|
adorai posted:hey dudes, lovely legal question time. Lol. Here's how it would go pro se. You: She tried to kill herself. Her: Nope. Checkmate.
|
# ? Sep 6, 2014 20:37 |
|
|
# ? May 16, 2024 18:59 |
|
I assume that there are some sort of medical records that document the suicide attempt, but even if there are this isn't an easy case. If she wasn't diagnosed with anything in the past, she may get to keep the kids if she gets diagnosed and starts treatment. Plus, dragging her to court would mean that you probably won't be getting a minute more with the kids than it says in the order, which could easily backfire once this crisis looks to be resolved.
|
# ? Sep 6, 2014 21:19 |
|
Getting someone else's medical records sounds like a difficult thing for the average non lawyer person to do. God knows getting your own records can be a pain in the rear end.
|
# ? Sep 6, 2014 21:44 |
|
CaptainScraps posted:You: She tried to kill herself. Konstantin posted:I assume that there are some sort of medical records that document the suicide attempt, but even if there are this isn't an easy case. If she wasn't diagnosed with anything in the past, she may get to keep the kids if she gets diagnosed and starts treatment. Plus, dragging her to court would mean that you probably won't be getting a minute more with the kids than it says in the order, which could easily backfire once this crisis looks to be resolved. Is it going to look bad if I wait to see what she does after she is released before engaging the courts? It is possible, though not likely, that she would agree to just supervised visits for a month or two while she gets some therapy. If we can do it without the courts that would be my preference, but I don't want to damage my ability to actually use the courts if the need is there. adorai fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Sep 6, 2014 |
# ? Sep 6, 2014 22:41 |
|
adorai posted:She was checked into the psychiatric ward at the hospital by her mother, and her mother told me that she admitted to trying to kill herself. I am assuming that while the medical records are protected by HIPAA, it would be reasonably easy for a court to verify in some way that she was indeed checked in, and the reason for the visit.
|
# ? Sep 6, 2014 22:43 |
|
Jesus Christ man you are diving into deep waters with two cement blocks.
|
# ? Sep 6, 2014 23:05 |
|
adorai posted:She was checked into the psychiatric ward at the hospital by her mother, and her mother told me that she admitted to trying to kill herself. I am assuming that while the medical records are protected by HIPAA, it would be reasonably easy for a court to verify in some way that she was indeed checked in, and the reason for the visit. IANAL but my understanding is that as the "plaintiff" of sort in this case, the burden is on you to prove what you're saying. You have to get the medical records on your own, the court will not do poo poo on it's own. You will have to get a court order to get the records though. I doubt that's something a judge will just rubber stamp so... Hire someone who knows how to do this law poo poo. You know, a lawyer.
|
# ? Sep 6, 2014 23:10 |
|
adorai posted:She was checked into the psychiatric ward at the hospital by her mother, and her mother told me that she admitted to trying to kill herself. I am assuming that while the medical records are protected by HIPAA, it would be reasonably easy for a court to verify in some way that she was indeed checked in, and the reason for the visit. I would go speak to a lawyer right away. I don't know anything about this area of law, but even if you don't need to go to the court immediately, you will still want a lawyer advising you every step of the way. A lawyer will prevent you from making any costly mistakes that later have to be fixed.
|
# ? Sep 7, 2014 00:36 |
|
adorai posted:She was checked into the psychiatric ward at the hospital by her mother, and her mother told me that she admitted to trying to kill herself. I am assuming that while the medical records are protected by HIPAA, it would be reasonably easy for a court to verify in some way that she was indeed checked in, and the reason for the visit. You: Judge, as my first witness, I request you call the hospital. Judge: No. Attorneys can subpoena records. You can't. If she gets a lawyer (and she will), you're hosed on your own. I have a case just like this. JUST LIKE THIS. It wasn't easy.
|
# ? Sep 7, 2014 03:06 |
|
You are hosed on your own hosed on your own :boo: No but seriously you are hosed on your own euphronius fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Sep 7, 2014 |
# ? Sep 7, 2014 03:13 |
|
Also, yes you will f*** yourself if you wait too long. The court will look at you and say "why did you wait so long, if it was such a concern?"
|
# ? Sep 7, 2014 03:24 |
Given how often I see "they're judgement proof, you're hosed" in this thread, what happens to a judgement proof person if they do get some giant judgement against them? Nothing, some paperwork then nothing, ??? I guess I'm just curious, there has to be some downside to it other than not having anything to take.
|
|
# ? Sep 7, 2014 04:44 |
|
Javid posted:Given how often I see "they're judgement proof, you're hosed" in this thread, what happens to a judgement proof person if they do get some giant judgement against them? Nothing, some paperwork then nothing, ??? Long story short: They file for bankruptcy. Maybe later I'll get into more detail. Edit: Ok, its later. This is how it works in Texas. I assume most states are at lease similar. When you take a judgement against someone, the next step is to attempt to collect your money from the person. If they refuse to simply pay you, you "abstract" the judgment. In other words, you file it in the County Records department, telling the world, "haay, this bitch owes me money." In Texas, an abstracted judgment remains effective for 10 years from the date you file it, so you can try to collect on it all that time. At the end of your 10 years - file it again; another 10 years. Once property abstracted, you have several tools for attempting to collect. You can seek to have the debtor's property garnished, by sending the cops to their house to take and sell off their poo poo, or send the cops to the bank to pull money from their account. There are other post-judgment collection procedures and writs you can try, but they all cost money and take time. Of course, you can add up the costs of collection on top of the judgment, but again you're throwing good money after bad. Also, you can foreclose on real property owned by the debtor by attaching the judgment to it. In Texas like many states, however, your homestead (the house you live in) is exempt from this attachment. Bankruptcy will erase almost any judgment, and typically when people with little money acquire alot of debt, they file for bankruptcy. Any they can file any time during the aforementioned process, and wipe out your judgment. So, Long story short: They file for bankruptcy. blarzgh fucked around with this message at 06:09 on Sep 7, 2014 |
# ? Sep 7, 2014 05:16 |
|
I agree with blarzgh, but to once again be Ebert to his Siskel since this subject is my poo poo: Bankruptcy is the answer for people with income or assets, but there's a large segment of the population that's judgment-proof due to lack of assets and/or identity. As he said, every state has a set of laws that protect property from creditors and I'd say a good 1/3 of the population will never have assets outside the limits, varying by state. The only asset they might have in reach of creditors is income. Many careers are judgment proof right off the bat; like imagine garnishing a construction worker, truck driver, waitress, etc. When random landlord #6201 from this thread gets stiffed by a college kid, that kid is judgment proof for all practical purposes. The kid doesn't have to expend any effort to be untraceable when they move back to Colorado or whatever. Even if service somehow lands, there are no assets. Sure it hits their credit, but harming their credit doesn't pay the mortgage. I view judgment-proof like a cost-benefit analysis. Imagine a thousand college tenants skip out on a thousand leases, and pretend it costs $300 to sue each one seeking $3000 judgments. Are the net proceeds going to cover the cost within a decade? In other words, could you recover the $300,000 in total costs by having 10% of the cases payout? NOPE. Not even close. But here's the thing: even if it did pay out $300,000, that's just break even. But too often an individual creditor is like a gambler in a casino overvaluing a single bet instead of thinking of the odds. Sunk cost fallacy and emotion get in the way of what should be a pure business decision. If the anticipated return on a collection is less than the cost, that's what I call judgment-proof. And if the landlord wins the bet against all odds and lands a garnishment, the tenant just files bankruptcy woozle wuzzle fucked around with this message at 08:09 on Sep 7, 2014 |
# ? Sep 7, 2014 07:50 |
|
TLDR: Never become a landlord. Ever.
|
# ? Sep 7, 2014 08:05 |
Interesting. Reading wikipedia on bankruptcy was enlightening as well. So basically someone with jack poo poo but a beater car and a lovely job can get a judgement for $infinity and go bankrupt and flip the creditor the bird on their way out? Sucks for the landlord but that's kinda amusing.
|
|
# ? Sep 7, 2014 08:17 |
|
Javid posted:Interesting. Reading wikipedia on bankruptcy was enlightening as well. Yes. But the other point both blarzgh and ww were making is that deadbeat doesn't even need to file for bankruptcy. They're judgment proof already. Their credit score will drop but there is almost no way for the creditor to collect.
|
# ? Sep 7, 2014 13:14 |
|
Javid posted:Interesting. Reading wikipedia on bankruptcy was enlightening as well. Note: Bankruptcy isn't free. I helped my mom file, in small town PA it was about $1500 if I recall? I'd wager in more urban areas the costs are higher. Although I'm sure that even a college kid would just let it ride and if a landlord ever came after them when they had a career, they'd file. I guess as a landlord if you were really really loving patient you could just keep the bankruptcy active, wait until they had a career and assets, then go after them at a point where bankruptcy would be inconvenient. There are limits to the value of things that you can exempt, at least in PA.
|
# ? Sep 7, 2014 13:18 |
|
Parents have to consign leases in my college town, hahah.
|
# ? Sep 7, 2014 16:39 |
|
I have a question about notarized documents. I have a friend in another state, I was supposed to visit him and while I was there we were going to get paperwork signed and notarized regarding his daughter. He wants to make sure that my wife and I get his daughter in case something happens to him and his wife. Due to circumstances beyond my control I can't make it out there. What would the fastest way to be to get this paperwork taken care of? We are looking at roughly a 3 week window.
SalTheBard fucked around with this message at 01:46 on Sep 9, 2014 |
# ? Sep 9, 2014 01:43 |
|
SalTheBard posted:I have a question about notarized documents. I have a friend in another state, I was supposed to visit him and while I was there we were going to get paperwork signed and notarized regarding his daughter. He wants to make sure that my wife and I get his daughter in case something happens to his wife. Due to circumstances beyond my control I can't make it out there. What would the fastest way to be to get this paperwork taken care of? We are looking at roughly a 3 week window. As far as I know both of your signatures don't need to be notarized at the same time or place or even by the same person. It's just validating that the signatures are authentic. Have him send them to you, go to a notary and get your signature witnessed and notarized and send them back for him to do the same.
|
# ? Sep 9, 2014 01:47 |
|
Javid posted:Interesting. Reading wikipedia on bankruptcy was enlightening as well. Motronic posted:As far as I know both of your signatures don't need to be notarized at the same time or place or even by the same person. It's just validating that the signatures are authentic. The fastest and easiest way is probably to just get them digitally, print them out, then send them to him after you've signed and notarized them. Since he's going to want to put them with his probate documents, there's no reason to be sending the paperwork more than once.
|
# ? Sep 9, 2014 02:00 |
|
SalTheBard posted:I have a question about notarized documents. I have a friend in another state, I was supposed to visit him and while I was there we were going to get paperwork signed and notarized regarding his daughter. He wants to make sure that my wife and I get his daughter in case something happens to him and his wife. Due to circumstances beyond my control I can't make it out there. What would the fastest way to be to get this paperwork taken care of? We are looking at roughly a 3 week window. uh, Fed-ex?
|
# ? Sep 9, 2014 02:21 |
|
Lowly posted:I would go speak to a lawyer right away. I don't know anything about this area of law, but even if you don't need to go to the court immediately, you will still want a lawyer advising you every step of the way. A lawyer will prevent you from making any costly mistakes that later have to be fixed.
|
# ? Sep 9, 2014 03:49 |
|
SalTheBard posted:I have a question about notarized documents. I have a friend in another state, I was supposed to visit him and while I was there we were going to get paperwork signed and notarized regarding his daughter. He wants to make sure that my wife and I get his daughter in case something happens to him and his wife. Due to circumstances beyond my control I can't make it out there. What would the fastest way to be to get this paperwork taken care of? We are looking at roughly a 3 week window. Not to be a jerkface, but my first thoughts are whether what he's doing has any merit at all. It will depend on state and exact what he's getting notarized. But it could very well be worthless. It sounds weird as hell that you would have to get your signature notarized for any reason regarding his final wishes. Let's assume he doesn't want his crazy mother/aunt/brother/whoever to get custody of his kids: I don't think what's he's doing has any practical effect on that theoretical custody fight. I'd bet $1.53 that the notarized paper would have virtually no legal effect. I know it's the standard answer around here, but your friend should talk to a wills/family lawyer if they're this concerned about having a custody plan in place. Maybe he's already done that and I don't know what I'm talking about? Just food for thought. [I don't know jack about custody plans like this, so I could be way off base. It just sounds wrong to me] woozle wuzzle fucked around with this message at 04:11 on Sep 9, 2014 |
# ? Sep 9, 2014 04:03 |
|
Okay, so I have a friend who has decided to start a "Frozen" birthday party business, where she dresses like Elsa and goes and sings at birthday parties, etc. (and charges really ridiculous fees, too) She said she decided to make it "legal" by changing the name to "Elza" which seems like the dumbest idea I've ever heard. I know that Disney has a reputation for protecting their characters, etc. How can I get it through her head that she can't do this without Disney ripping her head off and making GBS threads down her throat. I've read some things about Fair Use, etc., but even if she tries to change the name, she can still get in trouble for singing that song, right?
|
# ? Sep 9, 2014 17:16 |
|
Dingleberry Jones posted:Okay, so I have a friend who has decided to start a "Frozen" birthday party business, where she dresses like Elsa and goes and sings at birthday parties, etc. (and charges really ridiculous fees, too) She will almost certainly be infringing on Disney's intellectual property, by profiting from a likeness they own the rights to. The idea that Will Eisner himself will swoop down in his Mickey-Copter, blaring 'Ride of the Valkyries' and start napalming a 6 year old's birthday party is (awesome) a little far fetched, but when your business plan is "I'm going to profit by breaking the law" you should probably reconsider. One or two of these law goons does IP. Hopefully they can do a better job of explaining why she is (or I am) dumb.
|
# ? Sep 9, 2014 17:28 |
|
Dingleberry Jones posted:Okay, so I have a friend who has decided to start a "Frozen" birthday party business, where she dresses like Elsa and goes and sings at birthday parties, etc. (and charges really ridiculous fees, too) Our resident party princess AssassinPrincess talked about this at times in her thread (you probably need archives to view it). She's not a lawyer and obviously you shouldn't take whatever she says as legal advice but you might find something useful in there.
|
# ? Sep 9, 2014 17:49 |
|
Dingleberry Jones posted:Okay, so I have a friend who has decided to start a "Frozen" birthday party business, where she dresses like Elsa and goes and sings at birthday parties, etc. (and charges really ridiculous fees, too) If she's dumb enough to think her strategy will work, why do you think any reason or logic will change her mind?
|
# ? Sep 9, 2014 17:50 |
|
the littlest prince posted:Our resident party princess AssassinPrincess talked about this at times in her thread (you probably need archives to view it). On her new blog, iirc she's specifically mentioned she can't sing Let It go when booked as the Snow Queen for parties, so that alone would be a problem for "Elza."
|
# ? Sep 9, 2014 17:51 |
|
I found her blog where she talks about Frozen, and about how they have managed to sidestep the copyright stuff by looking not QUITE like the character. But yeah, she says she can't sing "Let It Go" at all, which might be an issue for "Elza" because she says in her price sheet "Elza will sing 'Happy Birthday' and 'Let It Go' with the birthday girl." Maybe she'll change the name to "Let It Grow" or something equally as stupid as "Elza." Thanks all! Edited to note: She hasn't listened to anything I've said anyway, I just want to be able to laugh whenever it blows up in her face.
|
# ? Sep 9, 2014 19:11 |
|
woozle wuzzle posted:Not to be a jerkface, but my first thoughts are whether what he's doing has any merit at all. It will depend on state and exact what he's getting notarized. But it could very well be worthless. It sounds weird as hell that you would have to get your signature notarized for any reason regarding his final wishes. Let's assume he doesn't want his crazy mother/aunt/brother/whoever to get custody of his kids: I don't think what's he's doing has any practical effect on that theoretical custody fight. I'd bet $1.53 that the notarized paper would have virtually no legal effect. It's not worthless, but it's also not definitive. When I did probate law, we included a guardianship nomination in the package all the time. The judge still ultimately makes the decision based on the child's best interests, but the parents' nomination is taken into account. The judge will try to respect the parents' wishes, but will also take into account the child's wishes and the report of a court investigator. I don't know that this document has to be notarized - here you can also just write a letter and keep it with your estate documents. I can't remember if we notarized our guardianship nominations or not. It also, of course, depends on the state and what their particular laws are. EDIT: blarzgh posted:She will almost certainly be infringing on Disney's intellectual property, by profiting from a likeness they own the rights to. The idea that Will Eisner himself will swoop down in his Mickey-Copter, blaring 'Ride of the Valkyries' and start napalming a 6 year old's birthday party is (awesome) a little far fetched, but when your business plan is "I'm going to profit by breaking the law" you should probably reconsider. With Disney it is best not to take the chance. I remember at one time begin shocked because they cracked down on a bunch of little mom and pop Mexican stores that were selling pinatas that looked like Disney characters for birthday parties. I am sure those people also thought that no one from Disney would ever notice or care that such a thing was happening, but they were wrong. It's not like they're going to go around investigating birthday parties in person, but what odds are pretty good that some cute little girl's performance with "Elza" would be videotaped and shared on Youtube or social media Lowly fucked around with this message at 19:56 on Sep 9, 2014 |
# ? Sep 9, 2014 19:47 |
|
It's fine Disney doesn't protect their IP at all... She has nothing to worry about. http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1989/Disney-In-Copyright-Spats-With-Day-Care-Center-Restaurant/id-4d98c8dee1c72fa5ac42ce01dff143fd
|
# ? Sep 9, 2014 19:50 |
|
Lowly posted:It's not worthless, but it's also not definitive. When I did probate law, we included a guardianship nomination in the package all the time. The judge still ultimately makes the decision based on the child's best interests, but the parents' nomination is taken into account. The judge will try to respect the parents' wishes, but will also take into account the child's wishes and the report of a court investigator. That makes sense. It makes me wonder why the intended surrogate guardian's signature is needed. Like if I want Susie to get my kids, would I need Susie's signature of approval? (I honestly don't know, it seems weird like it's evidence that Susie must take children 10 years later when they're pregnant, etc)
|
# ? Sep 9, 2014 20:00 |
|
woozle wuzzle posted:That makes sense. It makes me wonder why the intended surrogate guardian's signature is needed. Like if I want Susie to get my kids, would I need Susie's signature of approval? (I honestly don't know, it seems weird like it's evidence that Susie must take children 10 years later when they're pregnant, etc) Here in CA, it's not. We never got the guardian's signature for our documents, and I am nominated as an alternate guardian for a friend's child, and I did not have to sign the document. I guess it's evidence that the guardian actually is aware of and wants the responsibility, but no court here is going to be like "you signed this you must take this child now" or "you didn't sign this, you can't have them sorry."
|
# ? Sep 9, 2014 20:17 |
|
Yeah, here in Texas, we call it a Declaration of Guardianship, and the proposed caretaker doesn't have to sign. Then there is a bunch of other bullshit about how its not binding on a family law determination of parentage, only a temporary guardianship in the probate Court and blah blah blah kill me.
|
# ? Sep 9, 2014 21:01 |
|
I bet there's some ye olde English cause of action for it, for people whose offspring mattered due to inheritance.
|
# ? Sep 9, 2014 21:50 |
|
I was watching the Three Stooges and got to thinking: the stooges were running a dog hospital and kept loving things up, if someone sued them for injuring their dog, they would just want a civil litigation attorney right? They wouldn't want to use a personal injury lawyer, would they? Or would they?
|
# ? Sep 10, 2014 04:22 |
|
Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel is the obvious answer.
|
# ? Sep 10, 2014 04:30 |
|
|
# ? May 16, 2024 18:59 |
|
Dewey, Cheatem, & Howe., LLP (Also, personal injury lawyers are, in fact, civil litigation lawyers)
|
# ? Sep 10, 2014 05:10 |