time) for my drill weekends (army national guard)

Question:
Ok so i recently became a salary employee , and i am being told by my boss that if my drill weekend takes up one of my work days, i have to use my vacation time for it. He says so i meet the 40 hours that week as a salary employee...

I contacted esgr.mil they said thats illgeal

I contact the AG for my state (massachusetts) who had me contact the fair labour hotline who had me contact the the dpt of wages and hour div, who told me IT IS legal

My PSG says its illegal
My commander says its illegal
My employers HR dpt says its legal

The esgr quotes the USERRA saying this "No. If the employee wants to use vacation, he or she has the right to do so, but it is unlawful for you to make the employee use vacation. 38 U.S.C. 4316(d)."

I found this on militarytimes.com

"While employers cannot require employees to use vacation time for military service or training, reservists can use vacation"

So can my employer force me to use vacation time as a salaried employee, if not what law protects me?

**EDIT** **0019 EST 30APR2016**

Hey guys, i beleive i found my ansewer

"There are two regulations that are relevant to your question.

First, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a salaried employee generally cannot have his salary reduced because he works less than a certain number of hours.  This means if a salaried employee performs any work at all in a week, he must be paid the full weekly salary.  The law also specifically prohibits employers from reducing an employee's pay because the employee is absent due to a military obligation (however, the employer may deduct the amount of military pay the employee receoved for that week from the employee's pay).  This is governed by 29 C.F.R. § 541.602, which I have attached.

Second, under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) , an employee cannot be required to use accrued vacation time to cover days when he is required to perform military services.  This is governed by by 20 C.F.R. § 1002.153, which I have attached.

These two laws, working together mean that an employer can neither reduce your pay for weeks you have drill or require you to use your vacation time.  Here is another summary of how these laws work: https://www.shrm.org/templatestools/hrqa/pages/payeeonmilitaryleave.aspx

I hope this helps.  Also you should know that your employer is prohibited from retaliating against an employee that asserts his rights under these laws or brings a violation to the employer's attention.  If may be helpful to write a letter to HR about these laws so there is a formal record of your request.  I can help with that if you decide to do that."

Answer:
 Montgomery is a boss just learned about this, but obviously the gi bill is another achievement of his

Edit: admittedly still confused if its legal as i have contact multiple official sources with contradicting information Answer #2: Call your HR department and tell them what's going on, they will put an end to this.  If HR is as big an idiot as the boss man then have base legal send them a nice letter stating the violation of the law.


Title: Got into a car accident because a company's truck was blocking an intersection, called the company and told the manager about the truck. Driver moved it closer the next day.

Question:
[Va.] Good evening, legal advice. I'm wondering if you think that I might have a suit.

For the past week or so, a box truck has been parking in the parallel parking spots at the corner of my neighborhood and the main road. It's impossible to see above or around the box truck, resulting in about 25ft of sight towards incoming traffic. After a few days, I dialed the number on the side of the truck, spoke to a manager, and explained the truck was blocking the view and if it were to back away from my street about 5-6 car lengths, everything would be solved. He assured me that he would pass that along to the driver.

This morning, as I was pulling out of my neighborhood, the truck had been moved closer to my street, restricting the view even more. I pulled out, and ended up getting t-boned by an oncoming car, which resulted in a fractured wrist that will likely have to be operated on. I imagine that the insurance claim will come back as my fault, which will cause my rates to go up, not to mention the cost of surgery (I do have both collision and medical insurance). Do you all think I'd be able to recover some of these costs from the company? I'm really just interested in getting my medical bills/increased insurance rates (and maybe the cost of a left-handed computer mouse) paid for.  [Va.]

Thank you all in advance!

Answer: This might be city ordinance specific but many do not allow commercial vehicles overnight parking in residential areas. The accident itself might have that as a contributing factor but the fact remains you saw the truck and had limited visibility yet took no action to go to a different exit from your subdivision and say call the truck in to Code Enforcement. If you couldn’t clearly visualize the area, you shouldn’t have entered the intersection.


Title: Many years of abusive guardianship, one simple question

Question:
Hi /r/legaladvice,

The entire story of what happened is quite long, and I'd rather tell that tale another time, when i am more prepared to handle the psychological turmoil that comes with telling the entire story. I'm quite hurt by everything that happened. Both psychologically and physically.

To help with legal advice, I live in **The Netherlands, Europe**. I am a young woman, not elderly like most cases of guardianship abuse.

What ensues is a wall of text because this is so complicated. It is very hard to explain in short terms. There are many important details that are required to fully understand. But here is a TL;DR:

TL;DR: Guardianship requested through (possibly) fraud, caused suffering for many years, surpression of human rights, absence of psychological help, was a conduit for abuse

---

A guardianship was requested and then enforced on me around age 18. The court requires you to send a form in order to request guardianship. That form contains a clause where you can indicate a reason for when someone can't come to a court case.

Now here's what happened: The people who requested this, on purpose, did not tell me anything was going on whatsoever. I had no awareness that anything legal-related/court-related was happening. Meanwhile, they wrote, into that form, that I wouldn't understand court matter and was unable to come. All of this happened behind my back, without my knowledge, and I only discovered this form and what it contained, many years later.

So to put that into perspective: The actual reason I couldn't come is because I wasn't aware anything was going on, and wasn't notified of a court hearing. What they told the court is that I was incapable of coming and understanding what would be said in the court hearing.

Combined with material they inserted along with the request, like an analysis of me from when I was 7 years old that they presented as if it was still true of me at age 18, they hereby automatically won the case and got guardianship over me.

That guardianship, the Dutch form of it, strips you of nearly all your adult rights and in some ways gives you even less rights than a child has. It made life a living hell for me in many ways, far too numerous to list right now. I probably will once I share my full story.

Afterwards, they hid all papers related to it from me, including the ones that stated why guardianship was applied in the first place, a.k.a. the original grounds for it which was VERY important when trying to fight the case, as lawyers couldn't do anything without that information.

Over the years, they then kept doing the same thing, where they hid all communication to the court from me and excluded me from it, and, as I discovered very late in the process when I requested all hidden documents at the court, contineously kept repeating that same lie (too incompetent to communicate) to the court over and over to make it so that I wouldn't get the chance to be heard. They even managed to extend guardianship through contineous repeating of this lie.

They did not report to the court on any progress I was making, and so no matter how well I showed to the world how competent I was, the court knew of nothing because they were never, ever notified of it. As far as the court was concerned, I had not been able to arrange, select, choose my own healthcare or manage my own finances, and had never shown improvement. Which was a blatant lie, and I have proof of doing these very things quite well during the time the court was not notified.

I have since won the battle and broken free of guardianship through a lot of hard work and determination. But the damage remains.

Now, I have researched this and in the USA this is known as Extrinsic Fraud. However, where I live (The Netherlands), there doesn't seem to be a term for it.

**So my question is**: Everyone involved is getting away with this, to the detriment of me in many ways. Many people still believe the purpetrators instead of me, not many have seen the hard evidence. This process has drained my money, my mental health, and my physical health. What can be done? Is there an equivalent to Extrinsic Fraud in The Netherlands?

**I don't want revenge upon those that did this to me, but I want protection, fair treatment, *justice*.**

Perhaps i'll share my full story later. It takes a lot for me to write down the entire thing however, and I suspect I am traumatized. It would probably also be a way larger wall of text than this post is.

Answer:
 Have you had a lawyer help you with the breaking free? If so, it would be a good idea to ask them if there is anything they can help you with. A lawyer is often willing to take a case and put you on a payment plan or similar situations to help you with your financial difficulties.

It sounds like some sort of fraud, which you can report to the police, but the police may not be able to help, as this sounds complicated. If the abuse was physical or sexual then that is easier to get police help with, though with no proof (example; photos of bruises), a case might go nowhere. It will definitely go nowhere if not reported though.

I'll also tag /u/frisian2 as I think he's Dutch. I'm also Dutch, but not a lawyer.


Title: Trying to break a lease, as well as press charges because my roommate had assaulted me.

Question: My living situation has gotten unpleasant to the point where I had to move out. My roommate had given me her blessing (which I have text message proof of) and so I found a place and found someone to sublease my space. She is now going back on her word because her mother (our cosigner) doesn't feel comfortable with new people moving in and is forcing me to pay rent whether I live there or not and told me this two days before my move in date. She is letting her boyfriend stay there, and he is illegally living there as he is not on our lease. I still pay half of everything which is legally fair however there is a third person involved. Earlier tonight she assaulted me after barging into my living space while I was clearly occupied and arguing with me because I had spoken to our cosigner about the issue. I filed a police report and am planning on going to the magistrate and pressing charges as well, as well as filing a complaint against her. She also has been taking my belongings without my knowledge and I only found this out as I was packing since I noticed some of the stuff that was mine was not there anymore. How far can I go legally with all of this? She was playing dirty and was talking about taking me to court and what not so I want to have a good case built up to present. I live in Charlotte, North Carolina. Forgot to mention that.

Answer: All you can do is file that police report. You have no say in if she'll be charged. If they arrest her tomorrow, cool, but otherwise you have no control and you'll turn your hair white attempting to make an officer that does not care, care. Even if they care, the DA might not and that's a brick wall. Also consigner mom has dick to say about all of this, zero authority whatsoever at all. She gets *no* benefits in signing that contract, only responsibility to pay. She can't "feel uncomfortable" with your living situation any more than I can. It's time to speak to your landlord.


Title: My college housemate has a girl over, I want to kick her out. If I ask her to leave, does she legally have to?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Your location matters.

If she is a guest of your housemate, she is entitled to stay.  You have zero authority to kick her out.Answer #2: No. Your roommate can say she can stay then she can stay. You cannot remove his ability to have whomever he wants over as a guest


Title: Is it legal to bill a non-paying client if they gave you their credit card info previously to pay for expenses?

Question:
A very close, upstanding friend of mine referred a woman to me that needed some design work done for the company she works for. So, I don't normally do this, but being a friend of a friend kind of thing, I did the work without a written contract and without 50% due upfront like I normally do.

I did two small jobs for the company total. They paid up no problem, no complaints. They see my hourly rate and are fine with it. They were very happy with the completed work.

Now, here is the problem. I then did work for her side business. A design of a rackcard/flier for her start up. The project comes to $140 for four hours of work. I send it to print and then ask her for payment.
"Oh, I'll pay you when I make my first sale in a week or so". I wait patiently. No money. I ask her for the payment and she fucking flips out. She is cussing me out saying my rates are too expensive and that she doesn't have it to pay anyway.

Now, the bottom line here is, since she has given me her credit card information in the past (to pay for printing) and I have her on email and phone recording saying that she will pay me once she makes her first sale. It's now been two months. Am I legally allowed to bill for what she owes me?

I looked into small claims court, but it costs $130 to file against her. Also, if she doesn't show up, I am out the original $140 AND $130 now. As I understand it, all that will happen is a blemish on her record. Is there a more effective way?

If this had been a web design job, I would simply temporarily disable the website until she pays up. However, she conned me into getting her printed product before flaking out and I can't exactly stop the presses now. :(

Answer:
 Do you like jail? Because this is how people go to jail.

You have a civil dispute against someone else. Don't turn it into a criminal one against you.

> Also, if she doesn't show up, I am out the original $140 AND $130 now.

No that is not how it works. If she doesn't show up, you win by default.


Title: Windshield cracked after getting car fixed by dealer (Tx), should I take them to small claims?

Question:
The dealer doesn't seem to want to pay to replace the windshield on my vehicle, and I am thinking about filing in small claims to get my money back on the windshield repair.

Key Facts about the case
The windshield had a chip in it before I took it into the dealer.
Their free inspection report they gave me with my invoice shows the windshield as green.
They were working near the windshield.
They washed my car just before I drove it off the lot.
I noticed the crack in my windshield after I drove it off the lot.
The crack originated from the chip in my windshield that already existed.
I've reached out to them several times and gotten no response, and I am hesitant to drive the vehicle with the crack (It goes all the way across the windshield)

Answer: If the chip existed before the work was done then really they are not at fault. A chip can and will cause a splinter just a matter of when.


Title: (Ma) Workers Comp/ FMLA. Employer telling me I have to fill out FMLA paperwork.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 > do I have to do this?

Yes.  You fill that out and have your doctor certify that you're unable to work for X period of time.  They don't just take your word for it.

> It seems fishy

It's not.  It's the norm.


Title: [North Carolina] Employer changed wife's dental insurance without notice. Now her dentist is claiming she needs to pay out of pocket for her routine exam.

Question:
My wife's employer changed her dental insurance provider in November 2016 without notifying her of the change. She coincidentally had a routine exam and cleaning in November, after the policy had changed. The dental office called and informed her that her old insurance provider denied the claim and she needs to pay out of pocket for the exam.

She stopped working for this company Jan 1 of this year. We just found out this week that her employer changed insurance companies and we don't know who the new provider is.

What are our options here?

Answer: You pay the dentist and then submit the claim through whoever was covering you at the time.  You owe the dentist, one way or the other; and they have no requirement to work with your insurance.


Title: Raising Gazorpazorp-Corp, much needed legal advice about naming an LLC

Question:
I am forming an LLC called Gazorpazorp-Corp, LLC, as a joke between I and my business partner (we both love Rick and Morty, a show on Adult Swim). Would this be allowed, or would this be considered intellectual property of Adult Swim since Rick and Morty airs on there?

Colorado
Topic:
Business Law

Answer: Since they make multiple references to Gazorpazorps (I'm also a fan of the show), you might want to send an inquiry to Cartoon Network re: the trademark status, or consult with an IP attorney and expect to pay around $1000 for him to look into this for you if you don't want to share with CN that you're naming your LLC Gazorpazorp-Corp, LLC.


Title: What Happens If I Stop Paying My Mortgage (Virginia USA)

Question: Hello folks! I'm a 64 yr old woman who is responsible for my 40 yr old brain injured son. After a successful career, I got cancer and had to reluctantly retire. I was very proactive and called all my debtors including Wells Fargo with whom I have a first and second mortgage with. I painstakingly wrote a very tight, shoestring budget that would probably terrify most of you but have managed to keep a 786 credit score and never fall late on any payments to anyone. It has come with a cost of not eating meat, going out anywhere and foregoing dental and mental health care. I have a poor quality of life including physical pain from other associated disorders. Present day 5 years later-I'm in remission for my cancer (but not the other disorders), went back to college for another degree in a different field and am working from home as a consultant (I am fully disabled and collecting SSD but on the Ticket to Work program). I have tried 21 times to renegotiate my mortgage with Wells Fargo and was able to streamline my 1st (primary) for a much better rate. They (for some stupid reason) will not combine the first and second mortgages! The problem now lies that the secondary line of credit is coming due in May and I will likely have to pay more than I make to them (up to and including 100% of my disability check) The idiots at WF told me that I should stop making mortgage payments so I can qualify for the HARP program. If I do so, I won't have a good credit score for the rest of my life. I am not upside-down on the equity but probably just about even or could potentially come out $10,000 ahead. The main objection to the banks I have asked is that I don't make enough money nor do I have enough equity. I am thinking about not paying either mortgage and taking that money to build a tiny home (or live in a camper) for me. (I found housing for my son already) Because of my physical pain I can't keep up with my beautiful awesome little cottage and it's falling into disrepair. I am agonizing over this and wish to respectfully ask you if there are any other options for me? If not-what should I expect from Wells Fargo when/if I stop paying and how long will I have before they foreclose? Can they take my tiny home from me? Any and all suggestions will be considered. (addendum: First Mtg @ 3.875%, second 4% variable. Also, with the banking regulations now disbanded this makes the situation that much more tenuous...)

Answer: If you stop paying your mortgage eventually it will be foreclosed. Virginia allows for deficiency judgments – so you could end up having to pay any shortfall from the foreclosure sale.


Title: A cannabis supply company used my name and work address to send supplements in the mail

Question:
Hey this is my first post and I'm on my phone so sorry for formatting. I came into work yesterday and found a returned package on my desk. It looks like something that was sent to Canada and returned. It has my first initial and last name and my work address in the from section. I did not send this package at all.

When I opened the package it was a really weird handwritten note from the owners maybe and some cannabis supplements and like stickers and postcards from their company. I have never heard of this company before. They look like a real business but when I tried to find their business address I couldn't see anything online.

Should I confront the business and tell them to not send using my information or just destroy the package? It's really weird and I'm not really sure what to do.

Thank you!

Answer:
 You can toss the package or turn it over to the police.

I don't know if it is illegal to mail weed in your jurisdiction. As such, you might want to turn it in to the police since this could have been happening for a while and you may wind up getting caught up in all this because you knew something illicit was going on and did not report it.

If this eventually gets investigated you wouldn't be able to honestly answer that you had no idea that this was going on.


Title: Wal Mart surveillance meth bust goes awry (m)28 TN

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 If I could get an indipendant drug test that shows that I do not use amphetamines (in the measurable past), would that be a good idea?Answer #2: Step 1: Attorney

Step 2: Delete all of this

Step 3: Stop saying anything

Step 4: Delete this

Step 5: Delete this account/username

Step 6: Stop talkingAnswer #3: Your best bet is to hire a lawyer asap.Answer #4: Dude, delete all the comments you've made, STFU, and speak to an attorney ASAP. Answer #5: lawyer, lawyer, lawyer. Do not post about it (can be called into evidence) and do not talk to 5-0. Lawyer up


Title: What's the consensus on rubber bullets?

Question:
North Carolina.

I use a firearm for home defense, but I'm concerned about the possibility (in the unlikely event that I would actually have to use it) about over penetration.  I live in an apartment which is basically set up "shotgun style" (no pun intended) so that any attempt to shoot at an intruder could be...let's say inconvenient...to my neighbors across the hall.

Given the option, I would rather not shoot my neighbors, so I have been looking into less-lethal ammunition (rubber bullets).  However, most of what I've read indicates that using such a thing leaves me open to lawsuits, since if I don't kill the attacker, an argument could be made that my life wasn't actually in danger.

Can anyone weigh in on this?  Have there been any cases of home defense using these rounds (something like this:  http://www.cabelas.com/product/herter-s-reg-defense-12-ga-rubber-buckshot/1545641.uts) where the homeowner was prosecuted for their use?

Thank you for your time.

Answer: If you're using a handgun, use hollow-point defensive rounds, not FMJ/ball ammo. HPs are designed to mushroom on impact and lose momentum.


Title: [GA] got a ticket for driving in my mom's car when it had no registration

Question:
I need some advice and thought this might be the place to ask.

I recently got a ticket for driving in a car that wasn't registered. The car is in my mom's name and she lives in California I live in Georgia and this is my car basically I just don't own it. Now I have been under the impression the car was Registered and everything was fine since I have insurance and pay every month. So this ticket was a total surprise to me.

Come to find out from my mom after asking her about the registration she neglected to tell me that in September - October the car wasn't insured. What I was told is she couldn't pay any more in November so I started paying for the insurance on me starting right then in November and have kept it up since. This seems to be the reason for the car not being registered.

I have paid the 85 dollars in fees to get the registration sorted but have a court date for the ticket.

What should I do? I've never been to court or had to deal with any of this stuff before. Thanks in advance!

Answer: Get the car registered in Georgia. Have her sign the title over to you. You’re likely well beyond the grace period for this. Then show up in court and show the judge your shiny new Georgia registration.


Title: HELP. Dropped by lawyer 2 months before statute of limitions.

Question: Last summer I found a lawyer to pursue a medical malpractice case which resulted in my little sister's death. We told the lawyer everything, gave them all of the medical records, they gave us really positive feedback that there was a case and we were moving forward. We paid over $2,000 to get a doctor to look over everything and give us his professional opinion. Initially, we paid $900 for the doctor to give a vague yes or no. He gave us a yes, we paid the remaining $1,300 for the full review and one month later received a letter from the lawyer saying the doctor concluded although "the care was not perfect, there isn't enough to persuade a jury." Now I have less than 2 months before the statute of limitations kicks in. I've spoken with 3 lawyers so far and they're all turning it down due to the time crunch. Is there anything I can do? Or should I just give up?

Answer:
 Get the entire file from your attorney and keep shopping around.

Perhaps consider a legal malpractice suit. That said:

> the care was not perfect, there isn't enough to persuade a jury.

Is the result of alot of medmal inquiries.


Title: [California] Question about Medi-Cal and homes

Question:
My father is in the hospital and in rough shape and may need to go into a nursing home.  The social workers at the hospital want to get him on Medi-Cal and are trying to get an application through.

Now, he owns a house (We are in SF) and I heard a social worker from a Sutter Health program say 'theres no way he'll get on it because he owns this house'.

One from his hospital stay said "where did you hear that?  He may still be able to do it, but they may put a lien on the home."

She started me on the application process and said that the application was saying based on a lot of other information he is '1 house exempt'.  She made it seem as if since it's just one home and he lives there, he should be fine but she was very hesitant, said she couldn't say for sure.

Basically what I want to know is, will we lose the house if he has to live his remaining few years in a nursing home?  My name is also on the deed (we added it a few years ago) and I was wondering if taking his off, making me the sole owner, would help get rid of any problems like that as well, or cause any more?  Like, would they look back at that and consider it fraud-like or something to get out of paying?

I ask because I obviously don't want to get into murky legal territory, but I also don't want to lose the house my parents busted their asses for.  We're even still now paying a mortgage.

Any experts on this matter?

Answer:
 Yes. They use his assets to pay for his care. That is logical.

You cannot take his name off the house to stop that. They look back a few years. Hiding assets isn't a good thing.

If you want to buy the house (dad's portion) then go for it. Then he had that money to pay for his care.


Title: FBI wants to meet with me

Question:
Alright, so I live in a state and a special agent showed up at my house and left his card with a written note on the back asking me to call him. I got in contact with him and he's trying to talk to me about cyber crimes that I'm accused of doing several years ago. I've already talked to an attorney, he wants $3k up front, $5k total for pre-indictment. I'm quite shaken up and not entirely sure what I should do.

EDITED OUT SPECIFIC INFORMATION

Answer:
 Well the good news is they *probably* don't have enough to arrest you or get a search warrant. If they did they would have likely done that already. So that means they want you to confess. Which you shouldn't do.  Answer #2: Hire a lawyer. If you think the quote you got was unreasonably high, you can shop around; but it doesn't seem too unreasonable.

Lying to a federal official is an entirely separate criminal offense that they love to tack on in order to force a plea. You can't lie to them if you never talk to them, so don't (except with your attorney present).


Title: [NC] Store employee opened a store credit card in my husband's name. What is our recourse?

Question:
North Carolina.

This happened in July 2014, but we just found out about it yesterday.

I was going through a big pile of junk mail and almost didn't open a plain looking letter, and saw an "updated privacy notice" in reference to "your Best Buy Credit Card account".

Cue the "I didn't know you had a Best Buy credit card?" "...I don't."

So we checked his credit report online just in case, and it did show up on his credit report. Opened in July 2014, Closed in August 2016.

I've worked retail and I know how opening store credit cards works. Employees have quotas and can get bonuses for opening credit card accounts.

From his recollection - he was there to look at a new macbook and when the employee helping him out suggested financing, he contemplated it. Here's where his memory is a little fuzzy - but he says he remembers something vague about the "just checking if he would be eligible." He ultimately gave them a firm no about the credit card, and paid for the macbook with his debit card. He never signed anything. He never got anything in the mail from Best Buy about a credit card.

We called the Best Buy CC phone number, to try to figure out what happened and how this card was fraudulently opened and sitting open on his credit report for 2 years. No charges have ever been made on the card.  Initially, the woman on the phone tried to claim it was some sort of mistake. Like, it got "accidentally processed." Well, that's bullshit because you can't accidentally process a credit card application, and even if they had made some sort of unintentional error, they would have fixed it and not just let the account sit open for 2 years affecting his credit.

She said that he must have opened the card and forgot. So, that's when I asked them if they had his signature on the contract. After a minute or two on hold, she said no, they had no signature on the contract, and she would be "opening an investigation" into the fraud. I asked that they follow up with us via mail, but I didn't feel very confident they are actually going to do that.

I realize that this is very mild in terms of identity theft, but I'm really pissed off about it. In the 2 years that account was open and affecting his credit rating, we bought a house and a new car. It could have impacted our interest rates.

Do I have any legal recourse here other than waiting for BB to do some sort of limp internal investigation? Does he have damages? Can there be criminal charges against the employee who did this? Censures against the store? Can we sue BB for fraud?

Do we have to wait for the "internal investigation" to dispute this with the Credit Reporting Agency? If I open a dispute, what proof do I need to provide that he never opened the account?

Worth noting we still live in the town where the store is.

Thank you!

Answer: Is it possible he opened it to get a discount on the MacBook? Years ago I opened a credit card with them only to get a discount on a TV I was buying. Never used it and closed it about a year later.


Title: [CA] There are two illegal studio apartments in the back of my building and I suspect they are feeding off my electricity, water and gas. Landlord is trying to have me pay the entire bill, saying that it is only for my apartment.

Question:
I moved into a 3-bedroom/2-bathroom apartment in Venice, CA around mid-July.  The building contains our apartment and two studio apartments in the back of the building (all on ground-level), and one 4-bedroom apartment on the second floor.  The three apartments on the bottom floor are not numbered.  They are all considered the same address, no A,B,C or 1,2,3... we even share the mailbox.  This was the first thing that seemed off.

My landlord states that his father owns the building and lived in (now our) apartment for 30 years with landlord's brother (who, lives in one of the back studio apartments and has schizophrenia, which was not disclosed to us before we moved in).  He says that his father has moved to a retirement community, so they remodeled the entire bottom floor and decided to rent it out.  We are the first renters.  In the back of the building, there are two converted garage studio apartments that I have recently learned are not technically legal (LA county is aware, and have asked the tenants to leave...landlord has not mentioned it to us, found out through his brother).

Anyways, when I signed the lease the landlord said that utilities would not be included.  I signed the lease saying that I would be responsible for all utilities.  There is a shared washer and dryer outside that all of the units use, which is hooked up to our water line.  While I was signing the lease, the landlord said he would check it out and possibly pay for our water bill since it is coming from our line.  He never followed up on this nor ever included anything about it in the lease.

He dropped our utility bill in the mail the other day and I'm very suspicious that the electric, water and gas lines for those two illegal studios are hooked onto our line.  I have canvassed the building and alas, there are only two gas meters and two electric meters.  (One for the bottom floor, one for the top, I suspect).  There are A TON of wires all over the building, it's actually crazy.  I followed some the wires around the building and yes, the ones from our meter feed into the walls of the studio apartments.  Pictures attached:

Conglomeration of wires from the electric meters
http://imgur.com/a/ec6j2

http://imgur.com/a/PHFiN

Clearly only two gas meters
http://imgur.com/a/KBlPk

I messaged my landlord asking if the utilities would be split between the apartments, considering the bill does not differentiate between the apartments on the bottom floor, only states the address.  He said no and said the top floor has their own bill ... didn't answer my question, but ok.  I told him we'd chat about it another time but he has gone out of town now.

My question is, if the utility bills are ONLY for my apartment, shouldn't there be a total of 4 meters then?  One for each of the three apartments downstairs and one for the top floor?  Is there a way I can confirm this (tried calling LADWP, they need the account's access code - I don't have it).  Can I tell him I refuse to pay the utility bills until he presents proof that the back studios receive separate bills? Is there legal action I can take against him?

Thanks Reddit!

Answer:
 None of those wires are providing electrical to the units. Those are all cable tv/internet.

You should have a breaker/fuse box somewhere on the inside of the unit or possibly in the garage.

http://inspectapedia.com/electric/QOPanelAFCIss.jpgAnswer #2: Wait until darkness and turn off the main switch at your power metre.  You'll soon see if they are connected as they will come out to see why the power went off


Title: My grand aunt is a renowned artist who suffers from Alzheimers. In her depreciated state, she signed her personal guardianship to an attorney, who then handed her off to incompetent nursing home. We want her back.

Question:
My aunt is an artist. Actually, she's a renowned painter, with pieces in MOMA, the Whitney and now at the Smithsonian's African American Museum in DC. She moved to Virginia into a house far from family where she could paint. Problem was we didn't know she was in the early stages Alzheimers. living alone in the woods, she progressively worsened. Her daughter would come and she thought bad things about her such as "she was trying to steal from her" and other things. Her paranoia made her sign away her life and property to people she hardly even knew.

A neighbor to my grand aunt ingratiated herself into my grand aunt's confidence by doing yard work and cleaning. Eventually, this person realized who my grand aunt was and got her to sign papers with an attorney so that they could take control of her estate. Now we have no access to my grand aunt. Her daughter lives in Canada, I live in NYC and we are wondering what we can do. I just heard my aunt from canada had an court date set and the woman who has control of her mother gave her the wrong date (a week after.) I don't know what I can do or what to do. I want my grand aunt to be taken care of and I don't want this parasite to have control of my aunt's artwork and estate. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
EDIT: THANKS VERY MUCH!!! Seriously, thank you for your good advice. Yes, I'm hearing all of this third hand and giving the information as such. As far as my aunt (the daughter) I just want to say that she is a good person who is of limited finances and her husband received the brunt of the abuse from my grand aunt. I wish I'd opportunity to know the ins and outs of the situation better and had stepped in earlier. I'll just have to see if I can find a lawyer to take this case pro bono (even though it's a big ugly ball of wax.) thanks again.

Answer:
 Get your own lawyer. From the sounds of it - taking out all the subjective "this person is trying to take advantage of my relative" stuff, a neighbor realised an elderly woman was by herself and unable to take care of herself, and so arranged for someone to look after that elderly woman and her affairs since the family of the elderly woman were of absolutely no help.

Oh and:

>I just heard my aunt from canada had an court date set and the woman who has control of her mother gave her the wrong date (a week after.)

This is also why you need your own lawyer and not get vital legal information from the *opposing party*. Though it's equally likely that your aunt, who left their elderly mother to live alone in the woods and missed signs of Alzheimers that a neighbor was able to pick up on, also just forgot about the court date. Answer #2: Get your own lawyer in VA. This is way way beyond the internet. Answer #3: I do agree with PP that you should get your own lawyer, especially considering you are in the same country as your great aunt.  If you are at all close to her, contact her and check up on her.  There is no way a lawyer can prevent her from taking a phone call in her room.  That is absolutely illegal.  You have nothing to do with their agreements, and unless your aunt refuses personally to speak with you I would be contacting her casually to be sure she is being treated at least decently where she is staying at the moment.


Title: First DWI offense in wreck against possible other driver who was drinking in MO.

Question:
I'm kind of freaking out and not quite sure where to start with this. I had been coming home a few nights ago from a bar, I didn't feel like I had had many to drink, so from what I can recall, I remember going forward on a small highway when another car pulled out from a side road and I slammed into them. This is all somewhat of a blur, and the only thought I had was, "Oh shit, I'm dead." Everything kind of fades in and out from the situation at that point until the next morning and I can recall very little of what happened.

That night I vaguely remember talking to an officer at the hospital, I was cooperative and told them I had a few beers to drink, and allowed them to take blood since they said they were going to get it one way or another. I think my rights may have been read, and I may be under arrest, though, like I said, I don't remember much.

Next morning comes, they transfer me to another hospital where I can recover (multiple broken bones, fractures, collapsed lung, other cuts and scratches). I haven't heard from any officers since, and that was days ago. I've been keeping up on the State Patrol site and it has been updated to reflect that both the other driver and I have DWI charges from that night (though I've heard from third-party sources that his charges are false charges, I don't know why they would have just been updated yesterday though if they weren't accurate). Also, the time of accident has changed, the directions we were headed have changed, the roads have been updated, and I'm getting really confused as to how none of this information has been consistent... It's also been updated to reflect that I have car insurance, while it still shows that theirs is unknown. As it stands now, there were 3 others in the vehicle, 2 are fine, 1 is said to be in a more serious but stable condition, and this one was not wearing a seatbelt.

I'm really just at a loss of what to do, and I'm extremely scared. Do I start with a lawyer? Do I call the police department that's investigating and see what's going on? I've heard from people before that normally when you're under arrest officers will be by your hospital room and stuff like that, but I still haven't seen one since that first night....

Thank you all for any help you can provide.
Topic:
DUI

Answer:
 > I didn't feel like I had had many to drink

Said every drunk driver ever.

> Do I start with a lawyer?

Yes

> Do I call the police department that's investigating and see what's going on?

No, your criminal defense lawyer handles that.


Title: Service dogs and reasonable accommodation. Hypothetical

Question:
I understand that at least in the U.S. businesses legally have to allow seeing eye guide dogs in as a reasonable accommodation to someone with a disability. What I'm curious about is what if that accommodation is unreasonable to a specific business owner. Where is the line/where would the law fall?

Hypothetically, if I owned a restaurant and was deathly allergic to dogs, could I refuse to allow a seeing eye guide dog into my restaurant saying this is unreasonable to me since I could literally die?

Could I have a requirement saying anyone with a seeing eye guide dog has to call 5 days in advance so I can have other employees working and I can have the restaurant deep cleaned afterwards?

Or would the law be "sucks to be you, being deathly allergic to dogs isn't a disability"?

I just got curious while listening to an episode of Stuff You Should Know about guide dog training. I don't know wny I used restaurant for my hypothetical but it was the first business that came to mind while writing this question.

Thanks all.

Answer: There was a post on /r/legaladvice years ago about this scenario, or something very close to it. I think it spiraled massively--the allergic owner refused to allow the service dog in, the service dog's owner started talking about how the owner discriminated against the blind/otherwise disabled, the negative PR and backlash was enormous. I think the ADA does consider severe allergies a disability of some kind, but from what I remember, the legal advice comments basically boiled down to telling the restaurant owner that if he has a business that involves dealing with high concentrations of random strangers, this is something he should be prepared to accommodate. My memory is not the best though so maybe I made that up haha.


Title: I think I found a camera in the bathroom at work. (Iowa)

Question: Yeah… So like the title says I think I found a camera at work in the bathroom. I’m not really sure how to proceed from here.

Answer: call the police


Title: (California) Mom stole **my** money

Question:
When I was a baby, my mom and dad set up a UTMA account for me. It was supposed to be for my college. I never ended up going to college so the money just sat there. My dad told me it was mine to do what I wanted with. And when I looked at the account, over the last 2 years, my mom has been withdrawing from the account slowly, (increments of 1000-1500 about once a month)

My mom has never made any money in her life, but when I confronted her about it she said it was her money. At this point, I froze the account and moved what was left to a personal account. How do I go about getting everything she withdrew back?

Answer: You will likely have to sue in civil court. The amount is going to be too much for small claims. You should consult a local attorney to help you through the process.


Title: My grandfather "ran over" an old lady

Question: So this happen a few years ago and it's a running joke among the family. Here some context my papaw- P, old lady- OL-, and my mamaws sister, MS ok so, P was backing up in his truck and the OL happen to he behind him, I think she fell and threw out her hip but starting screaming at him that "you ran me over!!" And here comes in MS she comes over and starts saying stuff like "you ran her over" "theres tire Mark's on her chest!" So of course OL went to sue and my P didnt show (wasnt recuerment) they won the case and sued my P for 25,000$. I question the actual courts reasoning for actually giving her money wouldnt a 80 something year old lady be dead if ran over the chest with a 4 ton truck? Someone help me here me and my P have been talking about and I thought I'd ask for help

Answer: Your grandfather fucked up by not going to court, and a default judgement was awarded to the plaintiff


Title: [Ontario] Neighbour encroaching on property

Question:
My dad has a new neighbour in their semi-rural area. When the neighbour bought the house it was brand new with no grass or landscaping. The neighbour had a little shed which was over the property line and my dad told him verbally that he could leave it over the line while he got his property sorted out.

Flash forward and the neighbour has now installed the shed permanently over the property line. In addition, the surveying steaks are buried and he keeps dumping rocks and brush on my dad's property which he hits when he tries to cut it.

The neighbour is over a hill and not within sight lines so it can be days or sometimes even weeks before my dad is there with any machinery to cut the vegetation down. I'm sure no one has any interest in paying for a fence. My dad does not know the neighbour's name and the neighbour hasn't installed a mailbox yet as they don't seem to live there full-time. He can probably get the neighbour's name from the property registration but what happens if he mailed him something?

He'd like to know what he should do and also if he finds rocks and brush whether he can just dump them back over the property line. Any advice relevant to Ontario (Canada) would be much appreciated.

Answer:
 Your dad needs to go see a property lawyer about this, especially since he initially gave permission. The longer he waits to deal with this, the more likely it is that the neighbour will be granted a constructive easement over the encroachment.

The lawyer will give him advice on how to proceed (such as whether to send a letter, what to say in it) or what other action may be appropriate. The lawyer can also give him the name of the registered owner.


Title: Junkie Aunt faking pregnancy to steal from Grandma

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Nope. It's not your business tbh. If she's collecting government benefits or raising money online through a GoFundMe or something she might be committing a crime the police would care about but otherwise I see nothing that you can do to force your grandmother to believe you.


Title: Failure to disclose

Question:
My wife and I recently closed on a home. Upon moving in and vacuuming the carpets my wife had an extreme allergic reaction. She has an allergy to cats and we found out later that day that the seller had a cat and did not disclose it in the purchase agreement. Initially the seller was ready to do whatever it took to make us able to move into the home and be comfortable but now is refusing to have the ducts and vents professionally cleaned and only giving a $1,200 carpet replacement budget. We never would have put an offer in on a house that previously had cats for this reason. What are our legal rights and what course of action can we take? Thank you.

Updates: this is happening in St Paul Minnesota.  current and previous pet ownership is listed on the disclosure. The seller listed that they had a dog but did not mention any cats. We did not notice any animal evidence during the showings, the walkthrough, or the inspection. We did not ask specifically if they had cats because they had already disclosed that they had a dog only.

Answer: Does your state require sellers to disclose what pets they had?


Title: Oregon. I don't want to lose my state benefits when my mom dies.

Question: I am set to inherit about $40,000 from life insurance when my mom dies. I know that will kill my benefits (I am benefit dependent for every thing) and she won't even try to set it up or direct it in a way that it won't royally fuck me (excuse me language). Who would I need to talk to, what would I need to do to help minimize the damage? I don't need to deal with this on top of losing my mom and she won't help.

Answer: The point of benefits is to cover those who have no others means to cover themselves. 40,000 will cover your expenses for a while. Once that money runs out, or is about to, you can reapply for the benefits. Answer #2: You will need to speak with an attorney who has experience with special needs trusts. The state bar has a referral service if you have trouble finding one.


Title: (Southern California) Detective wants to meet to "clear things up". No warrants out, can't afford a good lawyer.

Question:
(San Diego County)
The detective called me today asking if I could meet him to clear something up. I asked him what it was regarding and was told that I can't have any of that information regarding the case unless we meet in person where he can "show me". I told him that I'd like to help if I could, but I won't meet without knowing what the case is about and I won't be interviewed without an attorney. After a bit of talking in circles he told me it was related to a computer, that I'm not under arrest and it's not a big deal and they won't arrest me but he just didn't want to say anything in front of my mother (I live at home with my family, I'm not a minor). He told me that whatever is under my mother's name (either ownership of the computer or because she is billed for the ISP service). I told him I won't speak without an attorney and he can call my mother if he wants to (she also won't speak without an attorney) and that if there are no warrants I'd like to leave.

I imagine this situation happens all the time, what can I expect here? I've emailed a local laywer asking for some basic advice (basically the same thing I said here). Obviously, if he can't tell me what it's regarding over the phone the only reason I can think of is that if he did tell me, I'd lawyer up immediately. So I assume I'm a suspect. If the police had enough evidence to put out a warrant for my arrest or to seize my personal affects, wouldn't they have done so already? The fact that the next step is to talk to my mom or whoever else in the house leads me to believe (which is relieving) that without anybody talking, whatever case will just be thrown out. Whatever happens, happens, but in the meantime how do I deal with this stress? If I can't afford to pay over $100/hour for an attorney now, do I just sit on my ass until they maybe get an arrest warrant with no warning? Is there any legal recourse for me to obtain a copy of the case/report or whatever information he was going to "show" me without being detained or arrested?

My main worry is we live at home with my grandmother, who I often have conflicts with. She has dementia, bad enough to the point where my parents were able to legally seize control over her finances. If she were to be interviewed by a cop, shit, even a talking parrot could convince her of basically anything or intimidate/lead her into any kind of lie. If my grandmother is interviewed, she might say I'm Pablo Escobar. I imagine a good attorney could easily demonstrate that she is an unreliable witness. But that worries me since she already falsely accuses me of things like eating her food fifteen minutes after she had it for lunch.

Answer:
 I have not read your post yet. Do not speak to the detective, do not meet with him, get a lawyer.

Now I will read your post.

Edit: I have now read your post, and it seems like your head is generally in the right place (as far as not talking to the detective, not as far as whatever stupid crime you are suspected of committing). Unfortunately nobody can tell you what will happen next, considering we don't even know what crime you're suspected of (one could guess). I understand you hope that the officer is only asking you to come in voluntarily because he doesn't have enough to charge you otherwise, but that isn't necessarily the case. All you can really do is shut up, and start saving money for that lawyer.

And be very careful about that whole "there being no hard drives in the house" thing. Destruction of evidence is its very own crime.


Title: [Louisiana] Advice on my managers breaking my contract and giving me part time hours.

Question:
Since September/October timeframe, I've been scheduled part time hours. I've been full time for a couple years.

 Every week I complain to my managers and they brush it off.
I have asked over and over if they can look up what my average hours are and they would change the subject or 'forget'

They kept changing what they say full time hours are. Its changed from; no less than 35 a week, average of 35 or more in a month, and then a average of 35 or more in a 12 week period.
I've regularly gotten 24-30ish hours a week for months now.

I tried going to all my managers who said the store manager is dealing with the schedules, then talked to store manager who claimed it was all the overnight managers and he doesn't care, then the store managers boss doesn't care and it's her idea for all our hours to be cut.

They claimed by January it would be back to normal, then it was February, it's now March and this week for instance, I have 24 hrs scheduled... I can't support my family on these little checks. That's why I worked to get full time and move up from my original spot.

I just checked our quarterly bonus and it shows I'm not getting the full amount that everyone here who had 35+ hrs average  is getting.
Which means now I have proof that I was not working full time hours this quarter...

Who do I contact?
Should/could I sue for them breaking my contract?

Answer:
 I suspect you are confusing an employment offer with an employment contract.

Based on your post history you are a hourly employee at Walmart which is not an entity known to have contracts with hourly employees.Answer #2: Your post history indicates you are a Walmart employee. I guarantee you have confused an employment offer with an employment contract. Walmart does not sign employment contracts. Nothing illegal is happening here.


Title: FBI visited my house and left a business card (AZ)

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 It could just be an interview regarding a security clearance for someone’s federal job application. If it is they’ll basically ask him “do you think this person is trustworthy, Has this person ever acted like a psycho, Has this person ever mentioned being sympathetic to terrorists?”

If I’m right then your dad isn’t in trouble and a lawyer does not need to be present.


Title: Roommate wrongly accused of petit larceny at Walmart

Question:
Location: Troy NY, USA

Time: Saturday Dec 6th 2014, 15 00 - 18 30

At 3pm yesterday afternoon my roommate went to walmart, had $50 worth of food in her cart and needed to make a phone call. She left the cart between the double glass doors of the store entrance (inside the building) in order to keep her cart from being taken away and started walking out to because there was no signal inside. Employee stopped her and accused her of shoplifting.

She was taken to the office, and she was told by both the employee and a local PD who happened to be there to save her explanation for the judge and shut up. Local PD cuffed her and she was taken to the Rensselaer County Sheriff. She was released later with a court ticket in mid January fighting a petit larceny charge.

Question: what to do now? I am a college student, she recently graduated, and neither of us are US citizens. She is well off and doesn't need to steal food. She has clean records. I will provide more details if asked. Thank you and I'd really appreciate any help!

EDIT:

This is a reply to a comment below but I think it contains more information and it'd be helpful to show my train of logic.

I understand that the action itself seemed suspicious, and I agree it is not the smartest idea. As I stated, there was no cellphone signal in the store, that's why she wanted to walk out, and she felt that leaving the cart inside the store will result in the employee pushing an unattended cart away and putting back the items. We live together and it is common to call when either of us is at the market. Not the best train of logic I know, but I completely believe her story not only because she is my best friend of 3 years, but also because she does not fit in any criteria of intention of shoplifting. I will detail my reasoning below.

Intention of shoplifting fall into 3 catagories:

1. Habitual stealing: such as kleptomaniacs, people who gain pleasure from stealing and they don't necessarily use the things they steal. As mentioned, she has a clean record, and frequented that walmart in the past 3 years with no record of suspicious behavior, which can be verified by surveillance tapes. Plus, she was buying food, which does not fit the profile.

2. Impulsive stealing: an independent occurrence. As mentioned, she stopped the cart in the lobby, and started walking out. Why would you leave the things you're stealing behind? This can be again easily verified with surveillance tape, so I don't believe she is lying. This particular action itself shows that she has no intention of "depriving the rightful owner of possession without paying the purchase price".

3. Need: one does not have enough money to pay for what one needs. Again as mentioned, she is well off enough to not need to steal $50 worth of food. I understand this cannot be used as legal defense, as brought up by /u/expatinpa[1]  , so I am just putting this here as a logical defense. Our fridge is far from empty.
In terms of the specific act of taking the products beyond the last pay point, I cannot disagree that that act itself legally qualifies as shoplifting, but as I mentioned, she left the cart there.

I appreciate the input from everyone who replied, and I truly believe she is innocent. We are both from foreign countries pursuing a higher education here, so sorry if my use of words seems a little off, and if we seem to lack legal knowledge. She was not given a chance to explain herself when questioned at the walmart office and at the police station. In both cases they asked for her personal information such as address, and said "shut up". Instead of discussing why she would do what she did or if walmart can press charges (they already did), I am seeking advice on how the usual procedure would go, and what approach she can follow to be cleared of the charge or receive a minimum penalty.

Answer:
 Hmm - so she got into the lobby of the walmart? Why on earth did she go so far? I don't think it's that open and shut honestly. I don't go to walmarts much, but the two I do use, the lobby is after the security alarms. So it's possible she passed them.

Yes, attorney, but I have to say your roommate is clueless.

Oh and well off doesn't mean people don't steal, sadly, so that's not a defense. Answer #2: She needs to retain the services of an attorney.


Title: Am I legally obligated to divulge information for someone on a most wanted list?

Question:
I want to call a county sheriff because I believe I have information on someone on their most wanted list. It's not something I really want to do or feel comfortable doing, but the reason I want to call first is to just see if there's a reward.

If I call just to ask them if there's a reward, and then decide I don't want to divulge any information, is there any legal obligation for me to do so? I'm looking to remain anonymous, but I don't have access to a pay phone so I'd just have to use my cell phone, which obviously sketches me out. I have nothing to do with this and don't want to get caught in some ordeal.

This is in Oregon. Thanks!

Answer: You're not obligated to provide any information to the police. but if you're saying you will only help bring a fugitive to justice if you personally gain from it then you're a scumbag.


Title: [FL] I was assaulted with a gun by my friends boyfriend after being invited over for food.

Question:
My friend (lets call her Trisha) invited me over to have a late dinner, which is something we've done several times in the past, with her boyfriend (let's call him Dan) being informed every time. This night in particular I believe he was high on some hard drugs and/or pissed off, and upon receiving the text that informed him we would be having dinner, he responds that he's coming over (he doesnt live with her but has a key) and my friend warns me she has a bad feeling he's on his way. I think nothing of it because Ive hung out with them both together at a festival, theres nothing going on between me and Trisha and I'm in the middle of heating up food. It's a gated community and he calls for her to open the gate, she opens it. She expresses she has a bad feeling about this. A few minutes later he's opening the door and walks in with a gun in his hand pointed at me yelling "get the fuck out, get the fuck out" and I just freeze with my hands up and I'm looking to leave the apartment. He rushes up to me, pistol whips me in the face and the gun fires off.  I'm oozing lots of blood and have a huge opening in my eyebrow from the impact. I stumble outside of the apartment and I hear a neighbor crack their door and ask if they need to call the police and I say yes please call. I'm leaking blood all over the floor and Dan walks out of her apartment, past me, and into his car before speeding off. Trisha calls me and helps me into her apartment before taking me to the local hospital. She told me that she thinks he did that because he knows she gets aroused by violence and also because he was having a bad week. He was arrested after a week and let out on bail a day later.  The state is charging him with aggravated assault with a firearm. I questioned whether I should get an attorney or not because the state was already handling the criminal case. It's been about 5 months since it happened. They are still together as bf and gf.

I had some trouble finding a lawyer that would take my case because they didn't know if there was enough money to be recovered for it to be worth their time. I found one that said I had a civil case and he would help me recover damages. I recently spoke with the prosecutor who said Dan hired a prominent private defense attorney, so we know he has assets, and that he's looking for a plea bargain to avoid jail time since he's looking at a agravated assault with a gun 10-20 year minimum felony sentence. So the prosecutor asked me for an amount for the restitution in my case. I have some hospital bills from the stitches I received in my eyebrow. I've also seen a plastic surgeon to get a quote for revising the scar I have in the middle of my eyebrow and my fractured nose. Total is about 15k in bills. My understanding is that there is a criminal case and a civil case here. The criminal case is supposed to cover restitution for injury bills and wages lost and the civil case is for other damages like pain and suffering. The prosecutor expressed to me that it seems Dan and his lawyer want to cut me a large check and plead guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence and be done with it. The last time I spoke with my attorney he said we might want to consolidate the civil and criminal cases, which would mean he receives 33% of anything I recover for restitution. I feel like he hasn't done much in my case yet and would prefer an attorney that takes a smaller percentage since the defendant is already asking for a  bargain and all that is needed is negotiating an amount. Is it in my best interest to have a lawyer negotiate that number and take such a large percentage for that? Should I negotiate the number myself? I could use any and all comments or advice. I can also give more details if asked. Thank you for hearing my case out.

Answer:
 IANAL - 33% is standard for a personal injury attorney. You're also looking at court costs for an additional case.

You'd likely get more by taking this deal IMO.Answer #2: You don't have much control over the criminal case; that's in the prosecutor's hands.  If you're concerned about taking a check if that means a reduced charge, well, it's your best and most affordable shot at restitution, and when people make restitution, maybe they should be considered for reduced charges.

That said, guns don't simply "fire off." Well, they do, but it's rare beyond belief, and generally involves a part on the gun failing, or really unusual conditions, like an overheated gun. Aside from rare events, the massive likelihood is that "Dan" had his finger on the trigger when he pistol-whipped you, and he caused a negligent discharge that you or "Trisha" might've died from, or maybe a deliberate discharge that he instantly regretted.  Keep that in mind when you set your asking price.Answer #3: I didn't see anyone else comment or ask this but please don't be friends with Trisha anymore, she makes bad choices by staying with that dude and you deserve better friendsAnswer #4: If you’re able to get restitution plus more, I’d ask how much more first before making your decision. Be sure to decide if you need psychiatric counseling so that can be included in your restitution. Plus you can always speak to another lawyer to get a second opinion.


Title: I screwed up.

Question:
**Backstory**

My boyfriend and I are not doing good, finance wise, and I definitely don't make enough to support the both of us. My boyfriend slipped into a depression recently after losing his job. It has gotten to the point where he hasn't gotten out of bed in a week,  hasn't showered in two, and won't eat. Im looking in to a therapist for him, even though I know he will refuse to go. I am currently seeing a therapist for managing my ADHD and as ashamed as I am, I also had a stealing problem 10 yrs ago (Im not boasting about this, but I never got caught, thank god.) which the therapist was helping me resolve, which worked...until now.

**What I Need Help With**

I had $4 to my name ( in change) and I went to one of those dollar stores to get cupcake mix and frosting to cheer my bf up (its his favorite ) which I know I had enough for. However, I needed to get air fresheners for the bed room because to be frank, it smells like death. I went against my morals and everything  I learned from my therapist and I stole the glade airfrsheners and paid for the rest ( I understand what I did was wrong, if you would like to tell me I'm a terrible person for stealing, I deserve it) Anyways, as I was about to leave the police showed up and asked me to empry my bag, which I did. The police cited me with citation and $250 fine and a request to show up to court in one month. Is there ANYTHING I can do to get this off my record? I have a clean recored (besides this) I do volunteer work at the human society, I pay my taxes,  and some times pay bills on time.  What do I do? Ive never been in trouble with the law before.

Answer: No. You’ll have to pay the fineAnswer #2: You can try but probably not. The ticket may have appeal instructions or a court date on it.  Air fresheners only mask a bad smell with a more powerful smell. If your living conditions are bad it's only temporarily hiding the problem.  It doesn't take a lot of money to be clean.


Title: [Georgia] Hands Free Georgia Law (HB673) and the usage of my 2015 Honda CRV's in-dash display to receive and send text messages

Question:
On July 1st we have the [Hands Free Georgia Law](http://www.headsupgeorgia.com/handsfree-law/) going into effect in Georgia. I believe this makes using my [2015 Honda CRV's SMS Text Messaging and E-Mail touchscreen system](http://m.owners.honda.com/assets/2015/CR-V/features/2015_CR-V_SMS_Text_Message_and_Email_Functions_touchscreen.pdf) [PDF Warning] illegal to use once the law goes into effect, but I wanted to get a second opinion.

Essentially the way it works is that when you get a text message (or email I guess but I don't have it connected to my email) you get a popup on your touchscreen in the dash, even while driving. There is a big button called 'Read' that you can press to have the text message read. From my understand this wouldn't be allowed, no?

There is also a way to respond to messages with stock phrases, again with big buttons on the touch screen. It's two buttons to press, you can press a button called 'Reply' and then there's six big buttons with canned responses you can send like 'OK' or 'Yes' or 'Talk to you later, I'm driving.' I am also assuming that because it requires touching a button this is illegal.

Anyway my uncertainty lies in the fact that I'm not sure if the hands-free part of the bill applies strictly to cell phone and other non-integrated devices, or if car touchscreens are included in the restrictions.

[Requisite MS Paint drawing](https://i.imgur.com/jqxLLpw.png)

[Requisite cat photo](https://i.imgur.com/FQ20ylj.jpg) of Miss Mousey stalking a picture hanger

(Sorry, I have no tree law questions.)

Answer:
 I think this text from the bill clears it up

> (3) 'Wireless communication' means any of the following actions performed using a  wireless telecommunications device:  (A) Writing or reading a text based communication;  (B) Initiating the exchange of data; or  (C) Talking.  (4) 'Wireless telecommunications device' means a cellular telephone, a text-messaging  device, a personal digital assistant, a stand-alone computer, a global positioning system  receiver, a wearable device, or any other substantially similar wireless device that is used  to initiate or receive communication or information. A wireless telecommunications  device does not include a radio, citizens band radio, citizens band radio hybrid,  commercial two-way radio communication devices, subscription based emergency  communications, prescribed medical devices, amateur or ham radio devices, or in-vehicle  security, navigation, and remote diagnostics systems.

Sounds like your touchscreen falls under either a "text-messaging device" or "substantially similar wireless device that is used to initiate or receive communications or information."