Georgia Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your grandfather. In order to find out what, if anything, has been filed in a probate court in Georgia, you can contact the court directly and ask them what you need to send in order to get a copy of the file. You will need to contact the probate court for the Georgia county in which your grandfather had his main residence, give them his name and the date of his death, and ask them if there is a probate file open for him. If there is, then ask them how much it would be to get a copy of the file and what you need to do to request one. Once you get that, you'll know what was filed, if anything. If it looks like someone forged your name, then you need to contact an attorney who works with estate litigation in Georgia and find out more about your options for dealing with that issue. However, if your grandfather owned most or all of his assets either jointly with others, as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, or if there were beneficiary designations on assets that he did not own jointly with someone else, then there may not be any probate file, as probate may not have been needed. And, even if there was a probate, there could be substantial assets that were owned jointly under a right of survivorship or that passed to others under beneficiary designations. This means that a probate file by itself may not give you a complete picture of what he owned and how it passed. If you really think you may have been a beneficiary or an heir, and if you aren't sure that your rights are being protected, then hire an attorney who works with probate matters. The attorney can give you your options and help make sure that you find out as much as you can about whatever rights and interests you might have. Best wishes to you.... Read Answer

Yes.  The government, which would be prosecuting you, made no agreement not to.  However, depending on the circumstances (i.e. the amount of money involved, your record, etc.) and the fact that you paid the money back, there's a good chance that teh government won't want to prosecute, or if it does and you are convicted (difficult if your employer keeps his word and doesn't cooperate), may get a minimal sentence.  If your bosskeeps his/her word, the government may never hear about it.... Read Answer

Interesting fact situation. In Missouri the hand held device the police have you blow into on the side of the road is not calibrated. Therefore the results are not admissible in court. Te fact you tested below the legal limit at a later time does give you some wiggle room. However, that in and of itself will probably not lead to a dismissal. The state could argue that your blood alcohol was higher at the time of the traffic stop and that it went down because of the time that passed since you had your last drink. Definetly get an attorney in your state who has experience in handling DUI cases and you might just win.... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your parents. As for your question, you may have a case, but in order to have any chance of actually recovering anything you need to hire an estate and trust litigation attorney as soon as possible. I'm sorry for the short answer, but the longer you wait the less chance you have of being able to recover anything even if you win your case. Best wishes to you.... Read Answer

Persons working outside the US for a US company are generally not required to have Social Security numbers. Those numbers are given to people in the US. In applying for an F-1 visa, I do not see why your non-possession of a Social Security number would be negative to your interview. 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

I will need a lot more information to know if your brother is mistreating you.  However, an executor is required to do exactly what the will requires him to do.  To the extent he is not doing that, you can file a Petition for Settlement of Accounts and require him to report to the judge what he is doing and why he has not paid you the inheritance you are due.  You should contact a lawyer to assist you with this problem.  It is not as straightforward as it seems.... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your mother. As for your question, if the life insurance policy had you as the only designated beneficiary, then your mother's husband would not normally have any rights to it. However, if the life insurance is payable to her estate then he may have some rights to the estate and, therefore, to the insurance proceeds, assuming that he survived your mother. If the insurance is payable to your mother's estate, then her Will would control what happens, in general, if she has a Will, but you may still need to address the fact that she was known to have been married at some point prior to her death and may still have a surviving spouse. If she has no Will, and if she has a legal spouse who is still alive and not divorced from her, then her spouse is one of her heirs, along with you and any other children, and those rights will need to be addressed. In short, if you are the only named beneficiary of the life insurance, it's yours. If not, and if her estate is the beneficiary, get a probate consultation with an experienced probate attorney in the state your mother lived in at her death, and find out what you need to do. Best wishes to you.... Read Answer

Your question does not actually specifically name any kind of application, and it's not clear from your post exactly what your friend may need to do. However, if he is a child (or another kind of relative) of a person who died owning land in Georgia, then he likely needs to figure out what to do with the estate. If he is incarcerated, he likely won't be able to handle the estate himself. Whether or not you will be able to do anything on his behalf is an open question. Unfortunately, this forum is not intended for anyone to be able to provide actual legal help or advice. You, on behal of your friend, need to contact an attorney who handles probate matters in the Monroe, Georgia area (not all probate attorneys work in all counties) and get a consultation. After asking more questions and gathering more information, the attorney can then help you figure out what can, should, or must be done to help your friend. But there's no way to know what is needed without a lot more information than you can or should be posting online in a public forum. Best wishes to you and your friend.... Read Answer

Best wishes on your marriage! If you decide to change your name, then yes, you will need to change your driver's license and your Social Security card information to reflect the correct name. You will generally need a certified copy of your marriage license for that, along with a certified copy of your birth certificate. Here is a link to the Social Security information about changing your name: https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/article/KA-01981 Here is a link to information about how to change your name on a Georgia driver's license: https://dds.georgia.gov/georgia-licenseid/general-license-topics/real-id  ... Read Answer

A one-day difference in the information concerning your travels on the N-400 form is not anything that you should worry about, and you should just have a nice swearing-in day. 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

OK so you can sponsor her for a fiancée visa, but the requirement is that in order to do that you need to have physically met within the last two years. Once that physical meeting has taken place, then you can sponsor her for her Fiancée visa. Now if you are not serious about marrying her presently, then she can simply apply at the US consulate in Brazil for a tourist visa. She will have to show that she has a job and property in order to convince the consulate that she Will return to Brazil after her trip is finished.... Read Answer

It is a little unusual for an applicant for adjustment of status for the green card who applied for a work permit not to receive it after so long. I do note, however, that USCIS is delayed on many applications, including employment authorization documents. You may wish to check the current processing times and if over that, contact the USCIS Contact Center at 1-800-375-5283 to ask about your employment authorization. Once you obtain your work permit, you should be able to obtain your SSN shortly thereafter if you requested it also on the I-765 employment authorization application. If not or if the SSN does not come to you within 30-45 days after receiving your employment card, you should contact the SSA to ask about the card. Insofar as your question concerning the ability to obtain past Social Security or unemployment benefits, I do not believe that you would be eligible, but I do not practice in that field and suggest that you may wish to ask that question of a lawyer more familiar with that area of practice. 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

The fate of DACA is up in the air at this time as everyone appears to be waiting for what Congress will do with the present DACA legislation which has been introduced. They are also waiting to see what Texas District Court Judge Hanen will do with the program although he appears at this time to be delaying a ruling as he also looks to see what Congress will do. Currently USCIS is accepting new applications for DACA and your friend is probably eligible as long as she meets the educational requirement and is not barred by criminality. 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

Help the Conservatee write a letter to the court detailing the abuse and asking that the Conservator be removed. Consider applying to remove and substitute for the Conservator.  For this, you will need to be represented by a guardianship attorney.  You may find one experienced in working with people with autism using the Find a Lawyer function on the website of the National Academy of Elder and Special Needs Law Attorneys (www.naela.org)... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your mother. A Will is not an irrevocable trust, so it's not clear to me what the reference to "Irrev Trust dtd" is your question is for. A Will and a trust are two different documents, although a Will can provide for the creation of a trust. Depending on how the document your mother had prepared was drafted, you may not have a lot of rights to receive information about it, especially if the document is a trust, rather than a Will. A person who creates a trust has the right to prevent beneficiaries from becoming entitled to receive much information about the trust. If you really are a beneficiary, you'll eventually receive something, but you may never be given all of the information you might want to see. If your mother DID have a Will, however, and if that Will has been offered for probate (which may or may not have been necessary, depending on what your mother owned and how she owned it), then you can contact the probate court for the county where she had her principal residence (I am assuming she also lived in Georgia- if not, then this answer may not be correct) and ask them to send you a copy of the Will and anything else that has been submitted for her probate. You'll need to pay for the copy, but it's not that expensive.  As for finding the law firm that prepared her Will, if you aren't the nominated Executor, then the law firm likely won't be able to provide you with information directly unless the Executor says that they can, so I wouldn't waste a lot of time trying to figure out who they were right now. Unfortunately, if your sister is not providing you with information, you may need to hire your own attorney, one with estate litigation experience, and have the attorney send her a letter demanding information. This is especially true if no Will has even been offered for probate, because you can't get information from the probate court if they don't have it. Get a consultation. Best wishes to you.... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your father. As for your question, something is odd about what you are saying you've been told. If the property was owned by your father when he died, then either (1) the title to the property is still in his estate, because he was either the sole owner or he owned his interest in the property with other owners, but as tenants in common, or (2) the title to the property actually belongs to other people already, and no part of it is in his estate, either because he and the other owners held the property as joint tenants with rights of survivorship or because he died without any valid Will in place and the property passed to his heirs at his death under Georgia law, subject to being pulled back into his estate by the appointment of an administrator. If your father's interest in the property did not pass automatically to you and your brother as surviving joint tenants, then you and your brother should not be able to sell the property at all until his estate is opened, UNLESS you are selling it as his only heirs, he had no Will, and his estate has not been opened for administration. However, in that case, the check should be made out directly to the two of you, not to your father's estate. If you are being told that the check should be made to the estate, and the estate has not been opened yet, you should not be able to even sell the property until the estate has been opened. You need to hire a probate attorney who can sit down and actually review all of the relevant facts of the situation and guide you on what to do and what to tell the person who is trying to make out the check. If you need to open the estate, the probate attorney can help with that. If you and your brother really don't need to open the estate, then the probate attorney may be able to help you explain that to the real estate attorney and get the check made out directly to you. This kind of forum does not allow anyone to provide you with that kind of situation-specific legal advice, however. Best wishes to you.... Read Answer

I am sorry to hear about your father's condition. As for your question, it can be legal for a person with a dementia or Alzheimer's diagnosis to sign a power of attorney, and the resulting power of attorney can be perfectly valid. So much depends on the actual facts and circumstances that it would not be possible for anyone in this forum to tell you whether the power of attorney your father signed is actually valid, or whether he signed it of his own free Will. In order to sign a power of attorney ("POA") in Georgia, the person who is signing it (the 'Principal"), needs to understand, at the time he signs, what he is signing and what the document does. This requires a relatively high degree of cognitive capacity; however, it is possible that someone could have a dementia diagnosis and still be competent to sign a POA for a while after receiving that diagnosis. It is also possible that someone could have the required degree of capacity to sign a POA at the time the POA was signed, and to have signed it voluntarily, but to later forget what he did and why. In order to know whether the POA your father signed was valid, and whether he signed it willingly or whether your mother was effectively forcing him to sign something he did not want to sign, I would generally need to have met your father at the time he signed the POA and to have more knowledge about his mental state. Hopefully, your mother and he went to an experienced, ethical estate planning or elder law attorney, and that attorney met with your father, determined that he was likely competent to sign the POA and was doing it of his own free will, and then prepared it and helped him sign it. That said, if you think that it is unlikely that your father could have been competent to sign the POA at the time he signed it, or if you think that your mother is abusing him financially or otherwise misusing the POA (even if it was valid when it was signed), then you may want to consult an elder law attorney who specializes in guardianships and conservatorships, especially contested ones. The attorney can then learn more from you about the whole situation and give you advice on what steps, if any, you may be able to take to help make sure that your father is being properly cared for.... Read Answer

This is a serious legal matter.  Generally, contractors are paid in step payments as the progress takes place.  Here, it sounds that you paid the contractor in advance.   You need to find a local attorney who will file a lawsuit against this contractor.  Not only are out the money you paid the contractor for the incomplete job, but you are now paying expenses for living expenses elsewhere, plus the emotional distress this has caused you.  You need to take legal action as soon as possible.  You are on the side of the angels, not the contractor.... Read Answer