Title: A girl told me she is pregnant after switching birth control during our hookup and now says she doesn't want me involved either, what do I do?

Question:
So first things first, I moved to a new city and had unprotected sex with someone I met. I understand that I am wrong, and I also understand that a pregnancy bears my responsibility.

&#x200B;

But, I met a girl in a new city I moved into, she told me she was on the birth control shot (I trusted her word) and we had sex without a condom once. She switched to a birth control patch the day we had sex (I'm trusting her word on this also). Fast forwarding two weeks, she sent me a random text at 3 a.m. saying that she could be pregnant because she missed her period. Before we had sex, she told me she has missed her period several times due to birth control -- so I am not sure if this is because she is actually pregnant or if the birth control is still making her periods irregular.

&#x200B;

She still has not gotten the results if she is pregnant or not. On my behalf, I won't lie, I was definitely worried about the news because this is someone who I am not seriously interested in and I am still young and want to be a father but I don't have the means right now to take care of a kid (typical statement, I know, but it's true). I asked her questions about if she was properly using the birth control and if some of the symptoms are because of the birth control or not (as she has previously said regarding the birth control shots)..I did initially suggest getting the abortion pill, offering to pay and go with her to do so. She refused, said she wants to keep the kid if she is pregnant and also told me she doesn't want me involved, told me to "have a nice life" and hung up the phone on me as I was trying to figure out what is going on in this situation.

&#x200B;

I have no idea what to do or think, especially considering that the results have not come, she is saying she doesn't want me involved, and she also said she doesn't plan to file for child support (which I don't believe, but that is what she said). I am also at a point where I wanted to be in a more serious relationship with someone else who I previously dated that I know I see a future with, but now that this pregnancy possibility popped up, I believe that I am fucked and have no chance now. I also don't want to be considered a deadbeat father, she said she won't even tell me what the results of the pregnancy are and blocked my number.

&#x200B;

Can someone please make sense of this for me please and thank you.

Answer:
 If you want, you can put yourself on the [putative father's registry](https://www.tn.gov/dcs/program-areas/fca/adoption-records/alleged-putative-fathers.html#collapse4f8536e48b904501a723a02f4c4af2f0-1) so you'll get notified if she puts the (alleged) child up for adoption.

Even if she doesn't want child support, if she gets government aid the government may go after you for child support.

But I'm unconvinced there *is* a child. The absence of, say, a positive pregnancy test, point towards there being no kid. She's well within her rights to ignore you right now. If she has a child, you can file to have paternity established and file for partial custody if you want.

Also, this is why condoms are a great form of birth control (especially in addition to other forms)--YOU get to take responsibility for not getting people pregnant.


Title: my boyfriend

Question: I just started dating this guy I used to know and he is in the middle of a custody battle. daughter is 4 a year back his ex said he touched his daughter. charges were dis missed from lack of evidence. the day it was closed the ex made new accusations. it's still being investigated. supervised visits. according to him ( of course) he didn't do it. I know people will say why am I am with him but I have reasons to believe she is lying. what I want to know is is how can I see the actual reports and instead of what HE said happened.

Answer: Are you asking whether you can see the legal decisions made in this case?  Legal cases are generally public documents.  You can go to the court and read them. That said, psychological tests and questioning of young children is often sealed.


Title: Dog injury from trainer

Question:
I sent my dog to a trainer who kept him for two weeks and did rigorous training with him. Long story short, we got him back with a pressure wound from a shock collar. I notified them immediately and they responded with “I forgot to mention that, we noticed it and put some coconut oil on it”. Next day the wound was so much worse. Over the next few days it seemed to be getting better but this morning I had to take him to the ER because it got infected and he had a softball sized knot on his neck. The owner of the training company offered to pay the vet bill but is kind of denying responsibility. I have a letter from the vet saying the wound should have been addressed and it wouldn’t have gotten infected. The training costs 2000 dollars. They trained him with an ecollar and since he has this infection, he can’t wear any collar, making the training completely useless and now our dog is terrified of collars. It’s clear the responsibility lies with the company and it was negligent of them but I am wondering if there is any basis for hiring an attorney to assist in getting a refund.

X posted from r/legal
Thanks!

Answer:
 your first mistake was sending the dog to a trainer that uses shock collars.

I'm assuming they had you sign some sort of contract detailing services to be rendered and what kind of things they are/aren't responsible for?


Title: [NY] Brother OD'd and was taken to the hospital. He immediately checked himself out against the doctor's advisement. Family is very concerned it will happen again.

Question:
I'm posting this for a friend who doesn't use reddit.

On Tuesday night my friend's (Joe) brother (Bob) OD'd on heroin while at his GF's place.  Police and ambulance arrived, and took Bob to the hospital where they were able to stabilize him.  He has a medical condition that required the hospital to put him blood thinners, and the doctor is concerned about complications from the drug overdose.  Bob immediately checked himself out of the hospital against the advise from the medical staff and went right back to the GF's house.  Joe is obviously concerned that this may happen again, or that Bob could be facing life threatening complications with his existing medical condition.

Are there any legal options for keeping Bob in the hospital against his will?  Bob has been cooperating with the police, but not sure to what extent.

Answer: Bob is an adult, and that means he can make bad - or even catastrophic - decisions on his own. You can support them and try to get them to voluntarily seek help. But unless you can demonstrate that they are incompetent or imminently self-destructive they cannot be forced into treatment.


Title: [NYC] Can I get into trouble for not reporting a crime (apartment neighbor smoking marijuana)?

Question:
I live in an apartment and my neighbor smokes in our building's backyard directly outside of my bedroom and I'm not sure if it's legal or not. But if I don't report this, will I get in trouble with the police for not reporting it?
Topic:
Drug Possession

Answer: You don't have a legal obligation to report this crime.


Title: [meta] In case you missed it, there was a pretty interesting AMA with a lawyer who works with credit card debt.

Question:
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2ghx8q/i_am_an_attorney_who_defends_credit_card_lawsuits/

Some of the questions were ones I've seen asked here.  Thought some of you would be interested.

Location: Neptune
Topic:
Credit Debt Bankruptcy

Answer:
 Having had a debt collection company as a former client, it's always fun to see things from the other side.  That said, he was obviously one of the "good guys" (most NACA guys are).

But there are probably just as many scummy plaintiff's side credit lawyers out there as there are shady debt collectors.  Oh, the stories...


Title: I am starting the process of marrying my incarcerated boyfriend, need to know how it works between 2 states (WA and IL)

Question:
My boyfriend said yes to marrying me after I asked him to at visitation before I left WA to come back home to IL. He is currently and as of very recently incarcerated in a WA county jail, less than a month as of right now. The details of the case do not matter but he committed a felony. He is working on his defense with his legal team. My testimony can really work in his favor in many different ways and I am going to help his case anyway I can. I have never been a person of interest in the crime just a material witness. He will soon be moved to a state prison while awaiting trial is what I have been informed.
I asked him to marry me obviously because he is the love of my life despite what happened. He is my true love and this whole situation has really made our love, relationship and friendship much much deeper.
Due to limited resources in WA after he was incarcerated, I quickly dashed off to IL to be with family, though that is not what I wanted but had to do. I plan on going back to WA asap. I still currently hold a WA state DL but that can change depending on how long I stay. I know upon moving you are supposed to update it within 10 days and my family is going to make me get an IL I.D which isn't ideal as I am not staying here and IL is not my home. My home is with my soon to be husband.

Please advise what is the process and options for us to get married with him not being able to be present for obtaining the marriage license and the marriage ceremony itself as well due to incarceration.

I know the laws differ from state to state. I had researched it a bit before leaving WA and it appears WA allows someone to obtain a marriage license while being incarcerated by signing the paperwork in front of a lawyer but after that can the incarcerated person not be present for the marriage itself. And plus the new twist is that I am now in Illinois probably for the next 6 mos or so, of course my goal is to be back in WA sooner, rather than later.

The other twist is because I was witness to the crime he is not allowed to contact me due to the protective order that was put in place without my knowledge and against both of our wishes. There is no protective order barring me from contacting him in whatever means that are available. We are both hoping as well that getting married will get rid of the protective order, as long as we are not discussing the case which of course all correspondences are recorded/reviewed.  I will and can testify to not discuss it as well as the offender.

With the help of his defense attorney, I wrote up a letter that I got notarized, addressed to the prosecutors advising my desire and need to stay in contact and for the protective order banning the offender from contacting me to be removed and/or amended. It will be presented in court tomorrow during his plea hearing.

I am very new and ignorant of anything of this nature and dealing with so many different aspects of the law and justice system and so is he, as this is his first offense. I apologize ahead of time for my lack of understanding of anything criminal.

Thank you! Your compassion and understanding is much appreciated.

Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 You can't for now, but maybe later.

The protective order means that he violates it by reciprocating any communication from you. He is not permitted to have any contact with you; he can't write you letters; he can't call you. You have no way to coordinate the marriage.

You may as well wait until after the trial and see where you stand. FYI: You are not going to gain spousal immunity from testifying against him, if this was part of your reasoning to do it soon.


Title: [US: NJ/UT] My sister's fiance broke off the engagement. Does she have to give back the ring?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: It's pretty much universal that engagement rings are conditional gifts.


Title: A previous client (lawyer) wants me to invoice her for "Therapy" so she can submit to HSA - but I'm NOT a Therapist [OR]

Question:
I am not a psychologist or psychotherapist. I support wellbeing in my clients using two different forms of transformational techniques (that happen to have the word "Therapy" in them).

This previous client who I did a small amount of work with last year is insisting I give her an invoice with a line item that states "Therapy" so she can be reimbursed by her Health Savings Account - I did as she requested, but put the types of therapy I actually do in parenthesis next to it. She just wrote again asking me to take that parenthetical clarification out.

I'm uncomfortable. I don't want to find myself in trouble for misrepresenting what I do. I also don't want to get her upset and have her take some kind of action against me (we don't have a good rapport, and I don't feel at ease with her).

Could you all help me with your perspective?  Is sending her this invoice with "Therapy" as a line item so she can get reimbursed from her HSA putting me in danger - should I just do it?
Or should I risk standing my ground and possibly triggering her to get angry and escalate something with me?

Note: She did sign a document at the beginning of our work with a clear disclaimer that I am not a health professional and do not diagnose or treat any health conditions.

Thanks so much in advance.

Answer:
 This should give you a starting point:

http://www.unlicensed-practitioner.com/practicing-without-license-oregon/Answer #2: Do not ever use terms like "therapist" or "doctor" etc. in conjunction with your business unless you actually are one. Most (probably all) states have very strict regulations governing learned professions and who can represent themselves as able to provide those services. These regulations usually have penalties attached to misrepresenting services that require a license to provide.Answer #3: >Is sending her this invoice with "Therapy" as a line item so she can get reimbursed from her HSA putting me in danger - should I just do it?

Yes to the former, no to the latter. Go with your gut. Answer #4: If you have these requests in writing, the bar association might be interested that a lawyer is attempting to engage you in a conspiracy to commit fraud.

I don't know whether they'd take such a complaint seriously or not, but I'd make one.  People with law licenses should know better.


Title: A few changes to Locationbot!

Question:
I feel as if I've neglected him a bit --

It was almost two years ago (well, one and a half) that I wrote /u/locationbot. My original intention was to contribute back to the community that has given me hours of enjoyment and has helped me more times than I can count with my various legal queries.

Any who -- I took the advice in /r/locationbot and made some updates.

The most notable:

1. Locationbot will now recognize more places.
2. Locationbot will now quote the original text in his reply so that we can easily see if he missed something.

While I enjoy all of the PMs and posts reporting issues, I log everything to a database and I go back and verify (periodically) some of the error reports. Something to the tune of 99% are due to edits, so I figured I'd post the original text so that it could clear up any confusion, and ultimately save someone the time of sending me a message reporting an error when there really wasn't one.

I'm all ears for suggestions, so if anyone has any more ideas I'm happy to implement them.

Take care!

Ian

Answer:
 Also mitigates the issue of OPs' deleting their OP. I like it! Answer #2: Thanks!  I like Locationbot.  He is our friend.

I don't like him quoting the original text in his reply.  It makes Locationbot's post consume more space than most entire threads.
Answer #3: Two things. First, have you told locationbot that Canada is a country? I honestly prefer you keep that from him because it's funny.

Second, did you give locationbot access to condoms? Lately, locationbot and TLDRbot have been a little hot and heavy in here.Answer #4: can the original post that the bot displays be under a cut like the wikibot does? So it only expands when you hover over it? I like the reminder, but the length of some of the posts here are huge, and it seems like a pain to have scroll past this thing every timeAnswer #5: WE LOVE YOU LOCATIONBOTAnswer #6: Does LocationBot recognize "USA" as a location, and if not, does it tell people that they need to list a state?

One of my pet peeves on this subreddit is this:

OP: [complicated and poorly-spelled question about child support or a security deposit, issues that vary significantly by state]

LocationBot: "LOCATION PLZ!"

OP: "EDIT: USA"Answer #7: I like the quote of the original response, but the actual quote doesn't wrap at all.  At least, it doesn't on my system.  It look like you're using the 'code' tag(four spaces) instead of 'quote'(>).

Great updates!


Title: Made a dumb decision on a drunk night out, need some guidance.

Question:
Hoping this is the right place to ask this question. On Friday after work, I went out with some coworkers for what turned into many drinks. Around 11 or so, after a few too many beers, while walking around downtown I just needed to relieve myself, and went into an alley behind my work to hit the head.

Immediately as I started peeing, I must have set off an alarm, as a flash of light went off and a loud message saying "The authorities have been contacted" went off as well. It's Sunday now, and despite not hearing anything from work or the police, I'm worried it was documented in some way. Am I screwed or just overthinking things? My office is in a not great part of town, so I'm thinking it may have just been an antiburglary device? Just worried my photo may have been taken.

I hope this is the right place to put this, just looking for some reassurance or a warning to avoid the area. In Massachusetts, just as a heads up.

Edit: Just to be clear, no cops or building managers showed up at the time, just wondering if I have anything to be worried about.

Answer: I used to have an alarm like that when i lived in london, it would collect a specimen and in about 3-6 mos i would get dna confirmation pair it with a picture and proceed to the local police it usually wound up in a 90 day jail sentence not sure about in the states.


Title: Organization Wide Raise But Not For Me

Question: I was recently informed that starting pay for all persons in my position would be increased. I, having worked for the company for two years, have received merit based raises that already pay me what the new starting pay is (in effect, I get absolutely nothing). My question is if there is an obligation for the raise to be applied on top of the merit based raises? This frustrates me because, as a person who has been with the organization for two years, I now make the exact same as the person hired a week or a month ago. Location is Texas. Thank you.

Answer: Absent a contract, the only time your employer is required to give you a raise is to keep up with minimum wage. Unless you feel you have been treated differently due to membership in a protected class, there is nothing here to litigate.


Title: Popular Melbourne Theme Park employee publicly shamed me.

Question:
Hello,

I was at a famous Melbourne Theme Park in February, about to board a roller-coaster with some friends. One of the friends in our group wanted to sit next to me, given the circumstances, it was awkward that she wanted to sit with me - since I had just started to see my partner, who did not get to sit with me as a result (and already did not like this woman who demanded that I sit with her for this ride). This is all relevant, as you will now see.

So, the demanding woman grabs me by the face and tries to kiss my lips when we are sitting, waiting for the ride to begin - she is a very physical hands on person and I don't like it, but others don't really mind it, we're a somewhat easy going crew. I pulled back and pushed her face away (which would have looked pretty comical), whilst also saying 'get off me, your breath stinks!' - it did really smell. And I was offended that she just grabbed me and tried to kiss me in front of my partner, whom she knew I was there with.

So, while we break out into an argument with her loudly accusing me of being a bad friend, a Luna Park employee decides she will step in and mediate. She decides to loudly announce to everybody on the ride that I should shut up, and be grateful that such a beautiful woman even looks at a guy like me let alone tries to kiss me.

It was very embarrassing, inappropriate, sexist in my opinion, and unprofessional. Do I have any legal course of action? I want to sue.

Answer: No.Answer #2: You can complain to the park but that's about it.


Title: Craigslist customer wants a refund

Question:
Hello all, please help me understand if we are in the right here.

A while back my wife purchased a silhouette cameo which is a vinyl cutting machine for those that do not know.

To make a little money on the side, my wife put an ad on Craigslist  with a title of "Custom decals/stickers" which is pretty self explanatory.

Eventually an individual had contacted my wife to make some custom stickers for her daughters non-profit organization. After some emails back and forth about designs, my wife suggested that we create two samples that were of different designs and sizes and send them out to the customer at *no cost* so that the customer can decide if she would like to place a bulk order.

After the customer received the sample stickers, she decided to place an order of 40 stickers at $3.00/each for a total of $120.

My wife created the full order and shipped them out containing detailed instructions on how to properly apply the decals (crazy right? who doesn't know how to put a sticker on)

A few days pass and she contacts us complaining the stickers are not peeling off the transfer tape and she even attached a video. The video shows them quickly pulling away the transfer tape off which of course will pull some of the letters off with it. Anyone thats EVER put a sticker on a window knows it takes some finesse to get individual letters to transfer. I drive a modified car, please, i know a thing or two about putting stickers on for that additional 5hp.

My wife again explains how to put damn stickers on. We even run out to our garage and slap one on my car to make sure everything is good. I put it on no problem, i've dealt with way worse. I cant stress enough there is nothing wrong with the product my wife delivered!

Craigslist lady now wants a $112 refund for the custom order that she requested. Despite the fact that we supplied two free sample stickers before she placed the order. She even mailed the unused stickers back to us and once again, I put one on my car no problem. She states if we do not give her money back she will take us to small claims court.

She's batshit crazy am I right?

Answer:
 Tell her sorry, no refunds are offered due to the custom nature of the product and the unrecoverable cost of materials and labor. Tell her you can ship the product you are not accepting for return back to her at her shipping expense if she would like.Answer #2: She can take you to small claims in that anyone can try to sue for anything. She's gonna spend $30 on filing and service for $112 on top of the giant waste of time. And will quite likely lose.

Send her stuff back and move on.


Title: Inheritance drama

Question:
Throw-away for my privacy.

My grandfather passed away two weeks ago and equally divided his trust and physical assets between his 5 grandchildren and my father (his son). My father claims my grandfather was going to change his will to divide his assets differently. The executor confirmed this, but was not sure what the details were. I want to honor my grandfather's wishes, but at this point, no one actually knows what my grandfather intended, and my father really cannot be trusted (a bit more on that later).

Two of the inheritors are 4 years old, my father's two sons out of his new marriage. All of us live in NC and that's where all assets and money are as well. All of the money and assets are < $900,000, so it's significant, but not an insane amount of money. I'm not 100% sure how much money is actually on the line because we're getting alot of this info from my father.

Here are my main questions:

1. What is required for a will to be changed?
2. Can two 4 year olds whose father is also an equal inheritor actually consent to will changes?
3. Is it tacky to ask how much money is at stake?
4. Can my father sue us?
5. There is a house and two vehicles involved, so I guess we all are 1/6 owners of these properties. How does that usually work especially since 2 of the owners are children? I assume they will be sold?
6. How long does it usually take to unwind all of this? How long before this money is in our accounts and how does that work?
7. Can I be taxed for what I gain?

After my grandfather passed, my dad sat his me, my sister, and brother down and told us my grandfather left us each $20k. I don't know where he got that figure from, but he's kinda stupid, and he was definitely lying to us. I think he thought that he would control all the assets and wanted to give us enough so that we wouldn't ask questions.

I don't want to give my dad any of my money. He left my mother severely in debt in a no-contest divorce (he manipulated her into agreeing and never paid her their verbally-agreed settlement). I know we are going to have to care for her. We love her and will, but I want to use this money as an investment in part for that purpose.

I hate to dishonor my grandfather by sqaubbling like this, but I know my dad will hound me forever about this, and I just want to better understand my options.

Thank you all in advance for your thoughts.

Answer: With this much money on the line, you need to retain an attorney. Don’t believe anything your father says and don’t sign anything he gives you, and get a copy of the will.


Title: My employer recently released a statement saying that it is now illegal to check into bars/restaurants on Facebook.

Question: Sorry not sure if this is right subreddit. I'm trying to find articles online, but I've come up with nothing. Is my company just trying to limit what we post or is there some credibility to their statement? I live in Iowa and I work for an alcohol distributor.

Answer:
 Lol wat. Illegal based on what statute?

Your employer can fire you for just about anything barring a union or contract. Answer #2: It isn't *illegal*, but it could be against company policies.  In almost all of the US, you can be fired (or quit) for virtually any reason, or no reason at all.Answer #3: Your employer is allowed to lie to you


Title: Father charged me with credit card theft with card HE gave me.

Question:
Long story short, my Father's a multi-millionaire, sperm donor, piece of sh!t. I graduated high school and began University. My Father always promised as long as I maintained good grades and stayed out of trouble, my college and expenses would be taken care of. Fast forward into my sophomore year, my Mother divorced him. In retaliation to my mother, not only did my Father drop his financial obligation (that he promised) he accused me of credit card theft on a card he provided me. The card I was issued had a infinite limit on it. My Father cut off all financial help and left me entirely destitute. In vengeance and great regret, I paid my vehicle (which was in his name) off  and my college tuition on the credit card for that semester which totaled $30,000.

It's been 12 years of hell and oppression. Im a 32 year old, single female that have made pretty decent decisions with my life and have no other convictions of ANY sort. NOT even traffic violations. I've battled guilt and humiliation from being a felon on paper.

I was placed on deferred adjudication with 3 years probation. I was released a year and a half early for good behavior. I filed an order for non-disclosure it was granted in 2016. Its been 10 years since the arrest date.

Can anybody chime in on what my record may look like now? Does it show that it was deferred or is it entirely sealed. Much Love and thanks
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 Disclosing your location is not optional. No one can begin to guess at procedures without knowing where this took place.

I realize he screwed you over, but by your own admission you are a felon more than just on paper. You bought a car and paid for college using a card you knew you weren't authorized to use. Regardless of what background checks will show, if this comes up in conversation with potential employers you don't want to try to say you're only "technically" guilty.


Title: Who do I make the complaint against?

Question:
I was injured in a car accident in Atlanta, GA.  I'm not at fault, the other side admitted fault, but there is no police report.  I have had a lot of medical bills the last 23 months.

No attorney will take my case.  Statutes of limitations is around the corner.  I have to hire a PI to locate the at fault insured.  May I file the small claims court complaint against their insurance provider / my adjuster and serve them papers, or does it have to be the individual insured who hit me?  Thank you.

Answer: If no attorney will take a case that tells me something is off.


Title: Co worker is dying of cancer in the hospital and At will employer in Illinois is talking about firing him since he's too sick to work and has been messing up a lot. I'm assuming this is all fine since it's at will but is there anything co worker can do?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 How long has he been working there and how many employees are at this company? He may be eligible for FMLA.Answer #2: I am not a lawyer but if your friend is truly dying in the hospital and this job offers no health insurance, maybe being fired would actually be a good thing.
FMLA is unpaid leave but Unimployment Insurance could help him.
Are there other benefits that your friend doesn't want to lose?
Will he ever be strong/healthy enough to return to work as a security guard?


Title: [WA] Signed lease on apartment 6 months in advance- plans have since changed, landlord not responsive

Question:
Hi everyone. I am going to be moving to a new city in late September. I began looking for an apartment in mid-April and found one, and I quickly signed the lease.Soon after signing, plans have changed and due to work i'm going to be relocating to an entirely different state.

I have tried contacting the landlord about many times in the past 2.5 weeks through phone and email, leaving messages explaining the situation. I have received no response, which is annoying since when I was wanting to sign the lease they responded to emails within an hour and always picked up the phone.

Interestingly, the day to pay the security deposit was 5 days ago and I have received no information about that either. They post all charges to an online resident website and you pay online, but I have a balance of 0$ and no future charges are posted.

I'm not exactly sure what to do next here. I can't physically go visit the apartment since it's very far and I don't currently own a car. I was fully prepared to break the lease and pay whatever I needed to, but this landlord seems to have fallen off the face of the earth.

The lease itself says nothing about breaking the lease, but it does say that non-payment of the security deposit terminates the lease. Am I safe to assume the lease has been terminated? I don't want this to come back and bite me. What do you think?

Answer:
 You signed a contract and are bound to that contract. Send a certified letter return receipt to the address on your lease. At least then you can show you tried. You may owe rent until a new tenant is found.

> Am I safe to assume the lease has been terminated?

Absolutely not.


Title: [Austin] I [18M] got a girl pregnant on new years, do I have to pay child support if I go to college?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Are you under the ridiculous impression that the child's development will pause and wait for you to finish college?

Yes, of course you need to pay child support. Even if you leave the country, many other countries have agreements in place with the US to pursue deadbeats like you who don't pay for their kids.


Title: Got fired from job based on a coworkers uninvestigated allegations that I was harassing and bullying them at work, after I reported them for not adhering to company policy on something. Details inside

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Employers don't "deny" unemployment. They can appeal and present their case. But you ignored the prompts to provide you location.


Title: As a lawyer, what do YOU say to the police officer when he asks if you know why he pulled you over?

Answer:
 Knowing why they pulled you over before they tell you is an admission.

If you think you're going to fight the ticket or try to bargain, say no.

If you're currently guilty of a crime, tell them you're going to remain silent and you want to be provided with a lawyer.

If you don't intend to fight the ticket or try to bargain, and are not currently guilty of any crimes, sometimes making the process as streamlined as possible improves your odds of a warning.

As for me, personally, I say "because your tiny penis compels you to find some other way of feeling like a big man?" and play it from there.Answer #2: Not a lawyer.

But the honest answer to that question is ALWAYS 'no.'

You can't possibly know what is in the cop's mind.  You know you were speeding, but maybe you didn't know your tail light was out.  Or maybe your car matched the description of a recently stolen car.

No one can possibly know the answer to this question.


Title: Me (30M) punched a YouTuber in the face in self-defence. Was put in jail for 2 days. Have a court case coming up (Texas)

Question:
Hey!

There is a famous YouTuber who enjoys making prank videos.

I went outside about a week ago and saw him 'pretending' to key my car for one of the videos. I wanted to protect my property and lunged at him.

He screamed "It's just a prank", but apparently I didn't hear before my fist connected with his face.

When the police arrived, he showed them the video and the police determined that the two seconds of him shouting "it's just a prank" and my fist connecting was enough warning and I was placed promptly under arrest.

I am facing a year in prison for battery. Can anybody provide advice?

Answer: Get an attorney. End of story.Answer #2: In my mind, saying "it's a prank" doesn't actually preclude the possibility that he was actually keying your car and your defense would be castle doctrine. Really surprised the cops arrested you. Are you allowed to say which YouTuber?Answer #3: Try to strike him with attempted destruction of property or attempted robbery maybe?


Title: Brothers girlfriend left him, took the baby, and took out an order of protection on him (IL)

Question:
Hi, this is my first time posting on Reddit and it's a bit of a big issue that my family is having. My brother and his girlfriend lived together in Nevada and had a child, who is now 6 months old. The two of them are not compatible, he has anger issues, and she suffers from depression that makes her feel detached from their baby.

All of these facts are the facts that I know.

3 months ago my brother put "choked" his girlfriend, after she threatened to take the baby from him. I do not know the full details behind that, or the severity of the "choking" but I know that the two fought a lot. A few months later her dad called her and told her she had to leave him and come home with the baby, she did not agree at the time.

Fast forward, 2 days ago. My brother was at work, the two had a big fight recently, which had resolved itself, and his girlfriend decides to take their 6 month old, get on an airplane, leave Nevada and go back to Illinois, without his knowledge. Upon returning to Illinois she allowed everybody BUT my brother to see his daughter, and has not randomly taken out an order of protection, saying he can not come within 50 feet of her, all while telling him that the two of them could work try and work it out and that she wants to split custody of him.

We all worry that she is going to fight for 100% custody and no visitation, and move back to Nevada. We are terrified and are seeking legal advice from a lawyer tomorrow. My brother has already agreed to go to counselling, anger management, couples counselling, and whatever he has to do to see his baby girl again.

What are the chances that she can get away with this?

Thank you.

Answer:
 So... it sounds like your brother is not a safe person for his girlfriend to be around. He needs to take some DV and anger management classes if he wants to have unsupervised visitation with his child. Chocking someone out is an attempt to kill them in my (CPS) opinion. It is the highest escalation of violence without a gun or knife. It is a sign that the person will escalate to killing or something that will put them in the ER. This is based on statistics and psychology.

So, anger management classes, DV classes, maybe some individual counseling, then he can try for something more than unsupervised visitation. He should under no circumstances try to do couples counseling. He tried to kill her. Being together is not something either of them should think about for a very long time (like more than a year). They both need to work on themselves and figure out how to co-parent without violence.

We won't even go into the long term damage they have already caused on the child that witnessed DV.


Title: Caught with rabbit in dorm? Please help me get out of this

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 This isn't necessarily a legal issue, so much as a school policy issue.

You should remove the rabbit like you were told, and stop trying to think of ways to get around it. You aren't as smart as you think you are.


Title: [Arizona] Security guard from a government building stole a soda. What can be done???

Question: Ok so this is probably something that will get laughed at on here but I will see what I can do. There is a DES office in my city and I was coming in from the bus with a backpack on. The guy is really rude and searches my bag. Yells at me for having a 20oz vanilla coke that I was saving to take to my grandma. He tells me to put it in the bushes out by the front door and I comply with his request. I come out 20 minutes later and it's gone. Nobody saw me put it there because the business is dead and at that moment the doors were locked and the place is closed until Tuesday. One of his employees who came out pointed at the camera that would have captured who took it. I tried calling their 800 number but they said hold time was an hour and 45 minutes and my cell battery was at 7% so now I have to go and charge my phone at a Burger King and get on there wifi with my laptop trying not to get whopper crumbs and mayo in the keys. I have no idea what to do. I did take a picture of this guy but would it be illegal to post it to yelp in a review or even have it because it was at a government building?

Answer: You have no idea if he took your soda or not. Go buy yourself a new soda and move on with your life.


Title: Can you get in trouble for baiting a cop?

Question: My boyfriend and I were sitting in a parking garage under my dorm when some kids were shining a flashlight down from the catwalk above us. My bf, in a moment of impulsivity, went "oh shit it's a cop guys we gotta run" even though we're just sitting here smoking. So I guess if it HAD been a cop, would we have gotten in trouble for anything? Just a curiosity question.

Answer:
 Unprovoked flight can be reasonable suspicion for detention in many circumstances.

So he can get chased down and forcibly restrained even if he didn't even do anything.


Title: (CO/USA) (ELI5) How is this not illegal bait-and-switch?

Question:
ANSWERED: No it is not bait-and-switch, and USA does not have any laws requiring a "reasonable stock" like [Canada](http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/03798.html). Thanks all!

Edit 3: USA FTC has a clause called the [Unavailability Rule](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2011/08/ftc-seeks-comment-review-unavailability-rule), but this only applies to grocery stores. Thanks /u/jasperval!

Note: I didn't want to ask in ELI5 yet because I'm not sure if it matches their rules of objective advice (legal advice for a specific situation).

How can corporations get away with extremely limited quantities of items on Black Friday, with an obvious attempt to what I would consider bait-and-switch? For example, this specific case Best Buy only had 15 of these TVs in stock at a mega-store I checked out. A guy came and took info of how many people wanted the Sharp and they gave me number 45, then another guy about 30mins later came out and informed there are only 15 units, and then immediately attempted to sell me a higher priced TV and handed me an ad for said TV. Their website had no mention of how many units they actually had, just "Limited Quantities".

Is this bait-and-switch? Is there any legal definition of bait-and-switch in USA? I know USA laws allow companies to advertise "Limited Quantities" to help defend against bait-and-switch claims, but is there any guidelines or legal cases that more clearly define what is considered a reasonable quantity of items to sell for a promotion?

Edit: Would this be illegal in a different country like Canada which has slightly more strict bait-and-switch laws?

Link to the Best Buy ad: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sharp-50-class-49-5-diag--led-2160p-smart-4k-ultra-hd-tv-roku-tv/5746805.p?skuId=5746805

Answer: They said there were limited quantities and you showed up and found out that there were indeed limited quantities. No, this isn’t bait and switch. Stores aren’t obligated to keep an infinite quantity of X item in stock. Answer #2: How many units do you think they need to supply before it's not illegal in your eyes? They don't have an unlimited supply and you can't exactly legislate how many tvs they need to keep in stock...


Title: [Colorado] Got a court summons for speeding while on a road trip. Do I really have to drive out to rural Colorado from my home state Louisiana for a traffic ticket?

Question: Title says it pretty much. For more detail, I was going 91 in a 65. I know this is bad, but I had been driving from 2am to 8am on rural highways just trying to get home. I had just passed someone and was going on a decline so my speed got a little out of hand. I was driving my friends car, and his proof of insurance was expired by a couple months so I got slapped with failure to provide proof of insurance too. Having to drive out to Colorado in the middle of the week a month from now would probably jeopardize my summer job and cost me even more money than the fine. Is there any way I can just pay the fine without having to travel all the way out there? Hire a lawyer to appear for me or something? Thanks for your help

Answer: Unless the ticket has a (must appear) checked off, you can take care of everything online or over phone. Failure to provide insurance  in some states is grounds for a license suspension so I'd check into that


Title: Tresspassing 2,000 miles from home

Question:
This summer, a buddy from Collge and I went on a huge road trip across the four corner states (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah). He is from Arizona, and I am from California. When we were in Colorado, we decided to camp one night off the road.

We pulled over in an area without GPS or cell service, but with a beautiful small lake below us. It was about an hour before sunset.  We decided to hike down to the lake, and saw a little drainage ditch, and a dirt path. We checked the paper map when we got back to the car, and thought it might be the national park. We then hiked back down to the lake (in the dark at this point, it was about an hour walk). We slept under some pine trees, and woke up when the sun rose.

When we were hiking out, we saw some trucks driving along the dirt path. They informed us that the lake was actually a reclaimed tailing pond, and we were on mining property. They told us to leave right away, and promised to do so, as we assure them we had no idea, and didn't leave any trash or anything.

When we got back to the car, there was an officer from the mine security there, waiting for us. He told us that the mine wanted to prosucte us to the fullest extent of the law, and that there was a sheriff on the way. We, being scared nineteen year-olds, who had never had any interation with the law at all, cooperated to the fullest extent.

The sheriff showed up, and advised us that we would be charged with at worst third degree criminal trespass- which is a petty offense in Colorado. We told him and the mine secuiry officer our story, and they belived us. Because there was no fence, and we were young dumb kids, the sheriff wanted to let us goo, but the mine demanded that we be prosectued.

So, now I have a court date at 8:30 AM on October sixth, in Breckenridge Colorado. If we have already admitted guilt, is there any way to just pay a fine and not have to travel 2,000 miles for a 5 minute hearing? Is this going to affect our futures? I just want to get it over with and not have this immenint doom looming over me anymore.
Topic:
Real Estate law

Answer:
 If the citation says you need to go to court, you need to go to court. Many Colorado courts allow appearance via phone or video conference under certain circumstances, and an attorney might be able to represent you without you being there.

I'd call some local criminal defense attorneys (you can find referrals at the Colorado State Bar's website) and call the court to see what your options are.

E: it may seem like a hassle (and it is) but you need to make sure you don't ignore this. If you don't appear (or figure some way to appear remotely) then you'll end up with a warrant for your arrest. It's possible that you could be arrested even without going back to Colorado. Answer #2: Ignorance of the law does not protect your from it, but mistake of fact does. If you genuinely believed that you were camping on a national park, then I do not see how they can win. You case is only made stronger by the lack of signs and fences. Answer #3: If there was no indications that you were trespassing (signs and a fence), I would ask for the ticket to be dismissed. I'm not really sure you can be charged for trespassing unless it is labeled and/or fenced off.Answer #4: You have a couple of options.  One would be to hire a local attorney to show up for you.  Another is to ask if there is any setup to appear through teleconferencing.


Title: What is the process to turn myself in if I feel I assaulted someone two years ago in California ?

Answer:
 >What is the process to turn myself in if I feel I assaulted someone two years ago in California ?

The way that process works is as follows:

You stop talking about this matter, including talking to your family, friends, police, everyone.

If the state starts investigating you, you retain a criminal defense lawyer and listen to their advice. Which will be to shut up.

Otherwise, you live a normal life, knowing that if the state is worried about that assault, they will come and start investigating you.


Title: [PA] My leasing Company lost its renters license and I just found out in the local news yesterday that my apartments are up for a police auction.

Question:
http://m.wpxi.com/news/news/local/top-10-property-owners-unpaid-taxes-pittsburgh/nk6Wc/#__federated=1

That is the news article. I live in the Brentwood apartments shown in the article and video.

So, as the title said my leasing company has lost its license due to back taxes. Last I heard is they were appealing the decision, however yesterday in the local news I saw that my apartments are up for police auction in a few months.

My lease will be done in Sept., however since the contract is with a company that no longer is licensed, do I have an obligation to maintain my contract, or is it now null and void? I don't want to be stuck in a situation where I get a notice from the borough saying I have 24 hours to move all of my stuff because that will be problematic, even more-so if I pay my rent that is currently due.

What are my rights, and what should I generally expect to happen in the coming months.

Thank you everyone!

Answer:
 That only negates your lease if your lease says it negates the lease.

> 24 hours to move all of my stuff

That won't happen.  This is between the city and the property owner.


Title: Boss canceled my vacation

Question: (USA, Louisiana) I'm not sure if this is even the right sub to be asking this. But a month ago I scheduled vacation to start this Friday and be off for a week. It was approved. Than today my boss told me he's canceled my vacation cause he needs me to work next week. Is that even legal? I'm under salary pay I'm not sure if that matters.

Answer: That's legal.


Title: [New York] Peanut allergy at private university with a required meal plan, unsafe conditions.

Question:
I have a severe peanut allergy and had an incident in the cafeteria at a private university in New York. They had a sign that said peanut free zone and had food out under it that contained traces of nuts. I didn't have a reaction but I now feel unsafe eating there. Do I have any legal standing to get out of the required plan?

EDIT: I have already asked to get off it and they refused.

EDIT 2: The sign said peanut and tree nut free zone. I am allergic to both.

Answer: If you had no reaction, how do you know the food contained traces of nuts?  And did it contain traces of peanuts, or traces of other nuts?


Title: Mother fired from job at local bakery for broken ankle.

Question:
9 weeks ago, on March 27,  my mother broke and severely sprained her ankle in a home accident. Due to this she has had to stay off her ankle and go to physical therapy as well as go on disability payments since she is an hourly worker at a local bakery. My mother also just turned 66 on Monday, June 4, and officially went on social security. My mother would update her boss after every doctor's visit, about every 2 weeks since the accident, and tell her that it would be another 2 weeks of waiting until the next doctor's appointment as her ankle still bothered her. 2 weeks ago, just before Memorial Day weekend, my mother informed her boss that she would have a doctor's appointment on June 6th (yesterday), she would be done with PT, and be able to resume working on Thursday, June 7th (today).  She explained to my mother that she had only expected her to be out for about 3-5 weeks and questioned her reliability when my mother would return about working through ankle pain. After speaking with her boss yesterday, my mother was told that her position had been eliminated. The work had been getting done despite her absence, and the profit margins were too intriguing for her boss to hold her position. I don't know if there's anything legally we can do, apparently she was within her right to not hold the job as she has less than fifty employees. I'm open to any advice, please.

TLDR: Mom broke and sprained her ankle, was off work for 9 weeks, and boss eliminated her position because she's a greedy bitch.
Topic:
Business Law

Answer:
 Sorry out of luck. They figured out that they could live without her being there.

Sorry


Title: [CA] Roommate moved in with boyfriend, never took name off lease, now won't pay rent.

Question:
Okay, so I'm not entirely sure if I'm posting this to the right spot, but I need some help with this situation, and although I think I'm legally within my rights to take her to court, I would love it if someone could give me additional insight into all of this!

Anyway, so my best friend of seven years and I moved into this place a little over a year ago with another friend of ours. At the beginning of this year, my best friend got into a relationship, and by the middle of July, she was informing me of her intention to move out. Initially, I was concerned about her leaving because our landlord was explicit when we moved in that he didn't want a revolving door of roommates in the house. He was agreeing to let the three of us live in the house, but he didn't want any subletting/subleasing.

Since then, I've come around to the idea of potentially amending the lease to include a new roommate and have my best friend taken off. However, after initially promising to speak with our landlord about giving her 30 days notice and potentially replacing her spot on the lease, she has failed to do so and is dodgy when responding to texts/phone calls from myself or my other roommate. She claims that she cannot pay rent because she hasn't had a job for the last month, and that she doesn't feel responsible for dealing with paying rent because she hasn't "set foot in the house in six weeks" (a total boldfaced lie).

Today, I told her that she needed to give proper notice to our landlord by Monday at the latest and she needs to either find a replacement for the room or find a way to pay for it herself, or I will take her to small claims court for the amount of rent she's refusing to pay.

Does anyone have any advice/suggestions/concerns?

Answer:
 Are you all on the same lease? If so, every party to the lease would have to agree to have her removed. This includes you, the roommate who moved out, your third roommate, AND the landlord. If any party doesn't agree, she can't be removed from the lease.

That being said, rent still has to be paid. You are all **equally** responsible for paying rent. This means that if she doesn't pay rent, you and your other roommate will have to make up the difference or risk being evicted. You both will be able to sue the roommate who moved out for the rent you had to pay on her behalf for as long as she is listed on the lease and not paying.


Title: Is it illegal to lock your roommate in their room? [Germany]

Question: Just what the question says. And if it is illegal what kind of punishment could one receive for this?

Answer:
 First, it's likely against your city's fire code to have a door that's even _capable_ of locking someone into their bedroom.

Second, nearly every jurisdiction treats this as some variation of kidnapping or unlawful confinement unless done by law enforcement or medical staff following specific legal processes, and generally only in a jail or hospital setting.

Third, it's an extremely unsafe and stupid thing to do.Answer #2: Yes

per German Penal Code

"Section 239
Unlawful imprisonment

(1) Whosoever imprisons a person or otherwise deprives him of his freedom shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding five years or a fine.

(2) The attempt shall be punishable.

(3) The penalty shall be imprisonment from one to ten years if the offender

1.  deprives the victim of his freedom for more than a week; or

2.  by the offence or an act committed during the offence causes serious injury to the victim.

(4) If by the offence or an act committed during the offence the offender causes the death of the victim the penalty shall be imprisonment of not less than three years.

(5) In less serious cases under subsection (3) above the penalty shall be imprisonment from six months to five years, in less serious cases under subsection (4) above imprisonment from one to ten years."

https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_stgb.html#p1921

IANAL and not German


Title: My coworker might be planning to poison me? (NE)

Question:
So, I have a peanut allergy. It's pretty serious, and in junior high and high school I got a lot of bullying involving using it to injure/kill me. Fortunately I hadn't had any issues in the last five years since I graduated from that hellhole and began my adult life in a city far, far away, although that may have changed now.

When I moved here I found a new social circle which included a person we all knew to be a jerk. It was one of this person's core personality traits that they were an unabashed asshole, and we loved them anyway. Until last summer, when this person suddenly turned on myself and two others, spreading rumors about us while still acting friendly whenever we were there, and finally asking the group to hold a *vote* on whether or not they wanted to remain friends with us. They claimed that one of the others was a racist (they're not) and that the other was deliberately annoying (if by deliberately annoying you mean mildly autistic) and that I was disinterested in them and didn't participate (by which I'm pretty certain they meant I was chronically ill and in the process of trying a new treatment, which thankfully worked, but definitely made me tired and uninterested in socializing.)

So that was mildly traumatic, as I didn't have any other friends in the area, but I moved past it, avoided this person as much as I could, and continued to live my life.

Then the person took a job in the same building where I work, and where I've been working for the past three years, which they were fully aware of. I wasn't pleased, and I commented to one of the other two people who was ostracized by them that I hoped they didn't work there long. This apparently got back to them, because they approached me at work and asked me to stop harassing them. Since I wasn't harassing them, this was pretty easy and we really only saw each other when we passed on the way to the bathroom or happened to be in the break room at the same time. So at this point, we haven't spoken in more than a month. I didn't like having them there, but I wasn't doing anything about it.

Well, tonight I met up with one of my friends from the original group, who I no longer see as often as I would like but who this person was still friendly with, and they warned me that this person was, essentially, acting like I was a vampire and trying to repel me by eating peanuts at work every chance they got. And that they had encouraged them to do the same, because I was a bad person and a flirt and I made inappropriate jokes and was picking on them.

And this brought back some memories for me of when I used to find candy wrappers shoved through the vents of my locker in an attempt to trigger an allergic reaction. And since this person has apparently decided that *they* are the victim in this scenario, I'm a little frightened that they might decide to escalate. I'm considering telling my supervisor that this person might try and rub peanuts on my keyboard or something, but I don't want it to seem like I can't keep my personal and professional life separate. The other thing I was thinking was that I could go to HR, but chronically ill people are annoying and they're already less-than-happy that I've had to miss a fair amount of work this year. So I'm really not sure what to do, or how founded my fears might be. I could really use any kind of advice.

Answer:
 Really up to you.

If you absolutely think this person is okay with risking criminal charges by poisoning you, then feel free to report it to HR. They won't be able to do anything and the police won't either since nothing has happened. But if it makes you feel better, then go ahead.

Otherwise, you'll need to find a way to ease your own fears. Just because something happened in high school doesn't mean it'll happen at an adult environment.


Title: [MO] My lawyer never contacted me after he rescheduled my court dates, so I missed my court dates and got arrested.

Question:
 I hired a lawyer to represent me in traffic court. The first time he was late so we had to reschedule, the 2nd time he was too busy so we had to reschedule and he said he would contact me with the new date. Well he never did and on July 4th I got pulled over and was surprised to find out I had a warrant out for my arrest for a missed court date and had to pay bail to get out. I still have the invoice of me paying him, what actions should I take? I really feel like he should reimburse me of my lawyer fees and the money it cost to bail me out.

What are my rights/options here?

Answer:
 Step 1 - hire new attorney to deal with both the failure to show and initial issues

Step 2 - file bar complaint

Attorneys have a duty to keep you informed, and while it’s arguable that you should have followed up as well, the reality is that you should be able to rely on the attorney to contact you.


Title: [Washington] Can a company test a pre employment urine sample for pregnancy?

Question: My wife applied to AMR and went to take a drug test and on the list of things it will be tested for one is pregnancy. To me it seems like they wouldn't hire her is she'd pregnant. Is that legal?

Answer: Does the job require that she get certain vaccines before starting?Answer #2: I can’t speak for the legal side of it, but I used to work for Amr and my old partner was let go because she was pregnant and didn’t work there long enough to get maternity leave. So if she’s far enough along I would imagine they just wouldn’t even bother, knowing she won’t qualify when the time comes


Title: Real Estate Law HOA Issue in SC

Question:
I just purchased a home that I had planned to live in while additionally renting out the other two bedrooms to two friends. Before purchase, this was a major determining factor in which house I would go with. Otherwise, while I can still pay the mortgage, it's a hefty one to pay alone. Not to mention it's a lot of square feet for me on my lonesome. Eventually I found a great property with a good layout for this kind of rental strategy. My real estate agent contacted the seller asking for disclosure of HOA bylaws and CCR's for the area to ensure that renting a property in this development was allowed. The seller provided the documents for the development and the CCRs allowed what I was planning.

Fast forward to closing day and it went smoothly. Afterwards, I went over to move stuff in. The neighbors came out to welcome me and seemed friendly, but I caught a sense of nosiness about the whole thing. Anyway I continued to move stuff in and then they came back out and made a remark about how it's an awfully big place for one person. I said well I'll be getting two roommates to keep the place full, not to mention the lot has enough legal spots to park for everyone. Their whole demeanor changed and wouldn't let it go about how I couldn't do it and they were not ok with it. The next day she must have went straight to the HOA because I got a letter in the mail addressed as if was development-wide but the envelope was handwritten to my address so it felt pretty targeted. It was a reminder of an amendment that passed in 2015 about no leasing by room. Leases must be to the entire unit and the owner can't live there.

I looked into the bylaws and found the amendment that aligned with what they were saying but it was very hard to find. I started talking with my real estate agent and one thing led to another and we realized the seller actually disclosed the HOA CCR for the development next to ours that has a 2 word name just like ours with the same 1st word. This other one allows leasing with no restrictions. I made the purchase based off the wrong info.

What is anyone's take on this who has expertise in this? Is there anything I can do?

Answer:
 I would highly advise speaking to your realtor and the law firm through which your closing paperwork was processed to determine if this negligence can void the sale or perhaps afford a waiver to that HOA amendment.

If they are unwilling or unable to help, then consider consulting with a lawyer or contacting your local HUD or DOJ office to file a formal grievance.


Title: Can I sue a subreddit for banning me?

Question: It was r/squaredcircle They wrongly banned me for being a “troll”

Answer: Yes, you can sue. No, you cannot win.


Title: My wife moved out and says she is no longer responsible for the bills. I can barely afford the house and my car now. She wants full access to the house bc "her name is on it"

Question:
My wife surprised me with getting an apartment, telling me she wants to get a divorce, and that she will no longer pay bills.  I can barely afford them all on my own (make about 60% of our combined income).  She wants full access to the house to get things and says I have no right to privacy bc her name is still on the house.  Obviously there's no way I can refinance it in just my name as I can barely get by.

On top of this, she took my son and wants me to have him every weekend.  I'm worried that if I try to keep the house there is no way I'll be able to help with his expenses.

Answer:
 You need a divorce attorney.

She is likely right that she still has the right to access the house until it is disposed of in the divorce.

>she took my son and wants me to have him every weekend.

This isn't 1970.  Dads don't just get weekends anymore.  Unless there is some factor that makes you an unfit parent, your attorney can help you seek co-parenting with a 50/50 division of parenting time in most cases.  If she's unwilling to do something reasonable before the divorce is finalized, your attorney may need to seek a temporary order.


Title: 5 Page Speeding Ticket Essay. Best Way To Proceed?

Question:
I recently got a speeding ticket reduced and I have to write a 5 page essay on the dangers of speeding. No other details followed. I'm wondering what's truly required of me. Can I just BS it and fill it with 5 pages worth of citing statistics and "speeding is bad I won't do it again"? Would I end up getting in trouble if I don't put a certain level of effort into it? Can I just plagiarize it from the internet and change some parts a bit?

&#x200B;

I figured this is the type of thing where nobody would even bother reading it and just file it away, but I just wanted to ask to be sure.

Thanks

Answer:
 They can still give you the original ticket.

Put some effort in. Do some research. Learn why speeding really isn't okay.


Title: Found out who stole my sunglasses one year ago, he refuses to give them back.

Question:
Here's a quick timeline:

July 2014 - I had a party at my house, someone stole my sunglasses.

December 2014 - The person who stole my glasses posted a photo of himself wearing my glasses, so I asked him in person and it was obvious he lied to me, and they were indeed my sunglasses.

April 2015 - I exposed the person on twitter. They claim the glasses got "stolen" two months ago.

How can I go after this person legally? I want my sunglasses back.

I live in Toronto, Ontario.

Answer:
 How do you know they're your sunglasses. I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure sunglasses are not one of a kind and not individually made. Let it go, christ. Answer #2: You can make a report for theft. Though the investigation for sunglasses would not be high priority.

After the report you can take them to small claims court.


Title: Would the IRS get mad at me if I wrote and sold a book about how to launder money through virtual goods?

Question:
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 The IRS wouldn't care one bit.  They offer stamps to pay tax on illegally gotten gains.  They only care that you're paying taxes.

The FBI and law enforcement might care.Answer #2: The question that would have to be answered is whether the a book on laundering money is protected speech. Considering that you can buy [The Anarchist Cookbook](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anarchist_Cookbook) on Amazon, it might be okay. If you are really serious about this, then you'd probably want to consult a lawyer to help guide you through the process.  Answer #3: Maybe? But making federal organizations mad is not a legal issue. They might audit your taxes but they have the right to do that anyway.Answer #4: If you ever have laundered money, writing a book about it is definitely not the way to go unnoticed. I'd be more worried about FinCEN though.Answer #5: From a purely practical perspective, I imagine that sales would be pretty low. If I were interested in laundering money, I'd probably read your book anonymously by pirating it, rather than buying it with my own name from Amazon, and that's assuming Amazon was even willing to sell it.

But would it be legal to sell? Sure. Practically, you might get pressured by the government to take it down, and you might end up with a file in some bureau's office, but it's legal.Answer #6: I think the concern is that if a money launderer could be shown to have followed your instructions, you could be charged as an accessory regardless of having gained nothing except the royalty for their purchase of the book.

The best case scenario would be to re-cast it as an expose of how money *is laundered* via virtual goods, by the (anonymous) people who do that.


Title: Got kicked out of a bar, ran back in, got trespassing. Thought my case was next week, realized its tomorrow now without preparation. Help very very much appreciated

Question:
I had a bit too much to drink on LDW in NJ and I got kicked out of a bar in, ran back in, and then next thing I know I was handcuffed and in a cell. Friend came and picked me up and I went home with a trespassing charge. I was fairly under the influence and understand my fault and will own it for sure, but I don't necessarily remember much of the conversation with the cops.

&#x200B;

I've been debating going back and forth and telling a family member who is a lawyer or just dealing with it by myself. I checked the date and saw that the court date is tomorrow but I thought that it was next week. I am completely willing to get a public defender but I'm not sure if it's too late to do so on the day of? Is a lawyer completely necessary for this?

&#x200B;

Can I attempt to reschedule court to better prepare on the day of? What excuses would they be understanding of to do so?

&#x200B;

Thank you so much, Reddit. You are my only hope right now. No idea how much this community means to me <3

Answer:
 Show up tomorrow and ask the clerk about the process to get appointed a public defender.

If the court staff give people the options "meet with the prosecutor" and "appear before the judge," ask to see the judge. Tell the judge you haven't been able to retain an attorney, and ask how to be represented by the public defenders office.


Title: MD/VA: Got in a lot of debt at a young age, options?

Question:
I had really bad luck in the past few years. My business partner and I had a decent business going but I put my name on everything. Sadly things didn't work out and now I have over 50K in debt and haven't had any income in the past 3-5 years. Most of the debt started at around 19, and the most recent the office has just served me which was about 4 years ago. I'm 27.

The following things I owe:
Office: 26K
Motorcycle: 15K
Rent: 15K
CC: 4K

Is bankruptcy my best option? If so how would I go about it and which one should I do?

Answer: Talk to a bankruptcy lawyer. Whether or not it's your best option depends on your income and ability to pay off the debt. If there is no feasible way for you to get out of debt, go bankrupt.


Title: [MA] Is my film idea legal?

Question: It's called the Life of Tim. It is literally just a "silent" doc about a week of my life, all recorded on a hidden gopro camera. I don't try to force anything and try to keep it as organic as possible, I will only be cutting out commute and sleep in order to save time. My concerns are as follows. I will be bringing this camera to work (at my office, though I will see many clients as well), and also to the bathroom in work. I will also keep my camera on when I have sex with my friend (in her home, so perhaps there is presumed privacy.) In order to keep this authentic feeling, I have not told anyone that I will do this, they cannot be aware they're being filmed or it will lose value. Is my plan legal and if not, is there anything small that can be done to make it legal without infringing on the spirit of the production? Thanks?

Answer:
 If you film yourself having sex with an unaware third party and then publish it to the world you are in for a world of hurt. This in addition to the risk of being sued by every person in the film who won't sign a release after the fact.
While I'm not going to dig into the specific laws involved this is a very bad idea anywhere, but particularly in MA. Keep in mind that the Federal courts had to force our grand Commonwealth to allow [audio and video recording of public officials in a public place](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glik_v._Cunniffe) in 2011, well after that right was pretty solidly established. Now imagine how a MA court will look on you secretly recording someone while having sex or in a bathroom.Answer #2: Not even remotely legal.

It is illegal in Massachusetts to record a telephone call or a conversation with another person unless you first obtain their consent to do so.

It is illegal to record conversations you are not a part of as well.

It is illegal to video tape someone in the bathroom without their consent.

It is illegal to video tape someone during sex without consent.

And that's just my top four list.

Don't do it.


Title: Property Manager Stopped Forwarding Rent

Question: Hello! I'm in Victorville, CA and I recently purchased an investment property in December 2013. I picked up a property manager from the area who got me set up and forwarded my rent income for December and January. Since then, now March, I haven't received anything and he isn't answering his phone. Obviously I need to look at dropping him, but could I have found myself in a scam that keeps me from doing so? Can I knock on my tenants door and explain the situation and ask them to stop paying him and instead start mailing me a check directly? I don't want to get them into trouble, and I certainly don't want to be sued or anything. I'm really worried right now as I can't afford to keep paying both mortgages like this too much longer.

Answer:
 >Can I knock on my tenants door and explain the situation and ask them to stop paying him and instead start mailing me a check directly?

Please do not do this. This could get your tenants in a situation where the property manager seeks to evict them and brings a lawsuit because they failed to pay rent to the property manager. Then you're going to be in a really nasty situation.

You should speak with a local attorney and ask them to draft a letter demanding your money from the property manager. If this doesn't work, discuss your options with the attorney.

You may end up having to sue the property manager in the long run. In the short run, I'm not really sure you have any good options. How did you find this property manager? Does it or he have a good reputation?


Title: Is this a felony?

Question: So... I created a second and third store account for each of my devices (App was relatively new, and I couldn't use it on multiple devices) Like many others, I didn't read the 30 page Terms of Use, which said I could only have one account. eBay let's me have multiple, do I just assumed this store let me as well. My bad. When I open an account, I get a $5 off $30 or more coupon, and, because I never give out my real information, I lied about my birthday, and my name. Online says that making multiple store accounts may be fraud, and a quick Google search reveals that fraud is a class c felony in New Jersey. So...even if this happened two years ago, and I stopped using the duplicate accounts years ago, cause of Action' regarding the terms is barred after one year, and the TaC never says it's illegal to have a second account, just that duplicates would be terminated or deleted. Should I contact corporate over $15? Could this actually be a felony? How wold this play out for a 13 year old? Parents shop at the said store a lot, and I legit thought that $5 off $30 or more wouldn't be a problem as the store regularly gives out $5 off $25 dollars or more. Feeling guilty.

Answer: No you should not "contact corporate"


Title: Item "Ran Out of Stock" after I purchased. Company refunded me with a gift card. Is this legal?

Question:
I recently placed an online order for a couple of clothing items from a (what I thought to be) reputable online store. (Think Forever 21, but online only). After placing the order, which I paid for with my credit card, I received this email.

"Hi u/fakeprincess,

Thank you for placing an order with ______.

Unfortunately, one or more items from your order are no longer in stock. While we make every effort to ensure you receive your full order immediately, sometimes simultaneous orders of the same item may result in an item no longer being available prior to shipment. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

Instead of keeping you waiting for a re-stock, we have issued you a store credit in the form of an online E-Gift Card. Our E-Gift Cards never expire and can be used towards future online purchases by entering the following code in the E-Gift Card field at checkout."

Is this legal? I have already sent them multiple emails explaining that since I never even received an item, I should be getting a credit card refund. I plan on filing a chargeback with my credit card company, however I'm not sure if this business practice is even legal/ if they need to be reported to someone. It seems to me like items "run out of stock" & then they refund the amount as a gift card & pocket the money, then when the item is back in stock they make money when the customer has to pay for shipping a second time.

Answer:
 Does the website have a purchase agreement or other terms of use that cover this scenario?Answer #2: It would depend on the terms and conditions you agreed to when you made the purchase.  Go back to the website (and make a dummy purchase if necessary) to see what they are.

However, I have a feeling that if you contact their customer service and escalate this up the chain, you will probably get your money back.


Title: Car hit by drunk driver. Her lawyer called me

Question:
Here's the story. My girlfriend and I were out last Saturday night. Upon leaving the restaurant, we start walking back to my car, which was parked on a street that has a couple bars on it. While walking down the side street, a Jeep starts creepily driving super close behind us, which was weird, but whatever. We get into my car and as I'm getting ready to start it, this Jeep side swipes me. I get out of the car, realize the chick driving is out of her mind intoxicated. At this point, I just want her to get away from my car. I walk to her driver's side door and calmly ask her to pull over. I'm practically face to face with this chick. I can see how fucked up she is. I see the light bulb go off in her pathetically small mind, and she guns it! Luckily, I got the license plate. So I immediately called the cops and filed a report. A couple hours later, the cops who took the report tells me he went to her apartment complex and found her passed out in a pool of her own vomit outside her front door. He asks me to drive out and identify the chick, which I did. It was, without a doubt, the same chick who crashed into me. Well... her lawyer just called me. I told him I was very uncomfortable talking to him without legal representation. Basically, he told me that their position is that she was roofied and it wasn't her driving. He asked me if I'd be willing to drop the criminal charges (failure to stop and give information) if restitution was made. My question is this: what was he trying to accomplish? What information was he seeking to get his client out of trouble? How is this guy trying to fuck me? Will her insurance pay for my claim if she isn't convicted?

**TL;DR:** drunk chick crashed her car into mine, then drove off. Cops caught her. Lawyer contacted me. Please give me some advice!

EDIT: Houston, TX

Answer:
 He's not trying to fuck you, he's trying to fuck the state prosecution (which is his job). He wants to be able to tell the DA that the witnesses to this incident are not interested in testifying, and that the state therefore has no case against his client.

Depending on your jurisdiction, his calling and making the restitution offer may have been inappropriate (or it may have been perfectly fine). If you're so inclined, you should call the DA's office and explain what happened. Answer #2: If she was roofied I would ask to see a toxicology test


Title: Constitutional Law Question — how would one go about annexing ME, MA, NH, VT, RI, CT, and NY to Canada?

Question: Asking for a friend lol.

Answer: How big is your army? This is important.


Title: Caught manufacturing with intent to distribute edibles in college

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Get a lawyer. Now. Stop posting confessions on the internet.


Title: I've got a speeding ticket for 20 mph over legal limit

Question:
Hello.

I'm your average Reddit lurker but I need your help. I was driving on a freeway out in the Midwest at around the speed limit (50-55 mph) until I hit a town. It was one of those towns that was connected to the freeway.

I noticed the car in front of me slow down, so I coasted on neutral and slowed down to matched his speed. I reached a stop sign and I was pulled over by a cop. Apparently he pulled me over for going 45 on a 25 during the entrance. It was dark, I was driving at night, and I didn't see any speed limit signs. I felt like I was driving safe.

However he issued me a $150 (first time being pulled over) and 6 demerit points penalty. My friends that were riding with me said that the cop must have been waiting to get drivers like me.

I genuinely feel like I got cheated, because I wasn't driving recklessly. My friends tell me to show up to court by myself and my parents are telling me to get a lawyer. A lawyer would probably cost more than the $150 fine but maybe he'll salvage the demerit points and reduce the fine. If I show up, I don't know how it will be. English is my second language and I'm clueless when it comes to legal jargon.

What should I do?

Thank you for your time.

Answer:
 You went over the speed limit.  You have no excuse.

Contact a traffic attorney if you want to fight it, or pay the fine.Answer #2: You can be speeding and not be driving recklessly. So you weren't cheated.


Title: Local newspaper has high school kids going door-to-door trying to sell subscriptions so they can be entered into a lottery to win a small scholarship. Illegal, or just sad?

Question:
I live in Oklahoma. A high school girl came to my house today trying to sell subscriptions to a local newspaper. Every subscription she sold gets her an entry into a drawing for a small scholarship from the newspaper. It got me wondering whether this practice was illegal. It seems reasonable to consider the girl's efforts as an unpaid labor scheme. Even with the scholarship oppurtunity, that is still work with only a small chance of pay.
Topic:
Labor Law

Answer: Maybe make a call to your states labor board. It's definitely a form of unpaid labor plus using minors just sounds sad. Unless the paper is a not for profit it probably isn't considered volunteering. Answer #2: Its typically a scam. The kids do all the hard work & get nothing. People buying the papers usually don't get the papers/magazines either.


Title: Rear-ended and other driver is claiming no fault (VA)

Question: I was at a complete stop in traffic and the car behind me hit the corner of my bumper trying to merge out of the lane. Their insurance company is claiming that the other driver said I merged in front of the them, which can be disproved due to the damage on both cars. It has been over a month and the other insurance company has never reached out to me (I have always had to call). Should I just have my insurance handle it at this point?

Answer: Yes, you should almost always have your insurance handle things since they're professionals who do this every day.  They can also take the other company to arbitration if the other company wants to be ridiculous.


Title: [CO] Company says all references for co-workers must go through their hr department.

Question: My wife's coworker asked her for a reference. This coworker sucks and has been written up multiple times but my wife wants to get rid of her so of course she's not going to say bad things about her to a potential employer. Another co-worker was also asked to be a reference and was talking to their mutual supervisor about it. Supervisor said all references had to be routed though HR and if they didn't follow the process they would be in trouble. I think this sounds like complete BS. Does a company have any grounds for making this a rule?

Answer:
 >Does a company have any grounds for making this a rule?

The company cannot stop her from speaking to provide a reference.  They can absolutely fire her for failing to follow the company policy around references.


Title: If my water usage is 40 times the usual amount due to a leaking toilet am I the one responsible or is my landlord?

Question:
I rent a house with two other college students in Rolla, Missouri. Our water bill this month said we used 179,000 gallons of water. The bill for the previous month said we only used 4,000 gallons.

When we notified our landlord they installed a new toilet because the leaky toilet was so old that no one sold parts for it. They told us that they’d work something out with the city for the bill.

Well the bill came in and we owe $1,560 by 12/26! This is double our monthly rent which is only $750! We are completely clueless and any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 In my neck of the woods, when something like this happens, I can call the water service, inform them of what happened, and have my bill reduced by producing evidence that, a) there was a leak, and b) I fixed the leak.

Then, they see that for a limited time my usage was abnormally high, and they forgive a large chunk of the bill, bringing it back down to "normal" rates.

I'd start by doing that first.


Title: Neighbor threatened to shoot my wife and I for being on her property when we weren't. Is there anything I can do about it?

Question:
Washington State, US.

We live in the country, and like to go for walks in nature. Most of our walking routes are gravel side roads, not technically trails, however we make sure we only go down ones with lots of houses attached, so we're sure we don't go on anyone's property.

Recently, as we were heading home after a walk, a neighbor pulled up to us with two cars, and said "Who are you, what are you doing here?" She was clearly hostile, and not wanting to incite conflict, my wife just said "Nothing" and kept walking. I have PTSD, and we both have pretty crippling social anxiety, so we try to keep our interaction with other people to a minimum, and both panic very easily.

We were at the end of the side road, and just about to walk onto the main road at the time. We saw them well before we got to the end of the road, so we made sure we were on the side of the road opposite her house. We were not on, nor have we ever been on, her property. She pulled in front of us so we couldn't leave, then yelled "fuck you" "this is my property" multiple times, among other things. Most prominently: "get the hell off my property or I will shoot you" while pointing an object from the driver's seat at my wife. My wife is fairly short and couldn't see in the car from outside the passenger side door. I was in the back of the car walking around to the driver's door, and through the back window, I could see her point the object in her hand at my wife, but not what it was. The window was darkly tinted.

After hearing the threat, I ran, fearing for my life. My wife says she felt running would just incite them to fire, so she didn't alter her pace, and said nothing. After a couple seconds, the neighbor started to drive away, then stopped suddenly and got out of the car. My wife says she muttered "redneck" under her breath, which I guess set her off. At this point, my wife started to run as well and caught up to me. We don't really know what she did after getting out of the car honestly, other than yell more obscenities at us.

About a minute later, as we were walking home on the main road, she pulled up next to us again and asserted that she was serious about what she said, and that everything around there was her property, including where we currently were, which was the main public road. The other car slowed down as it passed, and the driver and passenger waved at us while laughing.

I'm already in a really dark place right now, and was deeply traumatized by this.

It may also be worth noting that we are both trans girls (which is obvious), and were holding hands at the time. I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but it might explain why she wanted us to leave so badly. We also saw them surveying their property today, right at the location that this occurred.

My wife wants to press charges, but I'm afraid that this would just cause them to be even more hostile. I just want to ensure that they can't hurt us, so we can go outside without fear again.

I know nothing about the law, what are my options?

Answer: Call the police?


Title: Apartment with me in it Lysoled by neighbor

Question:
So I've been living in my apartment complex for almost 2 years now. I am a pretty active person, and I enjoy doing bike trainer workouts in my living room. The trainer is actually very quiet and I do put on a movie or something to pass the time.

Today I opened some windows as well as cracked open my door to let air circulate while I worked out. My neighbor then started spraying Lysol front of my door which immediately drafted into my apartment. Obviously when you're breathing hard and Lysol gets into your lungs it's not the best.

At first I thought it was a coincidence but then she did it again and then knocked on my door. I picked my head out and she said, "could you please keep your door closed since it is not 6 ft apart."

I then slammed the door in her face and I've been fuming since.

I have half a mind to keep doing my bike workouts with my door cracked open. If she continues to spray or closes my door does this constitute anything?

Answer: If you leave your door open and she sprays Lysol  in a common area, seems to me you don’t have grounds to complain that it’s coming in the door you left open. Close the door.


Title: My 14 y/o cousin's friend bought a pair of shoes off of someone in person, straight cash. The buyer discovered the shoes are fake and now wants to harass the seller by going to his house. How do I convince him that this is a terrible idea?

Question:
This is in Virginia.
Unfortunately, the buyer gave $700 in exchange for the shoes and trusted the seller's claim of authenticity (not on paper, just verbal).
They have found the seller's address and now want me to drive him and my cousin to the house to bully/threaten the person to receive back the cash. They intend on brining a guy with them that has a 9mm as a means to intimidate, not to actually use.
This is what I told my cousin: http://i.imgur.com/ognhcQg.jpg
After I sent him that, he'd agree to not bring the guy with a gun but still wants me to drive him.
SO, to the questions:

* what can be done in the future in a private transaction to ensure authenticity? Could you make the seller sign something claiming authenticity, then use that document in court if the product is proved to be fake?
* My assumption is that nothing can be done now with my cousin's friend's money. Is this true?
* How do I convince my cousin that he's being an idiot?

Answer:
 You should stay out of it completely. You have no dog in this fight.

Your cousin should contact the seller and ask for a refund. If seller refuses, your cousin can sue in small claims court. Cousin will have to prove that the seller said the shoes were real and that he would not have bought them if he knew they were fake. This nonsense about going to the house, harassment, bringing muscle and a gun, is all adolescent idiocy that will not lead to a solution and will only make things worse.


Title: Wage Theft? Employees at our housing complexes are on-call overnight to assist with tenant lockouts, but do not get paid for these calls. Corporate cites rent discount as excuse for not paying.

Question:
The company I work for gives Leasing staff a rent discount to live on site, as well as commissions and hourly pay. In addition to the hours they work, they are required to be on call at least 2 nights per week to assist residents who are locked out or any non-emergency situation that comes up.

We charge the tenants for the lockouts, but the money goes into the company's pocket and the employees see none of it. Company says, "that's why we give you a 20% rent discount each month." My employees are beginning to get upset with this practice (I used to be in their position before being promoted, hence the username), and rightfully so, in my opinion.

I know wages must be paid for hours worked (2 lockouts in one night could constitute an hour's time), but is the rent discount justifiable in not paying our staff?

Edit: Our company is based in the United States. Forgot location.

Answer: You would have to do some math but possibly the discount is sufficient enough to serve as a wage for this. Is living on site a job requirement or merely an option?


Title: (PA) Is it or is it not legal to dock pay as a punitive measure?

Question:
A conversation with one of the owners of my company has me wondering.  He is advocating for docking pay for mistakes.  His example was to dock an hour of pay even if the mistake took the employee only 5 minutes to correct.  His reasoning is that docking only 5 minutes of pay would not hurt the employee enough to not make the mistake again.  His intention is to punish not to recover actual costs.

This is also a job with a lot of judgement required and grey areas.  Therefore, this would be a matter of him deciding after the fact that performance or the outcome was not sufficient.

The employees make over minimum wage and are part time hourly employees.  In researching this, I found conflicting information.  The law says that hourly employees must be paid for all hours worked.  It also says that pay can be docked as long as overall compensation does not drop below minimum wage.

Before anyone says it, yes, I am looking for a new job.

1. Can he deduct pay, by the hour, as a punishment?
2. Would it make it legal if he made it a set dollar amount, like a fine, as long as it does not drop below minimum wage?
3.  If he could reason that the company lost X dollars due to the mistake, would that give him legal rights to dock pay?

I don't understand how reducing agreed upon pay by arbitrary amounts could be legal but the law seems to contradict itself.

Answer:
 * No
* No
* No

He can fire an employee for making mistakes. He cannot withhold wages for said mistakes.

Edit: to clarify, he could demote an employee or reduce their pay rate going forward for errors made. Because at will employment.

Withholding pay is a great way to get DOL to climb up his ass and make a little nest in there. Answer #2: No. Pennsylvania law gives [specific allowable deductions](http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/034/chapter9/subchapAtoc.html); punishing employees by making unauthorized deductions is not proper.

He can fire an employee, or he can sue an employee for losses; those are his remedies.


Title: Threats From My Ex

Question:
This may not be the right place for this as It's more a lawyer thing - but here goes.

I'm in a very horrid custody battle with my ex. He's put me in the hole over $35k so far. We had a court date which got continued by the court - not by either of us. Due to my financial circumstances, I cannot afford to be at the court case. We live in different states - but our case follows the courts in his state. My lawyer has submitted a form that, pending ex's approval, would allow me to appear by phone. Ex's lawyer has rebutted with basically saying if I don't appear, they will put out a bench warrant. There's some other details I'm leaving out for anonymity.

This not just popped up wanting my location but my ex is an avid redditor and I don't want to give that up. I'll say our case is through the courts in California.

My question is, can he actually get a bench warrant and if so, how and when would that be served? Can I remain where I am and refuse to appear or do I absolutely have to be there now?

Thanks in advance!

Answer: Is this a criminal matter? Generally courts don't issue a bench warrant in non-criminal matters.


Title: During an interview, I was told that was "qualified, but too young" for a manager position.

Question:
This would have been an internal hire. I am the lead of my particular role and, when I interviewed for the manager position, I was told that I have what it takes to be a manager, but they are concerned about my age. They said, "While you come highly recommended by everyone we talk to, and certainly have what it takes to be a manager, our main concern is your age. You are very young and very new to the corporate world." The interviewing panel also encouraged me to apply for other managerial positions within the company because, "the turn over rate is high here."

To me, this feels discriminatory, but I can find nothing from a legal perspective whereby someone has been discriminated against for being too young. Rather, everything I have found pertains to the applicant being discriminated against because they are too old.

Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

Answer:
 Damn, you are qualified!

You correctly found one the most quirkest quirks in all of law: Ageism only goes one way.

You qualified summabitch.Answer #2: Yep being young is perfectly legal to discriminate for, don't worry you'll grow out of it. /sarcasm

However on some not legal advice start sending your resume to competitors, if this company wants to play dumb about age that's their fault Answer #3: Typically laws prohibiting discrimination based on a protected class (race, gender, national origin) is blind to the specifics.  White/black, men/women, Mexican/Somali, doesn't matter, you're protected from discrimination.

US Federal anti-age discrimination law only applies if you're over 40.Answer #4: This ain't legal advice.

I noticed they mentioned to apply for other positions because of high turnover.

If that company is having trouble holding onto their managers, there is a reason for that.


Title: Two police officers entered my home without permission. How should I respond? [Chicago, IL]

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 How should you respond?

You should make sure your doors are locked going forward.  Answer #2: If everything the officers state is true then they acted properly. Answer #3: This seems like a fantastic way to rob someone.  Are you sure that they were police officers?  Did they offer identification?Answer #4: Your brother can try filing a complaint with the officers' superior, but it is no guarantee of anything. It only means an investigation might occur into the officers' conduct. However, it is the word of two people against one, and you weren't there to witness it, so make sure your brother picks his battles wisely.