Title: If I use my red official US passport for vacation to Paris how much trouble could I expect?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Well, you aren't allowed to use your red passport for non-official travel. This should have already been explained to you.

I won't comment on exactly what sort of trouble you would get into if you tried, other than to say you don't actually want to find out.Answer #2: Spare yourself the trouble of using the red one. You can pay for an expedited passport renewal. These happen same day if you're in a passport office. Pay for the privilege and go with a clear conscience. Answer #3: The issue you're most likely to face is getting stranded in customs in France. They're going to ask you the purpose of your visit, and you're either going to have to lie and say it's official US business, or you're going to tell the truth. If you lie, that's a whole 'nother can of worms. If you tell the truth, they might not let you in the country.

On your return visit, you're going to have to fill out the same forms about your purpose of travel in Europe - this time to American ICE. If you lie, that's another crime you'll rack up, if you tell the truth, you will have admitted to using the passport for non-sanctioned purposes.

You don't state where you're located, but there are several places across the US where you can walk in and get a passport same day, with heavy fees and proof of imminent travel. Why don't you try that if you're worried about not getting the regular passport back in time? I can~~'t~~ read ... yay!Answer #4: Last time I renewed I'm pretty sure it only took about 2-3 weeks even without expediting, but that was BTAnswer #5: You have to get a visa to travel to France on an official US passport.


Title: Father in law divorcing Alzheimer's mother in law

Question:
First post here. Thanks in advance!

My father in law is in the process of divorcing my mother in law who has advanced Alzheimer's. She's been confirmed by a neurologist, psychiatrist, and countless tests. She has no ability to talk. We do not have power of attorney. He has said he wanted to sell the house, which is in my MIL name. She never worked so she never accrued SS. We live in Texas. All programs we have applied for have been denied due to FIL income. Sister in law who is now the full time provider(forced) is unemployed(recent grad school grad). What steps should we take to get help with getting her providers? Her family is not in the picture and we are all mid 20s and unable to financially take on such a heavy burden. Post more questions and I'll do my new to answer. Thank you in advance!

Answer:
 She cannot be divorced by herself.  She needs a conservator appointed who represents her interest, if she has no ability to talk.  Also, after a long marriage she is entitled to a significant portion of the family assets.

So, don't expect to bear this burden alone.

And do talk to the Alzheimer's assistance programs.


Title: Back pay child support for now adult children. Can I stop this as the child? (Texas)

Question:
When my mother and father separated, my mother briefly had custody of my brother and I but after a short period of time, my father, after step mother's involvement, hired a lawyer and took full custody of us. A child support agreement was made and signed. In ANOTHER short period of time, my father dumped us with his parents and bailed because of a drug addiction but still kept legal custody. Because of this the child support payments would continue to be owed month after month.

My mother refused to pay the child support because it would of just went to his habits and not the children. (Apparently she had no way to prove this fraud to the court so she just opted not to pay)

Her poor choices of the past aside, she's now having roughly $400 taken out of her paychecks monthly since she has a consistent job and paycheck. Both my brother and I are well into our 20's and we don't see any of this back pay child support money my father is taking and neither are my grandparents who raised us.

Is there any way I can stop this as the child of the case? My father refuses to meet with my mother in court to correct this and apparently she can't do anything about it without him there too.

Answer: No.  Child support goes to the parent to help cover some of the costs of raising a child.  The child has no say in the matter.


Title: Shoplifting from Walmart [Indiana]

Question:
My mom was caught shoplifting at Walmart in December, they proceeded to ban her and sent a letter for civil judgement in the mail. I looked her name up on our county courts website and it shows that she was supposed to appear in court yesterday, but she was never served with papers. They've issued a warrant and I'm in desperate need of advice on how to proceed.

She doesn't have a job and she's the full time caregiver of my grandfather so I will be paying her bond and other costs.

Answer: She needs to contact an attorney immediately.  They will be able to hopefully take her before the judge and have the warrant quashed without her getting arrested, if it was in fact a simple mistake.


Title: Abusive husband abandons family in foreign country with no money... 12 years later he sues for custody

Question:
- Husband repeatedly physically abused his wife and then filed for divorce after literally abandoning his family in a foreign country with no money.

- Father paid zero child support while mother worked two jobs to support her kids.

- After 12 years of zero contact and zero child support, father returns and is suing mother for visitation rights.

- Children are 17 and 14 years old and utterly terrified of their father

- Mother has boyfriend who would be willing to marry her and adopt kids if helpful

- Location is Illinois, USA

Is there anything that can be done to prevent these poor innocent children from being forced to spend time with this terrible man?

Answer:
 You want a lawyer for this.

The boyfriend adopting the kids can only happen with the biological father's permission or a court order.Answer #2: Just to clarify, the family came from Othercountry to the U.S. and then the father abandoned them? If they aren't U.S. citizens, that might be relevant. But I'm not a lawyer and have no good advice beyond getting a lawyer, I'm just curious.

I will say that based on everything I've read in this subreddit, I would be very surprised if the courts forced a 17-year-old to spend time with a man they haven't seen in 12 years, and would be also be surprised if they forced a 14-year-old to do the same. The kids are old enough that their wishes should be taken into account.


Title: Need advice regarding super sketchy car bump (NY State)

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Do you have insurance?  Call your insurance company and tell them about the incident.  Then tell this yutz to call your insurance company.

Option 2 would be to just block him and forget about it.  If he does miraculously file suit you can contact your insurance company then.

Since you were at a toll the incident is almost certainly on camera.


Title: Flew to LA for my dream car, it was backed into minutes after buying the car, person responsible won't respond, police won't file a report.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Did you have insurance on another car at the time? Often pre-existing insurance will cover a newly purchased car for 30 days. Answer #2: Sue the driver in small claims court.

Extremely stupid for not having insurance on an alleged dream car in East LA.Answer #3: Did you already own another car that was insured?  When I bought a new car, I called to add it to my existing policy before picking it up.  They thanked me and explained that there was a grace period and I was covered anyway.
Fun fact:  I was rear ended/the car was totaled within the hour.  30 miles on the odometer.Answer #4: I'm just really curious. What is the dream car?Answer #5: Find the dude, prove he damage the car, sue him for $10.5K. You might need to get a lawyer to do it for you in LA.


Title: Living in a college dormitory in Connecticut, left a steak in a plastic bag in my sink to defrost with the water running. I forgot and it ran for 2 hours. I damaged the dorm, am I liable for them to come after me for compensation? Or does the college have go through their insurance?

Question: Title. I know I'm stupid, btw.

Answer: They will probably go through insurance, but then the insurance company will sue you.


Title: [WI] Severely Injured @ Waterpark - do I have a (legal) leg to stand on?

Question: [WI] I was in shallow water (around shin height) in a wave pool when a wave hit me hard enough to sweep out one of my legs, forcing me into the splits. An MRI confirmed my hamstring was not attached to the pelvic bone, which required surgery to repair. I was instructed by the waterpark to keep receipts so my out of pocket expeneses could be covered as an act of customer service considering the extent of my injuries. Those receipts totaled over $5,000. The waterpark has since declined to reimburse my expenses stating that the wave pool is "reasonably safe" and that I assumed a "reasonably foreseeable risk" when entering the wave pool. Tearing a hamstring clear off the pelvic bone is an injury that extends much further than a "reasonably foreseeable risk" IMO. Please let me know if you think I have any legal recourse.

Answer:
 > The waterpark has since declined to reimburse my expenses stating that the wave pool is "reasonably safe" and that I assumed a "reasonably foreseeable risk" when entering the wave pool.

That is a reasonably accurate summary of the law regarding conditions - such as waves, in this case - which are apparent upon casual observation.

> Tearing a hamstring clear off the pelvic bone is an injury that extends much further than a "reasonably foreseeable risk"

The term "risk" refers to the foreseeability **not** of the injury, but of the condition or event that *caused* the injury - in this case, waves in the wave pool.


Title: [TX] Commingling ashes

Question:
My mother-in-law has recently informed us that it is her wish that, upon her passing, her remains be mixed by her pastor with those of her deceased adult son. My wife is horrified by this (as am I), as the relationship between son and mother was strained at best.

From my reading of the relevant laws in Texas, this is not allowed without express written consent of both deceased parties. Will funeral directors/pastors know to not do this, or does she need to take pro-active action to prevent this? If so, how would she go about doing so?

Answer:
 Can you post a link to these laws in Texas about ash mixing?

Who is the executor of her estate? Who was the executor of the estate of the son? Can't everyone just ignore these wishes once she has passed? Answer #2: Maybe the only way to avoid this is to have possession of your brother's ashes. If you do then you can deny the request. If you don't then your wife's father (?) can make the request to have the ashes mixed together. If her father dies first then if your wife is executor of mom's estate then she can choose to not honor those wishes.

Maybe they should try to talk about this openly and honestly, and see if mom can back down on this. I don't see wherein the code you linked to that this might apply, but maybe I didn't read the right section. Can you quote the exact part you think applies?

Sometimes, there is nothing you can legally do to stop it. If you're really worried, you can talk to a lawyer to see if there's any legal action you can take to make sure it doesn't happen.

Sorry, I fixed the typos, haha.


Title: Did my male co-worker overstep in a coaching session?

Question:
I need some legal advice on how to deal with "coaching" a male co-worker gave me.

&#x200B;

We were at breakfast prepping for a presentation to give to our Director and team.  During this breakfast meeting he felt that he needed to prep me for our national meeting.  He proceeded to tell me the following:

&#x200B;

1.  "Don't wear anything that too low where your boobs are hanging out"
2. "Make sure your heels are not too high"
3. He explained to me that last year a girl got into the hot tub with her boss in her thong and he advised against me doing that because it will be talked about for the rest of my career.

I didn't react because I was in shock but this conversation made me very uncomfortable.  Is it ok for him to say these things to me?  What should I do?  Do I need to report to HR?
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 Sounds to me he’s warning you to not do anything strange for a piece of change. I wouldn’t take offense to it.Answer #2: A far as I know, that’s not sexual harassment of any kind. Tactless, but not harassment. Would you have felt differently if a female peer said it to you?

What should you do? Dress professionally.

The United States' Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines workplace sexual harassment as "unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment”Answer #3: You could maybe try telling him you felt uncomfortable. Not one of those things sounds harassing; they sound like relevant work-event/work-social advice, like he has been there for a while and seen people make mistakes so he offers a heads-up to help you avoid them.

obvi, I wasn't there, but by the way you report these statements I don't see how one could read harassment in them. The topic is sexual-adjacent, but he wasn't commenting on what you are wearing or should wear, he wasn't suggesting you wear very little and get into a hot tub, but just the opposite of all. To take this as an attack of some kind and seek punishment for him without even addressing the issue with him seems out of line with how you relay his words.


Title: (Big Update) Things got Worse! I was raped twice last year, and the trial is approaching. I was guaranteed by the district attorney that a motion would not be allowed through, but it now appears to be happening anyway. Any legal advice would be appreciated.

Question:
Original Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/3mftzv/i_was_raped_twice_last_year_and_the_trial_is/

It's been about 8 months now since my original post, and unfortunately, things have gotten worse.

I took the advice many responses to the post offered, and I stopped treating my relationship with the DA, who it turns out was actually an ADA. I explained to her upon our next meeting that I understood that she was trying to put me at ease by making guarantees but that she had actually done more harm than good. I told her I wanted an honest relationship, and I wanted her to do what she could to see that my rapist faced justice.

She agreed, and she called a few weeks later to reveal that my rapist was attempting to put into evidence made up stories of previous sexual activity between the two of us. Nothing had transpired between the two of us before the two incidents that he was being charged with. It turns out that, in Pennsylvania, I am not eligible to be protected by the rape shield laws due to being a man and having never had a previous romantic relationship with my rapist and because I am a man am not able to put rape charges against him.

I read over what the rapist said to have transpired before the two incidents, and as I suspected, it was a Hail Mary pass for him, made up of lies. He had no setting, time period, or any significant details for the second supposed interaction, and I had witnesses and a clear cut explanation of where I was and when for the first interaction. The fact that any judge would even consider hearing this was ludicrous.

I hired my own attorney to work with the DA's office with the intent of preventing any falsehoods from being allowed into the courtroom. My attorney was of no help. He did not communicate with me when I would contact him. He did not communicate with the district attorney's office as he had been paid to do.

I contacted the district attorney's office myself, and my attorney, the ADA, and the victim assistant met one afternoon in October. I agreed to offer two separate plea deals. The first deal involved removing the felony from the equation and instead offering him a deal involving the two misdemeanors and an added charge of sexual indecent exposure. If that was not acceptable, I agreed to offer a plea deal involving the two misdemeanors and sexual misconduct. Any misunderstanding of the law is due to how it was explained to me. The ADA contacted the judge, and the judge instructed the rapist and his public defender to respond by accepting or rejecting the offers by the 1st of November.

October and November came and went. It was not until the end of December that I heard from the DA's office again. By this point, I had released my attorney from his duties because nothing was coming from retaining him. The person who contacted me from the DA's office was a second ADA. She said she would be taking on the case. There had been no response to either plea deal. The trial was now set to take place in January. She asked if I was willing to offer the plea deals again. I was hesitant, but she assured me that this time, there would be consequences if there was no response.

I did not hear from her again until the end of January. Originally, my rapist had agreed to accept any plea deal that eliminated the felony. However, he had apparently had no idea what Megan's Law was. He did not want any deal that involved Megan's Law. He had basically wanted us to offer an inch but actually wanted a mile. I told the ADA that there would be no further deals offered and that I was ready to head to trial, which would now be in March.

The victim assistant, the second ADA, my fiancee, and I all met at the DA's offer in mid-February. The ADA asked me again if I would be willing to offer a new deal. She suggested indecent exposure. I told her I would not be willing to offer anything new. I would only be interested in offering what had previously been discussed. I wanted to ensure that my rapist would never have the opportunity to do what he had done to me to a child.

The ADA told me there was a two week window for the trial in March, and she told me I must be available that entire window in order to be at the courthouse at a moment's notice. I had to take a two week's leave of absence for work. She guaranteed me that the trial would take place in March.

For those two weeks, when I would have rather have been working, no trial took place.

I started a new job immediately following the two weeks where the trial was supposed to take place. I was determined to not set aside any more time for the DA's office. I was contacted by the DA's office again in mid-April. They wanted to meet with me again.I told the victim assistant that I had started a new job and was unwilling to set aside any more time that did not involve the trial. Despite that, I wound up meeting at the DA's office after work one day.

When I arrived, I was informed that the second ADA had dropped out. Her boss would be taking on the case instead. The victim assistant revealed that the first ADA had dropped out of the trial because there was a better case she had taken that would advance her career. This made me feel like my case had not been taken seriously at all.

We moved to a conference room, so present were the victim assistant, the third ADA, my fiancee, and myself. We discussed how I felt wronged by the system and that my rapist had more rights than I did. We discussed that there would be no more plea deals. My fiancee and I were given one last guarantee. The trial would be in May. I was told my this third ADA that I would not be abandoned this time, and the victim assistant, who honestly had been the only constant within the system this entire time, guaranteed me that she would be there for me.

My parents had been supportive this entire time and stated they would attend the proceedings in early May.

May came, and my father needed emergency surgery. My mother flew out to meet him in Texas, where he has been working for about a year and a half. Having been faced with having to wait as long as I had, through multiple continuances and delays, I contacted the DA's office and asked if I would be able to push the trial back until the next term in July. I was told that was not possible. I was displeased but decided to continue on.

That brings us up to this week. Up until the point, the DA's office had not questioned or prepared my witness for trial. They did finally this past Monday. I was called by the DA's office and told that and the fact that the trial would be held on Wednesday. I was prepared to go for it.

Tuesday, the victim assistant contacted me and told me that the third ADA had dropped out, and the second ADA would be taking on the trial. The victim assistant also told me she would not be attending. She told me the second ADA was going to offer the plea deal again. I told her I was not interested in having any more deals offered and that I was ready to go to trial.

Remember, my rapist had already confessed multiple times to the charges, and he was still fighting them.

Wednesday morning came, and I called out of work. I was contacted by the second ADA. She had offered the deal she had suggested back in February: indecent exposure. I told her I had never agreed to that. She insisted I had, but I never had. She told me there would no longer be a trial. My rapist had accepted the deal. She told me the judge would call me within a half hour to take my statement.

The judge called me. I told him that the deal offered had never been agreed to. I told him that this entire time, I had wanted justice for myself, my rapist's ex boyfriend, and anyone else that he would have or would in the future treat in the manner he had. I told him that I was ready to go to trial and that I wanted to have my say in court. The judge told me that I should seek counseling and find some way to move on.

NOW, here's where this long story comes into play with this thread:

Is there anything I can do to fight this? This entire time the system has worked for my rapist. He is only receiving two years probation for what he has done.

I am suffering from serious mental distress, from PTSD and depression. I had gotten professional evaluation from a psychologist, and she gave me that evaluation. I have been on medication to deal with it.

I feel like this entire process was for nothing. I feel like I put my fiancee and family through heck and back trying to protect myself. I feel like garbage.

I know none of this is my fault. I know I did not deserve to be raped and that my rapist is responsible. However, I am going to be dealing with mental issues for quite some time.

Is there anything I can do to overturn the deal and verdict? Is there anything I can do against the ADA that presented the deal that I never agreed to and then never agreed to offer?

It was recommended by a friend that I file a civil suit against my rapist and a criminal suit against the DA's office.

Please, r/legaladvice, be kind. It takes a lot out of me to have to type this up, and I am not coming to this subreddit to be belittled or told I don't know things. I am only typing the truth of what happened. My POV is not catered to make me out to be the hero of this. My POV is actually what happened.

Please, if anyone out there reading this can give any advice, I would greatly appreciate it. I will answer any questions asked. I will not, however, respond kindly to anyone who believes belittling me is a good idea. I already feel like garbage, and I do not need to be mistreated further. I am saying this because I know how the Internet can be.

tl; dr:
Things have gotten worse since the original post. I have had three total ADAs involved in this case. Lies were told by the DA's office. Hired an attorney. Pointless. Offered reasonable plea deals. Pointless. Plea deal offered to rapist that was not agreed upon, nor was the deal to be offered again, after two deals had already been rejected. Rapist accepted deal that was not to be offered. Judge did not listen to this. Rapist only given two years probation. I feel like garbage and feel I was not treated with any respect at all. Please help!

Answer:
 Plea deals happen. The judge is right that you should probably get some counseling to deal with what happened to you and begin to move past it. Answer #2: First of all, plea deals are not yours to give. You are not a party in this prosecution. The DA was taking your input as a victim of these terrible crimes. The DA's action was 100% legal.

Further, the DA does not control the docket, so any "guarantees" they made to you were not guarantees that they could actually offer. Court dates get changed *all the time* for dozens of reasons.

>The judge told me that I should seek counseling and find some way to move on.

Not legal advice, but I heartily agree. I am sorry that you were a victim of this heinous act, but to be completely honest, if the DA had the case to make rape, they'd have charged it whether you wanted them to or not. They thought indecent exposure was a slam dunk, so they took it. This is how the system works.


Title: My landlord has a sex offender working on our house and he did not notify me or my wife (Cincinnati)

Question:
I live in a 2 bed 1.5 bath home that my wife and I are renting in Cincinnati. We have a unique situation with our landlord where he uses our house's garage for storage of supplies for his other properties. He has a few people working for him, and it turns out that one of them is a sex offender, multiple counts. Now because of the garage, either my landlord or this guy will stop by and drop something off or grab something from the garage without notice, which sometimes is inconvenient, but now knowing that this guy is on my property and a lot of times when only my wife is home concerns me greatly. What am I able to do? Is this illegal for my landlord to send this guy over to my property without letting me know he is a sex offender?

Thank you in advance for your comments and advice.

Edit: thanks everyone for your input on the matter. I have contacted my landlord and talked to him about it. We are going to set up a meeting to talk about it, but other than that I know he is not legally obligated to do anything.
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: As far as I know, the landlord has no duty to inform you that a sex offender is stopping by the garage. If he allowed this sex offender to live in your garage, you'd likely have a right to know. Sex offenders still have rights as well, so they're not required to tell every single person they come in contact with during their work day about their status.Answer #2: Maybe he's just a normal person. It only depends on where they reside, they can travel freely like any other American citizen.Answer #3: The landlord has no duty to inform you of his employees criminal histories. Answer #4: Not that is really matters, but did you look up what he did? You can get on the sex offender list for some pretty minor stuff.


Title: Child sex offender is absconder but active on Facebook. I'm his victim. What is the best way to report his online activity? [MD]

Question:
I'm not sure that this is the right place to post about this, but I'm hoping someone can provide some direction. Thanks in advance!

The offender is in his mid 60s, was convicted 17 years ago and is a lifetime Tier 3 registrant. I was kept awake tonight with intrusive thoughts about how he victimized me at age 12 (I've overcome this over the years and it was unusual for this to happen to me. Please don't worry about me because I have a good support system). I decided to look up the registry info on him, which is something I haven't done in several years and found out that he's been listed as an absconder as of 2 weeks ago and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

I also found out that he has recently created a Facebook, and without getting into too many details his Facebook information clearly shows that he is mentally unstable. He also lists himself as engaged to someone outside of the country (although I believe this to be a sham). He has been active several times a day, with his most recent post just a few hours ago.

I have a couple of questions:

*As a tier 3 offender, is he legally allowed to have a Facebook?

*Would it make any difference to report his online activity to Baltimore PD?

*If so, how would I go about reporting it?

Obviously, I'd want this man off the streets for failing to report, since I fear him doing what he did to me to someone else, but ultimately I understand that the likelihood of this helping the police locate him is slim. If anything, I'd like them to be aware of it and use it to their advantage.

EDIT:  I'm truly touched by all of the advice. I will be contacting the sex offender registry unit tomorrow, and will also reach out to a child sex crime detective I found named in one of his recent court documents.

Does anyone know what the minimum and maximum punishments are for non-reporting and what the punishment could be for having an unauthorized social profile (seems that Maryland requires that the offender notify them of the account which I doubt he's done )?

Answer:
 Facebook has their own restrictions against it.  Report them here: https://m.facebook.com/help/210081519032737?helpref=uf_permalinkAnswer #2: Does his registry info provide his parole officer info, or what state his parole is in? Reporting him to Facebook will only get his account removed, and then he'll sign up again with a fake name.

Report it to the PO office, or the state probation and parole division.Answer #3: Hi there! I'm sorry for the stress you're going through right now. In addition to all the advice to provide the information to the PD/parole, PRINT OUT  all of his Facebook activity in the event he deletes it before law enforcement sees it. If this causes you too much distress, have someone else print it out. When you call law enforcement, advise you also have a physical printout of his account - it may come in handy! Good luck and please keep us updated! Answer #4: Interestingly enough, this exact fact pattern (sex offender signing up for Facebook) was just heard before the Supreme Court.

http://fortune.com/2017/02/27/supreme-court-social-media-facebook/

Wishing you the best of luck. It looks like contacting his parole officer will be your best course of action. As to what punishment he'll receive, I would imagine it's up to the parole officer.


Title: Am US gov employee and my nephew popped positive for cocaine at home. Family is trying to hide it from me but I already know. If caught by police, what are the repercussions on my family and I?

Question:
I apologise in advance for my poor writing skills. It's definitely not my strong point.

My parents, my sister #1 (Sierra) and her kids, and my brother (Charlie) and his family all live on the same property but in different homes in Alabama. My mother, Sierra , and Charlie are all state employees.

Sierra recently tested my 18 yo nephew, Oscar, for cocaine and he popped positive. Everyone knows and has kept quiet except my other nephew, Alex, who is my sister #2's (Julie) son. Alex told Julie who had told me.

Julie nor I live near home thankfully. However Julie is very well known in her town and I work for the Feds.

Sierra has also posted photos on social media of her kids and their friends underage drinking that I'm almost positive she helped provide and when I called her out on it, she bitched me out.

According to my family, Sierra's house is already on the local police watch list because Oscar brings his "friends" over constantly to smoke weed and whatever else they want.

Hopefully this is enough information, so my question is if they do get caught, what would be potential consequences to my family? I wanted to call the anon police line at home but I was worried it would be too obvious.

Thank you for any answers and advice given.

Answer:
 I am not sure how you having a nephew who likes to indulge in some booger sugar will affect your status as a government employee.

If illegal drugs are found at the home, everybody who lives at the home could be charged.  Google constructive possession.

Do you want to see your family go to jail?  What is your end game?


Title: Building shutting off electricity with no warning

Question:
I live in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. My building has been shutting off electricity every weekend for the past month. No electricity means no water too. My food had gone bad a few times in the fridge, I have to go to a gym to shower.. there is just way too many inconveniences with this and it just looks very suspicious that they are not giving any warnings, but electricity goes off every Sunday on regular basis. Is the building management even allowed to do things like that? Is there anything that protects tenants from this behaviour?

EDIT: Power providers website didn't label our area as a planned power outage section, also all the buildings next to us have power.

EDIT2: Just called, the power company, they said that there should be no outages there and if you don't have power, it's probably something internal to your building

Answer:
 Have you contacted your building's management and your area's power provider and asked about this?  If so, what was their explanation?Answer #2: It isn't the power company. It's the building distribution system. Perhaps there is maintenance going on with the power panel in the building.

Every Sunday on a regular basis as if on a timer, or occasionally? Are there ever any electrician trucks around?

Is there a building superintendent or maintenance person? Do you have a number to contact building management for emergencies after hours? I'd do this the next time the power goes out.

Out of curiosity, do you pay your own power bill direct to the electric company or is it bundled with your rent?


Title: [IL] Where can I get my full criminal court file that has everything from charging documents to judge's order?

Question: I talked to the clerk of criminal court (Dupage county) and they told me Illinois State Police keep it. When I called them, they said they do not have it. I don't know who to ask. Please help me

Answer: Everyone will have their own records. The BEST way is to have your lawyer send a copy of his file. he should have **everything.**  but assuming that's impossible, you can go to the court and ask to photocopy everything they have. then you can go to the police and request the same. if they say no, you can file a FOIA. if you need it as part of another legal proceeding, you can seek a subpoena.


Title: I was just fired from my job (WA)

Question:
I was let go from my job today. My friend told me that I should have received a severance at the time of being let go, and suggested that I post here to find out what my rights are and maybe get some advice.

Is there anything I should know? Is there anything I should say or do?

They were planning to let me go on Wednesday, but once I saw the schedule, I texted my manager, concerned. I was eventually able to just find out that they were letting me go. First timer on that one.

Answer: Washington is an at will state. Absent a contract saying you are due severance, you can be fired at any time without notice or severance.


Title: Mobile game company stealing music from me

Question:
Hi, I'm located in Pennsylvania and I'm a musical artist.
There's a mobile game company named that is currently using music from me commercially in a mobile app

The song they are using from me is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial and they have not provided credit to me and they're also using it commercially. I sent an email to the one provided in the app store, but if they do not respond I would like to know what the best option for me would be.

Should I simply have it taken down from all the stores they have it in? They've accumulated quite a bit of users, many of which could have known that I made the song in the game had credit been provided to me. I also imagine they've made some decent money off of the app as well from ad revenue and potential in app purchases.

I feel cheated out of potential fans that could have been generated from this game and I'm not sure if just having it taken down is too lenient, or if pursuing damages in court is even a viable option. can anyone shed some advice on this situation for me?

Topic:
Intellectual Property

Answer: IANAL, but CC licenses don't waive your right to pursue damages in court. It allows for a narrow window of usage without payment, but outside of those it functions more or less as a copyright. They know what they did. I know in photography it's pretty common to start by sending them an invoice for whatever you would have charged, and if they don't respond to that legal action would be an option.


Title: [B.C, Canada] Fairly sure my landlords have been entering my flat while we're out without permission/notice. What can we do?

Question:
We've lived in this suite for little under 2 months now.

We have come to suspect that our landlord is entering our suite while we're out. A week or so after we moved in, he left us a note on our door saying he had come in and opened some windows in our suite, in the living room. This is fine, it was less creepy than what he did later, and he at least notified us he went in. We kind of swept this under the rug, didn't really mind.

But a few weeks ago, we went out and came back to find the light in my bedroom off. I leave it on because I have pet budgies in there, and this was when things were still cloudy/dark outside. Budgies gotta budge, so I wouldn't have turned it off before leaving. I wondered if he had been inside but didn't think about it much because the first time he entered without permission he had left a note. Surely he would have this time. I thought I had just turned it off without thinking out of habit.

Just tonight, we came back from a walk, and my roommate's bedroom door was closed very tightly. She doesn't close the door because it sticks and she hates the sound it makes when opened. She had to hipcheck it open, it was closed so tightly. Again, there was no note, and he didn't ask us if they could come into the suite. This is the first time we've really figured that, yeah, he's been in our suite. It's harder to close a door that tightly without thinking about it.

This (technically these, but I'm still giving him the benefit of the doubt that he didn't turn off my light) incidence we're less keen to sweep under the rug, as it means he's been in her bedroom at least, and at worst, both of our bedrooms. My roommate and I are both women, we're not keen on this creepery. The indications he's been in here are subtle enough that we're not even really sure he has been, but we're willing to collect further evidence.

Can we get cameras and put them in our property? If they're hidden, or if we don't notify him they're on the property, are what they collect still usable in court? If we do catch him being a creep, what should our next steps be?

Answer:
 You can and *definitely* should install cameras. As they'll be on property you're renting, you don't need to inform your landlord. If you get evidence of your landlord entering without notice or permission, file a complaint with British Columbia's [Residential Tenancy Branch](http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/residential-tenancies/solving-problems/dispute-resolution). They can and likely will order your landlord to stop and may discount your rent.Answer #2: Please check your home for hidden camera's! Answer #3: My ex lived the same situation as you OP and we decided to install a camera to catch the landlord (spoiler : we did). So I will leave the legal area to other commenters as I don't know much about it but if you want to install a camera I advice you to buy a hidden cam so you see exactely what the landlord is doing because if he see the cam he will probably make it seems he is there for maintenance or stuff like that.

You can easily find hidden cam on amazon they go from 50$ to 100$, they are hidden inside of a normal looking clock, phone charger or radio, they are connected to the wifi and will send you a message when they detect motion. otherwise if you don't want to spend money you can turn an android phone into a security cam using app like IPwebcam but you have to hide it from plain view somehow.Answer #4: It's examples like this when I vehemently recommend  the canary. It's like a desktop security system. You can't really tell what it is from first glance.

It's the perfect if you're in an apartment and can't actually install cameras. Sends notifications to your phone.

https://canary.is


Title: [NY] Third child wants mother's house for herself.

Question:
So my grandmother is in her eighties, retired, widowed, doesn't get out much. She lives in the house that she and my grandfather bought in the sixties when the neighborhood was being built. It's paid off.

She has four children, two of whom live out of state. The third child is, frankly, a narcissist. She has this pattern where at least once a year, usually right when spring starts rolling in, she'll have an 'episode' wherein she gets into some kind of big blowout with someone, usually over something stupid, and she never apologizes for it, she just lies low for a few months until things have cooled down and then acts like it never happened. She can be nice for a while, but it never lasts. Everybody in the family knows what she's like and avoids her.

Now, my grandmother doesn't currently have a last will and testament set up, but the plan for the house was always to sell it and split the money amongst her four kids. Over the years the narc daughter has made it clear that she wants the house for herself. Yesterday she made some phone calls announcing to the family that the house she's living in now (which she rents) is getting sold and she needs a place to stay, so she's going to move in with my grandmother. We're all pretty sure she's planning on using squatters rights or something so she can keep the house.

Now my instinct is to just stay out of it, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to prevent her from screwing over her siblings.

Answer:
 Have your Grandma write meet with a lawyer and write her will outAnswer #2: Your grandmother can execute a will. Or your grandmother can not execute a will and it pass through intestacy and the heirs get their intestate share of the estate. There is no such thing as "squatter's rights" in that she magically gets a house because she lives in it with your grandmother. Your grandmother has to affirmatively give the house to her somehow, either by deed now or by executing a will that leaves it to her to make that happen. Answer #3: Having gone through a similar situation myself when my dad passed, please have a long talk with Grandma and convince her that the best and only way to prevent needless family squabbles and misunderstanding now and in the future, is for her to write a will spelling out exactly who gets what family heirlooms and how the home is to be disposed of -- I recommend putting the home in a trust with the stipulation that it be sold upon her death.  You would also want her to name an executor for the estate, as well as an alternate in the event her primary choice is either unwilling or unable to fill the role.

At that point, if your aunt did move in and refuse to leave when grandma dies, the executor of the estate, acting in behalf of the estate, could evict her, and proceed with the sale of the house.Answer #4: If there is no will the other 3 siblings can force a partition sale. Or she can offer to buy the other siblings out.


Title: Left Garage Door Open and went in garage nude

Question:
I keep a scale in my garage and weigh myself every morning nude.  I've been doing this for like 3 years.  This morning, I did my normal weigh in and then got ready for work.  When I went out to my car, I noticed my garage door was open.  Maybe I left it open after coming home last night or something, I am not sure.  I only weigh myself and then come right back in my house, normally only in the garage about 5 seconds.

My question is, if a neighbor saw me during that 5 seconds, would I be in trouble or something?

EDIT:  I'm in the South and enjoy warmer weather during the mornings!

Thanks

Answer: It's freezing cold in most of the Northern Hemisphere right now, how would you not notice you were essentially outside if you were naked?Answer #2: Dude, keep your scale in your bathroom like everyone else.


Title: Legal to practice law in Alaska without passing the bar or experience practicing law?

Question:
Background: Sarah Palin apparently will be hosting her own "Judge Judy" type courtroom. To my knowledge JJ was an actual attorney licensed in NY, and NY has laws that require passing the bar exam. SP does not have a JD and has not passed any bar exam to my knowledge.

What is shocking is the spokesperson conceded she did not have a law degree, but writes "she’s not a judge but she did appoint many judges, and your job as governor is to take in facts and pass judgement" (as though that's sufficient). That seems more like she might be, at best, good at measuring character and professional competence - which does not replace years of education and courtroom experience.

Really curious if this is legal or not. I suspect it may more likely be a binding arbitration show designed to give the appearance of a courtroom setting.

Edit: Thanks all! Had no idea being a judge might not require a state license.

Answer: There is no TV show of this type that is an actual court. All of them are binding arbitration. Answer #2: She wouldn't be operating as a judge. It's a TV show


Title: (IL)(OK) My step-daughter was molested by her father.

Question:
I’ll start at the beginning but I’ll try to explain the important info.
My wife and I got married in January, she and my step-daughters moved from Oklahoma to IL. Since they moved here our 7 year old has been showing sexual aggression toward our 3 year old. We immediately sought professional help and had her going to counseling since January. We set up a safety plan to make sure nothing happens in the meantime as we get her help. The 7 year old tried to sneak out one night and set off her door alarm, she told us she was trying to sneak into our 3 year old’s room to “feel her”.

We immediately called her counselor who told us to take her to the hospital where she was admitted into the children’s psychiatric ward. While there she disclosed that her father molested her. The hospital called CPS in IL and OK and we called the IL police to file a report. They contacted Tulsa specials crime unit and open an investigation. They set up a interview for disclosure where our 7 year old refused to talk about what happened because she didn’t want to get her dad in trouble.

She broke down and told us more information yesterday. Where she described in detail about how her father showed her child pornography and asked her to touch his“pee-pee” multiple times.

This is where we hit a wall. We contacted the detective in Tulsa and he explained that there is nothing that he can do because apparently charges can only be filed based off a systematic interview which she refused to disclosed anything. He also explained that these new allegations are not enough and that we had only the one interview and he can’t do another. Hospital disclosures, counselor disclosures, trauma center disclosures, aren’t admissible to bring charges in OK and CPS can only take info but will not investigate unless they are currently seeing him. They have a protective order against him for drunken violence and negligence.

We are in the process of obtaining full custody of the girls but we will have to allow visitation unless we can get these charges brought against him.

We have hit a wall. The law is telling us there is nothing they can do until she discloses a NEW event. How is that protecting our daughter?  We are sick beside ourselves and angry.

I am furious and upset and want to drive to OK for a one on one visit with him.

I need guidance on how I can legally keep my children safe.

We have 4 children total. Two from my previous marriage and two from hers.

Answer:
 >We are in the process of obtaining full  custody of the girls but we will have to allow visitation unless we can  get these charges brought against him.

Demand that all visitation be supervised. If you have a family lawyer, you ask them to file that as an emergency order.

Ask for a written copy of the police report and the CPS report.

>Hospital disclosures, counselor disclosures, trauma center disclosures, aren’t admissible to bring charges in OK

First, there's a difference between getting charges from cops, and getting a substantiated report from CPS that can modify custody. But if they refuse to do either, you might go report the fact that he possessed child porn and showed it to her [here at the FBI](https://www.justice.gov/actioncenter/report-crime).  A child porn investigation can keep him busy.


Title: If someone is 18 and at an underage drinking party, and they parked down the road, could a cop contact that person's parents after running their plates? (Wisconsin)

Question: *someone* was at a party last night, and cops were knocking on the door and trying to open windows and get into the house at an underage party. Nobody got caught possessing anything or under the influence of anything because everyone stayed  inside and quiet. but if one who was at that party didn't want to draw attention to said house and parked down the street, are cops legally allowed to contact that person's parents even if they are over 18 in regards to the party?

Answer: Sure. It's not illegal to have a conversation with somebody. I'm assuming this car is registered to the aforementioned parents?


Title: [AZ] Former apartment complex calls and says I owe $183. Threatens to send to collections.

Question:
This is the first time they've contacted me about this. As far as I'm aware, they owe me money for my deposit.

Is there some way I can force them to formally notify me over mail of my TOTAL owed and why I owe them that? I feel like this should be a judgement in court that I owe them money rather than them just having free access to ruin my credit.

Answer: I believe you're entitled to an itemized invoice of what that $183 is for.


Title: On April 1st my phone will go on Missouri's Do Not Call list.

Question:
[removed]
Topic:
Troll Post

Answer:
 >Once again, /r/legaladvice has proven why it is not the go to place for legal advice. Thanks armchair quarterbacks!

Holy shit OP you are acting like a child because you aren't being told what you want to hear?

As you have been told..

* YOU WILL NOT FIX THIS BY BEING ON THE DNC.

* You are not being called by telemarketers (they cannot call people on the DNC

* You should get a new number as the one you currently have was used by a customer of the company calling you. That was legal and will be easier to give your current number to someone else to deal with.

From the comments I have gathered a few choices for you.

* Get a new number((hardest)not really but it requires the most work)

* Ignore unknown numbers(easy but annoying with many ringing)

* Keep current number and wait for the unwanted calls to stop(You can always call random numbers so other people feel your pain)


Title: If it seems as though someone is being harassed by police officers, & you ask the individual if they're okay as well as bring them up to speed on their rights, can you be detained for obstruction of justice?

Question: California, USA

Answer:
 [California Penal Code 148(a)(1)](http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=pen&group=00001-01000&file=142-181) makes it a crime for:

>Every person who willfully resists, delays, or obstructs any public officer, peace officer, or an emergency medical technician ... in the discharge or attempt to discharge any duty of his or her office or employment

Interrupting the officer's investigation by interjecting yourself between him or her and the citizen would probably easily qualify as a delay and an obstruction.  So yes, you could indeed be detained for doing that.


Title: On house arrest for 2 1/2 weeks, need ankle bracelet tips

Question:
I'm not looking for ways to mess around on my house arrest, I did the crime, I'll do the time. It's only 2 1/2 weeks, I'll stay sober, I'll make it to and from work on time, stay in my personal time and church time allowances, etc. I'm just curious if anybody is familiar with the SCRAM GPS ankle monitor system. It runs over 3G, so it's highly accurate, I just want to know if it would send the cops to my apartment and potentially toss me in jail for taking out the trash, or getting my mail, or working in my garage or in my yard.
I've read articles from lawyers and probation officers saying you're fine as long as you stay on your lot, and I've read others that said you're basically stuck in the building. I guess I just want to know what my limitations are.

Answer:
 Call and askAnswer #2: Talk to the folks monitoring you and ask.

The terms of your house arrest are going to be pretty specific. Answer #3: You need to ask what the home point range is. It should be listed in the paperwork you were given. The default for most systems is 1000ft from the home location pin. People in large apartment complexes are usually the ones that run into trouble, or people that have extended property.


Title: Region Bank will reopen a closed account for the purpose of adding overdraft fees.

Question:
I received this message from a Regions Bank customer representative. Despite my requests to keep my account closed and reject any deposits or withdrawals to this old account, Regions bank will not let me end my business relationship with them and admits that they have the right to reopen my closed account at anytime in the future should a charge be made against that bank account number.

Should I contact a lawyer about this? How is it legal for a bank to force an individual to keep a bank account open?

-----------

Joseph,

We understand that you have come to expect the highest level of customer service from Regions, and we apologize if we were unable to meet this expectation.

Please note that Regions is required to honor any pre-authorized debits that are presented for payment. We are unable to prevent checks or pre-authorized drafts from posting to your account, even if this may cause the account to become overdrawn. If a charge is presented while we are in the process of closing the account, the item(s) will cause the account to reopen and it will be necessary to submit an additional closing request once the items have cleared the account.  The request to stop all incoming or outgoing transactions should be handled through the merchant(s) presenting the items to your account.

Please understand that overdraft fees are automatically assessed if funds are not available when an item is presented for payment. This means that we are not able to guarantee that fees will not be assessed and that there is no action that Regions can take to prevent the fees from applying. We apologize for this inconvenience.

I am sorry, but I am not able to close the account while the balance is negative.

I understand that sometimes unexpected things can happen. Regions will sometimes allow up to 60 calendar days from the date the account is overdrawn for the balance to be brought back to a positive amount. If the account stays in an overdrawn status past this time, it will be closed and sent to our collections department. If this happens and you wish to make payments, you will need to contact our Collections Department at 1-800-504-6903.

Unfortunately, we do not have the capability to notate any account. Therefore, when closing requirements have been met, we ask that you contact us if you wish to proceed with the closing request.

I was able to refund $108.00 of the fees. The credit should post to the account during the night of 10/13/2015. This is not something we are always able to do, so I am glad that I was able to refund some of the fees for you.

If you would prefer someone from Regions to call you in regards to this matter, you may make a phone appointment online. To make an appointment:
Go to www.regions.com
Click "Make an Appointment" in the Get Started section (underneath the log-in area)
Follow the prompts on the screen
You can also make appointments with your local branch this way! Additionally, you have the option of contacting us at the number below.

I hope you find this information helpful. I apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused you. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to contact us again using any of the methods below.

Regions Green Line is always here to help. If you have any other questions let us know.
Call - Call us at 1-800-REGIONS (1-800-734-4667), Monday – Friday, 6:00 AM – 7:00 PM and Saturday 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM (CT)
Click - Simply respond to this message or email us securely through Regions.com
Come in - Visit any local branch
Thank you for banking with Regions.

Sincerely XXXXXXX,

Regions values your privacy and security. To read our privacy and security policies, please visit our website.

This message is for the named person's use only. It may contain confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information. No confidentiality or privilege is waived or lost by any accidental transmission. If you receive this message in error, please immediately destroy it and notify the sender. You must not, directly or indirectly, use, disclose, distribute, print, or copy any part of this message if you are not the intended recipient.

© 2015 Regions Bank | Equal Housing Lender | Member FDIC | 1-800-REGIONS

Answer:
 > How is it legal for a bank to force an individual to keep a bank account open?

It's because otherwise people could charge $1000 worth of manicures on their debit card and write someone a check for $3000 to purchase bone saws, then race across the street to their bank and cancel their bank account, and then run off laughing with their new bone saws gripped tightly in their freshly manicured hands.

If the charges are invalid or inaccurate, dispute them individually with the merchant or with the bank.

Answer #2: This is common and perfectly normal. Also it's likely something you acknowledged and agreed to when you opened the account.


Title: My apt leasing office is telling me that I will get a 24hr immediate eviction unless I get a restraining order against my bf (AZ)

Question:
Last weekend (Sat), my boyfriend and I got into a verbal fight and I called police to come mediate. He is not on the lease. They did so, but then said that they were arresting him for disorderly conduct in order to get him to answer to previous warrants which have nothing to do with me. He was released the next day. The day after that (Mon) the leasing office told me that because there was an arrest made on property, and that it was my guest, it violates the crime free addendum and that it is good cause for immediate eviction (24hr). The only saving grace, they said, is that the police wrote down "domestic violence" on the slip they left with the office which gives me an opportunity to evade eviction only if I get a restraining order against him.

I don't really understand how any of this can work. How can they force me to get a restraining order? Shouldn't they be the ones getting the restraining order? How can they have the authority to tell me who I can and cannot associate with off the property? I understand that they don't want him on property any more, but is it right that they are invading my personal life like this? If I were to get a restraining order, I wouldn't be allowed to see him off property without violating the order.

UPDATE: The leasing office called me in and said that after speaking with their attorneys, they were able to come up with something else. They gave me a 10 day notice which states what part of the lease was breached (unauthorized occupant) and that I have 10 days to remedy the problem or else I get an immediate eviction. The employee in the office basically said that this is a way for them to restrict my guest and to say that he cannot be on the property but not force me to get the order of protection. They said that if he is found on the property, though, that it will be an immediate eviction.

Answer:
 I am not an AZ attorney.  But let's slow down and talk about this:

1. looks like in AZ your LL can terminate with 24hrs notice for certain criminal activity. IDK if your activity counts.

2. notice is _not_ the same as LL has the right to lock you out or remove you. notice means he can file a lawsuit against you after the notice period has run. once he gets a judgment, he can hire a marshal to actually toss ur ass to the curb.  in my location this can take 18mo. in Arizona it's probably much much less. but it's not one day.

3. idk what your lease says and there's a question in my mind of whether a DV arrest is bad enough to permit 24hr notice.  maybe your lease expands the universe of bad behavior. maybe it expands it, but such expansion is forbidden by state law. maybe state law provides no limitations on how draconian a lease can be. i don't know.

4. they _have not yet_ given you the 24hr notice. so maybe they won't. as it stands, nothing has happened. they just want you to get rid of this asshole boyfriend. and that's fine. if you broke the crime rules of the lease or state law, then they can terminate. but they can also choose not to terminate if you meet certain demands. like getting a TRO. if you didn't break the lease, they can still ask you to get rid of the boyfriend. and you can comply or call their bluff.


Title: 43F Single mother with ovarian cancer seeks advice on writing a will

Question: I am a 43-year-old single mother from Texas who was diagnosed with stage IV-B ovarian cancer over five years ago.  My daughter is now 11 years old.  Her father and I divorced when she was just 1 year old.  I have had 3 major surgeries over the last 4 years.  I was recently told that my chemotherapy treatments were not working on the latest tumor, which is located on the left lobe of my liver and encompasses the portal vein. In three weeks, I will undergo a high-risk surgery to try and remove the tumor.  I do not have a will.  I am a teacher and earn $58,000 per year.  I own my home and currently owe $133,000 on the mortgage loan.  I owe approximately $23,000 on my auto loan.  I have no savings account.  I currently have approximately $12,000 in medical debt, however after this latest surgery, it will most likely soar to $18,000 or more. I have approximately $20,000 in other debt including student loans.  I pretty much live paycheck to paycheck. I do not have a lot of disposable income, but I would like to know what I should do to prepare for my daughter and family if I should not survive this surgery. My parents are both deceased.  My daughter would have to go and live with her father.  He currently owes me $21,000 in child support. I would like to create a will.  Should I see an estate planner attorney or will legalzoom or other online documents suffice?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer:
 I'm sorry you have to figure this out under these circumstances.

A DIY will can be ok when you have a very simple estate. You don't necessarily have a simple estate, as there are a number of creditors who will be pursuing that estate and assets.

An estate planner attorney can give you a better perspective of this and what rights your creditors will and will not have in pursuing your estate for debts. TX has some specific laws about this.

Best of luck.Answer #2: As a teacher you should have a pension and life insurance through the school.

Check in with your union rep.  I have two free lawyer consults a year and 25% off all fees through the NEA. Answer #3: Disclaimer:I am a lawyer, but not your lawyer. This is not legal advice and we do not have an attorney-client relationship.

You should contact and estate planning attorney. Someone who also does Medicare planning as part of their practice. You'll likely find someone who is willing to work with you on the price, and these things can be extremely affordable if your financial situation is straight forward. Best of luck Answer #4: I am grateful that so far the hospital has allowed me to make low monthly payments.


Title: (x-post r/personalfinance) Please help! Suddenly asked to have my name on title of mom's condo, closing soon - what are the repurcussions?

Question:
My mom will be closing on a condo soon in NYC for her, me, and my sister to live in. The title was to be under mom and sis' names, and mortgage under mom's name.

Now, mom wants to have the title under just me and sis' names, with mortgage under her name. Says this will not affect the mortgage rates/costs of condo. Motive for this setup is so she can pursue a divorce that has simply been a long-standing separation with our dad, without fear of our dad trying to claim any ownership on the condo. After that, mom may add her name to the title, and me and sis may drop our name from the title.

**PF, please help me understand: what are the repurcussions if I agree to have my name on the condo?**

Personal BG: Late 20s little savings, no established credit, own no property. Been hands off this condo process, so don't understand home ownership, mortgages, etc. at all; was simply planning on contributing to mortgage as though paying rent so long as I lived there. Now I feel I have been asked to take on a responsibility I have not prepared for, the size of which I feel I don't/can't comprehend.

Answer: Trying to use you to hide assets from a divorce is a HUGE no-no. I'd try to not get involved if i were you. If you have a legitimate financial stake in the condo you can have documents drawn up that show that properly, but if she's got money in it she needs to be on the title.


Title: MA. Had a no contact order for a year. Didnt violate it. Got extended and court mailed the extension to the wrong apartment. Never got the notice. Violated it unknowingly last week and a subpeona for a showcause hearing was in my mailbox but ADDRESSED TO THE WRONG APARTMENT. Grounds for dismissal?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
  >Why would I go 18 months clean as a whistle and then throw it away knowingly?

because you think you deserve closure more than the other person deserves to never hear from you again.

> sent a simple text expressing remorse and apologising to try to make amends

Don't do that. That's a shit move because you want to feel better about yourself.


Title: Company wont pay up on vested shares

Question:
Location - CA

I would try to detail out as much as possible.

I join startup 2 years ago. I was offered shares as joining bonus, which would get vested after 1 year. So now I have a nice looking letter on company letterhead stating I own X amount of share.

Past 6 month has been rough for company. It has went from developing for a category to single product to just a tech to be licensed to other companies. Some upper management has also quit and in my opinion it is a sinking ship.

While I am already looking for job, I wanted to cash on my shares. My job agreement states ' employee can redeem share for X $ or stated value from average of last 2 valuation, which ever is higher '. I have no idea what these value are because nobody will tell me.

So, I email HR one month ago and they reply with a form which i immediately submitted. Never heard back so I inquired yesterday. HR tells me they submitted form to finance and they don't know any further. I go talk to finance, they say:

1) To prevent cash shortage, company limits how much shares can be returned each month. It is first come first server.

2) Share held by upper management have higher priority.

3) Given the current backlog, it would take about 1 year before I see my money. This is assuming no more high priority shares are exchanged.

4) I can't do anything to speed up other then writing letter to board.

I am fairly convinced that the company might not survive for a year given the current standing.

My question is, is this legal?

My agreement is silent on this. The company has about 90 employees. I am salaried.

Answer: If the company isnt going to survive a year, why do you think X% of *equity* is going to be worth anything? Generally speaking, in a startup, once creditors have had their way, there is nothing left for equity holders.  They might be not cashing them out to defer the realization that there is nothing to cash out.


Title: [Alabama] Attempting to break my lease, but roommate won't let me.

Question:
My roommate and I have been living with one another for nearly two years, but things have gotten really bad.

She has 2 cats that were kittens when I first moved in and were wonderful. Now they are grown, female cats that she refuses to get spayed. They release this potent, fowl smell on basically anything they sit on, bleed on the kitchen chairs, pee on bedding, and moan very loudly all night long. I can't even keep my bedroom door open ever because I know they'll pee on my bed (its happened once before while I took a shower, not realizing my door was left open. They've also started pooping on the couches even though their litter boxes are clean and full of fresh litter.

I feel like im paying over $400 a month for just my bedroom because its the only place that doesn't smell terribly and thllshe refuses to do anything about it.

I've finally had enough. Its been months of this and I want to go. I tried letting someone take over my side of the lease, but she told me, "no." She says that if I'm not going to be here, shed rather live alone. Her words were along the lines of, "There's nobody in the world you could get to take over your part of the lease that I'd agree to," and I **have** to have her permission to have someone take it over.

So I thought about taking my name off the lease since she said shed rather be alone, but she said "no" to that too. Basically what she wants is for me to leave, which is okay because I had an opportunity come up in Hilton Head, but she wants me to continue paying rent.

All the options for me to get out of the lease, I need her approval for and she refuses to give approval to anything out of spite since untold her the cats are disgusting.

Is there anything I can do?

Answer: So you're in a current term lease, and not month to month? Check the wording of the lease about subletting? There's likely no provision that says your roommate has to agree to who you sublet to, only the landlord does.


Title: Shopping cart rolled into brand new car and dented it. Recourse with store?

Question: Basically we parked our car at the end of a long slanted ramp type sidewalk. The sidewalk lead up to a Foodmax. Someone left a foodmax shopping cart at the top of the sidewalk in front of the store and it rolled all the way down directly into our vehicle, denting it. We have barely had this car for two weeks. It is a brand new van.  Is there any way to hold the grocery store responsible for this financially?

Answer: The store will not be responsible. If you know who left the cart out you can sue them but will unlikely be able to win.


Title: I Was Always Curious About Something But Never Knew Who To Ask...

Question:
So, about 8 years ago or so I was apartment hunting...at this time I lived in Texas...I went to this one apartment complex that seemed relatively nice. I went in and it just so happened that I ended up talking to the owner of the apartments.

He invited me into his office and it was just me and him. He showed me some floor plans and gave me some prices.

I asked him what my "significant other" had to do if we wanted to get this apartment in both of our names. I specifically said the words "significant other." He straight up asked me if I was referring to my girlfriend. At the time I was sort of still in the closet (as a bisexual man). I looked at him like a deer in headlights.

He must have noticed my shocked/speechless face and he added on, "we don't accept same-sex couples here just so you know."

I was so nervous and flustered that I tried to lie and it was one of those "no, of course, I have a girlfriend..." TOTALLY convincing (wink, wink). He then asked me in a I-know-you-are-clearly-lying type of tone, "oh yeah? What's her name?"

I was even more flustered and I just blurted out the first girl name I could think of. "Sa...Sara...yeah Sara," I responded as awkward as anyone could ever respond. We both sat their in silence for a good minute but it felt like 15 minutes.

I looked at my watch and was like, "oh I have to get going...SARA is probably wondering what's taking me so long — you know how women are...heh!" My face was probably red and somehow I was the one who left that situation feeling very embarrassed.

Sorry I morphed this explanation into a proper short story.

Anywho,

TLDR: So, my legal question is...can an apartment owner deny someone the apartment solely based on that person's sexual orientation? (Like non-government funded apartments that are privately owned by a single owner.) In other words, can someone legally deny an applicant solely because of the fact that they are in a same sex relationship? Specifically in the state of Texas.

Thanks!
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 In Texas that is a yes. They can deny based on sexual orientation.  Look up fair housing laws, Texas.

It is actually a minority of states that prohibit discrimination based on sexuality. Answer #2: Depends on the state. Texas, I believe it's legal to discriminate based on orientation.

If they accepted you and your presumably female SO as customers sight-unseen, and then told your actual SO he can't move in because he's male, that's something different.


Title: Landlord is threatening eviction

Question:
Hi everyone! I have always had a great relationship with my landlords so I am not sure how to go about this situation.

I moved into my apartment July of 2017 and during that time, I owned two cats. In February of 2018 my boyfriend moved in and brought his boxer along. Not really thinking, I did not notify my landlord of this change and today he confronted me about the dog being on the premises. I was a bit surprised he mentioned it now as he owns and works in the business below where I live and hasn't said anything for nearly four months now.

I want to say that I agree that it is on me for not notifying him, and it was not malicious. I reviewed the lease agreement which advises no animals on the premises without approval from landlord. He told me that the dog needs to be gone by this weekend, or I would be evicted. The caveat to this entire situation is we're actually in the process of closing on a house which is scheduled for June 15th, and I have not yet notified my landlord. I am waiting for the P&S to be signed.

I did some preliminary searches, but does anyone know what grounds I or my landlord has? I understand I broke the rules, but is this a reasonable amount of time?

Answer: The landlord would need to give you a 20 day notice to remedy, and after that evict you if you are still in violation of the lease.


Title: An unkown person placed anonymous letters in my mailbox and the mailbox of other parents notifying us of the illegal activity of our children.

Question:
Oklahoma

To keep things simple, yesterday I found a typed note in my mailbox that informed me to read my son's texts because apparently he likes to drink on the weekends. I talked to my girlfriends and some of their children are also being called out in these letters. We're all a bit spooked because these notes are rather personal and say hurtful opinionated things about our children and I am wondering if there is any legal benefit to either calling the police about the these letters or talking to a lawyer. Anything would be helpful.

Edit: The notes that were in others' mailboxes included such things as "Your daughter is rude and soulless." We have a strong suspicion as to whom is responsible and he or she is a college sophomore, so it's not a disgruntled classmate or anything of the like.

Answer: You're getting a head's up about your children potentially committing crimes. Deal with that before the police end up calling you.


Title: It has taken it has taken almost 9 years for my husband to adopt my duaghter

Question:
Ok, so I got divorced from my ex husband and after fell in love, got married to my husband. Ex was a meth addict and would only want to see daughter when he thought he could use it to control me. The last time ex was supposed to see her, he showed up tweaked and I wouldn't let him take her. We found a family lawyer to start the process of taking ex's rights and also have my husband adopt daughter. We started the process in probably late 2011, early 2012.  Lawyer said the first part, taking his rights away, may be a longer battle because ex would keep digging his heels on and the get arrested or disappear, then show back up and dig heels again. Finally in 2015, we had a court date. Ex shows up at court and straight up tells the judge he will sign over his rights, he cant be a good father blah blah blah. The judge makes sure he understands that he said he is willing to give up his rights. He says yes. He was supposed to stay and sign paperwork, but as soon as we're dismissed he disappears. Lawyer tells us the adoption part now should be quick and easy, he gave up his rights, it's documented, no problem. Before the court date, everytime we had to try to figure out where he was to serve him or get in touch with, I had to be the one to find him. I found out everytime he got arrested, what addresses were listed, even reached out to the baby mama that he had currently. In fact, through this while process, I've been the one to find where he is, his probation information, and now currently, where he has been an inmate in for almost 2 years.

About, 3 years, maybe closer to 4, we had noticed that we hasnt received any statements from the lawyer. We were always paying in advance, to try to make sure that we didn't get behind. Wed been in contact with them, via email, phone, and they never mentioned anything. We always updated them with our numbers or addresses if they changed, but out emails always stayed the same. I felt like it was taking much longer than it should have, but the lawyer or his paralegal would always say they were waiting on the courts or whatever. I didn't know enough legal processes to question to much, I didn't even know what to ask or where to begin.
So finally one day, we grab the mail and see something from our law office.. saying the were behind about $1000 behind! What!? We kept all our receipts and correspondence with them. We hadn't gotten ANYTHING. And we notice that it had our old address listed on it. The envelop was to our current residence but the "bill" was our old one. And while even at our old one, we hadnt received anything for a month or 2 before we moved. So we're like, WTF? We call up our lawyer and set up a meeting.
He smooth talked, we had a glitch in the system and the address never transferred over, it was our fault, and since this has taken so long I'm going to balance out your account and I won't charge you anymore. This has taken too long, we will get it done soon, we're almost there. My husband, who is logical and tends to be able to separate his emotions was like, cool, that's a fair deal you say it's almost done we will trust you. At this point I'm incredibly weary. I'm the one doing all the footwork, I'm the one who has had to deal with my drug addict, abusive, and manipulative ex, just for the lawyer to tell me ok we need more or we need this or whatever. Isn't that supposed to be the paralegal job?

At this point he had a new paralegal who seemed ok.
Things are still moving snails pace backwards slow. I've lost some of my fire and since hes no longer charging us, I'm trying to, I guess, give some leeway. Hes an older lawyer, it's a small office, im sure he has probably some other urgent cases.
One night, last year, at freaking like 1230 in the morning, I get a call from his paralegal at the time. Shes drunk and crying but she gives me some interesting information. She says my lawyer had taken our case and had never done an adoption case before. He had no clue what he was doing, and he wasn't even trying to get it done. He would push it off to the side, he just didn't care. She said we had a right to view our entire case file, and we should report him to the bar association. She said she would bug him to get this done, and he would yell at her and would just never work it. He hadnt filed anything, he literally had done nothing. I told my husband and we mulled it over. Yes she was drunk and rambling, but it kind if made sense. We started researching step parent adoptions in our state. We found out that in a situation like ours, once my ex had relinquished his rights, it was maybe a 3-6 month process, and about 200 bucks. We've spent THOUSANDS on this lawyer. Still, though I wanted to go storming in and demand answers and a resolution, my husband says let's stay calm and just call, nudge him, see what we can find out.

Nothing happens. Finally a few months later, I'm done. I call my husband and we show up at the lawyers office out of the blue, he has a new paralegal, and I demand to see my entire case file. We look through it, it's a big folder, with the same maybe, 20 documents in there over and over. I mean, just copies of the same things over and over.

We make an appointment to.meet with the lawyer and he gives a bunch of bull, the courts messed up, we still need to contact my ex, it was filed to the wrong court division. This was, oh, 5 months ago?

So we have been working with this slimy lawyer for the adoption for 9 years. We started calling about once a week for updates. He never answered, or his office girl would tell us hes with a client hes not in, whatever. I finally blow up one day and tell her that he needs to get it done, or I will find a way to report him to the bar. I didn't even know if I could but I was mad. So then things start to seem to get done, kind of. She tried to get whatever needed to be done, done. He tried to say we needed to contact my ex again! I said no, hes given up his rights, it's documented from the court date and in messaged between him and I where he agreed.
They drop that. Then they say my daughter will have to go to counseling for the adoption. We fight that. No, she doesnt know my ex from a hole in the wall, my husband is her dad. She calls him Daddy. Hes the only dad shes ever known. They drop that. So we view the documents, everything looks good, all they have to do it file it. All the lawyer has to do is take it to the court and file it. That was it. We didn't hear anything for a couple weeks, we start calling again. Is it filed? No. Is it filed? No. Finally I call, the girl answers she had just talked to my husband, I said he told me it wasnt filed, I said, can you tell me why? This is ridiculous? She says he just hasnt taken it, he has to take it in person. I'm like he needs to DO IT.
Then about 2 weeks ago, she tells us it's filled. He took it. So apparently now we are just waiting on the court date for a judge to basically sign the adoption.

I believe this lawyer mislead and stole from us. He advertised and said he could do this and that it wouldn't take more than, maybe a couple years. It has taken NINE. What can I do? Is there even anything I CAN do? I really feel like this lawyer did us wrong? Please tell me theres something I can do.

Answer:
 As a lawyer reading this, about a third of the way through I had the feeling that this guy had never done an adoption and was delaying. The filing in the “wrong court?” Likely his fault because he hadn’t done it before.

I’m a family law attorney in California so I don’t know New Mexico law, but it is my understanding that generally, once adoptions are filed there is a hearing scheduled, whether that be for the judge to verify status of fulfilling all of the requirements or to actually finalize the case. Have you been to a hearing or do you have a date for one at all?

Based upon the facts you articulated, you can reasonably fire your attorney immediately and either hire another or represent yourself, and report him to the bar (while requesting return of your attorneys fees paid). If I were you, the one thing I would NOT do is continue with this attorney.

You seem to be under the impression that during this attorney will somehow harm your case. If you hire a new attorney, either your case has already been filed, in which case you can easily substitute in another attorney and the court will not care, or it has not been filed (more likely), and the court won’t even have knowledge that you had this attorney previously.


Title: Hypothetical: someone other than the accused confesses during trial

Question:
So, let's say this situation plays out as dramatically as it would in a movie: Eugene has been accused of murder, and there is sufficient evidence that a conviction seems likely. During the trial, in fact while Eugene is on the stand, Frederick stands up and dramatically exclaims, "I am the real murderer!" Then proceeds to explain how he did it and how he framed Frederick, possibly while peppering in a few "You fools!" and "Almost got away with it, if it weren't for you meddling kids" lines. And, in fact, Frederick really IS the murderer, and Eugene is innocent.

In a movie, the judge would shout, "Arrest that man!", then bang the gavel while declaring Eugene innocent and Frederick guilty right there on the spot. But ... how would this scenario ACTUALLY play out, if someone in the gallery confesses like this? How do the bailiff, the judge, the lawyers, and the police react?

Answer:
 Probably, the judge would adjourn trial for the rest of the day and police would ask Frederick to come in for questioning. Frederick's shouted confession alone would probably not be considered enough to exonerate Eugene. People will wonder: What if Frederick is mentally ill and just talking shit? What if Frederick is trying to cover for Eugene, or is being pressured to confess? What if they killed the victim together?

Also, a mistrial or something would probably be declared (or at least motioned for), because the jury is suddenly exposed to this other confession.

If Frederick's confession is validated through other evidence or is deemed credible enough to investigate, the DA/court/defense would probably push the new trial date back so investigation can occur.


Title: If a currently married couple’s parents wished to get married, would the preexisting marriage between their children be void?

Question:
To be specific, an example:
1. A man and woman are married legally in the US.  If this is heavily state dependent, let’s go with PA for my own amusement.
2. The man’s (hitherto single) father begins a romantic relationship with the woman’s (hitherto single) mother.
3.  The father of the man and the mother of the woman seek to enter a legal marriage in the same state and country.

Are they forbidden from going through with this marriage?  Would their children be forced to separate due to incest laws?  Or would nobody really care?

Answer:
 No they aren’t forbidden. Nobody is related by blood in either marriage.Answer #2: I actually know someone in this situation!

A few years after my friend got married, her (widowed) father married her husband’s (also widowed) mother. It wasn’t an issue.


Title: Employer wants to hold a weeks pay to adjust to their new payroll schedule. They sent an email today asking for us to sign and return by December 24th or we automatically lose a weeks pay. Is this legal?

Question:
My exceedingly evil employer currently submits payroll biweekly on Wednesday’s for that week and the previous week. This means they are paying employees for that weeks Thursday and Friday before they actually work those days. Not a huge issue unless someone quits on a Wednesday night or are sick and they are paid for the last two days.

So they want to delay it by a week like everyone else does, and instead submit payroll on Wednesday’s for the previous two weeks. In order to do this they say they will have to hold a weeks pay to adjust to the new payroll, which means our next paycheck will be halved.

This is obviously an issue for most of our employees as and most live paycheck to paycheck. They offered a weeks payday loan that will be deducted biweekly starting January (deduction amount is not clear).

Besides being completely unethical and choosing the worse possible week of the year to do this, and giving us only 4 days (one work day) to respond, is this legal under current Florida law?

Answer:
 Florida does not require advance notice from employers for making changes to the payroll schedule^1. The change seems fine on its face (and as you noted is much more standard), but can you elaborate the "sign and return... or we automatically lose a weeks pay"? Are they threatening to not pay you for time worked if you don't sign the acknowledgement? Withholding pay or "fining" you for not signing would not be legal. As long as ultimately everybody is paid for the time they worked it's ok.

^1 [source](https://www.employmentlawhandbook.com/wage-payment-laws/state-wage-payment-laws/florida/#12)Answer #2: My company did this too although they gave us more than 4 days notice. Yes it's annoying but it's legal as far as I know. I advise against the payday loan if you can survive without it.Answer #3: Likely yes, this is entirely legal as you are still being properly paid for all hours worked.


Title: Sooo... I was in the middle of a legally questionable phone conversation with my friend, when right in the middle we both hear a recorded woman's voice that says "Now Recording". Should I be worried?

Question:
A little more back story.
I was speaking on the phone to my friend about him coming to town the upcoming weekend. We like to experiment from time to time with hallucinogens and marijuana. We were just shooting the shit and catching up on each others life, being that we hadn't spoken for a couple of weeks. About 20 minutes into the conversation my friend decides to inquire about my ability to procure some "treats" for the weekend. I replied that I could get some treats with little to no effort.
It was at this time, right in the middle of our "treat" conversation, that I heard a recorded woman's voice saying "Now Recording". My first thought was that my friend had accidentally pushed a button on his phone, but right then he said "I'll call you right back" and hung up. When he called me back he informed me that he had pushed no button on his phone. The thing that worries me is that we BOTH heard the woman's voice, leading me to believe that there may have been a third party on the line.
I'm feeling a little sketched out about it and decided to turn to Reddit for advice. Thanks guys.

Answer:
 If either of you were using Google voice and accidentally hit 4 on your phone, this would happen. http://support.google.com/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=115082

Edit: I guess it had to be the incoming phone. Can't record outgoing calls in google voice.


Title: In the case of a divorce could I "gift" my mother all my assets and then she could "gift" it back to me or I could use it under the table?

Question:
No I'm not married and don't plan to in the foreseeable future. I also realize I am going to sound like a complete asshole with this question and I don't condone something like this.

However I have wondered if such a situation were to present itself, could I possibly gift my mother all my money and assets and have it all under her name effectively making my net worth as little as possible. And then after a divorce some years down the line she could "gift" it all back to me? I trust my mom enough to do this btw so let's assume risk is zero.

Can this work out?

Answer:
 > could I possibly gift my mother all my money and assets and have it all under her name effectively making my net worth as little as possible

You mean fraud.  Sure, you can do fraud.  And then you can do time for fraud.Answer #2: This is considered hiding assets and is illegal. People try to do things like this all the time so the courts know what to look for. If you're worried about protecting your assets in a legal way you should speak to an attorney or if you can't afford one look for a free legal resource near you! If this is a concern you have for down the road when you are married I would reccommend getting a prenuptial agreement.


Title: I seriously need help please read.

Question:
A little background knowledge before I tell my story. Male.I'm 17 years old, live in Virginia. My mom is divorced from my dad and lives is Maryland.

 Tonight as most nights my dad was busy drinking. I had just finished dinner and was doing the dishes when I heard him say something about Mohammad toilet paper. I asked my dad who Mohammad was. Thinking he was referring to something other than the religious figure. He then started laughing his ass off at me And pointed "wow you sure are fuckin' stupid"
"Don't call me that"
"I'll call you what I fucking want!"
 Pretty much a shouting match where I am not shouting. I keep asking him not to call me names. He makes worse things to make me feel bad. Basically he was verbally abusing me to no end.

   Upstairs in my room I frantically pack a bag for myself, I have to get out.
   I go downstairs I tell my dad that I'm going to leave. I dont want to live here anymore.
   He said fine and I proceeded to leave. Just before I left the front door he said he would have the police called on me and he would tell the police that whoever's house I went to has kidnapped me.
   More and more shouting etc. Don't want to get into it because of course it would be written to make me look like a good boy and make my dad seem like a monster (even though I firmly believe that he is).
    I have a recording of the second half of the argument. At one point he said "Do what you want, pull your hair. Cut your wrists, I don't care what you do. You can't leave my home until you are 18!"
  Then at one point he says " you like calling people names? Well you have a little shriveled up dick!"
( how he would know that I'm not quite sure)
Keep in mind that I'm not saying anything on recording other than saying "I am a man so I am standing up for myself" and "yes sir" while he is giving me the business.

Anyways, what I want to know is how can I get out and live with my mom legally? Also if I left would that be legal? Running away from an abusive household? Does my dad follow any guidelines for an abusive father? This kind of thing happens fairly regularly and I almost never see him without a drink unless he is getting ready for work. I want to leave as soon as I can but I'm scared what will happen if I try to pull anything and it falls through. Then I am seriously worried that he will hurt me. He has hit me before but not for about two years. But he always could do it again and this time make it worse possibly making it so I need the hospital.

I'm sorry for how choppy this is set up. Clearly I am a little stirred up and not in any condition to write something like this

If this is the wrong subreddit for this please help me find the right one.
m

Edit: (thank you for giving me some information on all of this. Everything is so hard when you are young. And then I'm sure it gets 200x harder after that. Then even harder, then you retire and die)

Answer:
 What is the custody arrangement between your parents?

Why do you live with your *dad* ~~mom~~ not your *mom* ~~dad~~?

Would your mom be able to support you, if you lived with her?

You can certainly call CPS if you think your father is being abusive.  And yes, verbal abuse counts, though it's harder to prove.  But you should check in about the first three questions first.  Because while your father sounds like a nasty piece of work, the foster care system is considerably worse.

* Let's just call it a typo.


Title: [KS] I'm in [CA] Family member asking for money to pay a lawyer they hired. What can they tell me about my family member's case?

Question:
All the info I have about the case was told to my by my brother. He hired a lawyer and has already paid them $3000, but requires an additional $2000. I have not had any communications with this lawyer.

I don't want to hand my brother $2000 and would like to pay this lawyer directly to cover the fees. If I do that, what can the lawyer tell me about the status of the case with my brother? Is there confidentiality between lawyer/client(my brother)? Can this lawyer talk to me about the details of my brother's case even if i'm not their direct client?

Edit: Thank you all for the comments.

Answer: The lawyer cannot discuss details of the case with you.  You are not their client, direct or indirect.