Title: Drove my car without oil, potentially could be the mechanics fault... now the whole engine needs replaced... is there anything I can do, legally?

Question:
My car was making this very loud roaring noise, transmission related.
I took my car to a shop.  They swapped the clutch, throwout burn, and resurfaced the flywheel.  I also asked them to do an oil change.

My car kept making the noise.  They told me to drive 500 miles on it and it would go away, as the new clutch would wear in.

I drove my car to visit my brother who lives 3.5 hours away that weekend, putting closer to 600 miles on it in a few days.

I came back and my car was still making the noise, so I took it back to the shop.

They called me and told me that the car was making the sound because it didn't have any oil in it.
I pointed out that I had asked them to do an oil change when I first took it in.  The serviceman said he would revisit his records and call me back.

About 30 minutes later, I get a call back saying my car is fine.  Everything is fine, and my car is ready to be picked up.

I pick up my car and the roaring noise is gone, but now there is a new "clicking" noise related to the engine.

I take my car to the dealer this time and they tell me that I have a rod in the engine that is knocking and that the whole engine needs replaced.

My car is a 2007 Mustang GT with 107k miles on it.

I suspect that the original repair shop basically had me drive those 600 miles on it without any oil in the car, which lead to the engine damage.

Is there anything I can do, realistically?

Morgantown, WV

Answer:
 Yes, you would likely have a good small claims case against the shop that didn't do what was asked in the first place.

First, I would ask to speak with the insurance company that the mechanic uses. If they refuse, you'll have to go to small claims. If the cost of a replacement engine is <$5000 including parts and labor, you can sue for that in small claims. Over that it's going to get expensive and not likely worth it to litigate. Answer #2: I don't doubt that the mechanic did something that ultimately fucked up your car, but you would not have been able to drive 6 miles without oil, much less 600.  It could still be something related to oil, but there's zero way it was driven any significant distance with no oil


Title: My Constitutional Rights were violated by an Atlanta, Georgia Cop

Question: This night I got pulled over by a cop. He told me my window tints were too dark, which is absolute BS as I got them from direct from the dealer. They are legal in every state. He then started asking me irrelevant questions like where I am going and what I'm doing in this neighborhood. I refused to answer his questions. He told me that if I didn't he would arrest me for obstruction. I responded that if he thinks he can arrest me for refusing to answer his questions he is either a liar or a f-cking retard. He then asked if he could search my car (probably the real reason he pulled me over was that I'm a white boy driving in a black neighborhood) and I told him to f-ck off. He then told me he smelled marijuana (complete lie) and said that gave him probable cause to search my car. I told him he was a f-cking liar. He searched my car (without probable cause, violating my 4th Amendment Rights) and found nothing. In the end he gave me a disorderly conduct citation for swearing at him. This is complete BS and courts have ruled that swearing at cops is protected speech? Any advice on how to deal with this?

Answer: What is your tint darkness? We can start there.Answer #2: You should get a lawyer. If you smoke in your car at all I guarantee that it smelled like weed, even though you didn't have any in it at the time. GA doesn't allow tint, so any tint on the front windows would be illegal.


Title: Sexual Harassment

Question:
My SO is an assistant manager at a restaurant. One of the employees has begun to sexually harass her. At first it started out as him singing along to songs on the radio directed at her. Then he started texting her. First about work related things such as his schedule but he started making comments about her appearance. Then he began calling the store while she was closing.

6 weeks ago she reported to the store manager that this individual was behaving inappropriately. The store manager just asked her if she could handle it. She said "yah, I guess...."

In the weeks that followed the individual has escalated to telling her to leave her engagement ring at home and told her he wants to "bend her over the counter."  She reported the escalation to another assistant manager. Nothing was done.

Another employee, a minor,  also reported this person's actions towards herself. She then also brought up the harassment towards my SO.

So far the only action taken was they talked to him about it and he admitted doing it. Nothing was put in writing. The person was not written up. They continue to schedule him with my SO on closing shifts.

She finally went to the store manager's boss's boss. He told her to put it all in writing and include if she wants the person to continue working there.

What do you guys think? Is this worth consulting a lawyer over?

Answer: She needs to follow those last instructions. If the company refuses to do anything about it now that she's escalated it that high, then yes, it's worth speaking with an attorney. She doesn't have to tolerate this behavior.


Title: Is this something I could get in trouble for?

Question:
Hi. I’m in my twenties and I live in Minnesota.

10 years ago I was sexually assaulted in what the detectives working on the case said was “the most brutal sexual assault case they’ve seen in their careers.” It feels great to hold that title, by the way.

The guy had previously been convicted of sexual assault and served time and was also supposed to register as an offender which he did not do after he moved.

This guy has been in prison for the past 10 years and is set to be released in a matter of months. I am now learning that there is a possibility that he may not placed in the sex offender treatment program here. In that program they are locked away for an indefinite amount of time and their victims (me!) don’t have to worry about if they’re going to come back and make good on certain promises they made years before.

A friend of mine is a journalist for the major newspaper here and has contacts at all of the major news stations here as well. He wants to do a series of articles on this case, this man, and me. Part of that will be releasing the victim impact statements that I’ve written to basically expose him as the violent and manipulative thing that he is. And to hopefully save other little girls from him as well.

My question is, if I do this could I get sued for libel or defamation or something? Could I get in trouble for being part of this?

Answer: You can be sued for anything at anytime. I would suggest that if you do want to take part, you speak with a local attorney beforehand.


Title: Help! Not sure what to do! In Nebraska!

Question: Back story, I met my boyfriend two years ago at my place of work and we were just friends up until about two months ago. The mother of their child, is crazy. So what's going on is she is trying to get a protection order against me. All based on hearsay. Keep in mind the only thing I have on my background check is a misdemeanor charge for drugs which is in a whole other story. So what happened was they broke up and me and him started speaking again and ended up together. She has only spoken to me twice. Once on Facebook asking about our relationship and it was completely platonic and I told her so. The second on the phone, with my boyfriend present. She is slandering me, boyfriend has all the texts, and trying to get a protection order to keep me away from the house that the son stays at when he visits my boyfriend aka the dad's. She says her lawyer has contacted someone I used to work with and got enough information from them to put a protection order against me. Even though I've never threatened her, met her or even been near her. But there is literally no proof of anything. It's all hearsay, basically I just need to know what to do? Should I get a lawyer too? Or will it all be thrown out? Help!

Answer:
 Hearsay doesn't mean "he said she said," exactly, which is how I think you are using it.

She can testify to what she alleges you said or did. You can deny it and use proof bolstering your denials. For example, if she says, "this person called me 1000 times," you can show your phone logs to demonstrate you didnt.

Unless and until you get served, dont freak out. Do stop talking to her for any reason at all, including onFacebook, Instagram, etc. If you get served, do NOT ignore it  if you do, she will get her order because you didn't defend yourself. If you get served, that is the time to get a lawyer. But it doesnt hurt to talk to a local one to.prepare in the mean time


Title: Potential employer said i would get 15 an hour (have a recording) but when i got my schedule he said im getting 13. What can i do about this?

Question: Live in texas. On one hand i dont want to work for someone who would lie to me even before i had the job. But idk, what can i do? Is that legal?

Answer: As long as they made you aware before you worked, that's legal.


Title: [NJ/NY] UTMA/UGMA Account in NYC I never knew about was drained by the custodian before I knew it existed

Question:
Hi r/legaladvice I was wondering if I have any legal recourse for this situation.

When I was 7 years old (1997) a UTMA account was opened on my behalf by my grandmother who is now deceased. I found out about this in June of this year and proceeded to take ownership of the fund obtaining a transfer of shares into a new account that I am the sole owner of. After obtaining ownership of the account I found that my mother, who I am not in contact with for various reasons, made a withdrawal of  $10,805.11 worth of shares which is 50.55 shares without me knowing in December of 2013 after my grandmother had passed. I was 23 in December of 2013.

 I was never told about this money and found out about the account through luck. The mutual fund will not discuss the withdrawal with me as it is listed under the previous account number and I am not the custodian listed on the account.

Is there any way for me to recover these shares or their value? What about the interest of the shares since if they had not been taken out they would be worth more? Do I have a right to them since I did not have ownership of the account? Is this something that will involve a police report and if so what type of lawyer should I contact?

Thank you in advance and apologies if this has been posted before I searched and couldn't find a thread that gave this information.

Answer:
 Both NJ & NY have adopted the UTMA and under both states' laws the custodianship terminated upon your 21st birthday.

>The custodian shall, in an appropriate manner, transfer the custodial property to the minor or to the minor's estate upon the earlier of:

>a. The minor's attainment of 21 years of age with respect to custodial property transferred under R.S. 46:38A-8 or R.S. 46:38A-9, unless the transferor, at the time the transfer is made, has expressly directed or the governing will or trust expressly directs that the custodianship may be terminated at an earlier stated age after the minor attains the age of 18 years;

>b. The minor's attainment of majority under the laws of this State other than this chapter with respect to custodial property transferred under R.S. 46:38A-12 or R.S. 46:38A-13; or

>c. The minor's death.

N.J. Stat. § 46:38A-52

>The custodian shall transfer in an appropriate manner the custodial property to the minor or to the minor's estate upon the earlier of:

>(a) the minor's attainment of twenty-one years of age with respect to custodial property transferred under 7-6.4 or 7-6.5;

>(b) the minor's attainment of age eighteen or other statutory age of majority of New York with respect to custodial property transferred under 7-6.6 or 7-6.7; or

>(c) the minor's death.

N.Y. Est. Powers & Trusts Law § 7-6.20

There are civil (breach of fiduciary duty) and criminal (grand larceny) remedies available to you.  To proceed civilly contact a private attorney licensed to practice in the state where the UTMA account(s) were held.  Some might be willing to proceed on a contingency depending on how solvent your mother’s current assets are.  To file criminal charges you should contact the State Police in the state where the accounts were held. Answer #2: You need an IRL lawyer.


Title: (HI) Aunt obtained power of attorney for lucid grandparents and is messing with the will

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Wills Trusts and Estates

Answer: Are you sure the friend receives nothing at all if grandparents die before he turns 35? It's not unusual to have a provision that keeps an inheritance in a trust until a beneficiary reaches a certain age (like 35, for example)


Title: Caught catfishing, what kind of trouble am I in?

Question:
First I feel really really bad about what I did and I know it was an awful thing to do that I fully regret.

Here's what happened though, I made a fake profile using some random guys pictures from the internet. Started talking with a girl and then started texting. Some nude pictures were sent back and forth. A couple of days after that she realized I wasn't the same person as my profile and did she was reporting my number to the police. I never threatened her or anything and both of us are over 18. I texted her last night apologizing because of how bad I felt and couldn't sleep.

What kind of trouble am I in?
What can I expect next?Are the police going to call me? Are they going to show up and arrest me?

I've never been in any kind of trouble and I'm worried. I'm in Iowa by the way.

Answer:
 mind you, she has every right to use your number to figure out who you are and blast you all over the internet. Answer #2: Unless you attempted to extort her for money (ie, using the nudes as extortion material) or otherwise commit fraud with intent of material gain, the police won't care.

"No harm, no foul" and "We have *actual* crime with *actual* blood to deal with" are what the police would say.


Title: Uber passenger scratched my brand new Lexus with his luggage, Uber not covering the $950 damage.

Question:
I don't know if I'm posting this in right sub, but it's worth a shot. I drive for Uber part time and as the title says, one passenger scratched my bumper pretty bad with his luggage. I contacted Uber right away, they asked for a quote which I got, close to a grand in damages. They get their insurance to call me and said "we only cover anything past the $1000 mark, the first thousand you pay yourself".

Uber themselves are saying what claims says is the final word, and to insult me even more, 'this is the wear and tear of driving your vehicle for us which you agreed to'. The wear and tear is assumed as having to replace break pads and tires earlier, frequent oil changes, etc. NOT spending a grand on your bumper. This is way beyond the wear and tear. It's been a month of going back and forth and they're not budging. At this point I want to take the passenger themselves to small claims but Uber won't fess up their info because of privacy. I'm sitting here thinking wtf, this is a brand new car, no way in fucking hell I'm going to be paying for this out of my own pocket when they contracted an idiot out to me and are defusing all liability because it's inconvenient for them.

I'm in Canada. Please help.

Answer: Why on earth were you using a brand new Lexus as your Uber car?


Title: My grandfather left me 2.5 million in his will and now my relatives want to sue me.

Question:
[OR, US] This is a pretty long story, but i'll try to keep it as short as possible. My grandfather passed away last week and yesterday was his funeral. His lawyer or whoever wanted to talk to me afterwards so I went. I figured he wanted to call me out in his will or something, but to my complete surprise he left me 2.5 million dollars, his house, his cars, his dog, and some other random stuff. He only left a few thousand dollars to my aunts and uncles. This completely floored me because I always thought that he had hated me. My relatives all accused me of doing something to the will like manipulating him because he was old which I did not. Then they began to accuse me of plotting to kill him. Truthfully I did not want ANYTHING because I just wanted to go to the funeral and then leave and not talk to any of them again. And now they are all promising to sue me and that I will never get anything because I'm a god forsaken fag and what not.

So for an explanation i'm pretty much separated from all of my relatives. A few years ago i came out as gay to my parents, and they beat me up and kicked me out of their house. It was a pretty traumatic for me because so I moved into my boyfriends as I was almost 18, and finished the few months of high school that I had left. Aside from a few times I tried to contact my parents and having them hang up, I basically just ignored them. Everyone of my relatives deleted my from everything like facebook once they find out I was gay, which took about two days.

In any case I moved to Eugene after. My grandfather lived there and he was the only one that seemed to tolerate me even though he still hated gays and kept trying to get me to convert. He had diabetes so occasionally I would do some small chores for him, but that's the limit of my contact with him. Last week he had a heart attack and passed away and then all this shit started to happen.

I'm 19 years old and have no idea what to expect. The lawyer told me to call him on monday, but until then I am freaking out. I live in a small apartment with my boyfriend (who still doesn't know) and I work as a waiter. I've never been to college. I've actually never had more than 3 thousand dollars in my bank account. I don't know anything about money or finance. I'm bad at taxes. Honestly just thinking about this is giving me a panic attack. I just got a call from my aunt saying that my grandpa would never give me anything and that if I believed in god I would refuse the money. I'm pretty sure i'm going to get sued. Is there any advice on how to proceed going forwards?

Answer: Who's taking care of grandpa's dog in the meantime? I bet the poor thing is beside itself wondering what happened to its daddy. :( Sorry. I just really, really love dogs.


Title: [Memphis, TN] Is it legal for parking garages to jack their prices (sometimes up to 500%) when there is an event in town? Isn't that just like the illegal practice of stores jacking the prices of water and batteries during a storm?

Question: When I say prices are being risen 500%, a normal hour in the garage is $2. But when there is a show or game in town, all of the garages set up front prices of $10 or $15 no matter how long you're in the garage. And after the event is over, they begin charging normal prices ON TOP of the up front cost. And if you want to avoid the garages and park on the street (of which there are WAY TOO FEW spots) the incessant parking enforcement police will give you a $20 ticket if you don't recharge the meter every two hours. This is a real pain to people who have to work downtown and are trying to revitalize the area.

Answer:
 That's not illegal.Answer #2: It's illegal to jack up prices during an emergency NOT because demand is higher alone, but because people need supplies...and it's an emergency...

You won't suffer adverse health risks or risk your life having to pay more or walk further or miss an event because demand for parking is higher.

Meeting supply and demand is fine. Taking advantage of people in an emergency with no recourse is not. Answer #3: >This is a real pain to people who have to work downtown and are trying to revitalize the area.

I think you meant to post this in /r/firstworldproblems Answer #4: Happens every day in most major cities. You need to get out more. :)


Title: Teacher personal days taken for not "signing in" even if you're there.

Question:
I'm a teacher in Virginia and there is a new rule at our school that if you don't sign a sheet saying you are there, they will penalize you as if you skipped work even if you are there.

So if one day you are dealing with a student and forget to sign you are penalized with no chance of redemption.

Answer:
 I always approach these kinds of hard-line company rules this way:
When I walk in the door, I go and sign the form. There is NO dealing with a student... there is NO talking, greeting students/faculty... until the form is signed.
If they want such a cold hard rule, they get cold, hard employees.
Amazingly, the office issues that things like this cause almost always work to remove the rule.
Classic thoughtless management.


Title: Daycare near my home, children constantly screaming, anything I can do about it legally? - US, Florida

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: Well no it's not normal for a kid to constantly scream but it's not unheard of. Small children are noises with dirt attached. I would suggest you ask to make an appointment with somebody in charge and discuss your concerns.


Title: I think I made a mistake

Question: (CA) I went to the DOL because my employer did not give me my last paycheck.  We had a discussion at the DOL with him and he offered to send my paycheck if I let them into my computer to retrieve their "license".  I did and they got it back and the paycheck he sent had a footnote that said "Final GROSS check".  They didn't take taxes or social security out.  I read this at the bank and asked for a copy of the check, but it doesn't sit well, I think he is still trying to screw me up.  My DOL deputy is on vacation until 5/23, so I can't contact her, but was cashing the check an issue?

Answer:
 If you are a W-2 employee (as opposed to a 1099 contractor), and all your previous paychecks had withholding done on them, then yeah they shouldn't have done it this way.  It's fine for the most part in that you will report the income and pay the taxes that would have been withheld anyway, but the part that screws everything up is that as a normal employee they (your employer) has to pay half of the FICA taxes, whereas with 1099 income (self-employed) you pay both halves.

Cashing the check is not an issue, but you definitely need to talk to the DOL again because your employer was responsible for paying employer FICA taxes on your gross income.Answer #2: Were these wages owed from work done last year? Sounds like they are handling it like a 1099 payment in which case you would have to declare that on your tax return.


Title: My best friend's little sister was beaten by her boyfriend for three days during a trip to Florida. The police were finally called, he's now in jail and she's safe. How will the process move from here?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 His consulate will be notified. If the state proceeds with charges, he will be tried in the US. If he is convicted of a crime, he will be sentenced accordingly. If it is a long sentence he *may* be able to serve it in prison in his home country. That is not going to come into play if it is a misdemeanor or county jail felony.

When serving his sentence, ICE will have a detainer filed against him which means that when he is done with his sentence he will go to a private prison under DHS contract until deportation process is completed. He will not get a free attorney for this, although since he is not a refugee of any sort I doubt he would be eligible for relief anyway. He may be offered a voluntary return option. Since he is a criminal alien, I doubt it.

He will have serious issues entering the US in the future. (Although with that record he will have trouble getting in to other countries anyway).

edit: detainer is a word, Google keyboard!Answer #2: As Bermuda is a UK dependency, you may wish to crosspost at /r/legaladviceuk


Title: [IN] Employer is holding final paycheck contingent on me obtaining it in person.

Question: As the title says my employer is demanding I come by in person to pick up my final check with the understanding I can't request to have them mail it or some other such nonsense. This wouldn't be such a hassle other than my employer is saying I can only obtain it from him and he only work very very early morning hours (4am-11am). Making it rather needlessly difficult to get my last paycheck. I live in Indiana if that wasn't properly specified.

Answer:
 It'll be a lot more effort to try and take legal action and will take a lot more time than it would be to wake up early one morning.

Check is available. They don't have to mail it. You'll never convince a judge in a 9am hearing having to show up before 11am is unreasonable.Answer #2: I predict employer will want you to sign something when you show up to pick up the paycheck.  After you've read it if you are even the least bit uncomfortable with it, don't sign it.  Leave and file a unpaid wage claim.Answer #3: Not quite sure how 11 am equates to "very very early morning hours"


Title: Considering calling CPS on my mother, but I am worried about what could happen to my brother if I follow through. New York.

Question:
I am a 20 year old college student and I live on campus. My little brother is 13 and lives at home with my mother and her boyfriend. My mother has always had a drinking problem, but she has never had a problem functioning. She'll go to work, come home and hang out, drink, go to bed, and repeat the same steps the next day. It has never been a huge issue.

She has a boyfriend who she has been dating for 1 year or so now. Her boyfriend is a major alcoholic. He has lost 7 jobs in the past year due to drinking alcohol.

They drink together and they fight a lot. I don't mean normal arguing. They scream, throw things, and have pulled weapons on each other.

They fight at least 3 times a week and their arguing carries into the middle of the night. My brother has sent me videos of them fighting until 4:30 in the morning. He has to be up at 6:00 in the morning for school, but he is often unable to sleep due to the arguing in the house. This has started to really effect his school performance. I have my email set up to the school website, so I get all of the emails about how he is doing in school. All of his teachers say that he is always tired and has trouble focusing. I believe this is mainly due to my mom and her boyfriend.

I have tried talking to them, but nothing works. My mom will agree that she needs to stop, but will go right back to drinking the next day. I have considered calling CPS. I am okay with my mom finding out it was me, but I am worried about what will happen to my brother. His dad is not involved in his life, so that isn't an option. Will he end up in foster care? I really don't want that for him. Thanks for reading.

Note: I know that my brother is not exaggerating. I just was home for winter break and it was awful. The fighting is constant and is a serious problem.

Answer:
 >I am okay with my mom finding out it was me, but I am worried about what will happen to my brother. His dad is not involved in his life, so that isn't an option. Will he end up in foster care?

You're 20. You can become his guardian if it gets that far. It will be a hard life change but its possible.

Please help your brother.

>I have pretty much been a parent to my little brother. I was the one who handled everything related to school. I would put him to bed every night and make sure everything was in order, I still do his homework with him and check it, I keep in touch with his teachers. Not being able to do that anymore worries me.

Sounds like you're ready to help. Go with your gut.Answer #2: Talk me through what it is about CPS that you're concerned will be worse for your brother than what your mother and her boyfriend are doing?


Title: Provided that it doesn't impair driving is "road-head" against the law in Illinois and if so what statutes does it violate?

Answer: Not a lawyer, but it's hard to imagine you could successfully argue that it didn't result in distracted driving.


Title: Old employer keeps paying me even after I've returned previous checks and notified them of this error.

Question:
I quit my job at this particular organization in January. Gave them two weeks notice, offered to interview and train a replacement, everything was good. Got my last check, cool. Two weeks later I get another check, and knowing that my employer didn't pay out remaining PTO I knew it was in error, so I e-mailed the HR person...I didn't get a response from her after trying several times and had to text my old boss to get her boss to tell her to respond to me. She tells me that indeed it was in error and to send it back. I asked them for a letter stating my W2 would be adjusted appropriately, she ignores this e-mail and again I have to get my old boss for them to send me an e-mail just saying "Yeah, we'll fix your W2". I waste the better part of a Saturday morning getting some money orders and mailing their payment back to them. I'm out some money paying to ship it and of course for my time, but whatever - maybe I'll need a job there again someday and don't want to be a pain in the ass.
Then for a month, no paychecks from them. I also get an email stating I've been terminated from the company.  Except today they paid me again (after skipping a payday).
Obviously I'm going to contact them again to tell them they're still paying me....

1.) Am I justified in with holding a portion of the paycheck to cover my expenses and time in dealing with this issue? That's not even to mention the weekly calls and text messages I've been getting for the past month and a half from employees asking me questions - because they still haven't bothered to hire a replacement and won't refer to the documentation I left with them prior to leaving.

2). Am I wrong to tell them I will not be sending them the money back until they provide me with an official letter stating what my 2016 W2 should be? Previously I was happy to just take their word for it, but obviously they'r astoundingly incompetent, so I'd rather have it in writing before I send this money back to them...I just don't want to sound like I'm blackmailing them or something.

EDIT: Bot just informed me that I needed to include my location, I'm in the US.

Answer:
 First of all, did you get a corrected 2015 W2?

Put the money you got into a separate savings account and don't touch it.

> Am I justified in with holding a portion of the paycheck to cover my expenses and time in dealing with this issue?

I would send them a letter certified mail detailing everything you have done and suggesting a reasonable amount to withhold from what you send back to them.

If you were not due any payments in 2016 and have returned everything and still get a 2016 W2, you can just not include it on your tax return and hold onto everything for when contacted by the IRS to resolve the discrepancy.  There is more information here, but that is really not an issue until Jan 2017.

https://www.irs.gov/Help-&-Resources/Tools-&-FAQs/FAQs-for-Individuals/Frequently-Asked-Tax-Questions-&-Answers/IRS-Procedures/W-2---Additional,-Incorrect,-Lost,-Non-receipt,-Omitted/W-2---Additional,-Incorrect,-Lost,-Non-receipt,-Omitted-2/

> That's not even to mention the weekly calls and text messages I've been getting for the past month and a half from employees asking me questions

That's ridiculous. Tell them to stop contacting you immediately. Don't answer any more calls, texts, or emails.


Title: [Stockton, CA] Boss asking us to write a gripe site about a celebrity, allegations on it are potential libel, when I said no he threatened me verbally, where to go from here.

Question:
I work in Stockton, CA. Over the last three weeks my boss has been asking me to help him on a project; me and three other co-workers.

The project is the big issue, however., He wants us to help him write a gripe site claiming that Selena Gomez was the cause of Dieselgate, in an attempt to get himself on CNBC and CNN.

I don't believe the claims for a minute. Selena Gomez caused Dieselgate? Yeah, right.

I told him no, he threatened me when I was in the bathroom, said that he'd tell everyone I was fucking his son (he's in his 50s, his son is 26), but I'm 34, married with a 5-year-old son and am straight.

He said if I went to the police I'd be in for it, and that I would help him with the project  no matter what.

I told him no, but he insisted I do it and now wants to discuss the project further with me.

I can't leave yet, since my 3-year- contract expires in September (I've been there nearly 3 years now).

Any advice on what I can do about this, as I enjoy the work but am having issues with the boss and legality?

Answer:
 If you're a contracted employee, your responsibilities should be clearly outlined in your contract.  There may be a clause saying 'and additional duties as assigned'.  You may have to comply with this ridiculous request.

If your boss has a manager above him, go to that manager or the owner of the company.  If your boss is the highest form of management, you either need to comply or keep saying no.

You should still start looking elsewhere.


Title: [wa] Home builder overcharged us for my fence by 50%, tell me to pay it or buy a different home, bring it up after we move in and it seems like there is no proof of purchase and they are trying to settle with refund check for less than what it we over paid. Numbers also don't add up.

Question:
TLDR; I’m currently in a situation with my Home Builders where they overcharged me for extending our fence to the sidewalk. I expressed that the length of fence didn’t add up and felt like we were being overcharged by 50%, but they told us that we can either pay it or look for another home (this was after 5 months of waiting for the house to be built). We unfortunately paid the overcharge and are now revisiting the overcharge. I could be wrong but from how I read the attached email string (only 4 emails) it sounded like they don’t have the documentation to show what the charges were and they are making numbers up because what they said we were charged was about $200-400 LESS than what we actually were charged. They offered to give us a refund, but the numbers don’t add up. Oh and their website says: "everything is included in the sale price, there are no hidden charges or upgrade fees!" I feel like they are ripping us off and trying to make us settle to avoid any law suit. It's not apart of the email but when this all came up they told us to either pay the overpriced fee or buy a different home (after we had been waiting for the home to be built for almost half a year). I would GREATLY appreciate any advice. Here is the string of emails:

Good morning Builder,

Once again, I am also speaking on behalf of our neighbors.

Before we moved into the house during the discussions about the extension of the fence, I brought to your attention that we were being over charged for the extension of the fence and showed you that the fence company added the total length of both of our houses individually rather than adding it as a whole. Because of this, the middle section of the fence was double charged. When I asked you about it, you told me that "it was your job to question the work of the construction workers." Now that the fence is up, I manually added up the distance of our fences and divided up the difference between the original plans and what was built, the numbers once again don't add up unless I double add the middle section that was extended. In other words, because of this double charge, we effectively paid 50% more than what the fence should have cost since we were charged for 95 ft, but the total distance was actually approximately 59 ft total, whereas we were charged for 95 ft (7 ft was unaccounted for). You can see this yourself by taking the total distance of the new fences subtracted by what originally came with the house.

Neighbor and I went to the office yesterday to request the quotes for the fence that came with the house and for the quotes for the extension so that we may present the numbers to the fence company so that we can get the $1500+ back that we were overcharged for. However, we were told that we had to go through you in order to get the copies of them.

So we would like to request a copy of the original quotes for what came with the house and for the extensions so that may present them to the fence company that overcharged us.

Thanks for your time and help,

Tyrantt_47

From Builders:

Tyrantt_47,

I took some time and looked into this issue for you.

First, I want to make clear that a price was given and agreed to for extending the fence.  There is/was no agreement as to the length or cost per foot, but simply that it would be extended as we had indicated for the $1,990 price.

However, because it was done when we had a Waverly employee on staff who is no longer with the company, I wanted to double check things and make sure that you weren't overcharged from what we would have intended to charge.  I had trouble finding backup for the number he gave, so what we did was to take the actual cost of the fence extension (not the fence in it's entirely) which was $1,199.12/Lot.  This is our direct cost.  I got the owner to agree to mark it up only 10%, which is the lowest we've ever done and doesn't really even cover our overhead, which puts us at $1,319.03.  So the difference in that price vs. the $1,990.00 that was charged is $670.97/lot.

I can get checks for each lot, 127 & 128, each for $670.97.  I will mail them to your homes, unless you let me know otherwise.

I hope this clarifies the issue for you,

Builder

On Thu, Sep 1, 2016 Tyrantt_47 wrote:

Builder,

Thank you for taking the time to look into this. I am a little confused on some things as well as numbers.

1.     a.   You said that there was no agreement as the length or cost per foot, does this mean that it was not an additional contract with the fence company?

        b.  If there was no agreement to the length or cost per foot, then how did the number of 95 feet of additional fencing come up?

        c. If there was no agreement to the length or cost per foot, then how did the conclusion of the total cost come to be?

       d. Was the $1990 the total cost of both yards combined?

2.    If the actual cost of the fence was $1,200 plus a 10% markup to equal $1320/lot, why were we charged an additional cost of $670?

3.   Were other corner lots charged to have their fences extended?

4.    a. I'm curious as to why we were charged in the first place when your website explicitly says: "Everything is included in the sale price - no hidden fees or upgrade fees!"

       b. It also says: "Fully fenced in backyard..." however, ours was only partially fenced in.

Thank you for your time and help,

Tyrantt_47

Tyrantt_47,

I just need to know if you'd like me to go ahead and mail you a refund check to your home.

Please let me know,

Builder

Answer:
 Do you have something in writing staying you were paying for the fence by the foot? Your adverse is saying that was never the case you were simply being charged for the completed job. He is willing to settle this matter by charging you only the value of the fence with only 10% markup. If you and neighbor accept this settlement, you should advise and get your money.
You raise some interesting issues in response and he is unwilling to address them. So what you have is their explanation and their offer. If you do not accept it, you have the right to sue them.
For a suit to be successfully you need to review all your documentation about cost. You need the "per foot" documentation. You need to review your contract to see if this website claim has a disclaimer.


Title: Framed as burglar due to misunderstanding... (MS)

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Ignore it. You didn't do anything wrong.

In the future when pet sitting or taking care of someone's house/animals maybe get an address instead of a vague description of a house over yonder. Answer #2: There's no crime here - only the dumbest detective and prosecutor would move forward.

What's this video? You at a door, trying a key that doesn't work and you leave?

I'm not as anti-law enforcement as some people are around here. Not every cop is an asshole out to get you. You told them what you put there, right? And those people in your story could verify those facts, right? Then there's nothing illegal there. It's not even trespassing.


Title: Bit shameful but its about Pornhub Subpoena

Question: Hi I live in The Netherlands province Zuid-Holland to be exact and i had received a subpoena of some sorts i guess from the legal team of pornhub stating that i might have uploaded a video copyrighted to a company/studio. maybe in The US some of you have read it on the news or somewhere. Just look up Pornhub Subpoena to understand the situation better on google. i dont understand the subpoena and vids i posted on the site (when i was 19 or something so i didnt know any better) are all gone or removed by pornhub themselves. i cant afford an attorney and what can happen to a person if he lives in Europe? does it still affect me? i dont want to respond to it but im a bit afraid. can somebody please explain to me in plain english because i dont speak it fully what are the worst case scenarios will be with this?

Answer: Are you sure you received a subpoena? It's more likely that someone sent a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice to Pornhub. With a DMCA notice, if you don't respond, Pornhub will be required to remove the video. It may suspend your account. If that's the case you don't have to do anything.Answer #2: Here's an article about it: https://consumerist.com/2017/04/07/court-orders-pornhub-to-identify-potentially-thousands-of-users/


Title: [Kansas, United States] This a hypothetical but I am actually seeking a serious answer.

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Wills Trusts and Estates

Answer: No you cannot because the criminal law in this scenario trumps the probate law. Theoretically if this was to happen and the body given to this individual they would probably be charged with cannibalism or indignity to a human body.


Title: [USA] US Permanent Resident travelling to Middle East, travel ban effect?

Question:
Hello,

My mother is a Canadian Citizen currently living in the United States as a legal permanent resident. She was born in one of the countries on the travel ban.

She plans to travel to the Middle East to visit family (the country she is visiting is not one of the ones on the travel ban list). She will travel using her Canadian passport.

I understand that given the uncertain political landscape, things can change in a matter of days. But given the facts above and the current state of the travel ban, is it possible my mother would have trouble re-entering the United States from her trip?

Answer: Yes, it's certainly possible.  I don't think anyone can tell you how likely it is, though.


Title: OUI in Massachusetts

Question:
Hows it going everyone? Im doing really bad right now because I'm 17 years old and this is my first criminal offense ever. First run in with the law and its an OUI. They booked me, Had me take a breathalyzer which I should of refused. They told me I scored a 1.5, When googling 1.5% BAC, I would be dead if anything above .40% BAC ... I will probably never drive a car again while living with my parents and on top of that I'm going into the Marines. My recruiter told me I can still get in, I just need to get the case closed asap. How do I close the case? How do I get the OUI hidden from my record so jobs cant see it on a background check. I'm only 17 and Now my whole future may be over. The one thing I wanted to do in life was become a Marine. But i guess i have no one else to blame but myself. As my name says - FUCK ME!
Topic:
DUI

Answer:
 You need to hire an attorney ASAP. That is your best optionAnswer #2: It was probably .15.

What exactly does your recruiter mean by "closed?" Does he mean deferred sentence? Dismissal? Acquittal? I don't know the USMC's policies enough to tell you what is enough.

In any case, you need a lawyer. You need to find one ASAP and tell him exactly what happened, and what you need in order to get into the Marines. He or she will be able to tell you how likely that outcome is.

Oh, and as an aside: you were right to take the BAC test. Since you're under 21, refusing would have resulted in an automatic license suspension of three years.Answer #3: > They told me I scored a 1.5, When googling 1.5% BAC, I would be dead if anything above .40% BAC

They probably said .15, which is nearly double the legal limit. You need to hire a lawyer immediately.


Title: An acquaintance thought with the wrong head and now needs to know if hes being scammed.

Question:
So here is the story.

Moron met a girl on Ok cupid. They start texting and then things get heavy. The *sexting* comes. He sends 3 pictures none of which have his face. Then she says it.... "im 16" He shouldve stopped but he didnt and they kept talking later he asked for a phone call. He got a recording of what sounded like a a middle aged black woman.  It stops there.

The next day: hes gets a text from the phone number claiming to be the parents and theyre getting the police involved unless he can come up with $200 for the cancellation of the phone and $500 for "therapy". He was instructed to go to walmart and he'd receive further instruction.

He said he wont do the walmart thing but his bank would transfer the money if he got a routing number. they refused and said it was easier to go to the police.

Its a south carolina number and the pics that were sent to him were a white girl. He thinks its a scam but he deleted everything he had all social media and changed his number....

So reddit, my question is does this sound like a scam to squeeze money out or is this legit and he's completely done for?

Answer: This is a common scam.  There was never any 16 year old girl.  Block and ignore.


Title: [Shitty MSPaint] [Petty Disagreement w/ SO] [Traffic Law] Does a driver have to signal if there is only one course of action available?

Question:
My GF and I have a disagreement. This disagreement occurs in rural Indiana (for the bot).

We frequently drive down a road that connects to a rural highway (not an interstate) through an [intersection with a traffic light](http://imgur.com/Bkvki72). At the intersection, we turn left. There is a raised concrete median that separates the left turn only lane from the right. The light is unusually long, favoring the traffic flow from the highway, and we frequently spend the majority of a minute waiting for the left turn light to change.

The driver believes that signaling is required for [any and all turns at intersections](http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/incode/9/21/8/9-21-8-25).

The passenger is annoyed at the monotonous ticking sound that the signal makes while we wait for the light to turn. Since the intersection has a raised barrier that forces the car in ONE direction, the passenger believes that the turn signal can be shut off after we have stopped and are waiting for the light to change.

**Who is right, the passenger or the driver?**

We realize this is petty, it says so in the title. We don't want alternate suggestions such as "turn on the radio" because we have chosen sides and we have a bet riding on the outcome.

**EDIT**

Thanks for the quick and definite response. There isn't even a dissenting opinion. We have a clear winner.

Answer:
 > The driver believes that signaling is required for any and all turns at intersections

The driver is correct.  The quoted statute is clear on the matter - any turn or lane change must be signalled.


Title: Immigration advice needed (Canada/US)

Question:
Hello,

My spouse and I are currently struggling with issues in regards to inadmissibility to Canada. For clarity, she is from Florida and I live in Ontario.

During an attempt to have her visit me, she was denied entrance to the country on the basis of her criminal record. She currently has 2 felony charges (Manufacture, produce, cultivate, or grow cannabis / possession of more than 20 g of cannabis) for which she was not technically convicted, and on her record they show up as "Adjudication withheld". She was convicted for a misdemeanor charge (possession of paraphernalia and driving on a suspended license) but this was not brought up at the border, and she has completed a driving class and community service for this.

My limited research that I have done so far suggests that there is no reason that she should not be criminally inadmissible to Canada, the following being taken from canadavisa.com

"If your adjudication was withheld or deferred, and you did not violate the terms of your deferral by later committing another criminal offence, then a conviction does not exist. If you have no other criminal offences on your record, you should not be criminally inadmissible to Canada"

Is there something that I am missing here? We would really be thrilled if we were able to begin the process of being together full-time as soon as possible.

thanks.

Answer:
 Border agents have almost unilateral discretion when it comes to who enters the country. The misdemeanor alone is reason enough anyway.

Applying for residency may have different standards. You need an immigration attorney, especially with her extensive criminal history.


Title: My work let's freon leak into the air without a care in the world.

Question:
On mobile so sorry for the format.

So I work in as a concessions repairman. We fix everything from hotdogs rollers to coffee machines to slush machines. We fix the refrigeration systems on the slush machines more often than not. When a machines compressor goes bad and we have to replace it, the company has train us techs to just open the valve stem and let out the freon before doing anything else. And when I say release freon openly, I mean openly. No capture system, no recycling, absolutely nothing.

Now, I'm no idiot, but I know for a fact that this is  improper disposal and really bad for the environment and also completely illegal, let alone bad for my and my coworkers health.

I've asked the company about it and they say that if they buy a recycling system, that the EPA will have to always come and check on us and they dont want to deal with that.

So my question is, what do I do? I hate the fact that it happens and it extremely bad for the environment but I'm at a loss of what I should do.

Answer: You can report it to the [NM Environment Department](https://www.env.nm.gov/general/report-an-environmental-issue-or-incident/).  They may not let you do this anonymously.


Title: Verizon saying my mother's 401k withdraw will penalize me after her death??

Question:
(I live in WA, but mother worked and died in PA)
My mother passed recently and left me as beneficiary for her life insurance and 401k that was set up with her employer, Verizon.

I received a letter saying that, yes I would have the 401 rolled over to my name, but also:

> "In addition, [mother's name] has loans outstanding in the Verizon Savings & Security Plan for Mid-Atlantic Associates. The outstanding loan(s) will automatically be transferred to your account. Once the loan(s) have been transferred, you can choose to pay off the loan(s). A bank check or money order for the outstanding loan balance, payable to FIIOC, along with a letter of instruction that includes your name, SSN, loan ID, and the intent to pay off the loan(s) should be sent to Fidelity. Should you choose not to pay off the loan(s), the loan(s) will be defaulted. This will result in a taxable distribution that will be reported under your SSN."

The loan amount was $40,000. The taxable amount would be.. 12% of that? Whatever it is, I'm disabled and have been out of work for the better part of the year and still a few months to go. I can't afford more debts and dues and have a whopping $2k to my name.

Is this legal? Should I be hiring a lawyer for this?

My mother left no will and left her estate in a complex, messy state of affairs, with likely more debts than worth. There was no probate because no lawyer has been involved so far (can't afford it). I would probably need to hire several professionals to help, but at the moment still can't afford any of it - so I'm doing what I can on my own.

I know where the money went. It went into an Self-directed IRA because she bought a house in GA with it - but that's a whole 'nother mess I just don't even know where to start with right now. That'll be another post for another day.

Answer: You need to roll the IRA to an inherited IRA.


Title: ATM Gave Too Much Cash

Question: Last week I went to my local poker room. I tried to withdraw $400 from my checking account from an ATM at the poker room. The ATM gave me $2000 instead of $400 (it said it withdrew $400 from my account. Bank record says the same. Presumably whoever filled the ATM accidentally put hundreds in the twenties slot). I walked straight to one of the people working the poker room and told them the ATM gave me too much cash. They told me to call the phone number on the ATM (ATM owned by a private company). I called and left a message telling them their ATM gave me too much cash. I put the money in my checking It's been around 5 days and I haven't heard back. I saw people servicing the ATM two days after this happened. What should I do? (Florida)

Answer:
 Don't spend the money you got in excess of your deposit amount and let it accrue interest. Answer #2: The operators of the ATM will contact your bank who will withdraw the additional funds from your account. There's no set time frame for this so don't ever think that you're in the clear. Keep the money aside, preferably in a separate account if you have one, and don't spend it. If you're required to give written authorisation to your bank to return the funds then don't bother refusing because the ATM operators may just sue you to to recover the funds instead.

Considering contacting your bank and having them put a note on the account about the transaction acknowledging how much cash you actually received from the withdrawal.

Don't pay too much mind to when the ATM is serviced. That something that happens frequently - that's how it's refilled with cash after all.Answer #3: Everyone is giving you good advise here. This literally happened before and the guy got into a lot of trouble even though he tried to give the money back.

It worked out in the end but don't believe anyone telling you that you get to keep the money. even if it's someone from that bankAnswer #4: Go to the bank. Do not leave until they let you fill out some sort of paperwork about this. It is entitely probable that the bank will find out anyways (some atm cameras take pics of the cash you get), and you don't want a theft charge.


Title: [California] Friend's spouse claims he won't approve green card

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Your friend really needs to speak to an immigration attorney.  Whenever there is abuse or alleged abuse involved, things get really messy.  There's so many caveats to this kind of thing that it's too difficult to say without an individual consult.  Most immigration attorneys will do an initial consult for free.Answer #2: If he is on a 2 year conditional green card he needs to take off the conditions and his husband doesn't allow it he might lose status.

You need to look into VAWA status https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/battered-spouse-children-parents

Edit, check that. http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/filling-out-form-i-751-with-waiver-based-abuse-battering.html There is a way to get a waiver from join I-751 filing requirement.


Title: Divorce advice needed.

Question: I'll make it short. I took my kids from my wife 5 years ago because she was abusive and suffered from addiction. She's been in prison for the last 4 years. I can't seem to get enough money saved for an attorney or figure out the paperwork on my own. All my money goes to medical treatment. In a nutshell, I'm a single dad of 2 boys, on kidney dialisys waiting for transplant and have zero money left over at the end of the month. I live in Washington state USA and would appreciate any advice you have to give.

Answer: Find low cost legal aid clinics near you.  Check with any local law schools to see if they offer assistance.


Title: [Update] Over $30K has been transferred out of my wife's 401K, and HR won't tell us where it is and when we'll get it back [AZ]

Question:
Hi /r/legaladvice. [Thank you for your advice on the issue of my wife's 401K.](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/3n9eaw/over_30k_has_been_transferred_out_of_my_wifes/) We called quite a lot of people, threatened to bust heads (not really, but we did stress that it's *thirty fucking thousand dollars* we're talking about, so don't give us the runaround), and received a bit more info about what's going on.

If any of this sounds sketchy, let me know so we can followup. I'd super appreciate it.

So we called one of the companies the balance was transferred out to, named Equity Trust. They said that the "blackout period" was going to be Sept-Nov, which was shortened to Sept-Oct, but is now back to November because of the size of the account that her old company had. They're apparently still in the process of reconciling transfers, balances, and all that crap between about six different directly and indirectly involved companies.

Bottom line, they told us, is that we'll get the most current status of the situation and the exact balance the first week of November, and probably not sooner.

Well, one piece of good news is that her funds were never converted into alternative investments (real estate or trust funds), they're all still mutual funds. So the person at Equity Trust said that her funds should not be effected by the continuing criminal investigation into the guy who owned the firm who previously mismanaged (and stole) money from retirement accounts. But because the funds were never converted, they said that we wouldn't have received an official notice of asset loss (like a lot of you said we were required to receive) when the funds first went into receivership months ago.

They went on about a bunch of financial bullshit that went totally over my head (I can't even decipher half my notes) about why we weren't required to be sent notification. I didn't buy it, but what else are we going to do, you know? We did communicate that legal or not, we found it extremely poor customer service to suddenly transfer $30K without any notification or explanation and would be strongly reconsidering our relationship with that institution when the matter is cleared up.

They ended the call by asking us to send screenshots of the most recent account transactions from the old firm so that they could compare the numbers once they (and us) have online access to the new account with the new managing entity. The person we talked to had us take down her direct line so that we could call her back if we had more questions.

My wife and I have decided that that's satisfactory enough for us… for now. We'll be on the phone again come the first of November to see what's up if they neglect to contact us. If they give us the runaround again, we'll be taking the advice of some of the posters in the original thread and contacting a lawyer.

We also placed calls with the HR department again, who was—as always—supremely unhelpful. My wife contacted old coworkers, and they said they've been told basically the same thing we have—wait and see what happens to tens of thousands of dollars, we don't know and don't care.

If I sound frustrated, that would be an understatement for how unbelievably stressful her unemployment has been. From the firing full of lies and complete fabrications to this 401K bullshit and watching her get down on herself for being unemployed for the past two months (oh, and planning a wedding while we're broke, can't forget that), it's been a total fucking nightmare.

Thanks for your advice. Hopefully I'll be able to post another update with a happy resolution soon.

Answer:
 it does sound absolutely frustrating. rules on employer 401(k) plans are super complex and can be frustrating.

you can always contact the [Employee Benefits Security Administration](http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/contactEBSA/consumerassistance.html) as well if you feel the need to.Answer #2: The company I worked for did a planned transfer of their 401K from one investment company and record keeper to another.  There was a "blackout" period but I can't remember how long it was. Could have been a month or so, but I doubt it was two.   But this was all explained in detail by HR before it happened so it was no surprise.  I didn't have questions so I never talked to them about it during that period, but my impression was that they would have answered any questions.  They were very helpful.


Title: I keep passing out from the heat because i cannot use my AC.

Question:
Since i moved into my apartment i have not been able to use my AC. This includes the heater as well in the winter.  I am passing out really frequently. All my neighbors smoke weed and/or smoke cigarets. I hate the smell of both and anytime i use my AC the smell comes into my home. Most of the smell comes from the bathroom vents. Even if i turn the exhaust fan in the bathroom on i get the smell.

I cannot sleep well because of this and when i am home i pass out mid day from the heat. I have told the apartment manager this but was told she cannot do anything. I would have to prove it by getting a photo of the person(s). Problem is they do it inside and it would be weird to snap a pic of them doing this if i was in their home.

I just don't know what to do. I feel like my health is bad because of this. I cannot sleep, which makes doing my job hard. I cannot cook because it will get too hot and i cannot use the AC. Maybe there truly is nothing i can do but if there is please help me. Thank you

Answer:
 You don't have a broken unit, you just don't use it, so there's really nothing management can do. Even if the other tenants are not allowed to smoke in their unit your only options are to break your lease and pay whatever fees are listed, see if they'll let you move to another unit at your expense, or figure out how to minimize the smell of the smoke. You can't make your apartment complex evict everyone that smokes near your apartment.

See if they'll replace the air filter, and you can buy some air purifiers. Also, if you don't run the air conditioner or heater very often, it does have a tendency to smell stronger at first until the air filters do their job. Try running the unit for a few hours while you're not in the apartment and see if it's any better.Answer #2: This is the most ridiculous over dramatic post I’ve ever read.


Title: My boyfriend was in an accident while insured under my father and I's name, is there anyway for him to claim full/most legal responsibility?

Question:
So, long story short almost a year ago I switched my boyfriends car to be under my name because my car had been totaled and he was having issues with the auto draw on his account and mine worked just fine. 3-4 months later we went in and added my new car in and thought we switched him over to his own policy.

&#x200B;

Last week he was in an accident that resulted in small injuries and the couples bike being lain on it's side. An ambulance came, found nothing but bruises and a few scrapes. My boyfriend got a ticket for failure to yield and no insurance and everyone left. The next day we went in to reinstate his insurance and found out he was still insured under me. So we sent out the info and thought we were done. Well today my father and I both received calls stating that the bike was "totaled" and the woman did go to the hospital later that night and no other injuries were found, but it looks like the claim may go over the $25,000 limit, but shes not sure yet.

&#x200B;

Sorry if I sound dumb but my question is, is there anyway for him to claim legal responsibility so in the event that we are sued that he will be solely responsible for paying? He just doesn't want my father and I's pay docked for his mistake.

Answer:
 first whoever policy he was under would pay up to that policy limit.  any claims over that limit would be directed to who was responsible.

so if the injured party claims more than your policy covers, then she'll have to sue your bf directly.  unless state law differs, you would have no responsibility for the excess.


Title: Pretty decent chance our establishment is getting sued for discrimination...

Question:
So let me describe the setting real quick. Our establishment is a buffet restaurant, all you can eat, where kids are priced differently based on age. Now this gives people incentives to lie about their children’s ages and we get at least 50 people a day who do that.

I’m talking kids who look at least 15 telling us they’re 10. Honestly most of the time we charge these people as adults and tell them to bring a copy of their birth certificate and we’ll happily refund then.

Now this group walk in. 2 moms, 2 groups of kids. They stare at our sign for a good 2 minutes. Typically this is a pretty bad sign. They tell us they have 3 kids, 11, 10, and 5. 11 is considered adult. so honestly we could care less if the kid who looks 17 told us he was 11. At the time I was not there so I’m not too specific on the details. Now she tells us her child, who would be big for a 14 year old is 10. The hostess at the time didn’t question the age on the spot, which is our bad.
They get seated.

Later on one of the waitresses tells me to take a look, upon which I ask a child for his date of birth and the answer of 2003, obviously not 10.
We get the answer we want and left it at that.

Later on, the mother comes by and throws a fit about how it is wrong for us to ask her child for his age, and how essentially it is entrapment. This whole time we were barely allowed to speak as she spun the story however she wanted. She of course mentioned how money was not at all the issue. She also mentions the birth certificate request is illegal which I’m not too sure about.

Now here is the interesting part. She now says the kids are 10, 10, and 5. When it was originally 11, 10 and 5. It is important to mention that the 11 year old is white, and the 10 year old is black.
She asks, why is it that the black child who is 10 is questioned but the white one isn’t. When the white child is bigger than the black one. At this point I’m confused, cause it’s starting to sound like we are at fault. As I’m struggling to figure it out, she replies thats all I wanted to know and leaves. Again, this while conversation she was nonstop speaking, and we barely get a chance to reply.

Now its it turns from our typical case of simply lying about age, to discrimination. And honestly I’m a bit worried that something may happen.

Please provide me with details on my uncertainties and possible acts concerning my situation.

Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 Regular citizens are incapable of entrapment- it is a law enforcement only thing. It is not illegal to ask for ID for business purposes- and a birth certificate satisfies that request if you're looking for age. It does not sound like you discriminated against anybody.

Many people threaten to sue, many people do not go on that threat. If sued / served, respond with a lawyer. A judge would laugh this out of court though. Answer #2: >Later on, the mother comes by and throws a fit about how it is wrong for us to ask her child for his age, and how essentially it is entrapment.

I needed a good laugh. For the record, even if you were a police officer what you did was not even remotely close to entrapment.

Anywho, I seriously doubt this woman will bother trying to actually sue. She was hoping to scare you into giving into her right then and there. I really doubt she'd have a case or an ability to find a lawyer to help her with one.Answer #3: From your post, 11 years is considered adult in the pricing structure. Woman originally claims white kid is 11, which as adult is (presumably) the highest price, so no need to verify age. Black kid is claimed to be 10, therefore there is a claim for an age-related discount, therefore a need to verify age.


Title: [MT] i have a junk car that I just want gone. Can I leave the title (already signed and notarized) and key on the windshield and just hope some one takes it?

Question:
I have tried to arrange for people to come and tow it away, but those arrangements have all fallen through. It runs occassionally, but I haven't gotten it to start in a while. It is parked in a place it shouldn't be anymore, since I have moved away from that complex.

Can I just leave the signed title and key and hope some one fixes it or tows it away. Since I am on the registration, I don't want to get in trouble with whatever the new owner chooses to do with it. Would I be liable for my abandoned property?

Answer:
 Seriously. Googling "Montana give away junk car" gives me 3 pages of results, including people who will come take the damn thing.

Do NOT put your car out with a "steal me" sign on it and expect to be absolved of all potential damages caused by anyone who takes it.


Title: [IN, US] Legal Resources for Minor Parents

Question:
TL;DR - What options do minor parents with no resources have regarding getting attorneys for custody battles?

Background:

My nephew met a girl on Snapchat, he's about 21. She turns up pregnant, and she's 15. (We don't know when this fact was discovered.)

The girl's father wants nothing to do with her and is a registered sex offender. She lives with her mother, who is unemployed, and her mother's boyfriend, who is an ex-convict. Her grandmother is her only other immediate relative and has few resources.

My sister took the girl and my nephew in. She helped the girl get a GED, helped pay for baby things, getting medical guardianship, took her to classes, bought her new clothes, and generally garnered her trust. Somewhere in this, she sought the advice from a local attorney and a judge to get some sort of document made that basically signed custody over the baby to my sister. Then, one day while signing documentation, my sister presented the document to the girl to sign, claiming that it's a document that simply gives her custody, "In case anything happens to the two of you." The girl trusts my sister, and signs the document.

The baby is born, CPS is wondering what's up with this very recently turned 16-year-old having a baby, but somehow my nephew doesn't get charged with statutory rape. I'm not sure how that happened.

As time wears on, with a new baby and a couple in my sister's house, tensions begin to rise. The girl decides that maybe she's worn out her welcome and decides to move back in with her mother. She tells my sister, who says, "You can go, but you're not taking the baby. I have custody over him." She pulls out the paper and shows the girl the document she signed. My sister then forcibly kicks the girl out.

The girl calls CPS, and my sister hides from them, and she sets about trying to figure out what to do. She calls local attorneys, but a lot of them basically say that because my sister has used them before, it's a conflict of interest. It's a small town, so there aren't many attorneys and this girl doesn't have a license.

The girl turns to her parents, who use part of their tax return to pay $5000 to an attorney. The attorney sets up a court date, but believing that the whole "coercion" thing might not set well with a judge, my sister sets up an arbitration instead. They currently have full custody over the child, so they keep canceling arbitration dates.

The girl's mom kicks her out because her mom's boyfriend got mad over something, so she moves in with her grandmother. She tries to call her attorney, but they aren't calling her back. She finally decides that it's probably because her mother is the one that paid them and she's a minor.

In this time, she's gotten a job at McDonald's. She has very few, if any resources. My sister has a job and the upperhand on all this, and this girl is really just overwhelmed, but she wants her baby back. (I get that, as it stands, the kid has a better set up at my sister's house, but it's more the justice of it that I think is important. My sister shouldn't be able to arbitrarily decide a girl isn't going to be a good mother, then coerce her into signing documents she didn't understand.)

My nephew, in this, is siding with my sister, if anything because it gets him out of having to pay child support.

Does this girl have any options? She doesn't know much about custody cases, and my family as a whole has usually dealt with them outside of court. So, outside of basically shunning my sister, we don't know where to point her to be able to get an attorney of her own, or someone that can work with someone who is poor.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer:
 Before your nephew does anything further, he needs to meet with a criminal defense attorney.  And his mother needs to stop making things more complicated until and unless that attorney says she can go for it.  If my read of Indiana law is correct, your nephew is himself a sex offender now that he's had sex with this girl.

Beyond that, CPS *has* to be involved.  A 15-year-old got pregnant as the result of sex with someone old enough to be a criminal for having sex with her.  It's important to note here that it doesn't matter how old he thought she was.  Given the circumstances I wouldn't be surprised if CPS removes the baby entirely until the mother's fitness is determined based on the assumption that the father is a sex offender.

This is going to be messy no matter how it plays out.  And you are right that any judge who gets wind of your sister trying to manipulate the custody situation is going to come down hard.


Title: Schools doing mass Illegal searches?

Question:
I got to a high school in Kentucky and every day we have to go through metal detectors while they search our backpacks.  I was wondering the legality of this and what I can do to avoid this because I feel it is a major breach of privacy and most of my friends agree with me.  I was hoping for some advice what I can do to make this stop.

Edit:  I found the proposal that they enacted to “stop” school shooting, etc. [10 Step Plan](https://www.fcps.net/cms/lib/KY01807169/Centricity/Domain/4/2018-19/safety_points.pdf) I think this one is a little outdated but it’s all I could find.

Answer: T.L.O. doesn’t say what you think it does.  It does not require probable cause for a search like this.  Indeed, one of the main issues with T.L.O. is that it reduces the standard required for searches by school officials from probable cause.  In additional metal detectors and “random” school wide searches in the interest of school safety have been found to be valid.  This isn’t unconstitutional.  If you want it to stop maybe take up against the NRA and realize that some amount of gun control would stop mass shootings and would reduce the need for this kind of stuff.  As it turns out it works, see Australia.


Title: Hypothetical question about projecting pornography onto an apartment block

Question: Living in Melbourne, Australia, my housemates and I were wondering what laws, if any, we might be breaking if we projected porn from our balcony onto the apartment block building across the road from us. Completely hypothetical of course

Answer: Try /r/auslaw or /r/peoplebeingjerks


Title: Vendor at a Wine Festival sends my company an invoice for things my mom accidentally knocked over

Question:
This happened yesterday while I was set up as a vendor at a Wine Festival in Goshen, CT. It was nearing the end of the show and I went away to sample wine (vendors were allowed to sample wine for free after 4pm).  I went to 3 booth and collectively had 10 samples which were 1oz each so 2 drinks. (I didn’t drive till 3 hours later). I am including this because he accused me of being drunk in a review later last night.

When I return to my booth, I see my mother and sister in law (sister in law recently had acl surgery, not really relevant but I’ll explain) on the grass searching for tiny rocks and crystals.

Apparently my mom accidentally swung her purse and knocked over a tray of some stones, crystals, rings and a geode slice from a vendor's table, set up next to mine. My mom was watching my booth wile I was gone for 10 minutes. A ring and the slice broke. My mom immediately offered to pay for the broken goods but no settlement was reached as the man in the other booth, let's call him Frank, was complaining and running around cursing and making a fit. He did not want to just solve the problem by my mom paying for the broken goods. This is all taking place in both their booth and mine, which were simply two easy up tents with my chair in the corner and their table corner about a foot from their booth edge.

My mom and sister in law found quite a few of the fallen items. When I arrived my mom was handing Frank at least half a dozen crystals. From my point of view, it’s impossible to know what fell or what was in the box that fell to begin with. The fall was also no more than 3 ft so the space where things could be was small. I ran my hands though the ground for a few minutes and found nothing.

At this point I’m just gathering information. My friend who was a vendor on the other side of this guy calls me over and immediately tells me how much of a jerk Frank is and how he was banging his hands on his table and making a fit. I hear Frank call out that’s “like 10 of your candles melting”. I make candles and it was really hot out so some were melting, but I don’t really understand what he was trying to say. My family eventually leaves to go home and that’s when Frank starts harassing me. Frank says the following two things minutes apart, to his son but addressed to me. “Glad your family was able to come and have fun” and “mommy got a little drunk “. Might not be exactly word for word what he said but I was taken back.

This guy was complaining about everything all day and while I didn’t really mind talking to Frank even though our conversations throughout the day were short, I knew Frank had a temper from what my friend had said. So what I said to Frank was I don’t appreciate him talking about my mom like that. He says she was clearly drunk and knocked everything over. My mom was not drunk, didn’t have a single drink all day. It was an accident. My mom immediately apologized and then offered solutions and began finding the dropped product. I tell Frank this and how if there are things still missing they are at our feet and he can look more. I said my mom is a sweetheart and did everything she could to find the missing goods, he tells me how HE’s a prick and for me to  “just shut up”. I say no more words to this man. His son now comes up to me as his father walks away, I ask him if I have anything to worry about. Before he could answer, Frank runs back over and accuses me of trying to fight his underage son. His son say this is not the case and Frank walks away again. His son quickly informs me that his father has problems but is trained in martial arts and he is too, and would quickly defend his father if I did anything. That was the last I talked to him either.

Later as I am packing up, Frank starts ripping the grass up and as I walk by with boxes, throws some at me. I don’t react. As I’m loading the last of my stuff into my car, they drive away after sitting right next to me in their car for at least 5 minutes. I felt in danger as no one else was around at the time.

I get home and less than an hour later I receive an extremely vile attack of a review of my company on Facebook. I didn’t respond until after reporting it and by the time I hit send for the response, Facebook had already deleted the review for harassment. I didn’t take a screenshot but phases used were “unprofessional” “inexperienced” “not beed doing this long” “boy without his mommy” “I’ve seen better on Etsy” “nothing special” “rip the display down” “offered to pay SOME money” “he told a handicapped man to get on his knees and find them” “you told my son you were drunk” “I blame you” and honestly so much more. It was rude and personal.

After I assume realizing the review was gone, Frank sent me and invoice for over $180. I don’t know what was found as we just handed it back to him as we found it, but even items such as the tray were on the invoice. Prices were outrageous and i don’t know how some of the products he included couldn’t possibly have been found.

On top of that I am pretty sure I was robbed today. I use a pos system for taking credit card sales but not cash. I just count it at the end of the day. Today I did over $300 in sales with only $50 being cash. If I were to estimate, I probably did at least $100 in cash. Reason being, I remember excepting at least 4 $20 bills and when I went to count the money I had only 2 $20 bills.

I don’t know what that would change but overall this has been a huge headache. I just assumed the man was accepting the accident by not asking me for money. We found what we could find and apologized.

I’m not convinced I am even at fault as a business. Please let me know, I am wringing this at 3am as I can’t sleep. I don’t want this to get out of hand but he said it will go to collections if I don’t pay. It feels like I should be able to sue for harassment but again I just want to handle this as calmly as I can which I think I’ve been doing so far. This business means so much to me and I’m scared my the fact that this man is trying to tarnish it all over an accident not even committed by someone who works for my company. I know it took place in both our booths though. I don’t really have the money to just pay the man and my parents don’t want to.

Please ask questions to clarify this story as it is messy and I know I am leaving parts out. Thank you.

TL;DR: My mom accidentally knocked over a vendor's products, vendor writes a nasty review on my company’s Facebook page, his son threatens me, and he sends my company an invoice.

Answer:
 No one is gonna read all that.

Be more concise. Sounds like your mother destroyed goods, seems reasonable she'd be expected to pay for destroying them.

You say threatened, did he threaten you with physical harm? Saying mean things isn't illegal but threatening actionable harm is.


Title: Doctor gave me a flu shot even though I told him I can't get one [NC]

Question: I went to the doctor yesterday for an unrelated reason and while I was there, the doctor asked if I had gotten my flu shot. I told him I couldn't because I have an egg allergy. He started lecturing me on the importance of vaccines etc (I'd love to get a flu shot if I could!) Then he told me I needed a booster of another vaccine, so I let him give it to me. Very soon after leaving the doctor's office, my arm swelled up and I started itching, sweating, and having trouble breathing. Someone called 911 and I was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. The hospital got my records from the doctor and it turns out he gave me the flu vaccine instead of the other vaccine. Is there anything I can do? Ambulance and hospital bills are going to be expensive, even with insurance.

Answer:
 GET ALL THE DOCUMENTATION FROM YOUR ER VISIT and CALL A MALPRACTICE LAWYER IMMEDIATELY.

You made the doctor aware of your allergy, but he gave you the vaccine anyway. Clear cut negligence (and probably ethical violations as well - he could well lose his license over this) on the doctors part.

You have a VERY good case (assuming you have documentation from the ER) for malpractice. Very likely doc's malpractice insurance will be covering all your medical bills for this.

But absolutely need a lawyer. Go get one. NOW.

edit: on thinking about this, it may well be that since you specifically stated you did not want the vaccine, and it was given against your express wishes, what doctor did COULD maybe be considered criminal assault? anyone else wanna chime in about that?Answer #2: Just for guidance, [here's what the CDC has to say](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/egg-allergies.htm) about egg allergies and flu vaccine. It seems like he should have observed you for up to 30 minutes, with epi available should you have needed it.

Just for giggles, you might go ahead and [complete a VAERS report](https://vaers.hhs.gov/). That could bring some additional heat on the doc.


Title: [OR] Employer suspended me, then never called me back in

Question:
I was suspened after christmas for missing a day of work, the day after Christmas. They said it was no call no show and suspended me for a week.

Previously I had asked you fine people about shift changes without notice. This is a result of that.

The day rolls around and I don't get a call to come in or anything. The next day a coworker tells me I need to call our area manager. He didn't pick up so I left a message, figured he was in a meeting and would get back to me. Two days go by and I call him again, this time he picks up. Gives me some BS about this being another no call no show, tells me he has to talk it over with his boss. The next day my coworker tips me off that they've put in for 2 positions and he's taking mine.

No one has fired me, no one has asked for my keys/uniform, no final check, no exit interview. Nothing.

What, if anything can I do?

Answer:
 File for unemployment and look for a new job.

Edit:  do you have an employment contract and or are you a member of a union?


Title: A debt collection agency filed a lawsuit against me and then recalled it a week later

Question: Hello, I have a debt in collection from when I was a college student. I used a credit card to buy books that I needed for school and because of life problems I wasn't able to pay. It's now 6 years later and the collection agency that has bought my debt filed a civil suit against me with my local courthouse(florida). The lawsuit was filed on 7/18/2018, when I came home from work yesterday there was a note on my door that I was to be served legal papers about the lawsuit and that I should call the special process server to set up a meet time for me to recieve the papers. I called him back last night and set up a time to meet this morning. He then texted me a few hours later and stated "FYI.. just received an email that your case has been recalled by the courts. As a result will have to return in the documents to court. so I will not have to serve you these papers until further notice. Ty again". I'm not sure but wouldn't that be perceived as a scare tactic by the collection agency? To file a lawsuit and then have it recalled to coerce me into the paying the debt? Is it legal for them to do this? I'm not really sure where to go from here, I've never had to deal with anything like this. The debt itself is just over 1,800 dollars.

Answer:
 IIRC, the statute of limitations in Florida is five years for debt. That means that any legal claim must be brought within five years of the last payment or due date of the debt (whichever came later). If it's been over five years, you would have a very strong defense to the debt if you were sued.

My guess is that they filed the suit and subsequently realized that it was past the statute of limitations, then did their best to rectify it.

Assuming the debt is truly past the statute of limitations, you could consider suing the debt collector for violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Because the law allows you to recover legal fees in this situation, lawyers will often take this kind of case at no upfront cost if they believe they can win. The only catch I see is that they quickly recalled the case, so they may have a valid defense that they made a bona fide error and took every step to correct it. Alternatively, the court may see their behavior as bullying and bring down the wrath of the FDCPA.


Title: Risks of renting to someone with an undocumented income?

Question: I have a potential tenant who makes $1500 per week as a roofer, but its off the books. Are there any additional risks to the landlord that would make renting to this individual a bad idea?

Answer: Besides the obvious risk that he's bullshitting you about his income?Answer #2: Obviously there are huge risks - if s/he's willing to defraud the government in a way that's a felony, what makes you think they won't defraud you? What's your plan on enforcing a judgment? What happens when they're hurt and they don't get worker's compensation and miss 3 months' rent? I couldn't imagine a situation where this makes sense.


Title: What legally happens to money given at funeral-Iowa

Question:
My mother passed away recently.  Following her funeral we went through cards, wrote thank-yous, etc. and did some accounting of all the checks/cash given.

She had friends from all over and a shocking $9000 was given.

Apparently while we weren't looking my sister took $3000 cash that she feels is "her share" of the money.

My brother and I are very frustrated by this as her funeral/burial costs were about $8000 - so after my sister took her "cut" we came up short.

However, i'm not sure if she has actually done anything illegal - because I don't know what's legally supposed to happen to money given at a funeral. Is it treated as part of the estate or is it up to family to hash it out amoungst ourselves?

Thank you in advice.

Answer:
 Is giving money at a funeral a thing? I've never heard of this beforeAnswer #2: If there is enough in the estate to pay for the funeral, have the estate pay for the funeral, and treat the money given at the funeral as being given to everyone in equal shares, and you'll come out just fine.  This will be FAR easier then trying to litigate anything regarding who the money was gifted to/etc.

If there ISN'T enough in the estate to handle the funeral, your remedy would probably be small claims court.  I can assure you that ~2600 isn't enough for me to take a family member to small claims court, but you might feel differently (and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that).  That being said, if she took 3000 in cash and is financially irresponsible, good luck recovering that money.

The question of what happens with the checks to the "Smith Family" is interesting and the bank manager should be able to help you there.Answer #3: What she did is theft from your Mother's estate, tell her to give the money back or you will report her to the police.


Title: [US] Florida company making a "Trademark Violation" claim against a username registered by one of my users

Question:
I run a small social network that lets users register usernames as their handle. A company based in Florida (according to their filing) which I'll call "Illusionalsunrise Media" (not its real name but similar) sent me an email accusing one of my users of committing a trademark violation because she registered the name "illusionalsunrise" on my site. But when I search for "illusionalsunrise" (again, not the real name) on http://tmsearch.uspto.gov, I see that the word mark is for "Illusionalsunrise Media" and not "Illusionalsunrise" by itself.

The email sent to me also contains this paragraph:

"From the information that we have received regarding your use, our use of this Trademark has priority over yours based upon earlier and continuous use, as well as the above federal registration. Therefore, your use is a violation of our company’s rights.

We are requesting that you remove the use of our trademark described in the provided link or any other name or mark confusingly similar."

Their actual trademark filing states: FIRST USE: 20160401. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20160401 with a filing date of July 21, 2016 whereas my user registered her account on Oct 14, 2011. My user doesn't sell anything and is not a business entity so they shouldn't even be in the same industry (it's just a username). That user also never mentions or references that company by name.

Lastly, that specific user does not reside in the United States (the social network itself is a registered company in the United States).

I don't think this company has any ground to stand on. It would be easier for me to just change that user's name but they are currently active and I don't think it's right to do so especially when I think this company is overreaching. I'm going to bring this up to a lawyer regardless but I just want to get /r/legaladvice's opinion so I can have a general idea on where I stand.

Edit to add: The email I received is signed by a "Copyright & Trademark Administration Project Manager" with an email address coming from their company domain (they have no website). They did not identify themselves as a lawyer and no law firm is mentioned.

Answer:
 Generally, if the user is not performing any commercial activities with that account on your platform, the company will have a difficult time demonstrating infringement.Answer #2: I doubt they have grounds, but two questions for you:

1. Can you describe what your social network does?
2. Can you copy/paste what the real trademark classifications are for? (the section labeled "Goods & Services" on the TESS output)


Title: Disabled child, ex-husband, drug addicted step mother

Question:
This is quite long so I apologize... I am thinking of taking my ex husband to court for full custody of our son. I feel the need to give a brief rundown on the back story.

We have been divorced since 2012, have 1 child together (M11) he is legally blind, only a little light perception. Since divorce ex had been in and out of sons life, paying child support only he has a job bc state takes it from his check. He owes roughly 13k in back support. He also had a drug addiction.

After divorce ex was bad off in all ways, I didn't hear from him again until 2015 when I filed for full custody of our son. He decided to clean up and be a dad. I ended up with sole custody and him a visitation schedule that was phased from supervised to non supervised over a period of time and completion of parenting classes.

Things went well for a while, he was sober, saw son for a while regularly unless he had to work a weekend. Things went well child support was somewhat regular and that was fine. He was trying to get in his feet financially so I didn't mind. He bought a property with a barn and converted the top of the barn into a loft style home. It was perfect for a single man with a child over on occasion. However son would come home with small injuries from bad decisions on a regular basis.

He began a relationship with a woman in 2016, she had 2 children one older and one younger than our son, both boys. Son continued to visit. Son would come home saying she was cruel and yelled a lot I brushed it off as stress of having 3 boys running around. Girlfriend ends up pregnant and they marry after 4 months of dating.

Fathers day 2016 son comes home and is dropped off with a black eye and a bruised cheek. Nothing is mentioned about this, he rings doorbell and drives off as I answer the door. Son claims new wife's boys lunched him repeatedly because he made a comment that he loved his life. I contact ex and ask what happened his reply is "boys will be boys"

Ex contacts me 2 weeks later and asks to see son. I rely he may but son may. It come to his house or be around wife's children. I would be more than happy to meet or drop son at ex parents house for a visit. He replies he will take me to court. I say fine. Nothing comes of it.

Here we are today 2019, I never heard from ex again. Child support comes and stops frequently. Recently ex wife whome he has had 3 children with in 3 years is arrested while pregnant with baby 3 for posse2of methamphetamine, Marijuana, obstruction, and tampering with evidence, and in jail of federal probation hold.

I want to get my child a passport, son wants to change his name, I want to be able to make decisions without consulting ex, I don't want son to be a part of that mess that his dad is living in. I am not sure what to do. Can I file for custody again? Will the court give ex visitation back?

Answer:
 > Can I file for custody again?

Only a family lawyer licensed see to practice in your state who has access to all the previous proceeding info can answer that.

> Will the court give ex visitation back?

That's up to the judge


Title: (IL) Ex husband's girlfriend is threatening to reveal private information in an attempt to ruin reputations.

Question: I say the term girlfriend loosely. My ex husband has been trying to evict this woman from his home for almost a year now but every time he sends her a certified letter stating she has 30 days to leave, she throws a tantrum and threatens the entire family with revealing personal information to friends and coworkers. Now, she hasn't liked me from the beginning but I've never been involved in her shenanigans until now. An altercation happened over the weekend and she attacked him. He has some pretty bad scratches on his neck and a big dent in his brand new car so he told her to leave again. She somehow she thought I was involved and sent out a mass text message to myself, my ex husband, his first wife/mother of his oldest children, his 16yr old daughter, his mother, his 13 yr old son, and a cousin stating that she was going to post very personal information about us in several Facebook groups including sports related groups ( my ex has been very involved in our towns recreation association )all of the kids' parent groups, as well as our town's Facebook page. She also stated she would call the parents of the children my ex coaches as well as the parents of our children's friends, and our employers. She also told each of us individually that she had "dirt" on us and we would pay for making him kick her out. I do not know if there is a way to prevent her from doing these things but if she does go through with this is it enough to sue for defamation of character? I am really worried about the impact it might have on the children as well as our professional positions in the Rec Association and our jobs. She is a loaded gun and acts on impulse and has done many things in the past that tells me there is a high probability she will act on this threat. I should mention that the "dirt" she has on us isn't anything illegal but an extremely personal family situation that the kids don't even know about.

Answer: Blackmail is illegal. Go to the police and bring any and all messages she's sent.