Title: I'm worried about my cousin's [14M] odd behaviors, and that he may molest his sister [11F]. Nothing has happened yet. Their parents aren't doing anything. Is there anything I [26F] can do to stop this train wreck?

Question:
####Throwaway for obvious reasons. TL;DR at bottom.

I'm sorry about the length of this, but I felt that the full story was needed in order to give people context. I don't want to look back and say I could've done something but didn't. Any advice needed.

I've already tried putting this on /r/relationships and it was denied due to sexual context. A mod recommended I post here. I don't know where else to turn.

&nbsp;

######The People:
　My cousin (let's call him Nathan) lives in Home State with his parents, who are my Aunt and Uncle, and his sister (let's call her Sarah).
I am married to Husband and have been living 4,000 miles away in Foreign Country for 5 years. I was very close with Nathan until he was about age 10, which was when I moved away. Nathan and Sarah are my first cousins, and we share maternal Grandparents.

######The Location:
　In Home State, Nathan and his family live in a town ~100 miles away from my parents and grandparents. My parents and grandparents live on farms which are only 1 mile apart. We used to meet Nathan's family in Halfway Town, which is located at the halfway point between my parents/grandparents and Nathan's family.

####Some of this I have personally observed, and some of it I have learned secondhand from my mom, who is Aunt's sister.

&nbsp;

---
###**Background Info:**

　　Nathan as a toddler and young child was very fussy and very particular about *everything*. He has always been extremely stubborn. He was very neat and tidy, and by all rights was pretty normal to my mom and I, who babysat often. We were aware that there were some clothing textures he refused to wear, and that he had odd problems such as refusing to allow his dirty diapers to be changed, even up to the age of 3. He was very resistant to toilet training. We thought these were probably just quirks of his, as Aunt never hinted anything about Aspergers/Autism and never had him tested, and no one brought it up. As he got older, he appeared to us to be completely average.

　　Nathan has always been very into survival gear and survival shows. He loves all things outdoors, and things having to do with being off-grid and living on your own. This is not an unusual interest, as we live in a rural state in an even more rural area. However, Nathan takes it to the extreme. Once, we were going to drive to Nearby Town to get pizza (this town is 30 minutes by car from my parents' house). Nathan insisted on bringing *all* his survival gear, just in case the car broke down and we needed his matches or the water he packed to survive. He genuinely believed he would be the one we’d all look to to save us. This was 2018, he was 14 at that time, and we all had cell phones.
Nathan has never camped outside, slept in a tent, or even stayed at a friend's house. He has only ever stayed the night with family.

　　Nathan attended public school until age ~10. He then started having issues at school. He stated that one or two of his teachers were out to get him, and that he always got singled out for things, such as talking too loud, even though other kids were also talking loud. Bad teachers are not an unusual occurrence in Home State and Nathan was a trustworthy kid, so everyone believed him. I do not believe his parents discussed these accusations with any of the teachers, but they did pull him out of school and enrolled him in an online Christian school. They are very conservative Christians, and believed he would do better at this online school. Several years later, it was found out that Nathan actually lied about the issues at school and with his teachers simply because he didn't like school. He was enrolled back into public school for the last few months before it let out this year, and will be resuming again later this month.

&nbsp;

---
###**The Behaviors:**

　　Aunt has been Nathan's "teacher" at home, making sure he does his schoolwork. Nathan frequently is behind with his work and just absolutely refuses to do it, no matter what. Aunt struggles and argues with him, but Nathan does not listen to her. In fact, last year Nathan was not finished with his schoolwork until June -- over 1 month after school officially ended. Sarah has always attended public school. Uncle is away working from early in the morning until late in the evening driving an oil truck. Aunt has not had a job since Nathan's birth, and stays in the house alone -- all day, every day -- with Nathan. We, the rest of us, did not know about ANY of these issues until Nathan was 12, two years ago. Up till then, were lead to believe it was life as normal.

　　Two years ago, Aunt finally was forced to start discussing their issues with Nathan, as he became too much for her to deal with at home alone without her family support system. Aunt stated that Nathan had always been 'difficult' (news to us), but that it really became bad at that time. In the beginning, she was convinced he had something called 'Oppositional Defiant Disorder' as she had read about it for years and "just knew" that was what it was. Husband and I responded there was no way that disorder described Nathan, as Nathan didn't have a problem with *all* authority figures - just his mom. We pushed to have him officially diagnosed, a suggestion Aunt and Uncle still avoid to this day. We are now being told Nathan wants to become a highway patrol officer, and that it's better for him *not* to have a diagnosis so that he can get the job he wants.

　　Now, according to my mom, Aunt has become depressed and withholds information about Nathan. Aunt will not talk to anyone about her or Nathan's issues because she fears judgement. Aunt states that she cannot leave Nathan home alone, that she cannot drive to meet my/Nathan's Grandparents in Halfway Town, and that she cannot leave Nathan and Sarah alone together. At family gatherings, Aunt completely avoids Nathan wherever possible. According to my mom, Aunt has started having to call Uncle to come home and take Nathan with him in his truck. Afaik this is not even legal, but they are desperate. Uncle is also apparently the only one who can get Nathan to mind, and even then only barely. However, Uncle is usually not home to help with his son. I don't know why Aunt doesn't just get a job so she can get out of the house.

　　Nathan verbally abuses Aunt, and has become extremely difficult to deal with at home, to the point where Aunt will call my parents or Grandparents and ask them to keep him for one week or over the weekend. Husband and I were visiting during the first time this occurred (in January this year). Nathan stayed with my parents and us for 5 days. He has stayed with Grandparents at their house on two separate occasions since then. Some things we observed:

- Nathan would tiptoe *completely silently* around the house, trying to listen in on everyone's conversations.

- Nathan badgered Husband and I constantly one evening after we all got back from Grandparents'. He wanted to play a video game with us. I was worn out and stated I wanted to relax for a bit, but he asked me every 3 minutes to the point where we both retreated to my room to enjoy the evening in peace.

- Nathan became very angry one night because he couldn't figure out how to hook the DVD player up to the TV in order to watch a movie. When Husband got it set up, Nathan left the room after watching 10 minutes of the movie. Nathan didn't come back.

- On another night, Nathan insisted that Husband and I watch a specific movie with him. He continued insisting all through supper and for several minutes afterwards, then left the room within the first 20 minutes of the movie and didn't come back.

- At Grandparents' house, Nathan silently followed me to the bathroom, then stood outside the door listening. I was told this by my mom, who observed him. We can only guess why he did that. Maybe making sure I wasn't calling someone?

- Nathan stayed up very late into the night every night. It was none of our jobs to parent him, so we decided we wouldn't. We later discovered he had brought one of those MiO things (caffeine + flavor you add to water) with him. His parents were not aware he had been using those.

- Repeatedly harassed the dog. He was told she wasn't to go on the couch or be given food scraps, so he tried to get her to go onto the couch and gave her food scraps. He took one of her noisy toys and threw it at Husband and I's bedroom door in the mornings to try to get the dog to wake us up. My theory is that Nathan likes to provoke people and make them react, but none of us got onto him. We did get onto the dog, so maybe he used her as a way to get us to react.

- Nagged my mom persistently that he be allowed to drive the 4-wheeler. She stated "no" several times, and he would follow her from room to room for upwards of 30 minutes constantly nagging about being able to drive the 4-wheeler. He has never driven one before, we do not have helmets, and we're not his parents to decide when he's ready to drive one.

- When we took him back to meet his parents in Halfway Town, he insisted he needed the bowstring for his bow replaced. My mom went inside with him to help, and said that Nathan would talk very shyly in a low voice that the clerk could not hear, and that she herself could barely understand him. She had to ask him to speak up several times.

　　Since having Nathan stay in the same house with us over a period of 5 days, my parents, Husband and I all had our eyes opened to behaviors were were previously unaware of. Aunt opened up to my mom a bit more since then and tells my mom whenever Nathan is having a "meltdown." During these meltdowns, Nathan apparently locks himself in Aunt and Uncle's room and barricades the door so no one can get in.

　　I have advised my parents *never* to let Nathan stay with them overnight again. I'm not exaggerating when I say it was an absolute nightmare and not at all what any of us expected when we agreed to do it. I have talked with my mom and come up with an 'emergency' list of things to do in the case that Nathan does come and stay with them again. This list includes things like locking up the guns and ammo in separate locations (it is normally just my parents, so the guns aren't usually locked up), locking the filing cabinets, hiding/app-locking their devices, etc. My old gaming systems have been sold so as to avoid tempting Nathan. This is all meant to be a last resort, and I do not want him staying with them again.

&nbsp;

---
###**The Parenting:**

　　Aunt and Uncle have serious parenting issues, such as an odd unwillingness to change their computer password (which is still the same as it was 14 years ago!) despite the fact that they have a misbehaved teenage son who stays up all night. The parents hide their cell phones at all times, even going as far as not using them in front of Nathan. Nathan previously did have a cell phone, but due to acting out too many times, it was taken away. Nathan is *very, very poorly* socialized, and to my knowledge has never stayed the night *anywhere* other than with my parents or Grandparents. Aunt very closely monitors everything he watches on TV and every game he plays. Nathan most likely has very little knowledge or access to the world outside of Home State. I believe this does explain many of his odd behaviors, as those only really come out with unfamiliar territory, such as a week-long stay somewhere he'd previously only stayed one night at.

　　Husband and I are convinced Nathan has some form of undiagnosed mental or developmental issue. In my opinion, poor socialization does NOT explain all of the things we witnessed and have heard secondhand. I pushed a lot to have my mom convince Grandparents, who helped convince Aunt, to have Nathan talk to a psychiatrist. He has been doing this since March. Last I heard, the psychiatrist had a meeting with Aunt, Uncle, and Nathan. This was in April. We have not heard any info from Aunt as far as diagnoses or what the meeting was about. Nathan states that his parents are wasting their money, as there is nothing wrong with him. Nathan behaves totally normally in public, so it's possible the psychiatrist hasn't noticed anything. However, behind closed doors in his own home is a completely other story. Bad parenting, or something else? We don't know, so at this point, we can only guess.

　　Sarah is not allowed to have a lock on her door, as Aunt states they just *absolutely cannot* have rooms that Nathan does not have access to. Aunt says this will cause 'a meltdown.' There seems to be a pattern that they will not fight Nathan, even in cases where any good parent should have long-since put their foot down. Nathan controls the entire household, even to the detriment of the only innocent party: Sarah.

####Which brings me to the molestation fear.

&nbsp;

---
###**The Current Situation:**

　　I have been seeing red flags for a few months now, set off back in January by Nathan's odd behavior of *listening to me in the bathroom*. Wtf? I'm told that Sarah cannot be left alone with Nathan, but that she also cannot have a lock on her door? The girl is 11! Sarah and Nathan sleep across a hallway from each other, while Aunt and Uncle sleep at the other end of their large house.

　　Recently, my parents and Grandparents were at Aunt and Uncle's for a birthday party. Mom said Sarah and Nathan were in the living room, and that Sarah came running past them and into her room, with Nathan following behind her. They were both in Sarah's room with the door shut. Mom told the people at the table, "Sarah told me she would leave the room if Nathan started being weird." Aunt and Uncle *laughed*! Uncle said, "that's my girl!" I don't find it funny at all. I think Sarah was going to her room because Nathan WAS 'being weird' (whatever that means). Then Aunt started dropping hints like "I think the kids want you [my mom] to go check on them!" and other dumb shit. Hello???! Check on your kids yourself, or get Uncle to do it! Mom eventually went to check, then left again to sit with the adults.

　　Nathan has taken to nagging Sarah, in that nonstop way he does, whether she wants to be a cheerleader this coming school year. There is a girl he likes at school who is a cheerleader. Sarah repeatedly tells him she doesn't want to be a cheerleader, but Nathan keeps bugging her.

　　Mom also recently stayed the night at Aunt and Uncle's house. She stated that, during her board games with just the kids, Nathan would touch Sarah often, like in a 'bullying' way, and was 'rough' with her. Sarah got mad at Nathan and told him to stop touching her knee. Mom intervened and told Nathan to stop touching people who don't want to be touched. Nathan responded that my mom always hugs him goodbye. ????

　　I don't know how to explain it, but ever since January, I've just been having really bad feelings about Nathan. Some of you probably know what I'm talking about -- it's that odd feeling in your stomach warning you to "stay away" from a certain person. That gut instinct telling you not to be alone with them under any circumstance. I do have *some* situations I've witnessed and been told that support this, but it's mostly a gut feeling that something is wrong. I know something is going to happen, and I feel helpless. I don't want Sarah to carry abuse with her the rest of her life. I don't want her to suffer as an adult for having had to live with a belligerent brother and parents who let him control everything. I'm scared that, due to Nathan's poor socialization (and possibly his undiagnosed mental issue, if there is one), he won't get the sexual attention he craves from other girls his age, and so will carry that out on the one girl he has access to: his sister.

　　I have researched whether or not all this stuff is something I can report, as in my eyes the entire situation is hopeless because Aunt and Uncle aren't doing anything. Uncle has previously stated he believes these behaviors are something Nathan will "grow out of". Grandparents and my mom have all tried to no avail to give advice to Aunt. Aunt doesn't listen to any advice, and it took *a lot* of convincing to get her to have Nathan see a psychiatrist. Mom has been trying for several months to get Aunt to allow Sarah a lock on her door. Aunt and Uncle actually don't want Nathan to get a diagnosis -- Aunt says Uncle doesn't want their town to know anything is 'wrong'. Aunt and Uncle are doing nothing. Uncle is very headstrong: if I come out of left field with "your son is going to molest your daughter," all I will do is piss everyone off and solve nothing. I'm doing what I can through the grapevine, but it's not enough.

　　As far as I can see [here](https://www.dorightbykids.org/how-do-i-call-in-a-report/what-criteria-must-be-met/), the only time CPS can be called is under cases where abuse or neglect has already occurred, and you're supposed to have some real valid evidence for concern. I would really like to save Sarah from this whole situation as it's very unfair to her, and both Aunt and Uncle seem to have pretty much resigned the whole family to whatever fate awaits them. Aunt probably thinks nothing will happen if she's home. I believe otherwise.

　　Aside from Sarah, there is Nathan himself. I am also concerned that he is suffering greatly from his parents' lack of parenting. I worry that he will have issues long into his adult years, and it will be worse the longer this is allowed to continue. I want him to be happy and successful. I don't want him to become an abuser; I don't want Sarah to be victim of abuse.

####Am I overreacting? Is there anything I can do?

&nbsp;

---
###**TL;DR:**

　　My cousin Nathan, 14, has very odd behaviors and completely controls the household where he lives with his parents and sister. Nathan's sister Sarah, 11, is not allowed to have a lock on her door because Nathan must have access to the entire house at all times or he will have 'a meltdown', according to my aunt. I have a very bad feeling about all of this, and feel that there are red flags left and right that Nathan may become an abuser. I am also worried for Nathan's future as an adult due to his parents' lack of preparing him.

　　My aunt and uncle will not listen to *any* advice regarding this situation, and are extremely reluctant to get help or a diagnosis for Nathan, as my uncle is worried about public opinion. I would like to call CPS or *someone* to prevent the situation from worsening, but feel like I don't have enough evidence. I feel powerless. Any advice would be appreciated.

Answer:
 I can't see anything in your ridiculously long post that would suggest he is about to molest his sister. The kid seems to have some developmental and social issues and should probably see a doctor, which is something you could bring to CPS but I just don't know why you are saying you think he will molest someone.

Edit for wording


Title: I was 20 and got a DWI. That was 5 years ago. Can I get it expunged in Texas?

Question: The title says it all. I haven't so much as gotten a speeding ticket since the incident. I'm 25 now and was wondering, since I was underaged, can I get it expunged?

Answer: 20 is not underage.


Title: Received court summons for a crime I didn't commit?

Question:
USA - WA
I recieved a court summons for possession of a stolen vehicle today, I know nothing about this. The car stolen is one I don't own, nor know anyone with one. The court date is in two weeks. They have my name, driver's license #, and an address to a place in my city I've never seen or been, as well as my address. I plan on calling people tomorrow when everything opens back up but wanted to ask for advice first. I don't really have money for a lawyer, and this is a pretty serious felony I don't want to get mixed up with. I haven't had my ID stolen and I haven't lost it to the best of my knowledge. If it matters, I have a fairly common name.

Answer: In a lot of areas, police mugshots are publicly displayed in an online database. Try looking yours up, maybe someone managed to steal your ID.Answer #2: Go to court, plead not guilty, don't make any statements about the allegations on the record or to a prosecutor, if you can't afford a lawyer ask the court to appoint one or how to apply for a public defender. In the meantime gather proof of ownership of the vehicle and any paperwork from when you bought it.Answer #3: Also check your credit report. If someone has indeed been using your identity, it likely they've used it for more than just a driver's license. Answer #4: Make the calls tomorrow and insist you get connected with the arresting/citing officer.  You should plan on going to court, but this isn't going to get cleared up without the officer saying "who the f are you?"


Title: How do I stop being a co-signer for an ex’s loan?

Question:
Besides having the borrower willingly take over the loan, is there a way to remove yourself as a co-signer?

Background: ex spouse, old student loan from 7 years ago, ex spouse not paying

Answer:
 Usually, no. If there is, it'll be in the agreement itself: read your copy to be sure.

If co-signers could absolve themselves of the responsibility, they would be pretty useless for guaranteeing a loan, unfortunately. You can sue your ex for the money you're out, but if they can't pay the lender, they may not be able to pay you, either.

Was there anything in your divorce order about this loan?Answer #2: The only way is for the ex to refinance the student loan into their name only.  As you mentioned he is not paying, that will not get approved/happen.

I suspect the student loan company will come after you.  They are allowed to (regardless of what the divorce documents say).  If that happens and your divorce papers say he was supposed to pay, you would have recourse against him.  That means you could file suit against him, and try to collect the money back.


Title: (WI) Was mailed 2 tickets from City of Chicago Department of Finance for a vehicle with the same plate characters as mine but a different plate. When I called I was told there is nothing that can be done to fix the error.

Question:
(WI) Received both a parking and vehicle registration violation in the mail from the City of Chicago Department of Finance. The vehicle has the same plate characters as mine but is not a Wisconsin passenger vehicle license plate (it was a Lac Du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians plate). Apparently both tickets have been paid but my name and vehicle are still attached to the violations. When I spoke with them and asked to have my info removed from their system I was told it couldn’t be done because the tickets were paid.

Could this in ANY way come back to haunt me?

Link to Lac Du Flambeau plate confused for WI passenger vehicle plate: http://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/dmv/vehicles/title-plates/tribal.aspx

Answer:
 Oh, very much yes, it can come back to haunt you.  Chicago does not just let people walk away from tickets.  [Here is how you contest a ticket.](http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/fin/supp_info/revenue/challenging_tickets.html)  You should note that there's a finite amount of time that you can contest these.Answer #2: Get something official and in writing from the Chicago department of finance stating that it was a clerical error and not actually your vehicle, and that everything is paid in full. With contact information and a reference number, if you can manage it. Save a few copies of it, then stop worrying about it.

It's possible that this could cause hassles later; unpaid tickets can cause the DMV to revoke your registration or refuse to renew it, for example. But that's unlikely, since the tickets were paid, and presumably you got in contact with the agency quickly to resolve this.


Title: [Seattle, WA] Signing a new lease; weird clause in the pet policy about seizing pets without notice. Is this legal?

Question:
My husband and I live in Seattle and have two dogs. We're moving into a new rental apartment next month-- I just got the lease for review and it turns out they're overlooking a part of their pet policy for us (allowing our two 40 lb dogs when their usual limit is 20 lb) but have a pretty intense pet policy otherwise, including how often people with cats should clean their litter box, and this:

"Landlord shall have the right to enter the Resident's apartment unit and/or immediately remove any animal that is: 1. being kept on the Premises without the written consent of the Landlord; and 2. determined by the Landlord, or any public authority, to constitute a nuisance or a threat to the health or safety of the building occupants and or other members of the community. If any animal requires immediate removal, Resident will be responsible for all expenses for animal placement and care."

Is there any way that this is legal?

This implies no notice before entering and seizing my pet if they deem one of them a nuisance, which makes me really uncomfortable given one dog is a bit of a protective barker.

Anyone's experience with something like this or knowledge of the law surrounding this would be helpful before we sign this thing.

Answer: Pets are treated as property in most states, and it seems likely that the landlord cannot enter your unit to seize your property at will. You would need to do some research to see if WA has anything on the books about the seizure of animals.


Title: Friend is ignoring me to avoid returning my property.

Question:
I lent my friend my laptop 2 years ago as him and his girlfriend didn't have internet, cable, or a computer so i lent him mine with my extra mobile HHD. I did this to allow them some entertainment as i provided them tv shows and movies to watch on the HHD. Anyways, I recently contacted him again asking how my laptop is and he replied quickly that it is still in working order and hasn't touched it in months as he recently got a new laptop. So i reply that i want to swing by his place to pick it up and he started the silence treatment. I continue to text him for the next month with no response. I text his roommate to see if he'll talk to him, he says he will and then stopped responding.  ------- I don't know where he lives, I know his phone number, and where he works. What would be the best course of legal action if i need to resort to that? I heard small claims court may tell him to return it if i win but there is nothing forcing him to. Can i file it as stolen with the police and get them involved? What are my options?
Location: Oregon, USA

Answer: Small claims. File against him for the value of the laptop, you should be able to find his address online if you look hard enough, I don't know if you can serve someone at work.


Title: Is "hush money" legal?

Question:
Hello! TLDR: Is it illegal in the state of Oregon to offer an employee "hush" money to keep them "happy and from complaining"? What is my legal obligation to protect my company and other employees to facilitate a fair work environment?
_____

I'm a supervisor at a call center that contracts out to different companies for customer support. The company itself has a few branches and is slowly becoming a global operation; however, on paper is a smaller "franchise" (~less than 6k employees).

The team I supervise has 6 shift supervisors across 2 separate locations. We recently had an issue where one employee was accusing an "assistant manager" of some really harsh claims (controlling, transphobic, stalking etc.) ((All of this was delusion btw and the assistant was horrified at the claims. Some events were supervised events where the employee lied about events even though witnesses disagrees with rhem)) None of this was proven and we separated them by shift- this leading to the accusor working a shift that should have paid them less during the investigation; however we continued to pay them their same hourly though the hours weren't the same. ($1 shift differential for grave pay.)

Fast forward and the employee is back on the grave shift and the assistant manager only has 1 overlapping shift with the employee while having multiple supervisors there.

In addition to the employee getting $1 for about a month and a half undeserved, I've recently come to find out that the employee is also getting an addition differential of $1 even though they do not qualify. When I brought this up to their supervisor they proceeded to tell me that our boss signed off on giving them this to "make them happy, and to keep them quiet".

Do I have any legal obligation to protect my company for this? Is this considered malpractice? None of my other employees are given reimbursement to essentially stop complaining.

Answer:
 Why did you repost this?

Yes, it is legal for them to pay him extra.

Why do you think it would be malpractice?


Title: [MEGATHREAD] Federal Government Bans Bump-Stocks.

Question:
Trump signed an order earlier today [Banning both the sale and possession of bump stocks](https://www.apnews.com/6c1af80fb290472c89fb930e223505af). Owners will have 90 days from the time the rule is published in the Federal Register - expected to be this Friday. This means, absent any litigation, owning or possessing a bump stock will be a federal crime by March.

Some points:

1. The NRA and other groups will almost certainly sue to stop this law from going into effect. They will also almost certainly request that the government be restrained from enforcement until the law has worked it's way through the courts.

2. Other groups will oppose the NRA. It will be a big fight, and it will take years.

3. There is a high likelihood that the restraining order will be granted.

4. If the restraining order is granted, then you should be fine owning a bump-stock until the litigation has run it's course.

5. If, however, there is no restraining order granted and it approaches the 90 day time limit - you need to protect yourself from becoming a federal criminal by following the rules.

This is not the forum to talk about the virtues of a bump-stock, or to otherwise engage in general gun-nut/anti-gun circular arguments. It will be ruthlessly moderated.

Answer: Did they give guidance on a legal way to dispose of one if you have one? Seems like chucking it in trash could cause problems.


Title: Can a Landlord Enter Apartment without consent?

Question: I am in Maryland. I left my apartment at 12:30 yesterday to go and visit my parents in another State. My landlord called my parents this morning (not me) to complain about the clutter/mess in my apartment. Why did they even enter my apartment in the first-place? They never asked gave 24 hour notice. Also, they were definitely watching my apartment on cameras or something, because how else did they know when I left? I had been staying there all summer and this is the FIRST night I wasn't home. The whole thing is weird. I am also very upset they went in my apartment and took pictures, which they sent to my parents. My mother now wants to go and clean my apartment with me. They shouldn't have even entered without giving me notice. If I'd had notice, I would have spent the day cleaning and organizing the mess. Was this in my landlord's rights? Don't tenants have some right to privacy? I don't even want to live in this apartment anymore at this point. I know they watched me leave/not return on the cameras and never gave me notice

Answer: Curious as to whether there's something more going on here, since it seems odd that landlord would A) know your parents and B) reach out to them about your messy apartment. How does he know your parents? Is he a family friend or something? Are you the sole leaseholder?


Title: Florida Custody Help

Question:
My boyfriend has a two year old son and has been actively involved in his life since the day he was born. He has always been amicable with his ex, and they have a verbal agreement about custody. He pays court ordered child support and gets his son anywhere from 2-4 days a week.
Recently it has come to our attention that 1) his ex is neglecting and abusing their child and 2) he has no legal rights to his son.
This is now the third time that his ex has been investigated by the Department of Children and Families and it's apparent that they are going to do nothing other than stick her in some parenting classes and call it a day.
As far as his legal rights go, he doesn't seem to have any. Doctors will not release patient information to him (even though he is on the birth certificate and paternity has been verified). He is not allowed to make appointments for him, or enroll him in any type of day care. The most he can really do is bring him to the ER in case of emergency, but even then the mother would be contacted for results, not him.
My question has two parts... One: How does he get legal rights to his biological child? And two: What is the best way to petition for custody?

Thank you in advance.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 1- He files for custody and visitation with the courts

2- Contact a family law attorney or google filing for custody and his county.

As a side note, he should be able to contact DCF and get info on the investigations. They will have a process which may or may not be through courts.


Title: Is it fraud to not accept a job while on unemployment?

Question: My company has been reaching out to individuals in our industry to establish a workforce (which seems to be getting harder and harder). We called a guy who a few of us knew from previous jobs. We offered $18 per hour which is high for an unskilled laborer in this industry in Louisiana. The guy said “Na I’m making $700 a week from the unemployment I drew from my last hitch in Massachusetts.” He said he’s been drawing it for almost a year and that  he would get back with us if they cut off his unemployment. Is this legal? He turned down a job in the industry he works in, with above average pay to stay on the taxpayer’s dime.

Answer: It's not fraud to turn down the job.  It's fraud to fail to report the job offer and rejection (which would likely terminate his benefits).Answer #2: You don't have to take any job available on unemployment. For example, if you are a software engineer, you don't have to take a job at Walmart stocking shelves. He also doesn't have to take a drastic pay. I believe he doesn't have to take the job unless it pays at least 75% as much as the previous job he had prior to unemployment. And I believe that rule only kicks in after a few months of unemployment.


Title: [AZ] I am certain my ex GF and her layer dad tried to set me up to get me in trouble.

Question:
So My GF and i broke up after 3 years back in july, she cheated, she moved out of our house, I paid to break our lease and now we have no legal obligations regarding money anymore. So me being me I looked her up on Facebook, bad move. I see that she's dating the scum bag that she cheated on me with. Its really obvious she doing this because he will lay in traffic for her but she clearly doesn't love him. how do I know this, because 2 days before they start dating,I get a phone call begging to get back with me blah blah blah. 2 days after they go on a trip up state she calls saying the same things, i decline and tell her its not a god idea, that I'm happy and she needs to move on. well as anyone would be I was mad yesterday when I found out she's dating they scum bag she started cheating on me with, I sent an email, basically detailing that she is a crappy person for begging to be with me while starting a relationship with this guy and told her not to call me anymore and not to reply to that email. I said a few choice words but nothing too crazy. So she calls me this afternoon and we chatted for a bit about why she's dating that guy and how I'm dating this new girl. She said she wanted to come over to my place and talk. I agreed, she came by and we walked around the neighborhood talking not just about all that but we left the relationship with a few things un said so we talked that out for about an hour or so.

Here is the set up: we are sitting at this park by my house talking, and she says "oh look there is my dad" I froze and didn't know what to do so i sat there looking away from him. and immediately starts asking her "has he every hit your or left marks on you?" Im thinking, obvious answer is no. She lied and said I left a bruise on her arm before. I jump up and said I never touched her (reddit is anonymous enough for me to admit if I have and I certainly have never touched her violently in anger.) I get up and start walking back to my house while this guys is yelling and cursing at me. So instinctively I do the same, Then he starts shouting "go get your fucking gun" repeatedly. Yes I own a fire arm but would never point it a someone unless I feel my life was in danger. I never had any intentions of getting my gun since I recently moved I don't know which box in my garage that its even in at this point. I am certain he was recording the conversation on his phone I don't know though. but he kept saying weird things like for me to go get my gun and that i have threatened her new boy friends life. I ran back home called my dad he came over.

all I said to him and what would be on tape is me telling him he's a fat fuck and to drop dead of a heart attack, That he was a shitty lawyer who couldn't make it as a city lawyer so he moved his family to the country to open his failing firm. silly stuff but I knew it would hurt him emotionally.

I did send a FB message once to that guy after I found out she was cheating, I said "I was going to come here to tell that I wanted to bash your head in for talking to my girl but Im not going to, Im happy this happened because I wasn't be the best I could be to her so It was a matter of time until she cheated, (we were both mentally not into the relationship anymore) But if you ever lay your hand on her again you and I are going toe to toe and Im one bad mamma jamma" This is verbatim.

So I don't know if this is a threat on his life but I would never act on something like that and I felt stupid after sending it because we broke up like 2 days later.

Her dad did start screaming legal terms at me saying I threatened her new boyfriends life from that message, I replied he's a big boy he can handle his own battle.

Can this guy do anything legally against me?

Answer: Dude, get some counseling and move on.


Title: My job provides health insurance, but doesn’t cover any physicians anywhere near me. Is this legal?

Question: I buy insurance through my employer. I’m looking for a primary care physician, and the closest one to my work or home (I have a 30 mile commute) is over an hour away. I feel like I’m paying for insurance that I can’t even use, and I’m not sure if they’re required to do more or if I’m out of luck. Thanks.

Answer:
  Health insurance is regulated by state laws. Each state differs from its neighbors, so what follows are general guidelines that apply to most of the country. However, if your state laws vary, your health plan may follow slightly different rules. You didn't put your location in your post.

Health plans may consider paying for care you get out-of-network as though you got it from an in-network provider for certain circumstances and one of those is not having in-network providers where you are.  This could mean you’re out of town when you get sick and discover your health plan’s network doesn’t cover the city you’re visiting. It could also mean you’re within your health plan’s regular territory, but your health plan’s network doesn’t include the type of specialist you need, or the only in-network specialist is 200 miles away. In both cases, your health plan will be more likely to cover out-of-network care at an in-network rate if you contact the health plan before you get the care, and explain the situation (in non-emergency situations, this should always be your approach).

I'd call your insurance directly and see what they say. If I know what state you're in I can take a look at local laws.Answer #2: How do you know that any physicians near you aren't covered, is it from the website provided by your company or through your own research?

I ask because the website of the insurance I have tells me that the closest provider is over 30 miles away, however I called the hospital that is two miles up the road and they told me they accept my insurance. If you haven't checked for yourself I would suggest doing so first.


Title: Ontario Canada - My cousin has threatened to sue my dad and my uncle over selling property he might, one day, inherit.

Question:
So a brief back story which I will try and describe to the best of my ability...

Preface – My dad and his two siblings, a brother and a sister and they are in charge of a trust involving a cottage sitting on 80 acres of un-zoned land in Ontario Canada.

After my Grandmother passed away in ‘91 she had her will and testament written up (with the help of my dad’s sister) to leave the cottage as an estate in her (Grandmothers) name and her three children (my dad and his siblings) left as the trustees of the estate, then once they all pass away, the 8 grandchildren (myself and 7 other cousins) will be individually asked, starting with the oldest, whether or not they want to inherit the estate or pass. So if 3 cousins want to keep the cottage and 4 don’t, the 3 cousin must then payout the other 4 their equal share of the property at its current market value.

So for the most part my cousin, who doesn’t like anyone in the family and vice versa, is currently the caretaker of the property. We have recently taken a big hit on the money in the estate and had to pay 21 years’ worth of capital gain taxes to the CRA (around 160,000 from what has been told) and now the financial situation is not looking good for the property. So in the will it states that the property cannot be sold unless one of the trustees buys the others out of their 1/3rd market value share. Or if the property has become a financial burden to the family, it can be sold in its entirety (my grandmother’s wishes and hopes were to keep the property in the family for generations to come, the will is setup to try and keep it that way)

Unfortunately this place has caused a lot of turmoil between certain family members and for the most part the majority of grandchildren no longer have a vested interest in the property, and have already decided they won’t accept the inheritance. So it’s at the point where my dad and his brother are weighing the option of selling the property now and splitting the money to all 8 grandchildren and just saying “that’s that” the next time around in 21 years when these capital gain taxes come back, the estate won’t have the funds to cover it and portions of the property would then have to be sold.

So now to my question and why I’m here.. A new fact has come forth in light of this current situation, My aunt informed my dad that IF he and his brother vote to sell the property and all the assets, my Cousin (oldest and first in line to be offered the property) will SUE the trustees, and as suggested by my aunt, He will be successful in doing so… What action should my dad be taking in preparing for this possibility, does my cousin have any grounds to pursue this on and could he win. We have a few theories to why he’s like this and the main one we can assume, since he has no children and is almost 50 years old, that he hopes to turn the property into commercial use and make money off of it, he hasn’t told anyone upfront but has dropped hints in the past about the idea of renting the cottage out and the possibility of a resort type setup… Any help would be awesome and if there are more questions to ask, send them though I’ll answer them as best as possible.

*edit* fixed up the paragraph spacing

Answer:
 >A new fact has come forth in light of this current situation, My aunt informed my dad that IF he and his brother vote to sell the property and all the assets, my Cousin (oldest and first in line to be offered the property) will SUE the trustees, and as suggested by my aunt, He will be successful in doing so…

Never trust anyone who tells you that they're for-sure going to win in court when they have an enormous interest in getting you to lose.

Get a lawyer, tbh. This is above this sub's pay-grade.Answer #2: This depends mostly on the exact wording of the will and (IMO) can only be answered by a lawyer.

Answer #3: Offer your cousin first right to purchase it in the event you consider a sale. Answer #4: Sounds like a super complicated trust issue. A lawyer might be needed to read the terms of the trust instrument [if one exist] and advise on the relevant law. No one on reddit will be able to give you proper advice based on what you posted.

  Answer #5: As my trusts prof said at least once per class... "You always have to read the trust instrument!"
So, unfortunately, without being able to do that it is nearly impossible to assess what is happening here.
Definitely get a good lawyer, one who exclusively deals in, or is very well regarded in this area, as this doesn't seem like your run of the mill dispute.

Good luck!


Title: So the dui lawyer I hired for my case isn't available for my court date after a continuation. Now the firm replaced her with another lawyer who doesn't specialize in dui. Is this right?

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
DUI

Answer: It's neither "right" nor "wrong". More to the point, it's not illegal. If you don't approve, then get another attorney or another law firm.Answer #2:  Unless it's the actual trial, it probably won't matter. You described it as a court date which means that it's probably just a procedural meeting. Your attorney will have told the covering attorney everything they need to know. Answer #3: Law firms--even the best ones--always send other attorneys to routine hearings.  If you're billing by the hour, you don't want to pay for the top brass to drive to the court house, wait for a few hours to make an appearance, agree on a date or something minor, and drive back.


Title: My great aunt died recently. Extended family then proceeded to enter her apartment and take all of the valuables they could find inside. Is there anything legally that can be done against them?

Question:
So last Sunday my great aunt died in Cordoba, Spain and some family members have crawled out of the woodwork to see how much they are entitled to in the will. My great aunt was a believer in everyone being equal so her will states that all her belongings will be equally shared out to her 6 siblings (sons/daughters if said sibling is dead).

A family member entered the house earlier today and took all of the valuables and generally left the apartment in disarray. Suffice to say everyone was appalled but nobody really knows what to do.

In my mind this feels like stealing but there seems to be nothing we can really do. I mean nothing in that apartment was legally theirs yet as nothing in the will has been settled.

Any legal help on this matter would be really appreciated. It pains me to think that they are going to have a portion of the money left over in the will which is exactly what they want. It's more about principles than the money for me.

Answer: Call the police the apartment was robbed. You're also going to need a local attorney.


Title: Can employers use race as one factor in deciding who to hire?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Since you mentioned you work for a federal agency the DOL outlines the Federal Governments hiring policies specific to affirmative action. [http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/hiring/affirmativeact.htm](http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/hiring/affirmativeact.htm)


Title: Sold a family member a car because they said they would pay for it. It's been 2 months and I haven't received a dime of it.

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: Do not report it stolen to the police. It's not stolen. You can go and pick up the car if you'd like. It is yours to repossess.


Title: (U.S. - MI) Backed Out Of Apartment Before Moving In, LL Trying To Keep Security Deposit

Question:
Hello. Long story short. I applied to an apartment and backed out because they treated me so badly. They are trying to keep my deposit. They justify by saying when I applied there I signed an agreement to forfeit my security deposit if I cancel my application for any reason.

I'll jump right into dates.

8/22/18 - Apply to apartment complex.

8/28/18 - I provide apartment complex with proof of income.

9/18/18 - I receive a phone call being offered an apartment for the cost of $675 per month. The apartment won't be ready for 6 weeks because it is under construction being renovated, but the apartment complex wants to reserve it in my name now. I call them back and accept.

9/19/18 - They e-mail me a move in cost sheet and tell me my security deposit is due within one week despite the apartment not being open for 6 weeks. In the sheet, my rent is *actually* $695 per month because water utility is included in rent. When asked about this they word it like I am getting some kind of deal saving money on utilities by including it in my rent.

9/24/18 - I get a phone call back telling me they offered me the wrong apartment and the real apartment costs $700 per month. Curiously, $700 was the top of my price range and I told them that when I applied.

9/24/18 - Despite all this bullshittery, I drop off a $500 security deposit anyways. Not going to go into the details here of why I didn't notice all the red flags. I did it, and that's all that matters now.
Before dropping it off, I ask them to provide me with a receipt for the security deposit. They basically said they don't do that, but tried to word it like it was a positive thing.

10/1/18 - I receive a phone call asking me to pay the previous owner's last month of rent. Again, they try to word it as a positive thing. They say I am not required to do it, but if I agree the previous owner offered to make it worth my while. I refuse, of course. They end the conversation by telling me the apartment still prolly won't be available for another 4 weeks.

10/3/18 - Two days after the previous exchange, the apartment complex calls me and tells me the apartment will be ready in 9 days. I do not respond because I already decided to cancel my application. They attempt to contact me twice more in the next two days. In one of these phone messages they even tell me I have until the end of the day to contact them.

10/10/18 - I e-mail the apartments informing them I am canceling my application. I ask them how they intend to return my deposit. They respond the same day informing me that as part of the application agreement I agreed to forfeit my deposit if I backed out of the application process. I check the terms of the application and it appears as follows.

"Deposit Agreement: I acknowledge that if I cancel the apartment being held, my security deposit will be forfeited to
MoldyWalnutz Apartments."

And that is the end of the communication between myself and the apartment complex.
Most of this communication happened over the phone. Some of it is in phone messages on my answering machine. Some of it is over e-mail.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Answer: It sounds like on 9/19 you agreed to a move-in date of 10/31 (6 weeks from then), and on 9/24 you agreed to the $700 rent by dropping off your deposit check. MoldyWalnutz fulfilled that agreement by having the apartment ready for you on 10/12. So it sounds like you're out your deposit. The best you can probably do is cancel your cancellation and move in on 10/31 per your latest agreement. Then you'll get your deposit back when the lease ends and you move out.


Title: Boss (PA) at Secret Shopper job stopped payment on my last reimbursement check after I (NY) quit, and I want to sue him in small claims court but need advice.

Question:
My boss lives and works in Philadelphia, but hired me as a contractor to do assignments in New York City. I quit working for him because I'd heard he didn't pay out for final assignments, so I waited until my last check cleared, then quit. This meant that I didn't complete an assignment that I was already scheduled for, and turned out not to matter anyway, because he was still able to stop the payment on my reimbursement check, which my bank told me he can do for any check he paid me for the past 3 years. I closed out that bank account to protect my money, but want to do what I can to get back the rest of my money. It's less than $200, it's more about the principle than the money. To be clear, this was only reimbursement from money that I'd already spent at the restaurant, and had already turned in the completed report. He received reimbursement for this assignment, which he was supposed to pass on to me, and also profited my report. In my mind, he essentially stole money from me and made a profit off of me. When I pointed this out, he was very uncooperative, if not cruel. I know what he's doing is illegal, and I know he's been doing it for a long time. Is taking him to small claims court worth it? Do I need a lawyer, or can I represent myself? Can I get more money than he stole from me, like enough to cover small claims court and other out of pocket expenses?

Edit: To clear up any confusion, the final report was accepted, and he sent my check, which was about $150 reimbursement for the amount I spent at the restaurant in order to complete the report, and a small payment of $15. The job was mostly getting reimbursed to eat at overpriced restaurants in exchange for detailed reports.

Thank you for all the responses!

Answer:
 Usually your state has a department of labor that will bring claims on your behalf.   Call them and let them know the situation.   They may file a claim on your behalf.Answer #2: The whole idea of small claims court is the simplify the process so you do not need a lawyer (some states prohibit them entirely from small claims court).   Find your local court's website and they'll have some information on small claims court, or go to the court and get the info direct from the court clerk.  The court clerks can not give you legal advice but they can and will give you information on how to file a small claims case and about related procedures.

Your best training for small claims court is to go sit in the court and observe the proceedings for a day.

Rules vary from state to state, but in the states I'm familiar with you can only get actual damages like the amount of the check he stopped or other specific amounts he owes you plus the fees you had to pay to the court related to your small claims suit.  You cannot ask for payment for your time or other intangible expenses.


Title: School told my parents that I was arrested for prostitution

Question: This is definitely not legal. I posted before about having a judicial hearing for being arrested. Somehow, my parents know about it, and they said that they were notified by the school. I asked the school, and they told met that they did no such thing. I'm like, wtf? I think that someone in the school administration notified my parents but did not tell anyone else that they did this. What do I do now?

Answer:
 Arrests are public information.  Why do you think it is "definitely not legal."Answer #2: Not prostituting would be a good place to start.Answer #3: You need to spin this into a my school is so expensive I was forced to prostitute myself story.  They'd definitely want to keep that under wraps.Answer #4: You really brought this whole situation onto yourself. You gotta man up and live with the consequences. Welcome to the adult world where your actions can have adverse affects on your life. Answer #5: > What do I do now?

About what?


Title: IL Field sobriety tested. Questions about legality of what a police officer did.

Question:
I can provide more backstory if needed.  I live in a county in Illinois that is not Cook.

Went out last night to the bar, after drinking a friend drove me to my car in a parking lot of a store in a shopping center.  I got in my car and drove to an open fast food place in the same shopping center (no driving on roads, just parking lots).

Ordered food and pulled into a parking spot as I realized how inebriated and tired I was, I didn't want to drive the 5 minutes home.  I park my car and leave it running and proceed to fall asleep around 2:20 am.

Cops wake me up around 5:30 am, ask me questions about where I came from, what I was drinking,  and asked for my license.  I provide my license and eventually they end up asking me to enter the fast food restaurant with them to "talk and do some tests" because it was freezing cold and the ground was covered in snow.  They said I smelled of alcohol.

At this point I ask to call my lawyer, they say no.  I say that I don't really know what to do and I don't feel that I need to get out of my car and go inside.  There were three cops there, one of the cops proceeds to open my passenger front door and lean in and starts shining his flashlight around and pressuring me that I need to come inside.  I'm feeling uncomfortable so I say okay and I get out and walk inside.

They do the "follow my finger" test, the take 9 steps heel to toe and turn around test, and the balance for 30 seconds on one foot test.  Then they ask me to blow and I bring up wanting to call my lawyer again and they say no, they just want to see where I'm at.  So I blow and it registers 0.06.

The 3rd cop (same one who opened my passenger door) makes a comment about "it probably dropped that low with all the stalling that you did" at which point I am frustrated as I have attempted to be up front and honest the entire time so I shot back at the cop "You know my BAC wouldn't drop that much in 5 or 10 minutes, that's simple math...c'mon." He muttered under his breath and went out to his car.  I then talked to the other two cops for a couple minutes about being safe and I explained my frustration.  They supposedly "explained" some of the law that because my car was running that I could have been charged with a DUI, the younger cop says I should put my keys in the trunk if I'm going to do that, and the older cop says something about not being valid because we were on private property and they didn't see me driving.  I thank them and see them pull out onto the road but they park facing opposite ways where they can still see the parking lot.  I didn't know if they could pull me over when I left so I ordered food and waited 15 minutes for them to leave before I drove home.

MY QUESTIONS ARE:

Do I have to answer questions about where I have been and what I've had to drink?

Did I have to go inside to talk and do tests if they hadn't seen me driving on a road?

Was that cop allowed to open my passenger door and lean inside without asking me if he could search or do anything with my vehicle?

Is smelling alcohol on my breath enough reason for them to be able to force me to get out of my parked car if they didn't see me driving on any road?

I was just extremely frustrated that I did what I thought was the smart thing and didn't drive and I was being questioned and pressured like they had just caught me driving the wrong way down a road.  I would like to be better educated should this happen again.

tl;dr - Cops touched my butt, they claimed it was okay because I gave them sexy eyes.  I didn't blame them and dropped the charges.

Answer:
 Your TL;DR makes me think this is a troll post and I'm annoyed that you wasted my time. Answer #2: > Do I have to answer questions about where I have been and what I've had to drink?

No, you're free not to answer questions.

> Did I have to go inside to talk and do tests if they hadn't seen me driving on a road?

They don't need to see you driving to suspect you, or charge you, with DUI.

The cop was correct: DUI/DWI generally turns on you being *in control* of the vehicle, not necessarily driving.


Title: Sadly I'm a victim of reshipping scam

Question: Im currently in San Diego and I recently started a job 2 weeks ago as a Package Manager. The company was called APC Delivery. My job was to receive packages, inspect them and ship them out to addresses that were given to me from my manager (the one who offered me the job). I know I should've done researcg before I accepted the job but I'm 18 and I was desperately looking to get my first job. It's so f***ed that THIS was my first job. But yes, it ended up being a scam. I was unknowingly shipping stolen goods for these criminals and I don't know what to do. I've only sent out 4 packages so far and I have 4 more coming in the mail. I already emailed my manager saying I don't want to receive further packages but there are still 4 coming in. I'm scared. I haven't contacted the police about it. I really dont want to because I'm scared but I don't know what to do. How likely are the cops to get involved in a situation like this? I need advice on what to do. My family and friends are just saying to stop sending the packages and lose all contact with those people and they're saying don't stress about it and that no one is gonna come after me. One of my relatives actually was a victim to this scam too and she never ended up reporting it and nothing ever happened. Why is that? She just stopped all communication with these people and moved on with her life. But I'm confused to why police never got involved..

Answer: Police aren’t getting involved because people like your relative don’t report it. You should report it.


Title: If Hitler survived, what would his trial be like and what defenses would he use?

Answer:
 Look at the Nuremburg trials. That's your answer.  Or the Cambodia genocide tribunal.Answer #2: His best defence would likely have been that nothing what he did was illegal by German law. It is a similar argument used by other Nazi heads at the Nuremburg trials. It would not have prevented the death penalty.Answer #3: His defense would be, “You can’t convict me now. I’m 132 years old.”

If you mean, “What would his trial in 1946 have been like?” then it’s likely to have resembled Göring’s or Kaltenbrunner’s trials. The indictments against Hitler write themselves. Those convicted at Nuremberg tried to defend themselves by saying they were just following orders; Hitler didn’t even have that fig leaf. If the Allied forces of the west had captured Hitler alive, it’s virtually certain that he would have hung by the neck until dead, or found a way, as Göring did, to commit suicide in custody to avoid that fate.Answer #4: Even if he didn't kill himself and was somehow captured just like his good buddy Benito he would never have made it to trial.  The Russians got there first and they were rather upset with the little POS so his end would have been decidedly unpleasant.  And the little POS knew it.  That's why he killed himself.Answer #5: There was actually debate between the Russians and the Americans about how to handle Hitler: the Americans wanted to shoot him on sight, and the Russians wanted to put him on trial and then publicly execute him.


Title: Bought a Car, Bank has Title

Question:
So, I did something stupid...and I'm ready for your jabs, because I feel like an idiot. I bought a car a little over a week ago from a private owner, who told me that she needed to pay off the lien on the car's title before she could sign it over. Like the idiot I am, I agreed and transferred the money to her (we were together at the bank). She signed a copy of the bank transaction and wrote "Bill of Sale" on it, which she assured me could be used to get a temporary registration while we waited for the title. I went to the DMV, and it turns out the "Bill of Sale" she signed isn't valid because it doesn't have any information about the car on it. This may have been intentional on her part, but I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. I texted her every couple of days asking for news on the title, and she kept telling me that she should have it by the end of the week. On Friday of last week, I texted her but didn't get a response. I texted again on Saturday, no response. I called her today but she didn't pick up, so I left a message. She still hasn't responded, and now I'm starting to get worried. I know where she lives, I have her phone number, I have her signature on a copy of the bank transfer, I have three witnesses (friends) who were there when I paid her, and the car is still under her name (which I assume means she would still be responsible for paying tickets or whatever), so I don't see why she would stop responding or try to take advantage of me. I did a history report, and the car isn't stolen or anything. Does anyone have advice on what to do with this? Am I just being paranoid? I'm currently in Utah.

Update: So she called me today (finally) and is going to meet with me to give me an updated Bill of Sale so that I can get a temporary registration for the car. She said that her bank initially told her she could access the title online, but now she's found out that she has to pay to have them send it to her by mail. I didn't ask why she couldn't contact me before, but I suppose it doesn't matter now. Thanks for the help, everyone!

Answer:
 It can take a couple of weeks from payment to release of a title.  So the timing isn't suspicious, but her lack of response is.

You could send her a letter (not a text but a letter) recounting what happened and saying if you don't have a clear title by date X, you intend to file a small claims action for the full amount you paid her (assuming the amount you paid is within small claims jurisdiction in your state -- if not, it gets far more complicated). Then follow through and do it.

And don't do anything stupid like get parking tickets in the meantime -- it will only make things more complicated.


Title: My husband and I are prospective first-time home buyers and we are not happy with our real estate agent. [CA]

Question: The agent we have been working with has been very slow to respond to phone calls, emails, etc. It took 5 days dor us to prepare and submit an offer (which was declined through no fault of hers). In a market where some places are going for cash before they even hit the market and most are going for 16% above asking price, it seems to us that timing is pretty crucial.   We would like to work with someone a little more responsive.  Is there anything we need to do other than write her an email explaining that we are moving on? (California)

Answer: have you signed a contract for representation? if so, what does it say?


Title: My father is trying to restrict what I buy with money I made through hard manual labor.

Question:
Recently I made a large sum of money, and wish to buy a computer. My dad is being difficult though. He is trying to control the situation. Disclaimer: I am under 18. I live in California.

Can I go out and buy it without his permission? Can he attempt to impose rules on it? I need actual laws to use in this situation. I am tired of his bullshit.

Please don't post replies about how I should "respect him more" or any such nonsense. Thank you.

Answer:
 Sure. But he can also not refuse you use of his internet with your computer or use of his electricity to run it. Pick your battles. Answer #2: > I need actual laws to use in this situation.

Then list your location, as was requested several times.

> Can I go out and buy it without his permission?

Yes.

> Can he attempt to impose rules on it?

Yes.

> Please don't post replies about how I should "respect him more" or any such nonsense.

You should respect him more.


Title: [Indiana] Going on three weeks without a bathroom sink and a toilet that is not bolted down...this stinks...literally...

Question:
Moved into the apartment in mid July. Three weeks ago, I got a call from my down stairs neighbor saying there was a puddle in her floor. Talked to maintenance and they re-glued the drain on the tub. Which required not using it for 48 hours total. (Before and after).

That didn't work. Had to wait until the next day he was in (maintenance and the land lord are only on site Monday, Wednesday and Friday. )

He then tore out my bathroom sink and put it in the dining area so he could have access to the pipes for the tub/shower. After waiting another 24 hours I attempted to take a shower with the same results. So my 15 year old daughter and I had to wait another two days. That night while I'm cleaning I end up hitting one of the toilet bolts and it's "loose". After messing with it and the other one...it isn't just loose it is not bolted in at all...they're just sitting there.

I text the maintenance guy and land lord and let them know this...with photos.

Friday comes around and he finally fixes the issue with the leak  but couldn't confirm until 24 hours had passed and took a shower. He said he'd come back to fix the toilet but never did.

It worked. Called and texted maintenance and let him know. The following Monday...no contact...no responses from asking if they were going to put everything back and put the new wax seal and rebolt the toilet.

I have messaged him from my job and even tracked them both down last Friday. They said they'd get on it Monday (yesterday).

Messages. Calls. It all went unanswered. By time I got off of work they're gone. My downstairs neighbor cannot even use her tub because they tore the ceiling down and it is all inside of it for some reason.

Our bathroom is starting to stink and it is starting to leak out into the house because the toilet isn't bolted. I'm afraid of it toppling as well. I've tried to bolt it myself but cannot manage it for some reason. We still have no bathroom sink and I'm unable to shave and my daughter is unable to do her normal cleansing and such.

I have tried to be patient but this is asinine.

Advice?

TL;DR: Tub/shower leaking into downstairs apartment. Maintenance and land lord work Monday, Wednesday and Friday only. Took a week to get issue fixed which required ripping our bathroom sink out. Start of second week notice that the toilet isn't actually bolted in. Make them aware of the issue. Three weeks from initial issue the sink is still ripped out and laying in the dining room and the toilet is still unbolted which is now causing a sewerage smell to seep throughout the apartment. Several promises to fix it all have been met with "missed appointments".

Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: First thing in the morning, call the local code enforcement office for your county (or city if you're in one) and tell them you are a tenant in a dangerously unsafe dwelling without a functioning bathroom and sewer gas infiltrating the residence. They should send an inspector who will get on your landlord's ass.


Title: (Nebraska) Sheriff won't test rape kit

Question: A friend of mine was sexually assaulted and received a rape kit afterwards. The Sheriff won't run the DNA to see if it matches with the perpetrator. We want to file a writ of mandamus but are unsure which statues allow us to do so. There is caveat for public records but we need one outside of it to make a public official do his job.

Answer:
 Do you mean they won't run it against a particular person? Or they won't process the kit at all?Answer #2: How do you know they won't test it? The crime lab may be backed up, so it's not an issue of not testing it, but rather an issue of not testing it right now.
Answer #3: Some agencies won't spend the money to process a kit if the victim isn't willing to go forward with the case, especially if the agency thinks they're short on funds. Has your friend indicated such an unwillingness?

I think that's a stupid reason, myself, but there you go.

Also: http://www.endthebacklog.org/NebraskaAnswer #4: It is not up to the sheriff to test the kit if the DA won't accept the case. Answer #5: You should speak with the state prosecutor or an assistant state prosecutor. They will press any charges that may come about. They'll also know the practical, relevant laws. Plus if it's an election year a sexual assault case (and conviction) is great press for both the sheriff and the prosecutor.


Title: Courthouse sticks $500 bill for American with Disabilities service I needed.

Question:
Michigan, usa

A few weeks ago I was in the courthouse for a matter that needed to be settled (case of dumb police writing numerous parking ticket to my car's license plate **after** the plate was reported stolen) and it was dismissed since I had the paperwork that showed I reported theft of license plate off my car, thus the ticket should have been written out to someone else with my stolen plate. Dumbass police never bothered to check memo or they could have consficated the stolen plate and impounded the car for not having current valid plate.  IIRC impond fee and fines are far better for their bottom line than a dozen parking tickets.

Anyway since I am deaf, I relied on a deaf interpreter service to communicate.  I notified them in advance when I got the court summon date, and reminded the day before.  No problem there.  Today I got the bill from that courthouse, $500 for 4 hours of service rendered.  I waited 3.5 hours for my turn and about 15 minutes of actual communication with the judge.

I was under the impression that if a disability service was required under American with Disability Act, the public service like the police and courthouse has to eat the expense, not stick it to the disabled person needing the service.

If this is not permitted at all, how should I proceed?  And since I'd likely require deaf interpreter again for this if I have to come in person to contest the bill, how do I make sure they don't accidentally bill me for the second service?  Lastly, if they refuse to dismiss the debt against me, can I legally sue the courthouse for false debt harassment?

As a last resourt, what kind of lawyer would be right for this case? I am going to use yellow book to avoid internet filled "CALL SAM!!" spam and such.

Answer:
 How exactly did you [notify the court that you needed an interpreter](http://courts.mi.gov/Administration/admin/op/access/Pages/americans-with-disabilities-act.aspx) ?

Did you fill out an MC-70 request form ?    Did you get a response from the court's ADA coordinator ?   I presume you did, since the interpreter showed up and did their work.

It seems very plain to me from the [Michigan Courts ADA Compliance Handbook](http://courts.mi.gov/Administration/SCAO/Resources/Documents/Publications/Manuals/ADA-Handbook.pdf) that

>if a particular accommodation is determined to be necessary, the court cannot pass any associated cost on to the individual.

Is the invoice from the court themselves, or from a contractor who works for them ?

My guesses are:

1. The court denied your request but set up a contractor anyway
1. There's something about traffic court appeals that doesn't qualify for disability services
1. The interpreter is trying to double-dip
1. The court is ignoring the ADA and their guidelines and trying to charge disabled citizens for accommodations.

Number 1 seems the most probable;  a flint-hearted administrator might decide that written English was a reasonable accommodation and that ASL interpretation was unnecessary.

It would still blow my mind, and that they didn't make it clear with a MC-70A denial and appeal would be a violation of process.


Title: Can a person take a picture in lieu of a photocopy?

Question:
Currently in Oregon. Question is more general though. I see many posts where people state that they were never able to get a photocopy of their lease or other contract.

Would a picture taken with their cell phone be OK? Seems like most folks have some sort of smart phone and the pictures are high enough resolution to print and read later.

I've done this for my lease. Makes me feel better to have proof of what I signed even if I will get a scanned copy or photocopy later.

Or is this issue more like faxes vs. emails used to be and legalese hasn't quite caught up to technology?

Seems pretty much a no brainer to me...but what do I know. IANAL!

Answer:
 I use my phone to take pics of documents all the time.

As a landlord, my advice is to never sign a lease unless you get a signed copy at the time of signing. When I sign a tenant, there are two identical leases, we each sign both, the tenant keeps one of them


Title: Need to turn myself in, have questions [CT]

Question:
I missed court and have to turn myself in.  I was going to court for a drug possession charge and was going to an IOP program for it.  I am also on methadone maintenance, and that creates a lot of questions for me.   Ive seen people come into the methadone clinic in handcuffs escorted by police officers before, so i know they will bring people to get medicated, but under what circumstances I am not sure.  Monday is MLK day so im guessing i will be sitting there until at least tuesday morning if i turn myself in on tomorrow.

The reason ive chosen tomorrow as the day is because that is the day myself and my family must leave our residence according to the eviction notice being served by the sheriff five days prior to tomorrow.  I dont have and funds to bail myself out, nor does my family.

I know this post is all over the place and i hope its somewhat coherent, im just kinda a mess over all of this happening.  Im 23 and been thru a lot but never done anything like this before.  I guess im just asking for general advice on what to do or what is going to happen to me.  I can explain anything in greater detail if needed.  Thank you

Answer:
 >  I dont have and funds to bail myself out, nor does my family.

This likely means you'll receive a court appointed attorney.  Do not say ANYTHING to the police without your attorney.

To turn yourself in, you'd likely just show up at court/police/etc and say "I'm RawbHurt, turning myself in."  SAY NOTHING MORE.Answer #2: Just a thought. You may want to stop posting over at /r/cocaine, at least until your legal problems are sorted out, or, ya know, forever. Answer #3: Ask for an attorney when you arrive in court and say nothing else.


Title: Question about the legality of employee chargeback.

Question: My employer is threatening to charge employees for unpaid invoices from customers do to improper procedures. I work as a counter man selling retail and wholesale goods. My pay check may be $500 every two weeks. Some customers may have bills up to $900. They have said they will charge me and force me to make the payment. I have never signed a contract for this. Need some advice.

Answer:
 Assuming US:

If you never agreed to it, they may not dock your pay due.

If you did agree to it (I know you said you didn't, just laying it all out there) they may only dock pay down to minimum wage.

If they take your money without your consent, you can file a wage claim with your state DOL (depending on location)

If they have a problem with your work, their recourse is to fire you.


Title: Seemingly crazy lady claiming my parents are rapist and possible trying to extort money?

Question:
Okay so location is weird on this one, I live in WV, father is a contractor so he is overseas in the UAE where my mother lives as well.

So I received a Facebook message from a lady I’ve never heard of so I accepted it and read it. This lady (let’s call her Stacy) sent a long rambling message basically saying my mother and father raped her 20 some years ago and that she’s going to right a book about it and wants everyone to know the truth. It seems like she might be hinting at trying to extort some money or something?

I thought she was just some Indian scammer or something because everything was weirdly capitalized and horribly misspelled but after speaking with my father she is an actual lady my mother used to go to high school with. My father told me all of this is completely untrue and mom blocked her on FB months ago because she seemed to be unstable and just posting crazy non sense all the time.

Well Stacy has escalated to sending these messages to all of our family members and it’s really bothering my dad because obviously no one likes being accused of being a rapist.  Stacy is posting this long crazy messages on my SIL’s pictures and my cousins Facebook status and basically everywhere else you can think of.

He’s kind of unsure of what he can do. We’ve all been blocking her and any relative that gets the message we tell them to do the same but still it’s not something my father enjoys having to explain to our whole family that it is all not true.

Is this something a lawyer can handle or should we just keep ignoring her and having everyone block her?

Answer: You can talk to an attorney about whether it is worth pursuing a defamation claim. Even without actual damages, false accusations of a crime are actionable per se defamation. It may or may not make sense to have the attorney send a cease and desist letter.


Title: My landlord says he didnt receive my rent but my bank says it went out and the money is no longer in my account [VT]

Question:
I use a rental site called erentpayment.com to make my payments. In April, I went to pay my rent using this website and from my end everything seemed okay. A couple weeks later my landlord contacts me saying my rent got returned for insufficient funds. I checked my statement to find out that the website charged me twice for $700 (for a total of $1400). The first time it went through on my end and then the second time over drafted my account and was sent back. My landlord never recieved my first payment and only has record of my second getting returned. They contacted the website (as will I tomorrow morning) and they also have no record of the first payment. So I went to check with my bank and they reassured me that the first payment went out and printed me off my statement so I could show my landlord that it did indeed go out. I'm meeting my landlord tomorrow to show him my bank statement but I am expecting the worse. He has already threatened to take it out of our (me and 4 roommates) deposit. Here is the thing tho. My situation at this place is a little strange. I took the room I'm in over from someone else. I never signed a lease and never gave a deposit, just my first months rent and subsequent rental payments. So there is nothing he can do to me, but I do not want to duck over my roommates as they would take the loss. Any advice on how I should proceed would be appreciated. And if worse comes to worse and I have to go after the deposit in court should I give my roommates the $700 then try to recoup it from my landlord or just support them in going to small claims court? Is there anything I shouldn't say to my landlord that will screw me during litigation?

Thanks in advance.

Answer:
 You're a bit ahead of yourself here. Wait and see if the landlord and website are able to figure out what happened after you show them your statement.

In case the landlord withholds anything from the deposit inappropriately, only the people who are due the deposit return have standing to sue the LL. You wouldn't be able to since you didn't put a deposit down. You can pay the roommates and have them reimburse you after they sue if you want, or come to another agreement. However, if there is actual damage to the unit and they aren't entitled to have it returned, you might end up being out the extra payment yourself. Wait and see how everything plays out before making decisions on what to do.


Title: (NJ) Car wash damaged my car

Question:
Hi,

I took my Leased 2017 BMW to the car wash on 07/21. During this wash a piece of the external door handle ([OEM chrome insert](http://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/2017-bmw-m6-base-convertible-door-handle.png)) was broken by one of their machines. I only noticed this damage once I returned home. I called up the place and was told to stop by the next morning.

On 07/22, I spoke to the manager at the wash and he informed me that he will look at the surveillance footage to see what happened. He called back a few hours later and confirmed that the damage did occur during the wash, since the video shows the car with the part entering the wash and leaving without it. They also managed to locate the part on their premises. However, the 'clips' that attach this to the door handle are broken.

I checked with BMW and this part is not sold individually and can only be purchased along with the door handle. This will cost $400+ for the part and labor.

The manager on site suggested that we just 'glue' the part back on since he does not expect his manager to pay for such an expensive part that 'should not have broken on such a new car anyway'. They also refused to disclose their damage policy claiming that 'they don't have one in writing'. I'm still waiting to hear back from the car wash's general manager.

What are my options if they refuse to pay for this part to be fixed? Should I be taking a different approach here? I'm hesitant to have this glued on since the car is a lease and I could end up paying for this once I return this car.

Thanks

Answer:
 NAL but work in the auto industry.

This shouldn't happen on a new car.  If the clips on the insert broke in a car wash, I'd be up the dealers ass about getting the part goodwilled and escalate to corporate if that doesn't work.  Answer #2: NAL but this is how I would deal with the situation.

1.) Get the door handle piece from the car wash and head over to your dealer.  Tell them that you took your car to a normal run of the mill car wash with good reviews and this piece fell off during the wash.  Tell them you'd like it replaced or repaired under the warranty. Things will probably end at this step.

2.) If the dealer ship says they won't repair it under the warranty, tell them to provide you a quote for the cost of the repair.  Take that repair quote to the car wash, speak to the manager and ask for their insurance information to file a claim or give them the option to pay you for the damage.

3.). If the car wash won't pay you or won't give you their insurance info, contact your car insurance company.  File a claim and see if they can go after the the car washes insurance company.

4.) If all that is unsuccessful or you get stuck paying your deductible, then you're in small claims court territory.

Don't go to Yelp with nasty reviews until everything has been settled.  The car wash manager will be less likely to cooperate if you put them on the defensive with a nasty yelp review.   Answer #3: Contact your insurance.


Title: What would happen if a president lost a re-election vote and refused to leave office?

Question:
In this scenario, I imagine the hypothetical standing president refused to concede after the voting results are in. Perhaps the standing president made public statements challenging the results as fake. Let’s further assume that, like the Gore / Bush situation, there was a legal challenge that resulted against the standing president.
1. If they refuse to concede, what are the implications?
2. If there are enough allies in Congress that refuse to swear in the new president, then what?
3. Is there any stretch of the imagination that would result in the standing president to issue an executive order saying due to war / immigration crisis / fake election / whatever that the election was on hold in the country’s best interest?
We had a rousing debate over dinner about this and I’d like some armchair legal philosophy on this.

Answer:
 The presidential election process doesn't have a step where the president "accepts" the results in the first place, so whether the president concedes or not, by the rules of the game, they are no longer the president. If they continue to try to operate the executive branch, they have as much authority as you or I do to do so - that is, none.

If the de jure members of government continue to act as though he _is_ president, then you've got a coup going on. Coups have a tendency to end with extremely bloody civil wars sooner or later. At minimum, the parts of the US government that recognize the constitutionally-defined outcome of the election and the parts that do not would be in conflict, but by the time you're positing that Congress is ignoring the constitution, you'd generally expect that "legal" resolutions to that dispute will fail as well, and that the eventual outcome will probably be decided at gunpoint.

The US constitution has [no exceptions](https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleii#section1) in it allowing the electoral cycle to be suspended in times of war or allowing a president to extend their term past four years. The executive branch has no power to create such an exception, and there's no obvious reason the legislative or judicial branches would allow it, nor that the public should abide by the result. If a president were to issue an order suspending elections, it would be a direct and unambiguous statement that they believe the constitution no longer applies.


Title: Someone drove into my house this morning, and I wonder if I should hire a lawyer.

Question:
As the title states, someone drove INTO my house at 2am this morning (I’m in South Carolina if that matters.) My family is fine and I hope the driver is too (he was responsive when the first responders showed up), but it scared the hell out of me (mostly thinking that my son and wife could be hurt before I figured out what was going on).

I was still awake when it happened and it killed power to the house almost immediately. At first I thought a utility pole outside my house had fallen onto it, but in any case, without thinking, I jumped out of bed to check on my wife and son. The problem with this was that, one, it was pitch black, and two, I was in the guest room where I’ve been sleeping since I had shoulder surgery on Monday (the bed inclines making it more comfortable). I definitely moved my shoulder against the doctor’s orders as I jumped out of bed, struggled to unhook myself from the thermotek machine that ices my shoulder, and struggled to find the door, get my bearings, and find a flashlight (wasn’t thinking clear enough to use my phone).

My shoulder is pretty sore now (sorer than just post-surgery sore), but aside from that, should I consider getting a lawyer to help ensure we don’t get screwed by this whole situation? I have filed a claim with our homeowners insurance, but having never dealt with anything like this, I don’t know if I need to look out for anything specific so we don’t end up paying for all this damage.

The house (or at least the part that was hit) is fucked. The doors in the doorways closest to the room that was hit are no longer square, there’s a mound on the floor from the hood of the car wedging underneath it, and there are [cracks in the drywall around the window](https://i.imgur.com/mr6U6id.jpg) and door frame if the room that took most of the damage.

Answer: You could sue the driver for the damages to the house.  Any new medical costs for your shoulder might not be covered because there could be an issue with direct causation.  Also keep in mind you cannot sue for what might have happened, so since your family is ok you cannot get any damages for the fact that they could have been hurt.  It’s probably best to just file a claim with the drivers insurance, if they don’t pay for whatever reason go to your homeowners and let them go after the driver.  You should let your homeowners know of the loss now, but tell them you will be filing the claim with his auto.  This way they know of the loss if you have to come back to them later.


Title: Turning 21, any liability if I used a fake ID at the bar previously?

Question:
Kind of a bizarre question, but I'm turning 21 and was wondering if there's any liability for me if I frequented a bar and used a fake ID in the past.  Obviously it might be kind of an awkward situation between me and the bartender, but am I at any legal risk?

North Carolina

Answer: Aside from the slim possibility of criminal liability, there is the much more real possibility that they could kick you out.  They may not care, but keep in mind that they might be pissed at you for putting them in the position of serving a minor.


Title: DUI Trial: Was offered "reckless driving" but attorney turned it down due to great video. Thoughts?

Question:
Just looking for some outside perspective here: State is FLORIDA. Long story short I had my hearing for DUI and the state offered a reduced charge down to "Reckless Driving" my attorney said he believes they will offer it again but we turned it down because he says I look "incredible" on video. What he is referencing is my performance on the roadside tests... no slurring, stumbling, and perfect execution on the four tests given to me, to go with respectful behavior. I declined the breath test and there was no blood test so the states evidence against me is the video and officer testimony which he says there is some swaying and alcohol odor (the video doesn't show this).

Our motion to get the case dismissed was rejected but my attorney still feels very good about trial simply because of the video, this is my first time ever in trouble so I am naturally a bit more nervous. Should I take the reckless and be done with the whole thing or be on board with my attorneys confidence and risk trial?

Thanks!

Answer: We cannot and will not second-guess your attorney's analysis of the situation. He has access to all of the facts, and we don't.


Title: TX - need to evict. Howmling is the process

Question:
So I'm a first time landlord who acknowledges I made plenty of mistakes on my end. Lesson learned. I need to evict. I'm serving a 3 day notice to quit today. I'm taking one personally, and I'm also sending on certified. I'm sure they are not going to leave and I'll end up having to go to court. I know after the 3 days I can file a suit.

 Can anyone tell me what happens after that? I know there will be a court hearing and if I win they will get I think 7 days to move before I can take back possession.

Does anyone know the approximate time frame for all of this?

I'm reading tx landlord tenant laws but some of it's kind of confusing when you have to jump between articles

Answer:
 Since you are a new landlord and you are treading into waters that you have not traveled before, I highly recommend retaining a lawyer in your area to prepare these documents for you.

If there is any step that is missed in any of the paperwork, the clock resets on a legal eviction and you might have to deal with your tenants for longer. An attorney should be able to prevent that from happening.


Title: If a famous person disappeared and I made a GoFundMe demanding $1M or else I'll kill them, what would I be charged with? Assuming I didn't actually kidnap the person.

Answer: Fraud, terroristic threateningAnswer #2: "Give me money or I'll kill Tom Cruise" is extortion, even if you have no intention of killing Tom Cruise and no realistic way of killing Tom Cruise.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extortion


Title: Am I entitled to anything after my mom died?

Question:
Okay, here's the situation

My mom passed away about a month and a half ago. I am her oldest daughter, 19, and I have 3 minor siblings.

She was married. Her husband had physically assualted her with a weapon, and was arrested shortly before my mom passed away.

My mom had no will. He has received her CPP, Native Settlement, and all of her belongings. He is now witholding all of that.

We've all been struggling, half of us can hardly afford to live, and he's taken everything for himself.

Is there anything we can legally do here? We live in Ontario.

Answer: Sounds like legally he is next of kin but I'm not a lawyer so not sure. I'd ask a lawyer for a consultation, many do this for free or for a minimal amount


Title: Got overpaid and now company is demanding the money back tomorrow

Question:
Hey there, in a predicament.
I recieved x amount of money into my account last week from the company I was working for before. The sum of which totaled to 12 hours of double time. The company said they were going to deduct the money from my following payslip; however, I have since left and joined another company.
Today I recieved an email saying I need to pay back the money in full by the end of tomorrow.
Wondering whether I need to pay this back or not and within this time frame.
(Australia)
Thanks

Answer:
 Of course you do. Company gave you more money then they owed you.

Think of it the other way, if they paid you less, do you not think you are due this money?

Regarding paying it back in time I can’t give you a proper answer I’m afraid


Title: Need to put someone on my car title without them having legal rights on car?

Question:
So my wife's sister can't afford her car payment and almost defaulted on the loan, which my wife co-borrowed on.

We are about to pay off my wife's car and want to trade vehicles with her sister so she can pay us a lower payment on our car while we take over payments on the sister's car.

Reading about insurance on the internet says the car has to be registered in sister's name in order for her to get insurance for the car. She can register the car if she's on the title, but that would give her ownership we don't want her to have.

For obvious reasons we do not want her to have legal rights on the car. Is there a way we can "lease" the car to her so that she can register it in her name and get insurance under her name?

We are located in Texas.

Answer:
 > For obvious reasons we do not want her to have legal rights on the car.

If she's on the title, she has legal rights to the car - she owns it(or co-owns it).

While you can sign any variety of agreements that may restrict her ability to exercise that, you can't guarantee that any of those agreements will hold up in court.  If you don't want her to have ownership of the car, don't make her an owner.


Title: Ex-husband refuses to allow our daughter to spend the night with me- we have joint custody

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Get a court ordered visitation schedule. Take him to court for contempt if he refuses to follow it.Answer #2: Tell him that either he goes back to a standard schedule, or you will have to go to court to enforce a reasonable visitation schedule.

In the meantime, may damn sure your boyfriend doesn't have any history of abuse or molestation, or anything else of that sort that could impact your daughter or custody.Answer #3: The danger for you here is that joint physical custody is highly disfavored in NY. It will be permitted if both parents agree, but will not be imposed by the court.

So, if things appear to not be working out, the NY courts will default to a custodial parent/ visitation parent arrangement. And given the circumstances of the last year and a half, you may very well find yourself as the 'visitation parent.' And then you'll owe your ex about 20-25% of your net income in child support at a minimum.

Talk to a lawyer before you do (or say) anything with respect to your ex. Most folks here don't know much about joint physical custody in NY, so take everything you read here with piles of salt.