Georgia Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

There are a lot of factors at play here. The first question I would have is why exactly do you have power of attorney for your mother and what are the limits of it? Do you have it in writing or is it informal? Second, is your brother living in the house (or even partially owns the house), staying short term, or is he just an intrusive visitor? Third, it sounds like your mother wants to have continued contact with him. Is that true or is more exploitative than that? Fourth, how is your mother's health? How old is she and is she capable of taking care of herself or making her own decisions? There's a lot of nuance here.  Really unless your mother also wants him barred from the house or your mother is somehow incapable and not able to make her own decisions then you likely cannot do anything about it regardless of how frustrating he may be. If your mother is in agreement and wants him to not come back then the police can be called to instruct him to not come back. If she is incapable and being exploited by him then he may be able to be prosecuted for Exploitation of the Elderly of Disabled (provided she is over 65 or disabled). If you think she is being financially exploited by him you should think about contacting the police so they can look into it. Orders of protection can also be taken out if he is violent and there are forms for this you can get at the clerk's office in most counties for you to fill out if you think that is appropriate. But most situations would require your mother either being onboard with banning him from the house or would require her to be incapable of making her own decisions. ... Read Answer

The honest truth here is that you need to get a personal injury lawyer to represent you. This case is far too big for you to handle yourself. They can then evaluate you claim, medical expenses, pain and suffering, and any other issues and may even be able to give you a rough idea of what the case may settle for.  Just about all personal injury lawyers work on contingent fees. In other words they only get paid once you do. The average fee is about 33% of the overall settlement once expenses are paid. From the sounds of it you would have a case worth taking, especially if Walmart acknowledges fault. ... Read Answer

This is a material breach of your lease. Anytime a landlord wants to enter the tenants residence for repairs or other work related issues, landlord must give reasonable notice in advance. To enter with no notice and without knocking on the door is a blatant  and material breach of your lease. A material breach like this in some states would allow you to treat the lease as over and allow you to vacate without penalty. You should speak with a Georgia lawyer for more specific advice before you vacate. ... Read Answer

A US Citizen residing overseas can sponsor his spouse after marriage for a green card and process at the US Consulate where you reside. At your interview, you would need to convince the officer that you both have taken concrete steps to relocate to the US and can prove that through documentaary evidence. ... Read Answer

You didn't disclose why the case was denied. Did you attend a marriage interview? If so, the case was most likely denied because the officer didn't believe the marriage was bona fide. If you received an employment authorization after that, it's not because the main case was reopened. That's a different department that handles work authorizations and if the adjustment case was denied, then the work permit is not valid. You can always apply again for a green card if your evidence the second time is more convincing than the first time. ... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your father. If your mother survived your father, it's her house now, if you're correct in that the two of them owned the property as joint tenants with rights of survivorship before your father's death. However, since you are asking this question, I will assume your mother died before your father, leaving your father (presumably) as the sole owner of the home and making the home now part of his probate estate. Someone needs to get appointed as the Executor or Administrator of the estate (depending on whether or not your father had a Will). The Executor or Administrator can then take steps to evict the girlfriend. That's how you get her out of the house. However, note that this assumes your father did not add the girlfriend to the title to the home before his death, and it also assumes that your father did not make a Will or a revocable trust that provides for her to receive the house (or the right to live in the house). And, if he did make a trust and transferred the house to it during his lifetime, then the Executor/Administrator of his estate may have no control over the house- the Trustee of the trust would be the one who has that control. So the real first step is to try to make sure that you know exactly how the house was owed as of the date of your father's death, along with any other assets he owned, and whether he had any estate planning documents in place and if so, what those documents say. My recommended next step would be to hire an experienced probate attorney to help you figure out the actual situation and what the next steps can and should be. Best wishes to you.      ... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your mother. As for your question, the Petition to Probate Will in Solemn Form is generally the petition that should be filed when a Will is offered for probate. It becomes binding more quickly on heirs or other interested parties, which is good for a number of reasons, and most probate courts prefer that you use it. I do urge you to get an experienced probate attorney to help you with the Petition and with other aspects of probate, however. While you can handle probate without an attorney in Georgia, that doesn't mean it's a good idea. There are a number of traps that you can fall into and issues you might encounter that could have been avoided, and having an experienced attorney help guide you can be very valuable in helping save you both time and money. Best wishes to you.  ... Read Answer

The conditions for H-4 employment are that the H-1B holder either has a labor certification pending for at least 365 days or has an I-140 preference petition approved. Assuming that one of those conditions is met, you could apply for both benefits concurrently with forms I-539 Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status and I-765 Application for Employment Authorization. You can make the application as soon as the condition is met by your husband since the EAD is open market under which you can work for any employer including your present one. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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

Using the "Find a Lawyer" tab, you should search in the area of "Legal Malpractice" for an attorney in or near the county where the underlying lawsuit was filed or where the office of the attorney you want to sue is located.  I note that, because of the COVID pandemic, many cases filed before 2020 experienced substantial delays because of court closures during the pandemic.  This created a backlog of pending cases that has taken our courts years to unravel.  I have only been able to bring my last two 2018 pre-COVID cases to conclusion in the trial court within the past few months.  So delays in progress may not necessarily be attributable to any act or omission of your attorney. I also note that $20,000 is barely enough to investigate, file, and get through the first few months of a lawsuit.  Although the cost of any lawsuit depends on many different factors including the complexity of the case, the aggressiveness of the parties, and the personalities of the lawyers and judge, I have rarely seen a case pending longer than a year with only $20,000 in legal fees and expenses.  That is an unusually low amount.... Read Answer

A landlord has a duty to make all common areas on the premises, like stairways, safe for guests. You would have to prove that there was a dangerous condition that the landlord knew or should've known about, and failed to correct. In order to prove that, you should return to the property at the same time of day that you fell, and take plenty of pictures, which hopefully would establish to wit: that there was a dangerous condition that was either latent or hidden or both. ... Read Answer

For the month of January 2024, immigrant visas are being given to those in the F-3 category who applied prior to April 22, 2009. So the waiting line is now 14 ½ years. During the waiting time, USCIS does not allow individuals to remain in the US and work just on the basis that they are being applied by a parent for immigration under that category. However, in answer to your question, there is nothing that precludes you from applying for the F-3 category while your wife is applying for her green card here under L-1. It would appear that the quicker application would be through your wife, especially if she is a multinational executive or manager and the organization decides to sponsor her for permanent residence. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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

It appears that this is a Medicaid Asset Protection Question / Medicaid Estate Recovery question. The answer to this is complex. A trust can protect assets. Transfers of property in certain situations can be exempt for the purpose of determining Medicaid eligibility.  You need to discuss your specifics with a GA elder law attorney.... Read Answer

If there is no will, then there is not an executor. A court would appoint an administrator in this case. An administrator is charged with following intestate law in this case.  See a local attorney. You should likely inherit something. Something like 1/10 if there are 10 children. Less if father was married when he died.... Read Answer