Georgia Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your mother. The answer is maybe. If the bank thinks you meet their credit standards and that the car is worth more than your mother owed on it, and if you will become the owner of the car under your mother's Will, then they may let you refinance it. You might also be able to get a loan from another lender and buy the car out of the estate. Be very careful if you are the executor or administrator that you properly carry out all of the estate administration, however: if there is any equity in the car and your mother has other debts, then those other debts may need to be paid even if you have to sell the car (to yourself or someone else) to get access to the equity in the car. If you will be handling the estate, please consider having an attorney help guide you through the process.  ... Read Answer

Unfortunately, if you have already tried submitting forms and documents and you aren't getting anywhere, and if you need help and advice on how to file additional documents, then you need to hire a NY attorney. Your other option is to give up on the funds. For one thing, unless you are actually the legally-appointed representative of your late grandmother's estate, you may not even have the clear legal right to claim the funds. If the funds are in the custody of New York State, then it will be their laws that you have to deal with. They aren't required to make it easy to claim lost funds. This likely won't be much consolation to you, but we have the same kind of situation in my own family, where several deceased family members have unclaimed funds on record in North Carolina. However, because there are no currently appointed Executors for their estates, there is no one who currently has the legal right to claim the funds, and the value of the funds does not make it worth opening (or re-opening) the estates to claim them. So there they sit, and will likely remain there forever. You can try contacting a legal aid organization in New York, but most of those groups won't help with estate-related matters like this. You may also be able to find a financial advisor or CPA who will provide you with some advice, if you are using that person for other matters. Good luck- I hope you are able to figure it out.... Read Answer

Someone needs to open an estate to insure that everything is handled properly.  The wife has a right to keep you from the house if she owns some or all of the house.  No one has a right to deal with your father's property until he/she is appointed personal representative of the estate.... Read Answer

Ultimately, you will need a conservatorship if your son is a minor.  However, the more pressing issue is that you need to get his father's estate openin a probate court.  To do that, you will go the probate court in the county where the father lived. You will need to file a petition to appoint administrator. It sounds like you may need to retain a lawyer to assist you with this matter as it can be tricky.... Read Answer

Michael, Thank you for your in inquiry. I do not know what county the deceased person residing in and that matters when it comes to pricing and length of time things will take. We charge a flat fee of $2,000 to probate a will. Added onto that charge on the fees charged by the probate court. Assuming all siblings are in agreement and all will sign the necessary documents, it will cost about $200 in fees to the probate court. The trickier part of your question is about how long it will take. This depends almost entirely on the county where we must file the petition.  Generally though, you can count on about a month from date of filing for Letters Testamentary to be issued.  ... Read Answer

Having two H-1B's is not the same as having two different nonimmigrant statuses in the US. My guess is that you can work legally for two H-1B employers as long as you have approvals for both as long as you are maintaining the working conditions as specified under the H1B petitions. I do not believe that checking a box for concurrent employment is the determinative factor in whether an additional H-1B employment is valid. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.  ... Read Answer

Currently for the month of December, immigrant visas are being given to individuals who filed under the sibling category for Pakistan-born before February 1, 2007. You still have at least four years to go before your priority date becomes current and you can immigrate to the US. The immigration laws do not allow someone to file for an adjustment of status through form I-485 unless the priority date is current. For other options, you and your brother should consult with an immigration lawyer. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.  ... Read Answer

I'm not sure why you are having difficulty.  If you have any of the records, many malpractice lawyers will review them and provide a free consultation.  If you have had lawyers review the records and they will not then take the case, you should request a explanation and basis so you may understand and then disclose this to any subsequent lawyers who review.  The reality is death is a risk in any surgery especially with general anesthesia.  No one can determine if there's a viable claim or if any medical professional was negligent without review the records.  Also whether the surgeon was in private practice or worked for the VA or a public university hospital may also be a factor in why attorneys may not accept the claim.   Again, the best thing to do is find a way to get all the records and have an attorney review it all, and typcially then, attorneys will engage medical experts and medical expert review services to analyze the records.  ... Read Answer

If you have a settlement, that settles all the claims you have, including claims for medical expenses, compensatory damages, physical damage and pain and suffering.  If you are offered a settlement and accepted it, then the insurance company is paying you for all claims.  You should not be negotiating a settlement in an at fault accident without obtaining advice from an attorney.  IF the BI limits are $10,000 that may be all the insurance company for the at fault driver can or would pay.  If you already agreed to settle, then there may be nothing more that can be done if you signed a release.  IF you settled, then what you owe your chiropractor is between you and that chiropractor.  ... Read Answer

I'm sorry to hear of this event and your loss.  A settlement of a medical malpractice claim is never a certainty and whether the offending hospital, physician and its insurance company are even willing to make an offer depends upon many factors, and requires an opinion form a medical expert that someone's treatment fell below the applicable standard of care.   Sometimes settlements occur within months of presenting a claim,  along with the supporting expert opinion after carefully reviewing all the related records, and sometimes such cases take another year or 2 and require lawsuits in order to even bring about any settlement.  A settlement also depends upon the value the offending party and its insurance company places on the claim, if any, and what the harmed client is willing to agree to or accept.    I encouage you to consult a medical malpractice attorney and have a free consultation rather than just posting, as I'm sure someone will be willing to discuss the claim.  ... Read Answer

If you already have medical professionals in the same or similar speciality declaring that the treating surgeon's treatment was negligent or fell below the standard of care then I certainly urge you to contact a medical malpractice attorney to review the records and comence with an investigation.  Certainly, each state also has an investigatory unit or department for such actions.  You did not ask a specific question.  But assuming the question is do you have a case for medical negligence, again, that depends upon the opinion of a medical doctor who practices in the same or similar speciality.  If you have been permanently harmed and injured and had to undergo additiional surgeries then I encourage you to seek out legal advice and to obtain all the relevant medical records.  As to wehther the MRI was medically necessary, that again, depends upon a medical expert position.  ... Read Answer

What injuries did she suffer? What state does your wife reside? Since the female doctor resides here in Florida and your wife I assume resides in Georgia, then it's quite likely that the US District court here would have jurisdiction depending of course on your wife's injuries. However more facts are needed. Discuss with counsel here in Florida about contingency fee representation. ... Read Answer

Hi- I am sorry, but your question does not describe a probate matter. Probate is the process of having a deceased person's Will validated and made effective. What your boyfriend has is a criminal law question. I don't do any criminal law and have no idea what the answer would be.   Please post your question again using Criminal Law as the topic so that the right attorneys will see it. And good luck to you and your boyfriend in getting the matter resolved.... Read Answer

It is possible that the child's father can report you to Immigration out of spite because you are asking him for child support, but it would be up to Immigration whether to pursue you as there are between 10-11,000,000 undocumented immigrants in this country. No one can guarantee you that you will not have a problem, but ICE is currently concentrating more on individuals who already have final orders of removal. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.  ... Read Answer

As you know, things are very chaotic at the southwestern border, so glitches and delays are to be expected. I do not imagine that your lawyer is to blame for the rescheduling of your case. Many people are scrambling around trying to figure out how to have their cases processed. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.  ... Read Answer

Absent an explicit contract providing for it (to which you would need to be a party) you can't inherit your father's debt.  Any debt he leaves after his death will be paid by his estate, which will leave less for you to inherit, but you have no obligation to pay any debts which arenot covered by the estate's assets.... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your husband. If he had no Will, and if he was a Georgia resident, then you, along with his two children from his prior marriage, and along with any other children he might have had with you, are his heirs, and would receive any assets that became part of his probate estate after all of his debts, expenses, and taxes have been paid. If the heirs are just you and the 2 children from his prior marriage, each heir will receive 1/3 of the remaining assets. If there are more than 2 children, then you will get 1/3 as the surviving spouse and the children will split the other 2/3 equally between them. However, again assuming that your husband was a Georgia resident, you, as his surviving spouse, have the right to make a claim for a year's support from his probate estate. The year's support right comes in front of most unsecured debts and all other heirs. If none of his children are under 18, then you will be the only one who holds the year's support right. If one or more of the children are under 18, then each of those minor children will also have the right to seek a year's support. A year's support claim can be challenged, but only on the ground that the person seeking it is asking for too much and does not really need all of what he or she is requesting. If an interest in the deceased person's main residence is awarded as part of the year's support claim, then there is a 1-year property tax break that applies to that interest. As to your actual question about putting the house in your name: the first question is how it was owned. If you and your husband owned it jointly AND if the deed to the property says that you owned it as "joint tenants," "with rights of survivorship," or something else, it's already in your name- it transferred to you automatically at his death. You can file an affidavit of surviving joint tenant to clear up the deed record but you don't have to. However, if you and he owned it jointly, but NOT as joint tenants (meaning that the deed does not contain the right words), then his half is in his probate estate. And if he was the sole owner, then his entire interest is in his probate estate. If your husband's interest in the property is in his probate estate, then there are 2 basic options: (1) administer the estate. You may need to buy out his other heirs in an estate administration, if the estate is not large enough to allow his interest in the property to be allocated to your share of the estate. (2) File a Petition for Year's Support and ask that the court award you your husband's interest in the house, along with any other assets you want from his estate. Either way, you should ideally consult a probate attorney. The attorney will need to review more facts than can be posted here and help you figure out your options and what you need to do.... Read Answer