Title: (Missouri, USA) My sister has died after a long term illness and nothing was sorted out for our mother to take custody of my sister's daughter.

Question:
My sister died yesterday and my mom doesn't know what to do, so I'm asking for advice on her behalf. The basics of things as I know them are as follows

* My niece's father is on her birth certificate, but has been gone for 4 years and no support given to, or legal arrangement made with, my sister.
* My niece's father has made no attempts, to the best of my mother's knowledge, to contact or see my niece.
* Towards the end of my sister's long term illness, she gave my mother General POA.
* As far as I know, nothing has been stipulated anywhere who she desired to have custody of my niece.
* My mother, sister, and niece have all been living together for 4 years.
* My sister made a lot of horrible choices and was not a responsible parent at all. Niece had never been to a doctor since birth until a few days ago to start vaccinations. She has also never seen a dentist, optometrist, etc. My mother knew all these things and did nothing to change it.
* Niece is not enrolled in school, though she is kindergarten age.
* My mother has a plan and support system to help her care for my niece, with myself included in this plan.

What does my mother need to do now? What I told her was to talk to the hospital social worker and get hooked up with the state children services office. I think that since they all lived together and my sister saw our mother fit to hold a General POA for her, that would show the state that she is capable of caring for my niece.

I don't know if the care plan is relevant, but I will state it, just in case.

The plan is for my mother and niece to temporarily move back to my father's house (they are in the process of divorcing, but are not nasty with each other) until she can get into an age minimum community (60) that does allow minors as long as the main lease is in the name of the person over 60. This would have them crossing over into Kansas to the town I live in. These apartments are less than a mile from my house and in the school district that is very good. I would basically be before and after school care while my mom works for a few more years until she's full retirement eligible.

**What are the first steps she needs to take to get custody?**

Thank you for reading through all that and for any help you can give.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: Nobody can just "give" custody to your mother. The child has a father and now that father legally has custody.Answer #2: How old are you and can you care for the kids


Title: My brother wants to sue someone. How much would his mental illness affect the validity of his testimony/case? (MA)

Question:
My brother wants to sue his workplace for an incident that happened a couple of years ago. However, during this time, he was suffering from a psychotic break and was extremely paranoid. He is no longer paranoid and doing well, but it's hard for me to sort out from speaking to him what actually happened, what he perceived to have happened and what was completely colored by his paranoia. He says because he is no longer paranoid that everything definitely did happen the way he said, but for me, some parts sound very much like there might be a more plausible explanation.

The workplace knows of his illness because he had to take a lot of time off, and because of the length of time he took, they had him medically assessed and got a lengthy report on his condition from the person who assessed him.

Now, if he has a case (and I'm not certain he does, but that's a whole other kettle of fish) how much would his mental illness impact any testimony he would make? How much likelihood would there be if it got to court (or hell, even in mediations) of the defendant's lawyer saying upsetting things about him or to him? How worth it would it be pursuing just on the basis that he had psychosis?

I guess what I'm asking is: the world is pretty full of stigma against people who have had psychosis, realistically, how much does that permeate legal proceedings?

Answer:
 Let's put it this way - it depends on how clear cut and objective the facts of the case are. If he can prove everything through direct evidence without testifying (like video clips, pay stubs, or testimony of other workers), it will likely come up but matter very little.

If this turns into a he said/she said case where the believability and credibility of the witnesses are the most important part of the trial, you better believe it will come up, and they will be using it at every possibility to cast doubt on every single thing your brother has ever said or done. And that's entirely permissible, and expected. Answer #2: >I guess what I'm asking is: the world is pretty full of stigma against people who have had psychosis, realistically, how much does that permeate legal proceedings?

In courts, it's not a stigma thing. It's a "how reliable is this person's memory, and how credible is there testimony?"

And realistically, if he was having a mental break and paranoia ***during the time this incident happened***, yeah his testimony isn't going to be worth much.


Title: Bitter almonds illegal in the united states? Yes or no?

Question:
I have a lot of friends who are very anti-government on facebook. There is a meme going around that the FDA has made the bitter almond tree illegal in the united states.   Is this true?

Where could I look to find this information myself?

Answer:
 The internet is not hard

http://www.snopes.com/bitter-almond-tree-banned/


Title: Defaulted Federal Student Loan Debt

Question:
So I took out a Federal Perkins Loan in 2002 when I was at VA Tech. Failed out of school, life happens, loan defaults and gets sent to local Virginia law firm for collections. They never sue or get a judgement. They never contacted me after letting me know the loan was there. I paid on it for a while and then had to stop again for financial reasons.

Now, 14 years later I'm back in school in North Carolina. Can't get any financial aid because I have this defaulted federal loan showing up in the FSLR.

I contacted the school, who is still listed as the loan servicer on the registry, to see if I can get the loan put into deferment while I'm in school. They say I have to deal with the law office. The law office says they can't do that, only the school can. Talk to the school again and they tell me the loan has been with the law office too long to pull it back and defer it.

Talked to the law office again to see if I could do student loan rehabilitation on it. They said since I made payments before and stopped, my only option to have it removed from default is to pay it in full.

So then I applied for a consolidation loan, which would get it out of default and let me make small payments. Got an email from them saying there's no federal loan so they cancelled my application.

Any suggestions on where to go from here? Thanks in advance.

Answer: This doesn't sound like something that would require legal advice. You need advice from a financial consultant.


Title: Forced lunch break and OT issues at work

Question:
I am a full time employee of a large company in NY state. I am non exempt and paid hourly, except we hit 40 hours every single week no matter what so the pay is consistent like that of my previously salaried positions. This is my first nonexempt position, so I am unsure what to do about the following:

We are FORCED to take a full, unpaid, hourlong lunch break every single day. If you work through lunch too bad, you eat the time. You literally have to fight them tooth and nail to get a paid 1 OT hour for working through lunch and 99.99% of the time the answer is no. I believe the current law is you must take a 30 min unpaid break for every 5 hours worked. My company will not allow you to take just a 30 min lunch break and either be paid 30 min OT or amend the time you come in or leave by 30 mins. Additionally, while they’ve recently backed off this, in the very near past there have been approved OT hours by higher management but HR has flat out refused to pay out the time as OT (time and half pay) and said you have to come in late or leave early another day that same week. Would not allow the time to carry over to the following week to come in late/leave early one of those days.

Is this all legal?

Answer: Yes, your employer can determine what hours you work and refuse to allow you to work overtime.


Title: Vacation time dropped from 50 hours to 0.

Question:
I'm not sure if this belongs here.
I work at a place that offers vacation time for full time employees. It is given based on how many hours worked. I accrued 50 hours of vacation time while working full time. I also have 24 hours of sick time. I've never missed work so these vacation hours and sick hours were never used.  I wanted to finish school so my general manager agreed to let me work part time. When i logged in, I noticed that my vacation time has dropped to 0 hours. My sick time has not changed. I asked my manager about it and he said that part time employees do not get vacation pay. I told him i accrued these hours during the past year of full time employment. He said it didn't matter. Is this ok? Am i really just SOL on the vacation time I accrued? If I had known, i would have used the time before I went to part time.

Answer:
 Congratulations for being in one of the most employee friendly states. They owe you for the vacation time you accrued. Let them know they need to give you the days off. If not, you can tell them you will file with the CA Department of Labor. Answer #2: ["Under California law, earned vacation time is considered wages, and vacation time is earned, or vests, as labor is performed. ... Vacation pay accrues (adds up) as it is earned, and cannot be forfeited, even upon termination of employment, regardless of the reason for the termination."](https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_Vacation.htm)

While you haven't been terminated, your earned vacation time usually can't be forfeited due to your change in status.

I'm not seeing anything where the state specifically addresses dealing with the transition from full time to part time, but it might be worthwhile to [Contact the Labor Commissioner's Office](https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/DistrictOffices.htm) for a definitive answer.


Title: (Illinois) (eviction) I was served with an eviction notice and the hearing is next week. I've never been in trouble before. I am shaking.

Question: Should I take a lawyer with me to court? I am way behind in my rent. There is no dispute about this. The notice states: "A true and correct copy of the Compliant is attached." There is nothing attached. Does that matter? Can/will the judge order me to leave the premises immediately? I have no where to go.

Answer:
 If you have no defense, your best bet is to move immediately and to surrender the property.

Having an eviction *suit* on your record can be a problem, even if you lose.  And if you're behind on the rent, you will lose.  We can't tell you when you'll be ordered to leave, but it's effectively a foregone conclusion.


Title: Omegle f-up Please help!?!?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Standard scam. We get this question a couple of times a week. Delete Omegle, block any contacts, and ignore.


Title: I'm in Mo - work at a nursing home as a nurse doing 2 16 hr shifts every weekend with a bonus of 8 hrs. HR is putting that I take 2 lunches (short staffed - don't even get 1 lunch) and taking bonus. Also taking out money for lunches I never have time to take. Please help.

Answer:
 This is an unlawful falsification of time records.  Employers are allowed to offer you lunch and have that offer be waived, but they most certainly cannot insert lunches that you never took.  This seems like a blatant attempt to circumvent labor oversight.

https://labor.mo.gov/worker-protection-center

Visit the MO department of labor and file a wage complaint.

It's worth noting that the Missouri DLS cannot compel wage repayment, but they will do the investigation and confirm how much you should be owed and that your rights were violated.  Ultimately, you will have to pursue this list time in court but you can represent yourself for up to $5k in MO and with the DLS report this should be a slam dunk.Answer #2: Start taking those lunches. Dependent on state, it could be the law that they have to give you the lunch, not pay, so you're losing out on your time.


Title: Disabled law student not being accommodated

Question:
I am a disabled student in law school. I am a first year. I am in the state of California. I am registered with the office for students with disabilities at my school. This is a throwaway account for obvious reasons.

I will start by detailing my disability. According to my psychodiagnostic assessment I scored in the first percentile for reading rate. According to the DSM I have a 315.00 reading disorder.

As a result I cannot do the assigned readings before my professors give lectures on them. After I hear the lecture I am able to speed up my reading considerably by making educated guesses on what it is I am reading. It is hard to explain. Let me put it this way. Give me a dictionary and I will read at a snail’s pace. Give me a copy of the Odyssey and I can read it as fast as anyone else because I love the Odyssey to death and know the story super well. This is not to say that the reading isn’t extremely important. If I don’t do the assigned reading I will basically fail all my classes. Having access to the lectures first is what saves me from being incapable of doing the reading.

Recently due to a series of natural disasters at my school my school sent students home for a while. The school re-opened two weeks before finals. We were given one week of instruction (we get to have one week off before the finals to study). Because of these disasters we were forced to learn 3 weeks of material within one week. The lectures became extremely condensed and the quality of the lectures dropped drastically. You can imagine what this does for me. We still get the one week off before finals as promised before the disasters but our last week of instruction is super condensed. The school thinks that this is fair because all the students are affected the same. The curve will still work its magic. I beg to differ. I have been in the running to be one of the top ten students since the start of the semester. Now all my hard work and dedication has been thrown away. There is no way I could compensate. I complained to the head of the office for students with disabilities. She was extremely sympathetic and spoke to the deans about giving me an extension. They gave me one day extension for each of my finals. I complained to the head of OSD again and she was still very sympathetic. She told me that she didn’t think this was fair to me and that I have been disproportionately affected. I told her at the bare minimum I should have a weeklong extension. She agreed. I spoke anonymously with the dean in charge of this and she said the school policy was to not allow any student to take the final later than a day after the other students. She says the school has a “bright line rule”. She explicitly refused to help me even after the head of OSD explained my situation to her.

What should I do?

Answer:
 I’m sorry, but I have to ask. How do you plan on taking and passing the bar?

Or the baby bar at the end of this year?


Title: Dealership won't release title of my car

Question:
I signed a contract to purchase my car April 27th of this year after leasing it for 3 years. 3 months after the contract was signed I still haven't been contacted about making payments, I haven't received the title and the dealership is ducking my calls. I contacted Honda Financial and filed a complaint, I can't even get them to call me back anymore. I've been pulled over because I have a 4 month old paper tag and the police have threatened to impound the car the next time I'm pulled over. When I do talk to someone they tell me they're "getting everything together" and I "should see something in the mail next week" etc. I'm afraid someone is going to try and repossess my vehicle due to lack of payments or the police can impound it and I can't get it back out because of the lack of tags.

(Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA)
Please help!

Answer:
 You signed a contract to...Purchase the car, correct?

Have you given them money to purchase the car?

If you've given them money, and the car was previously financed/leased, then the lessor would have the title and would provide you, depending your state, an electronic lien release that can be taken to Motor Vehicle to have a title printed with your information on it. In these cases, the dealer specifically wouldn't have the title.

If you've paid, then a title and reg app must be filled out and signed by you, this would have you to get license plates. However you said you've leased it for 3 years, so the reg and title should have already had your name and been current without any need from the dealership.

Who handled your lease lien? Honda financial is generally who does for Honda cars.

who did you finance through to purchase the car? If you financed, then legally they would get the title unless you paid cash for the purchase.


Title: What court would hear a "murder in international waters" trial, the country the boat docks at next, ownership of ship, citizenship?

Answer:
 Typically the country under whose flag the ship is registered has jurisdiction under general principles of international admiralty law.

The United States codifies it’s own jurisdiction in such cases at 18 USC § 7.


Title: Moved out of parent's home w/teen child after living there some years; my parent is starting drama. Need advice.

Question:
This seemed like the right place to post. Being intentionally vague with alt account (personal joke no one would get).

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I moved out of my parent's home after living there some years with then-younger child. Child is now teen. I gave over a month's notice to my parent that we were moving. All seemed OK until the day of the move and up to now.

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CPS has come to my residence twice after 'heads-up' texts and calls from parent. Calls have been made to child's school stating that I'm an unfit parent and child's living conditions are dangerous. I was stopped by the police and told that my car had been reported stolen. While I've no definite proof other than vague, round about texts from parent hinting about CPS, I don't have absolute proof it's them. None of this crap was happening until we moved, and I have not dated or seen anyone since child was young.

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I've done what others have suggested such as get a second phone and let first gather evidence (texts, phone calls) and have mail going to a PO box. Parent is aware of the general area that we live in now, but not where exactly. Should I (and to a point my child) simply ignore all that's happened and hang on until their graduation in a few years? I have a feeling without real p roof a cease and desist letter to my parent will just make things worse.

Answer: Filing a false police report is a crime. In some states, making a false CPS report is also a crime. I would report it to the police. If your parents are making vague texts about it and giving you "heads up", you might want to send them a "thank you" informing them that hopefully when you report it to the police all this nonsense will stop. It might give them the hint to knock it off.


Title: Prison time [Milwaukee, WI]

Question: My ex boyfriend is being charged with a felony. His sentencing date is in February, and I'm curious as to how much prison time he might get. The felony is for false imprisonment, and he is only 20. It's also his first violation apart from speeding tickets, etc. How much time would you give a 20 y.o. Hispanic male?

Answer: It's a Class H felony, so a fine not to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 6 years, or both.  See [here] (https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=wisconsin+class+h+felony).


Title: Could police get a suspect drunk to get an admissible confession?

Question: Suppose a known alcoholic were accused of a murder and refused to say anything. Could the police just offer him a bunch of booze in order to loosen him up and get the information they want? Would it be admissible?

Answer:
 Courts would take a very dim view of that indeed.

In fact, there is no way that passes judicial review.


Title: [TX] What happens if the noncustodial parent becomes homeless?

Question:
In my current custody agreement, the noncustodial parent has standard visitation: every other weekend, Thursday evenings, alternating holidays.

Today he brought my daughter home early because he was in a physical altercation with his live in girlfriend. Apparently, his situation has gotten so bad that he is kicking her out, but since he can't manage money for anything, he  says he is going to "lose everything" when that happens.

So now Ihave to figure out what to do about visitation. Surely he can't still take her somewhere for weekends? Would the visitation be on my terms? Would he be able to take her to his next-of-kin? (His mother, her grandmother).

I have searched a little bit but there doesn't seem to be a clear cut answer. Thanks in advance.

Answer:
 It depends. Would he have a safe place to take the kid during his weekends, like a relatives house?

Understand that you cannot unilaterally decide to change the schedule even if he does become homeless. You'll need to go back to court. You should call your lawyer.


Title: My ex asked me to buy him out of our property. New title and mortgage is in only my name but he's now refusing to sign the paperwork

Question:
Alberta, Canada I co-own a property with my ex. He'd asked me to buy him out, we had a legal contract drawn up of how both of us were going to go about the deal. He basically wanted a small cash settlement and in exchange was going to sign over the house and walk away from the property. In the legal contract it stated that I wouldn't hand over a cent until the paperwork was signed. Contract states: I give the cash settlement to the lawyer to hold in trust until the signing, we sign the papers, lawyer hands the money to ex. We both wash our hands of eachother, donezo. It's all in the contract. The only thing that's happened as of yet is lawyer has the money and the title. Ex has not signed but I have

Anyways the new mortgage and title have come in and I've sent them to the lawyers office. I received a call this morning that he's refusing to come down and sign now without getting the money first.

How do I move forward? Can I make him sign since we have a notarized contract that he doesn't get money until after signing over the title?

**the contract signed was just just stating who gets what in the buyout, exact dollar amount, time to be completed within and exact terms in which he would receive his settlement. I had a feeling he would try and pull something like this or say he'd asked for more money and try to back out.

Answer:
 You can't MAKE him sign but don't budge on the payment terms.Answer #2: To clarify, OP and her EX signed an agreement to transfer the house to her in exchange for funds that were to be held in escrow by the lawyer.

Op has turned the funds over to her lawyer, lawyer has contacted the ex.

Op forwarded the new mortgage agreement and title to her lawyer. He has responded that EX is refusing to sign the transfer of property until after he receives the funds, even though the original agreement signed stated he gets his funds after signing the transfer.

Op wants to know if she can force EX to perform as agreed in the original contract and sign the transfer before receiving the money.Answer #3: I would be worried that he has no intentions of signing and simply wants the cash. Trying to get you to release the funds first, then never signing and possibly even claiming a portion of the ownership after the fact because he didn't sign.

I would NOT give your ex anything up-front, I would simply refer him to the agreement that states he'll be paid once he signs.Answer #4: He obviously wants/needs the money, so hold tight.


Title: Forced to use vacation days when the entire operation was shut down the week of July 4th

Question: Ok, I’m a school administrator in Texas. Our entire district is closed for business during the week of July 4th. I wasn’t given an option to work, I was told I had to use my vacation days to cover for the week, to include the 4th of July. Did I just get hosed out of five vacation days?

Answer: This is legal in every state.  The company can tell you when to use PTO.


Title: Can this contract that I tried to cancel force me to pay for nothing?

Question:
I live in Canada and back in August a coworker asked me to do her a favour. She was working a second job for a company that, as I understand it, is affiliated with Telus and sells phones, and mobile internet sticks and internet plans and what not. They're called Telus-ACN

She asked me to purchase (online) an internet dongle for $11 (the dongle came with a costly internet plan). She said she would reimburse me the $11 and that I could cancel it immediately and it would help her get a promotion. She was really pushy and I never should have agreed, but lesson learned.

Anyway, I got the dongle soon and called to cancel. They said they would mail me some packaging for me to send the dongle back to them and when that packaging arrived and I ended up procrastinating about sending it back, but what did that matter, I owned the dongle, why did I need to send it back immediately?

I'm terrible for procrastination and I still had the dongle by december when I get a phone call from Telus-ACN asking why I hadn't sent the dongle back and that they're charging me monthly for this internet plan that I'm not using. I told them that I'd cancelled already and they said they needed to receive the dongle for my internet plan to actually be cancelled. I looked on my bank account (I was certain that I'd had it set up to withdraw from my bank account) and there were no funds missing so I assumed there was some kind of mistake. Now I know I should have just returned it then but I was sure there was some mistake happening, I mean they said they were charging me but it looked like they weren't and by my understanding they shouldn't have been. So I kept the task of returning it on the back burner.

This week I got a call from Telus-ACN saying if I don't set up a payment plan they are going to send my case to debt collections (not sure what that exactly entails. Lawyers? Bounty hunters? empty threat?) The thing is they want to charge me for nothing, just the misfortune of signing a contract with a predatory business. I've received no goods or services from them (except the one good I've paid for long ago). I never took the dongle out of the box and they know I haven't used any internet. Can they really force me to pay for absolutely nothing, even though I called in to cancel, just because I didn't follow some part of the contract?

And I know my part in this has been far from proffessional, or adult, but it doesn't seem legit to me to pay money for literally nothing but a contract.

Answer:
 >I've received no goods or services from them (except the one good I've paid for long ago).

You have a dongle that you apparently rented and they can't cancel the services until you give them back the dongle.

> Can they really force me to pay for absolutely nothing, even though I called in to cancel, just because I didn't follow some part of the contract?

This was possibly answered when you called to cancel but you don't want to hear or listen to it.

Have you checked your contract to see exactly when you need to ship you dongle to the company and cancel your plan so you don't need to be billed for servicing your dongle any longer?

>And I know my part in this has been far from proffessional, or adult, but it doesn't seem legit to me to pay money for literally nothing but a contract.

No part of a conversation where someone has to reference a dongle is going to be professional... that's a given. That's going to be ok. If your dongle hasn't been serviced it will be another story.


Title: -- Urgent -- I just got a summons for an eviction court date tomorrow morning. I'm current on rent. Do I have to show?

Question:
**UPDATE**: I went, and it was dismissed. I didn't even talk to a judge, the lawyer didn't even ask to see my receipts or check my ID, she just looked at the summons and glanced vaguely in the direction of my other paperwork, then told me I was free to go.

_____________________

I don't check my mail often enough. Yes, I know I should do it more. All the important bills come in by email these days, so all that's ever in there is paper copies of stuff telling me what I already know and ad circulars from the local Dollar Tree.

Today I found a notice from the Sheriff (PG County, Maryland) labeled "FAILURE TO PAY RENT - Landlord's complaint for repossession of rented property." It was filed last month, when I was eight days late paying my rent. I paid on the ninth.

I'm current on my rent now, but I just received this and it says I need to show up to court tomorrow at 8:45 a.m. with proof that I'm paid up to have it dismissed. Do I really need to do that if I'm current on my rent? What could happen if I don't? I happen to be sick right now and going to court tomorrow over rent I don't owe is the last thing I want to do. (Well, second to last. The actual last thing I want to do is get evicted.)

Worth noting: The instructions on the summons say that they're supposed to post the notice conspicuously on the property AND mail it to me. They only mailed it, which is why I'm just finding out about this now. Does that change anything?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Answer:
 Yeah, you absolutely must be at court to prove that you have paid rent and have the case dismissed. Otherwise you are going to get evicted. You can argue that you were served improperly, which perhaps happened, but it's much better to appear and defend yourself at the eviction hearing than try to make procedural defenses about the service after a default judgement for eviction has been entered. EVEN IF THE EVICTION IS ON ENTIRELY FALSE GROUNDS OR ENTERED BY DEFAULT JUDGEMENT, and even if the situation is eventually sorted out before a sheriff shows up at your door with a writ of possession, having an eviction docket on your record as a tenant is probably going to be a huge pain in your ass going forward.Answer #2: Yes.

Nothing good happens from ignoring court orders.Answer #3: >I'm current on my rent now, but I just received this and it says I need to show up to court tomorrow at 8:45 a.m. with proof that I'm paid up to have it dismissed.

Yes, you have to go and prove you have paid. How is that not clear? This isn't an option.


Title: Where I live it is illegal to look into someone's house through their window. How would this play out in court if you saw something illegal and called the police? [US, MO]

Question:
**EDIT** It seems people don't believe this is illegal. Is **is** illegal in my municipality.

> No person in the city shall look, peer or peep into any window of a hotel, motel, lodginghouse or private residence not on his own property, nor shall any person in the city loiter around or in view of any such window not on his own property with the intent of watching or looking through such window.

Answer:
 NAL.

If you are looking into someone's house from public space (if you happen to be standing on the sidewalk in front of their house) then that is not illegal. Then you would call the police and the police could arrest them if there is sufficient reason.

If you are trespassing on someone's property and observe a crime, then call the police, the police could arrest both the other persons and you. It will depend on if you are suspected of violating trespassing or peeping Tom laws.


Title: I want to get custody of my 13 year old sister.

Question:
So for some context: my mother and father divorced ~5 years ago. It was messy and terrible and left some big scars on our family. Things have not improved, they still fight all the time. My mom complains about my dad to the kids and it's just ridiculous. Anyway. I'm 20 and the eldest. I live on my own (thankfully) and I found out recently that my littlest sister (13) is suicidal. She's been cutting herself and she has a plan to kill herself on January 11th. She's been staying at my house for the last 4 days because my mother reacted in a negative way (read: yelled at her for it and said "I guess you got the attention you wanted"). Obviously this is not the way to deal with a suicidal person. My mom hasn't taken her to a therapist- although she has been seeing the school counselor- despite having known about the problem for months. My dad and my sister aren't speaking because my dad is abusive and sexist, and his wife is ten times worse.
Basically my question is, is there any way that I can get custody of my sister legally? What are the steps I should take? My sister needs to get out of my mother's house. I'm located in Minnesota. Thank you.

Edit: My mom would definitely be opposed to the idea of me having custody, we've talked about it and she said "you're crazy" and refused to comment further.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: Your mother can give you guardianship. If your sister stays with you for a significant time (months) you can file for guardianship based on that. If you feel she is abused you can contact cps to investigate.


Title: What, if any, non "legal tender" can legally pay a debt?(US)

Question:
Having an interesting conversation with some friends. I can't seem to find an answer online. We were talking in terms of a new regulation on cigars, where free samples are no longer legal. It was suggested that a retailer could demand a hug as payment. (This was said as a joke, naturally).

But it raises the question, if, in an exchange of goods/services, can something besides currency be used to settle payment?

I recall once hearing, in regards to prostitution that it was "only legal to pay for sex, with sex". Granted the source was unknown but it seems like there might be some interesting sort of "loopholes" like that?

Answer:
 At one level: once the debt exists, anything the creditor is willing to accept as settlement is sufficient. Get a receipt, in case of future dispute.

At another: this is one of the things that negotiable instruments, like checks, are for. These days generally you write a check commanding your bank to pay the recipient an amount, and they generally cash it and turn it back into money, but it used to be reasonably normal for the recipient to _endorse_ a check onwards to another recipient, and to use it to settle a debt of their own. For example:

I write a check commanding my bank to pay $50 to the order of u/Simmion, on sight. You owe u/Zapopa money, so you endorse the check on its back, naming u/Zapopa as the endorsee, then hand him the check to buy liquor with. He endorses it to the shop, to pay for his booze. The shop, ultimately, presents the check to my bank, taking the money I originally paid you. All of the intervening debts are fully settled as the check changes hands.

Of course, the rise of electronic payment has more or less killed this use case. But you can still do it, if you can find someone willing to accept an endorsed check as payment.


Title: Why is my legal responsibility when immigration asks about a coworker?

Question:
I’m in Canada.

I had suspicions that my coworker was here illegally but was told by the owners that she was contract staff which is why she got paid cash every week.

Yesterday I got a text from the girl who does my job on the weekends saying that immigration is looking for our coworker,

Our boss has asked us to deny knowing our coworker if immigration calls us, and that we can say ‘oh I didn’t know her name was A because she goes by B’

I am curious what my legal responsibility is to answer immigrations questions. I don’t want to lie to them, but I also don’t want to say anything.

Don’t worry, I know I need a new job, I started actively working on that the day I was hired there.

Answer:
 NAL~ Please don't lie to enforcement when you have nothing to lose.

If you want to be proactive then anonymously report them. If not, say nothing unless you are asked and then tell the truth. Also, maybe go job hunting? Personally, I'm not a fan of a job that asks you to lie to the authorities.

They can't fire you for giving police information but they can find another reason to let you go. So be careful your boss doesn't find out if you choose to speak up.


Title: I haven't been to a gym but was charged 4 months. Is there any hope for any reimburse ?

Question:
Ok I fucked up, but I had a old card which was associated with Fitness gym. I haven't been there in 4 months and thought it was a month to month thing, not a fucking contract or whatever.

Anyways, I'm really really broke, but I put like 1000 dollars in my old card, and immediately this fitness took out 4 months with interest, and now I only have like 800 dollars and I have to pay rent.

I know its a hopeless situation, but can these gyms reimburse me if they see I never been there (they have a card system when you enter). Or I just lost the money

Answer: How many times you go to a gym is irrelevant. You owe whatever your contract stated you owe. Answer #2: You have a better chance at finding the that much money on the ground than getting a refund from the gym. Next time verify, don’t assume.


Title: (Naperville) Box delivered by mistake, company has failed to make arrangements for it for over a month now. Can I set it by the curb?

Question:
A huge box (actually several boxes plastic wrapped together) was mistakenly delivered to my home. I was not there so the delivery company left it.

The address on the package is mine (so not the delivery company delivering to the wrong place) but it's not my name.

I first called the delivery company and they said that the shipping order does list my address, so they didn't just deliver it to the wrong place. They said I can't reject it because it has already been delivered and return service wasn't paid for. They recommended calling the company and having the company arrange for the delivery company to pick it up again, which I attempted to do.

The phone number the delivery company had on record just rings forever and I wasn't able to find any other numbers online for the company/address. I did find their website and filled out a contact form.  Over a week later someone emailed me back and said that she would arrange for it to be picked up on Monday by the same company, and if I left it outside they would take care of it. That Monday night I got home and it was still there, delivery company that delivered it said they had no record of an order to pick it back up.

I replied to the woman who had emailed me and she had an out of office message saying she was on vacation for the week and listed another email address to contact for emergencies. I went ahead and emailed that person, who responded saying that this first woman would email me back when she returned to work.

Another week later I had heard nothing from either of them and emailed them both.  No response.  Now it has been a week after that.

I am moving out of my rental Thursday and the property needs to be completely cleared, and taking this box with me is not an option.

I am trying to be helpful so I contacted the delivery company and asked if they could get it and bill the company. They said they could do that if I give a credit card for a hold for the cost, and then if the company never pays then my card would be charged.  They also said that they would require mandatory insurance because the package is valued at over $2,000.  I don't know what's in it (I know it's illegal to open someone else's mail).

At this point I'm at a loss. No one answers the phone, no one responds to my emails, the delivery company has at least been somewhat helpful but I still have the package.

Can I just send them one last email saying it'll be by the curb at address for pick up on Thursday?  Could I be held accountable for it if it's stolen or the garbage truck picks it up or something?

Answer:
 At this point, you've done pretty much everything reasonably possible to arrange for a return.  If nobody's coming for it, and you can't take it with you, that doesn't leave you with much in the way of options.

Mark it RETURN TO SENDER, drop it off at the shipper's place of business, and just leave it.


Title: [Los Angeles, CA USA] My Roommate is Involved In Drugs. Can I Get Her Out? Even If She's On The Lease?

Question:
It's a fairly simple question:

My Roommate is involved in drugs to the point where she openly admitted to having a drug dealer boyfriend over in the apartment. On several occasions. I have since completely moved out. Her and my Dad (who rents my room for me) are both on the lease. She hasn't paid rent for:

* July
* August
* November

She has only paid for September and October. Again, this month she has been unable to make rent.

Due to the fact that my dad was worried about his credit and we have a relationship with the building manager, my dad has paid rent each month. November is paid for.

They are on a joint lease together.

Is there any way to get her out of the apartment allowing me to continue living there without it affecting my father's credit? Or will my father have to let us get evicted and take the hit to his credit over this horrific situation?

Sincerely,

Currently Dawn

PS: We tried to get her to sign forms to amicably release her part/responsibility of the apartment to us and move out. It is unlikely that she is going to agree to sign these forms. At all.
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: you could use suing her for rent as leverage to get her to sign off on the paperwork removing her from the lease. tell her she needs to sign the paperwork and get out or your dad will take her to court.


Title: Grandfather died- Grandparents never married?

Question:
My grandfather died last week in Indiana. In his safe deposit box he had a cover sheet that said “Last Will and Testament”- but the inside was totally blank. To further complicate matters, we can not find any documentation that says my grandparents were legally married. They had a wedding in 1962, we have pictures, they went by the same last name, etc.

My uncle went to the county clerk of the court and couldn’t find any record of a marriage license OR a record of a divorce from his brief first marriage.

So does that mean he is still legally married to the other lady? As far as we know they haven’t had any contact since 1960.

My grandmother is still alive, but has dementia and doesn’t understand what is going on.

Answer: Do you know for 1000% certain that they were married in that county?  That could just be the place they had the ceremony; they could have had a courthouse marriage before that.


Title: Are we required to pay for pet dagages?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 If your dogs are doing damage to people and their pets you are responsible for any medical bills.

Sounds like your dogs could also use some training before there's a more serious incident Answer #2: > I understand we are responsible for this, but by law are we required to pay for the whole bill (for the cats surgery)?

Yes.  You are responsible for the damage your property causes to other property.  You don't get a say in how much it costs to fix.  Just like you couldn't decide that replacing a car bumper was too expensive so they should just throw the car out, you can't say surgery is too expensive so let the cat die.  Answer #3: Just because section 3342 only talks about liability when a dog bites a human, does not mean there is no liability when your dog injures or destroys another person's property as well.

As for the value of the dog vs. the value of the surgery - [it depends](http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/dog-book/chapter9-6.html), but is going to be judged by what is reasonable costs to return the owner to their previous position. It could be that it is capped at the cost to replace the dog; or it could be the full veterinary costs plus replacement cost plus the "peculiar value" of the dog if the animal died. It's going to depend on the circumstances.

Contact your renters insurance; it's entirely possible they will cover it.


Title: The Police and Military have been surveilling me for the past 2 years.

Question:
I live in North America. They've been illegally (or legally, I'm not sure) intercepting my online communications for the past 2 and a half years.

The worst part is that they're violating my expectation to privacy by revealing to everyone the fact that I'm a grown ass man who enjoys watching porn, first to the people I work with and to each other. This created what I considered to be a hostile work environment that was ultimately fueled by what I consider to be racism.

Should I pursue legal action? I've since released but the surveillance has continued. Presumably to continue the slandering of my reputation in my new place of employment.

Edit: I'm aware you think I'm crazy.

Answer:
 Based on the phrases and language op uses, I highly doubt he was ever actually in the military. This reads like someone trying hard to play a role but never spent a significant of time in that environment.

That, coupled with the slip into the wrong (also new) alt account, makes me think ~~this is just a troll~~ edit: that the salient facts are not completely accurate.


Title: [WASHINGTON] Roommate trying to break lease for school, I'm worried about the wording in the lease.

Question:
We know we'll need to pay. The problem is the wording. Bolded question at bottom, relevant section below.

"Section 11 early move out. You will be liable to us for a reletting charge of $2850 if you:

One fail to give written move out notice as required in paragraph 23 or 37; or

Two move out without paying rent in full for the entire lease term or renewal.; Or

Three move out or demand because of your default; or

Four are judicial evicted.

The reletting charge is not a cancellation fee and does not release you from your obligations under this lease contract.

Not a release. The reletting charge is not a lease cancellation fee or buyout fee. It is an agreed to liquidated amount covering only part of our damages, that is, our time, effort, and expense in finding in processing a replacement. These damages are uncertain and difficult to ascertain – particularly those relating to inconvenience, paperwork, advertising, showing apartments, utilities for showing, checking prospects,  Office overhead, marketing cost, and locator – services fees. You agree that the reletting charge is a reasonable estimate of such damages and that the charges do whether or not a reletting attempt succeed. If no amount is stipulated, you must pay our actual reletting cost so far as they can be determined. The reletting charge does not release you from continued liability for: future or past – due rent; charges for cleaning, repairing, repainting, or on return the keys; or other sums due.

Lease buy out. If you desire to buy out your lease contract early please refer to your lease buyout agreement. If you have not been provided with a lease buyout agreement you must contact us regarding such an agreement. Elise buyout may not be available in all cases. Other than as required by law or otherwise stated in this lease contract the lease contract by out agreement should cover the means by which you may terminate this lease contract before the end of the term. "

**OUR PROBLEM** We were not given a lease buyout agreement. The roommates family has offered to pay the early move-out fee and all of us leave, but reading closely it doesn't seem to absolve us of paying rent until a new tenant is found.

We could check a lease buy out option, but it's stated it's not available all the time. We're tempted to ask roommate's family to just cover the rent for roommate until our lease is up, but if we could move as well I wouldn't complain. Just can't justify letting them pay 4K plus.

Edit: our questions:

1) are we responsible for rent until they find a new person, even with the fee paid?

2) is there any provision for breaking a lease if it's for schooling?
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: This sub generally works best if you ask a specific question. Without one, all I can do is tell you that your understanding of the lease (that paying the reletting charge doesn't absolve you from paying rent until the unit is re-leased) is correct.


Title: [NJ] Do bicyclists have to follow the laws of the road like cars?

Question: So I was at an busy intersection. The left most lane was for people to turn left on a green arrow. Im in the middle lane watching the cars turn left when all of a sudden this biker comes out and goes straight basically cutting off the cars turning left. My question is if he got hit would it have been his fault or the drivers fault? Im assuming the bicyclists fault since he was running a red light but do they have to stop at a red light like cars.

Answer:
 Yes they do if they’re on the roads. Answer #2: Not 100% sure about NJ as I'm a cyclist in NYC, but generally speaking, bicyclists are governed by all of the same rules of the road as motor vehicles (with some obvious exceptions, e.g. using bike lanes when available). In your case, the bicyclist was absolutely at fault. Red lights govern *all* traffic.Answer #3: Generally bicyclists have to follow the same rules as cars.

Some states allow an "Idaho Stop", where biciclists can treat stop signs as yields, and stop lights as stop signs.


Title: OH apartment wear and tear

Question:
I am moving out, and the only thing my landlord seems to be concerned about is getting out furniture indentations in the carpet. I've had a professional carpet cleaner here from one of the most reputable companies around and he couldn't get some of the indents out. The apt lady said they have to call someone to pick up the carpet and implied it was to release any sort of indentation.

I am guessing that is normal wear and tear? This is hugely stressful for me.

Answer: Totally normal. Why property management is worried about it is beyond me, but since they are I'd watch for them to try and charge you for it.


Title: Landlord overcharged rent and won't return(California)

Question:
My landlord charged me two months of rent via direct deposit after I moved out(I was out of the country volunteering and didn't notice) and is now refusing to return the majority of it citing damages to the house.

Some background: this house has been rented out within my fraternity for a little over a decade, is owned by an alumni's parents, and has been trashed badly over the years. They are trying to claim that I'm responsible for a decade + worth of damages to a room I only lived in for 6 months. I also paid a security deposit which should cover most of the damages anyways. Here's the breakdown he gave me:

2 months rent charged after I moved out: 1120$
Deposit he didn't count: 200$
Broken window: 300$
Items removal (his sons desk, safe, and AC unit) 700$

So all in all he's completely ignoring my security deposit and also not refunding the rent I was charged after I moved out. My guess is that he's pissed that his house got trashed for a decade, and is using this as an avenue to get some of that money back as he gets ready to sell it.

What are my legal options? Thank you for any advice.

Answer: You can sue him in small claims court for any part of your deposit he didn't return.


Title: Uncle is messing with my grandmothers medicine

Question:
North Carolina

I look after my grandmother (she still lives by herself) she has memory problems (not sure if it's dementia/altz). She is currently on memory and blood pressure medicine. I go up to her house twice a week and fill up one of the mon-sun medicine containers. I'm also the one that takes her to the doctor and such.

About 2 weeks ago I went up to her house and noticed all her medicine was out of the containers I put them in and she was taking them by memory from the bottle every morning.  She get's paranoid and my uncle convinced her I was filling them up wrong...

When it was time for her doctors appointment she hadn't taken half of her blood pressure meds, and over half of her memory pills!  The doctor fussed at her and me (I'm glad he did) and she promised to listen to me and take them the way I told her to. So I fill them up again and think all is well, however I back to her house a few days later and they are all out of the containers again and she said my uncle said I put them in wrong again and now she won't listen to me.

My uncle has power of attorney on her will, I'm not sure if he's trying to kill her...or what his problem is. He doesn't do anything for her my side of the family does everything for her...She is so paranoid she literally takes a magnifying glass to her pills every morning to make sure it's right (even though she would have no way of knowing if it was or not).

Is there anything I can do? She has very very very high blood pressure and missing these meds could kill her. I try to go up as much as I can but I have a pretty busy life atm.

Thanks for reading.

tldr; Uncle is messing up my grandmothers medication and I don't know if I can do anything about it.

Answer:
 [Call APS immediately](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/assistance/adult-services/adult-protective-services). Your uncle's interference with your grandmother's medication may well kill her - your concerns are spot on. APS can intervene to remove your grandmother from your uncle's care, or recommend criminal charges if appropriate.

If APS opts not to intervene, you can also speak to an elder law attorney about suing to invalidate the power of attorney and to gain medical guardianship over your grandmother.Answer #2: maybe you should speak to your grandma's doctor about the idea of setting her meds up in [blister packs](https://www.pillthing.com/products/weekly-or-monthly-blister-pack-kits). these kits you can buy you fill and seal yourself, so it's obvious if they've been messed with once the pills are loaded in them. this might help make grandma feel better about her medication (tell her the doctor had them set up for her like this so they don't get mixed up) and to keep someone else from   reorganizing things and confusing her.

Maybe this is a short term solution while you work on getting uncle removed as POA?


Title: Sister is sole majority share holder of numerous S-corps that we inherited from our Father. My other sister and I (5% each) are not receiving dividends

Question:
My oldest sister is a 90% share holder in an S-corp located in California that we inherited from our father. My younger sister and I are 5% share holders and have not been receiving dividends. My oldest sister has been starting and expanding various business ventures and using the profit to do so. She hasn't been giving us any shares in her new business ventures and she has made it clear that we will not be receiving any proceeds from them.

How much of a case do we have here and what's the best way to go about this without creating family strife?

Answer:
 The first question I have is that, are there any requirements for dividends to be paid out for the company? Companies don't have to pay out dividends, they can merely reinvest the money into the company to continue with operations. Answer #2: First, you should request access to all corporate documents (incorporation filings, minutes, bylaws, any and all). Then you should request financial statements for the period of time you have owned a stake in the company. You should document the requests and any response you get.

Then take these items to an accountant that is familiar with this type of thing. Determine whether shenanigans are in fact occurring. Depending, find a business litigator (the accountant may know a guy) and sue.

Family strife already exists if she's stealing, but that's an issue for /r/relationships.


Title: [CA] If my spouse and I die jointly, who gets our stuff?

Question: Hey all. My husband and I are getting ready to go on an international trip together. We have no kids, just fur babies. I'm wondering if our plane crashes into the Pacific Ocean, who gets our stuff, since we don't have a will? We have some rental property and quite a bit of investments. I know I need to make a will, but I don't know if I'll get it done before our trip. Just curious how this plays out in the California system. We both have parents, grandparents, and siblings.

Answer:
 It would go to your next of kin. In your case your parents.

Absent a will and if you had absolutely no next of kin your possessions would revert to the state.


Title: HOA Playground

Question: I belong to a community which has a HOA managed green space with a nice little lake and decent view from my back yard. Some of the home owners want to build a playground in the green area for their children. The HOA is not involved. They have taken a stance of not being involved. Is there anyway I can keep them from building it? They have a majority vote but I think there is no way they can legally do this. Who is responsible if a child gets hurt? I'm located in IA. If u need more info let me know.

Answer:
 > Is there anyway I can keep them from building it? They have a majority vote but I think there is no way they can legally do this. Who is responsible if a child gets hurt?

Kid's can't even have playgrounds anymore because people are worried about who to sue when they slip and fall?


Title: [CA] My father is planning on moving to [PA] after retirement, almost certainly to force me to pay his bills. What can I do to protect myself?

Question:
My father and I have a rocky relationship. He was largely absent during my childhood, gave my child support checks to his ex GF who cashed them and & spent the money, saw me at most for two weeks a year - although in his mind he was a great parent. We have a relationship because I make the effort, mostly so my son has his grandfather in his life - and he does behave well when around him. Otherwise I would have left him to his paranoid narcissistic ravings years ago.

Recently he's been telling me that he plans on selling his home in California, "living it up" for a few years and then retiring to a small town in Pennsylvania, because apparently people are more real there. He has no living family there, and no friends. Whatever, you do you.

I recently discovered that children can be held accountable for debts incurred by their parents in Pennsylvania,  and I suspect this is the reason he wants to move there. My father has an obsession with trying to get other people to pay his expenses, and is obsessed with money in general. He keeps score - he thinks he "won" against his ex wife because she spent her life savings on living expenses and left the marriage penniless, but hates my mother because he was ordered to pay child support, and she's managed to become quite successful since the divorce. He brings up bills he supposedly paid, but didn't, like my college tuition. He regularly asks how much my partner and I are making, lies about his bills and pleads poor - when I know (because he asked my to fix something an I accidentally saw documentation) that he is well off, not even including a paid off house in an expensive California metropolis. I believe he thinks I "owe" him because I don't live in poverty. I'm not wealthy, I just live within my means, and provide for my family.

My question, is there any way to protect myself from this? I'm saving for my own retirement and my child's future, and I'm already behind because of shenanigans he pulled previously. Additionally, my partner really wants to get married, but I'm afraid of burdening them with my father's debt.

Answer:
 You could be held responsible for medical bills. Nothing else.

Holding you responsible for said bills requires a pretty specific set of circumstances. Including him being your caregiver during your childhood iirc

**Edit**: So I looked up the specifics on exceptions. Primarily these are being unable to financially support said parent, and the parent abandoning the child. Estrangement after you've attained adulthood is not a factor.

That said, pursuing this is going to require, generally, dad being admitted to a permanent care facility/nursing home/etc, his assets being exhausted (those places won't just accept "I don't have it."), AND expenses being incurred in excess of what Medicaid can provide.

If he maxes out his Visa or does other dumb shit that's still on him.

**EDIT THE SECOND** Linking [this response](https://np.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/6kupfs/ca_my_father_is_planning_on_moving_to_pa_after/djp3ove/) by /u/Metafx clarifying the state issue. Everything I'm basing the above on is assuming that OP gets held liable for this debt despite being not a resident of PA. Answer #2: Make sure to avoid personal jurisdiction in PA. Don't do business there, own property there, or anything of the likeAnswer #3: Not a lot to worry about, PA doesn't have personal jurisdiction over you if you've never been there, don't do business, etc.Answer #4: ~~That's not how this works~~

 Edit: Apparently this *is* how this works. Please refer to the other posts, I don't want to delete this post for the benefit of future readers with the same question/seemingly incorrect belief. Answer #5: FYI: Here is the law so you can read it for yourself.

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=23&div=0&chpt=46


Title: President Trump Megathread, Part 3

Question:
Please ask any **legal** questions related to President Donald Trump and the current administration in this thread. All other individual posts will be removed and directed here. Personal political opinions are fine to hold, but they have no place in this thread.

**EDIT** - *I thought it would go without saying that legal questions should be grounded in some sort of basis in fact. This thread, and indeed this sub, is not the right place to bring your conspiracy theories about how the President is actually one of the lizard people, secretly controlled by Russian puppetmasters, or anything else absurd. Random questions that are hypotheticals that are lacking any basis in fact will be removed.*

Location: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Part 1:

https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/5qebwb/president_trump_megathread/

Part 2:

https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/5ruwvy/president_trump_megathread_part_2/

Answer:
 If POTUS ordered the army to do something directly opposed to an order from SCOTUS (example: POTUS orders army to ignore SCOTUS' order to stop deportations, orders them to forcefully kick out people anyway), would the generals be required to take a specific side or would they listen to Congress at that point? Answer #2: Can media organizations sue Trump for slandering their brand by called them "fake news"?

Apologies if this have been ask, I search in this thread as best I couldAnswer #3: If the coming info exposes specifics of a hypothetical quid pro quo involving  team Trump, Russian help in the election and lifting the Crimea related sanctions, does that put Exxon in legal peril under Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (or other) regarding the deal it has with Rosneft?

If it does, will that render the entire deal dead or would there be some 100 million USD slap on the wrist? Yes, that is a slap on the wrist, they would pay that tomorrow to allow this deal to continue.
Answer #4: Okay, what's the deal with the whole presidential records act? I see all over twitter people are talking about if Trump deleting tweets violates the act, if it matters if its a tweet from @RealDonaldTrump or @POTUS, whether white house staffers are violating the law if they are using Whisper or Signal or any other encrypted messaging app... Can we just get a run down on what the presidential records act is, who it covers, if Trump is potentially violating it by just deleting tweets, and if he IS then what would happen?


Title: Signed job offer letter. Letter says its "a valid and binding agreement", but I want to renege the offer.

Question:
So basically I got an offer from company B and accepted it. The document I signed lays out the vacation days + $$, and says its a "valid and binding agreement".

However, my current company counter offered an insane offer to me since I signed and I have now changed my mind.

Are there any legal ramifications to me telling Company B that I have to back out of the signed contract?

For the record, I am in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Thank you.

**UPDATE**

Told recruiter who originally placed me that I'm reneging my acceptance. She was pissed and told me I'd be replaced in 6 months. I told her I'm OK with that risk and we parted ways. Thanks everyone.

Answer:
 You cannot be compelled to work for someone. Unless your agreement sets out a specific, fixed end date and termination criteria, Ontario presumes employment ~~is at-will~~ can be terminated by the employee (edit: thanks, u/I_did_naaaht!), so it's no different than if you'd quit with no notice: [rude, but not actionable](http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/faqs/general.php#notice).

As u/Municipalis points out, in the unlikely situation that company B has some demonstrable damages as a result of your choice to breach the agreement, then they can come after you for those. I'd suspect that's not a risk here, but apply your own judgement: you have the full facts of the situation and we don't.Answer #2: This is more life advice, but despite the counter offer being insane it is generally highly recommended not to take those no matter what.

Basically they may pay you that amount for a while, but odds are decent they will be looking to replace you.

I say that as someone who got a 50% higher counter offer and didn't take it.  That said I did talk to the new company about 6 months later that I felt I was underpaid (which is also not generally recommended TBH) and they fixed the pay.


Title: What is needed to prove a statutory rape case?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 the answer to that question goes to admissibility, availability, whatever happens leading up to trial...any number of legal and logistical circumstances.

suffice it to say, the police can decide whether or not to investigate if someone reports a crime to them.


Title: Local Manhattan Bagel (Redding CA) resells Costco croissants- is this legal?

Question: My local Manhattan Bagel buys croissants from Costco, wraps them in cellophane and resells them for six bucks a pop.

Answer:
 Costco is a wholesale store. A large part of their business is selling stock to other stores, which resell it on their own shelves.  If it wasn't legal, Costco wouldn't exist.Answer #2: Sure, why not? Unless they lie about the origin of the croissants, they're not deceiving you. Many food sellers get at least part of their stock from somewhere else.

You're the sucker paying $6 for a croissant.Answer #3: Why on earth would that be illegal? Almost every store gets stuff like that from places like Costco and Sysco.


Title: Felony expunged. Career with law enforcement possible?

Question:
About 12 years I was convicted of felony assault with great bodily injury (called a wobbler by my lawyer at the time) in the state California. About 2 years ago, I had the charge reduced to a misdemeanor and then expunged.

My question is, do I have to tell law enforcement recruiters that I was once convicted of a felony? Will it come up in a background check for any careers with POST requirements (911 dispatch, sheriff, police)

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Answer:
 Yes, not only do you do a background check, they do an interview that lasts about 2 hours. During that interview they'll ask you about crimes and anything illegal you have done, including expungements.

Also, legally you may not be able to carry a gun.


Title: What is considered Fraud?

Question:
I am working for a place in colorado and I work close to 90 hours a week at 10 cents below minimum wage and don’t make commissions. I also haven’t been pay for any of my hours over 80 hours.

Is this legal? Is this considered fraud?

Answer:
 This isn't fraud. It's probably not legal, but it's not fraud either. File a wage claim with the Department of Labor

There are some occupations/businesses that are exempt from the requirements of local and federal minimum wage and overtime laws.


Title: Realtor Agent in Virgnia Won't Return Application

Question:
Hey guys, I just recently graduated from college and have been looking for apartments in the northern Virginia area.

My friend and I got interested in this one apartment and contacted the realtor agent. We then discussed details and, when I decided to continue with it, he sent me a rental application for me to fill
out. We've met him in person once and called him a couple times. For some reason, each time we called him he seemed rather annoyed and not-wanting to talk to us. I was also in the middle of asking a question one call and he just interrupted me and said to email it to him instead.

My friend and I proceeded to fill out the application w/ details such as SSN, credit accounts, offer letter, addresses, etc and also included in the package a check for the first full month of rent and application fee.

We then mailed out the full package to the realtor for the landlord's approval. While the package was still in transit, the realtor emailed back to us saying we most likely won't be able to get approved since he thinks we ask too many questions and also are just new grads. From his wording, I had doubts we would get approved so I told him we would try to intercept the package mid-transit. I called FedEx to intercept it and they said they would, but come the next day, I find out Fedex made a mistake and accidentally delivered the package.

The realtor immediately emailed us telling us he skimmed our package and suddenly seems like he may be able to get it approved (probably b/c our new grad salaries were pretty high and won't be an issue). Despite that, my friend and I found him to be very unprofessional and decided not to follow through. We told him to place send our full application back to us (checks included). By the way, in his previous email before he received the application he said he will send the application back to us without charging the application fee if we want to.

Fast forward about a week from now and he still hasn't responded to us or mailed the package. I've called him several times to no avail. Both my friend and I have sent emails to him to no avail.

We don't feel safe with the checks  (~$2000) and our personal information with him. Is there anything we can do? I also tried calling the realtor agency he works at but they haven't gotten back to me yet.

Answer: Cancel the checks and move on with your life.


Title: Can you legally block a driveway waiting for a school bus?

Question:
Inspired by another post, I figured I'd ask about this. Some random woman lurks at the top of my driveway every day Monday-Friday, completely blocking it off. Evidently she is waiting for the school bus, but she is up there at like 2:00 pm, remaining there until 3:55 when the bus actually arrives, and it is a pain in the ass getting her to move her car every time I want to go somewhere. She is constantly complaining if I ask her to leave my driveway, saying her child NEEDS her right there.

Can I get the bus stop changed or something? There aren't even any kids in school in my house or in the neighbors in either side. It's a busy road and I totally understand not wanting the kid walking by himself, but I am so sick of dealing with this.

Answer:
 No, you likely can't get the bus stop changed.  You can, however, have her cited for blocking your driveway. Or towed. Or fined. Or ticketed.

Since you neglected to tell anyone where you are, it's hard to tell what action you can take. Answer #2: She's IN your driveway? Like, the private driveway to your house or blocking the entrance to an apartment building?

Call the non-emergency line and tell them you have a trespasser who is blocking your driveway and refusing to move.


Title: My friend has an online job in my name--how much trouble can we get in and how do we avoid it?

Question:
My friend was in the process of getting a divorce when he was arrested for an old warrant in another state.  Turns out they didn't want him, but the school where he teaches investigated him and found porn and a racy chat on the iPad he was using.  He was fired, received a settlement but then lost his license, so he is untrained to do much of anything right now.

He blew through the settlement and nine months later had not one interview.  I got him a job telemarketing, but it was only $9 and 20 hours per week.  He tried to get an online customer service job but couldn't get through the technical test of his computer.  We did it on mine, but the site would not let him proceed under his name, so we tried mine.  He was hired to do customer service for a big name phone company.

He is applying under his own name, but it is taking time and he literally would have been on the street in November if he hadn't developed an income source. He owes me, his mother and sister thousands already so none of us really felt comfortable floating him again.

He is in California; I am in Washington.

I am not concerned about taxes because I am in school.  The background check and drug test were initiated up here. He may not have passed at the time, but assures me he can by now (to get the job in his own name).

How much trouble could we get into and how do we minimize the chances of that trouble?

Answer: There are numerous kinds of fraud that you both are involved in- this is a terrible idea.


Title: My buddy was told by a person at the court house he couldn't get an annulment because the 1 year date isn't 6 months away.

Question:
Maryland.

So my friend is trying to get an annulment rather than a divorce, his soon to be ex wife wanted to wait two weeks before they filed which would put them one week after their anniversary when she told him to wait.

He went to the court house and the person working at the counter said the state of Maryland wouldn't recognize it because it's so close to the one year mark. This doesn't sound right to me.

Edit: So there appears to be no time limit in Maryland for an annulment and the clerk was wrong, thanks u/AnotherGuyinOhio for pointing me in the right direction.

u/panic_bread was completely useless in helping out.

Answer:
 On what grounds is he asking for an annulment instead of a divorce? And annulment isn't granted just because two people haven't been married for very long. It's usually granted because one or both of the married people lied about something or otherwise made the reasons for the marriage false. Answer #2: >u/panic_bread was completely useless in helping out.

Dear lord, you asked for free advice dude, don't be pissy about what you got.Answer #3: [Maryland Annulment Info](http://www.divorcenet.com/resources/annulment/annulment-basics/maryland.htm)


Title: School had me sign legally binding documents at 16 and wants to hold me accountable now (21)

Question:
I took college classes at UCM in high school and just now, after years 4 years of not hearing anything from them, I received copies of my enrollment papers.
It has my birthday and signature and the date signed as well as my mom's signature and date signed. I was sixteen when I signed these papers.
They want me to pay them $700 which is more than double what it cost when I took them. I never got the credits from them and I never received a transcript.

How do I fight this? They're taking out of my state(Missouri) tax returns now.

Answer:
 Contracts that minors enter into are void*able,* not void. Products and services they agree to pay for are not void, if they received them.

You agreed to pay for classes, which you took and completed. You were able to void the contract prior to taking the classes, but not after. If minors contracts were voidable after performance, you could buy anything in the world then demand your money back without returning.


Title: Speeding 5x over 100 km/h speed limit, court date coming up. Alberta/Canada

Question:
So this was within city limits,  I was issued the ticket but no immediate removal of license or anything like that.

My court date is in a couple days, the officer told me at the time I'll see him then, and he'll have the dash cam footage and all that.

So, do i go to court and hope for the best? Plead guilty?  Get a lawyer? I probably can't afford one unless special deal could be made.

At this point I'm just hoping the fee isn't over 1k and I don't lose my license.

edit: at this point my record should be totally clear beside this infraction, i had a lot of speeding tickets in early 20's, but as i'm in my 30's now they should all be gone.

edit 2: oh, and by 5x i don't mean 5 times the speed limit, i mean fifty something over. Obviously.

Answer: Wait, you were going 500 kph? How are you not in prison?


Title: Physical Exam Implied Consent?

Question:
I (M, 20) applied for a college and they required physical examination. This will be my first physical exam since I was a minor. This was back in January but I think I may have “mini-PSTD” from this experience.

Anyway she checked my heart beat and stuff. And we went into a curtain-covered area where I laid down a “bed.” She asked/ said, “Let’s see okay?” Then she raises up my shirt to see my abdomen before me saying yes, even though I didn’t mind. Then, she says, “You don’t have any past surgery/ scars right?” Then pulls down my short pants on my roght side until before (or maybe it was already visble) my pubic hair is seen probably see my lower abdomen for scars.

At that moment I felt slightly violated (didn’t consent to her pulling down my pants like that) but thought it was normal procedure. Is my being there for a physical exam imply my consent? Is my giving implied consent for her tosee my abdomen also give implied consent for her to see my lower abdomen by lowering my pants? I’m thinking also that if she did ask first if she could pull down my pants, I would (and probably some patients too) not consent and therefore the physical examination would be “unsuccessful.” I would like to think this is just normal procedure and implied consent, but is it?

Answer:
 It is perfectly normal to move aside articles of clothing during a physical exam. As a matter of bedside manner, some practitioners have a different approach, but you certainly aren't describing anything illegal.

If you think you have ptsd from this, you should seek therapy for what are presumably other underlying issues.Answer #2: Just FYI, this is normal procedure for a physical exam, for males and females (although, I was under the impression that males get their junk felt). This is why people usually request a Male or female doctor/nurse, to help feel more comfortable. If you get PTSD from that sort of procedure, you might want to request the examiner to vocalize what they are going to do beforehand. EX: "I'm going to lift your shirt. Im going to touch here"


Title: Please help, confused and stressed. I was accused of assault at work by a coworker. She told hr I did it. They removed me from the site, and had her text me my services will no longer be needed. Office is ignoring my calls, and simply removed me from the schedule. I want to sue her mostly.

Question:
Coworker who also used to be my supervisor a while back, accused me of trying to hit her with my car. We had an argument one week,where I walked away from her. She tried to write me up even though she has no authority, but my current supervisor stops it. A week later she comes in 3rd shift and doesn’t say anything to me. It was a Friday. This is a truck lot.  Come Monday I get a message from her telling me I won’t be needed on site and call the office with any questions. I call our supervisor who is posted at same site with us. He said she accused me of trying to hit her with my car, he told her to, tell the office since he couldn’t do anything.  She accused me of something so heinous they just, took me of the job and  schedule. I called the office and few managers pleading my case. I would never have known why if my supervisor didn’t tell me. She likes power, and this isn’t the 1st time she accused people of stuff to get rid of them. I want to see if I have a case against the company, or mostly her, I was freaking out because i though I would be arrested, and I didn’t wanna go to the office. I would like to sue her for lost wages, defamation, mental stress and so on. I know I’m at will in Ohio, but she accused me of trying to harm her with my car!
.

Answer: Consult with a local civil attorney. They can tell you if you have a good case that's worth your time to pursue.


Title: Some might sue me for libel for DOXing them on facebook. Help.

Question:
As a breakdown:

1) I was running beside a popular canal in our town and saw a raft of trash floating down it. I followed it for a mile until I could safely pull it out.

2) It was full of a lot of junk, but mail associated with a single name/address, too. So I took pictures of the mail and the trash.

3) I called the police and they said they'd check out the address.

4) I posted the photos on my city's local facebook page (it has about 3,000 people in it) with a "Shame on you!" message and neglected to blur the name/address. The person was quickly tagged and defended himself/herself. He/she said it was put by the curb and they have no idea how it got into the canal on the other side of town..

5) Police visit them, no evidence, so that's that. They go to the police station to file a report (I guess) against me for harassment. There's nothing criminal, so he/she mentions the possibility of a civil suit.

I did delete the photos and apologized and he accepted the apology and we seemed to leave it on a good note-- but my questions are:

1) When will I know if this becomes a civil suit?

2) Would he have a strong case? I'm in Nebraska.

Answer:
 >When will I know if this becomes a civil suit?

You'll receive papers from a court (most likely, your county's court) informing you that you're being sued.

> Would he have a strong case? I'm in Nebraska.

I don't have all the facts and I'm not your lawyer. So I can't really answer this for you. The person would need to prove that your false statements harmed them.


Title: I want to get a divorce

Question:
Located in north Louisiana.
What steps do I take in the divorce process? We also have a small child. How would I go about obtaining primary or full custody?

Answer: You get a lawyer and file for a divorce and custody.


Title: Is it illegal for a construction contractor to be pre paid for a job and use that money on personal bills and things and then tell me he doesn’t have enough to hire a crew for the job he was paid for and that he needs to borrow more money ?

Answer: Does it sound like it’s legal? Sounds like he’s defrauding you. Probably end up doing a runner with your money. Don’t give him another penny and take him to court


Title: [NH] Landlord Changed Apartment After Accepting a Deposit, First Month's Rent and Signing a Lease

Question:
Good morning /r/legaladvice.

This weekend I had been set to move into an apartment at a complex in southern NH. My roommate and I toured this place on July 13, and paid two application fees of $60, plus put a $500 deposit down on this apartment (#12). At the tour the company gave us a quote for first month's rent for this apartment of $693 (prorated until the first of the coming month) + $250 pet fee.

After passing the background and credit check, we were notified that we were accepted into the complex and our unit. I then sent my 30 day notice to my current landlord on July 19, and paid the $693 + $250 on August 10.

Come yesterday (Aug. 14) The company notifies me that  our unit is no longer available (The old tenants are suddenly staying?), and that we have the option between two other units, none of which have all the attractions to the first one (third floor, vaulted ceilings, renovations, etc.).

The thing that gets me is that we signed a lease, one that specifically states that no changes may be made without written consent by both parties. Does this include the address and unit number?

With only four days left to choose a lesser value apartment or find another one I'm kind of lost on where to go. How can they take our deposit with someone still living there? isn't that holding two deposits?

Any advice on where to go would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Answer: OP- I will slightly disagree with /u/ohio_redditor and advise that your landlord *may* not have an obligation to deliver the rental unit to you. You need to review your *entire* lease to see if it has a section on delivery/possession. Most leases I've seen have a clause that allows the lease to be dissolved (or re-negotiated) if the landlord is unable to deliver the unit due to forces outside of their control (such as a tenant refusing to leave). If there is a clause such as this in your lease, your landlord is not in breach of the lease.


Title: Invoking the ACLU

Question: I have a messy situation on my hands and I will spare you the details. Ultimately, I went to a highly selective graduate school. One administrator gave me malicious vibes the whole time, basically attempting to induce an impostor syndrome and make me feel like I am not cut out for the field. I do well anyway and 2 years into the program I get a relatively bad evaluation in one of several sites that I am interning at. This administrator catches wind of the bad evaluation and commands that the internship is terminated. She then brings me up on trumped up charges of unprofessionalism and states that because I was "dismissed" from the internship that this is grounds for expulsion from the program. I get expelled within one week of getting below-average marks on a subjective evaluation. No hearing and the dismissal meeting is them basically handing me a paper saying I am dismissed. Their handbooks did not support their actions at all so after they expelled me they reworked certain sections of it to make it fit. Did I mention that graduate school cost $90,000? I have hired an attorney but worry about meeting all the legal fees associated with litigation over the next 2-3 years. I am relatively sure that the ACLU could get on board with this. However, I am not sure how they might influence things moving forward since I already have representation. Reinstatement into this program is not an option. Credits do not transfer over, either. Hypothetically, how might invoking the ACLU influence the outcome?

Answer: At the risk of asking a silly question, why have you not just literally called the ACLU in your state and asked them?


Title: Neighbor trespassed and left dog shit in house

Question:
So the neighbors upstairs moved in not long ago and have made a lot more noise than the previous tenants. Fast forward- There has been a war of attrition brewing and we are in the first stages. It has escalated astonishingly quickly- my roommate decided rather childishly to retaliate with noise while drunk rather than speaking to them about it. Stupid.

However, their response to my roommate throwing a book at the ceiling twice- (I heard it and asked what the hell was going on...?) Breaking into our house and leaving a pile of dog shit in the house behind the couch which I stepped in. That was the next day before anything could be said about it.

Now I don't think he acted smartly by getting drunk and throwing shit at the ceiling, but I'm a little surprised that the neighbor, realizing that there are not just one but two of us living here, and he and I at least have a good rapport, didn't at least come down and have a conversation about it. This battle is brewing and I need to stop it if possible.

How do I know this was his dog? We haven't had any dogs in the house for God knows how long and cleaned the house from top to bottom last week- sitting cleaning and moving furniture and shit. Also it was fresh. My roommate leaves the apartment door open on his way out in the morning and this might have been an opportunity. Not sure how the neighbor would know that though... ???

Not saying what my roommate did was right, definitely in the wrong, but holy hell, trespassing and vandalizing??? I'm thinking we need to find a police report initially without making accusations, and I'll send out the sample to a company called pooprints to get the sample sequenced if possible.

My thoughts are to have a conversation with them and try to sort this out civilly. A serious conversation with my roommate too. However if we have further trouble, then we will ask for a fecal sample from his dog to ensure that it wasn't his and therefore no laws were broken. A little freaked out that someone was in the place doing this.

Does this sound like a reasonable plan? Any better ideas? Is this upstairs neighbor a complete psycho??? How careful should we be here?

Answer:
 First and foremost tell your roommate to knock off the shenanigans and lock the freaking door.

Second, install security cameras at the entrance to your place (inside or out).

Third, approach the neighbor and attempt to work it out. That being said, someone who leaves literal shit behind after breaking and entering is probably not down for civility.


Title: How common is buying a business to shut it down?

Question:
I've seen a few posts saying they worked in businesses and someone else buys it, and soon shuts it down.
This is legal right?

Answer:
 There’s nothing illegal about it.

Unless you do something else, like say you buy a business, take out large business loans, siphon the money to yourself, and then wind it up then yeah that kind of thing is illegal.

But let’s say you don’t like that pizza place down the road. Makes the street smell like pizza. Yuck. You can buy it just so you can shutter it. Nothing illegal about that.


Title: [TX] Disgruntled customer lost lawsuit. Now he is targeting personal lives of employees

Question:
Throwaway for this issue. There is a tl;dr at the end if someone doesn't want to read everything.

My aunt is a lesbian and she has a wife. She works for a small company which was sued by a disgruntled customer. The customer lost in court and now he (the customer) is targeting the personal facebook profiles of employees (including my aunt). My aunt and her wife like to downplay their sexuality, since they live in a very religious rural southern town where this can bring unwanted attention and affect their personal and professional life, and the safety of them, their property, and their pet dogs and cats. He creates fake accounts on FB and comments on their profiles and pictures, and draws attention to their sexuality. They don't want to turn their facebook private because they get business from people who contact them on facebook.

He has even made a lot of fake accounts to post fake reviews on Yelp and that is a major source of business for them. All the employees are afraid that he is going to come in one day with a gun and shoot up the place. That is also affecting their business since people in the town are afraid to start working over there. The company was going to take out an AD in the county newspaper, but he is friends with the editor of the county newspaper, so they refused to print the AD saying that they did not want to be involved. This is obviously affecting their business too.

What are their options? What should they do? Obviously my aunt is concerned more about her personal safety and life as compared to the company, but she also wants to help the company since she has worked there forever. This is a small company, so it does not have a legal department or something which can help. The company pretty much is looking to her for ideas and so they will respect her ideas, since she is the oldest employee there (age and tenurewise).

Any and all advice is welcome. We do not know a lot about restraining orders or other kinds of protection etc. or if they would be allowed here (since he hasn't made a direct threat to any employee yet), but we are open to all advice.

**TL:DR: Lesbian aunt (has a wife) works for a small company in rural texas which was sued by a disgruntled customer. He (the customer) lost in court and now he is targeting the personal facebook profiles of my aunt and posting their pictures and bashing them for being lesbians. They live in a very religious southern town where this can bring unwanted attention and affect their personal and professional life, and the safety of them, their property, and their pet dogs and cats. What are their options?**

Answer: You might be able to seek a civil restraining order.  Depends on the level of harassment.  Not familiar with Texas law on the issue... sorry.Answer #2: They should block this guy on facebook and report his posts.


Title: Surgeon stitched a face into my stomach and it has a 'herpes sore'

Question: [removed]

Answer: OP has sent proof of a scar and protruding belly button.


Title: Help a girl out? Employer demands a 60-day resignation notice, but I already found a new job. Can he force me to stay? (San Francisco)

Question:
IN BRIEF:

I work for a religious organization, but I decided to resign because of problems with co-workers and interview for a new job. I got a job offer (yay!) and put in my two weeks notice - but then my current employer said I wasn't allowed to leave.

&#x200B;

SUMMARY:

Originally, I handed in my resignation on **April 10,** informing the office that I wanted to resign by the end of the month. On **April 14,** the supervisor informed me that there is a policy at the organization that says "A written resignation shall be sent to the supervisor 60 days before leaving the office."

&#x200B;

**During that same meeting on April 14,** and he said (in person, not over email unfortunately) that he wouldn't bring out the policy to pressure me. Therefore, I believed that I was not going to be held to the policy, **but my supervisor changed his mind today and said I had to supply a 60-day notice before leaving.** He even told another co-worker that I wasn't actually leaving.

&#x200B;

Now, I'm stuck between this job and my future job.

&#x200B;

QUESTIONS:

r/legaladvice, is it legal for my employer to demand a 60-day notice from me right now?

Can I do anything without written evidence?

What would be the consequences if I left right now and went to work at my new job?

(I don't have a written contract, if that makes a difference)

Answer:
 A policy has no particular legal force. A contract would. Do you have a contract? Is it _mutually_ binding - that is, does it also obligate your employer to give you similar amounts of notice, or otherwise obligate them to provide specific benefits?

Ultimately, no, they can't force you to continue working. The 13th Amendment ensures that. If they experience damages due to breach of some contract, then they can try to pursue you for them, but employees leaving is an ordinary and foreseeable cost of doing business - those damages would generally have to be exceptional.


Title: [CA] POA and Trustee trying to sell off property wont let any family members see whats going on finically.

Question: My Grandmother is getting very ill very fast and we found out that she has signed over her POA and Trustee of her trust to her bookkeeper. The bookkeeper is constantly spending money for repairs on things that are not needed because she is hiring her own family to do the work. Wont let anyone see my grandmothers finances or trust and says theres no will even though my grandmother has said there is one multiple times, And is selling off her properties to pay for things. She has also hired her sister (medically certified Paranoid schizophrenia) to be my grandmothers caretaker. They have also both allowed my drug addicted half brother to move in and live there to help as well, and my grandmother wants him gone but the caretakers say no. Sorry for the rant but is any of this enough to even warrant a try at challenging her POA.

Answer: Elder abuse and [adult protective services for the state of California](http://www.cdss.ca.gov/Adult-Protective-Services/County-APS-Offices).Answer #2: POA and trustee are both revocable. Your grandmother just needs to do it. Did she have a lawyer draft the POA and trust documents? If so, it would be a simple matter for that same attorney to draft the necessary documents, and a mobile notary to visit your grandmother and execute them.