New Mexico Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

In this set of circumstances, due to the fact that the couple is not married, the non-bankruptcy filing person of the comparable will be liable for all of the mortgage. Basically if two people on a house, and one file bankruptcy, that person walks away from the mortgage if they received a discharge and are no longer liable for any mortgage payments. The remaining person who has not file bankruptcy, now is required to pay all mortgage payments or file their own bankruptcy.   I have responded to your inquiry according to the laws of Massachusetts, where my firm is located. Laws can vary significantly from state to state and cases tend to be rather fact-specific, so you are best served by consulting with a knowledgeable attorney in weighing your options. Email messages/Online Correspondence are akin to conversations and do not reflect the level of analysis applied to formal legal opinions. Email/Online responses do not form an attorney-client relationship.    Joseph F. Botelho, Esq. BOTELHO LAW GROUP Attorneys At Law http://fallriverbankruptcyattorney.com/ 901 Eastern Ave.  Unit 2 Fall River, MA 02723  Office:  888-269-0688 FAX:    877-475-8147... Read More

Power of attorney dies with the person granting the power. Husband will need to be appointed personal representative of the wife's estate, or if the accounts are joint or he is the beneficiary he will alert the bank, etc. and present an original copy of the death certificate to gain access. Contact each institution and find out what they require. If you need help please find an Estate Planning Attorney in your area, they handle probate all of the time and can get the accounts processed efficiently.... Read More

You work directly with the bank to pay off the mortgage loan. They cannot take the house as long as you are current on the payments. When the loan is paid off, the bank gives you a Satisfaction of Mortgage (or a similar document the document has different titles in different states), which should be recorded in the county recorder's office. You also need to find out whether the house has been transferred into your name. A local real estate attorney or probate attorney can help you with this, or you can go to the county recorder's office to find out whether that quit claim deed has really been recorded.... Read More

This should not be a problem. I assume your husband had a will which would pour assets into his trust. The probate is not expensive and the process is called an informal probate administration. There is no other way that you can get the title to the home into his trust's name or possibly yours if he did not have a will.... Read More

Exceptions are granted under the immigration law for people who cannot go through a naturalization interview in English - those who have medical disabilities which are certified by professionals in the medical field, or those who are 50 years old holding the green card for 20 years, or those who are 55 years of age and holding the green card for 15 years.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 More

An employer cannot terminate an employee in retaliation for incurring or reporting a work related injury.  While requiring the employee to take a drug test after suffering a work place injury is common, the test results are typically known within 1-2 days.  Therefore, keeping you off work without pay for more than 1-2 days may be a potential violation of the law.  Many states only recognize a claim for retaliation for a workers compensation injury if the employee is actually terminated, as opposed to being suspended for a few days.  Nevertheless, if you have been released to return to work by your doctor, and the drug screen tests are negative, your employer will be hard pressed to keep you off work any longer or to refuse to pay you for the time the employer kept you off work.  You should contact an attorney in your state to determine if there are other legal remedies that may apply.... Read More

If indeed you have not been properly served, and/or you have no contacts with Alabama, the Alabama court will not have jurisdiction over you, and any default judgment against you will be vacated when plaintiff tries to enforce it in New Mexico.  Therefore, theoretically, you could ignore the suit. That is very risky, however.  If the other side obtains a default judgment in Alabama, he will try to enforce it in New Mexico.  If the New Mexico Court believes the other side when he claims to have served you, and finds that you have sufficient contacts with Alabama for it to exercise jurisdiction over you (the emails you sent to the other side in Alabama might be deemed sufficient, especially if they relate to the dispute involved in the lawsuit), the default judgment will be enforced, regardless of whether you have any defenses to the merits of the claim. I would advise you not to ignore the case, but rather to move to dismiss it based on a lack of jurisdiction.  If you lose that motion, you can still defend the case on the merits.... Read More

Answered by New Jersey Medical Malpractice Attorney John Ratkowitz.  If the second surgeon is correct, then you have reason to suspect that you were the victim of negligent care, but if the third surgery resolved all of the issues I think there will be a question about whether the case is financially viable. The articles linked below explain this in more detail.  If you want to investigate a malpractice case, you should contact a local medical malpractice attorney (one in your state).  They take these cases on a contingency basis which means you only have to pay if you succeed.  Additionally, initial consultations are usually free. You can use the "Find a Lawyer" service through this website to research medical malpractice attorneys.  Then, visit each attorney's website and look for a firm that has a record of successful verdicts,  ideally with experience in cases that involve your medical issue. If you are unable to find a lawyer who meets these qualifications within your state, sometimes you may contact an out of state lawyer who can refer you to a qualified attorney in your state while providing support related to the issues of medicine. Below are some articles you may find helpful.  They are written for a New Jersey audience (where I practice) but the ideas discussed in these articles usually apply in most other jurisdictions as well. Click here for an article that discusses the three main questions I ask when deciding whether to investigate a potential medical malpractice case. This discusses the issue of financial viability. Click here for an article that explains what you can and should expect when pursuing a medical malpractice case. Click here, here  and here for more information about me. Click here for summaries of some of the cases that I have litigated. Since I am a lawyer, I need to advise you of the following when I communicate with you: Please note that by attempting to answer your question, I am not acting as your attorney. I will do nothing further to protect or preserve your interests in the absence of any additional discussion with you about this matter. John Ratkowitz, Esq. Starr, Gern, Davison & Rubin, P.C. 105 Eisenhower Parkway Roseland, NJ 07068 Office: (973) 830-8441 Cell: (732) 616-6278 Fax: (973) 226-0031 Email: jratkowitz@starrgern.com  Click here for my website. ... Read More

In Utah, unless you have a new attorney whom you have hired file a "notice of substitution of counsel" with the court, then your fired attorney does need to file either a notice of withdrawal of counsel or she needs to file a motion for leave to withdraw as counsel. If you have a new attorney who has filed a "notice of substitution of counsel" with the court AND who has notified your old attorney of the substitution of counsel, then your fired attorney does *not* need to file any kind of withdrawal of counsel.... Read More

It is hard to know whether you have a viable medical malpractice case because you do not list your wife's signs and symptoms when she initially went to the hospital. Click here for a good article on HELP Syndrome from American Family Physician. If your wife had symptoms that are consistent with the clinical picture they discuss in that article, then you may have a medical malpractice case worth investigating.  You should contact a local medical malpractice attorney (one in your state).  They take these cases on a contingency basis which means you only have to pay if you succeed.  Additionally, initial consultations are usually free. You can use the "Find a Lawyer" service through this website to research medical malpractice attorneys.  Then, visit each attorney's website and look for a firm that has a record of successful verdicts.  Below are some articles you may find helpful.  They are written for a New Jersey audience (where I practice) but the ideas discussed in these articles usually apply in most other jurisdictions as well. Click here for an article that discusses the three main questions I ask when deciding whether to investigate a potential medical malpractice case. Click here for an article that explains what you can expect when filing a medical malpractice case. Click here and here for more information about me. Please note that by attempting to answer your question, I am not acting as your attorney. I will do nothing further to protect or preserve your interests in the absence of any additional discussion with you about this matter. John Ratkowitz, Esq. Starr, Gern, Davison & Rubin, P.C. 105 Eisenhower Parkway Roseland, NJ 07068 Office: (973) 830-8441 Cell: (732) 616-6278 Fax: (973) 226-0031 Email: jratkowitz@starrgern.com  Skype: john_ratkowitz Web: www.starrgern.com. ... Read More

i would review it with a NM lawyer, but generally, her powers are enumerated in the POA. If she is doing tasks that are not authorized by the POA, then she may be overstepping her authority. But be careful, if you raise this, then you may have no agent at all to make these decisions and you will be in a jam. Plus, the facility, may become cautious and it may make matters worse.... Read More

Unfortunately there does not appear to be any way for you to legally come back to the States unless one of your parents obtains permanent resident status, you marry someone with permanent status, a USC sibling sponsors you, or you have a work skill that would allow you to be sponsored for the green card. You would also have to obtain a waiver if you were eligible under the first two sponsorships.  Under the last two, you would have to wait 10 years as you are under the bar and a sibling or potential job cannot give you a waiver. Your departure from the country triggered a 10 year bar against your return. Had you remained in the States, you would have undoubtedly been eligible for the President’s program of Deferred Departure for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). But part of the requirements of that program are continuous residence from June 15, 2007 to the present and your physical presence in the country on June 15, 2012. Perhaps there will be another avenue of relief in the future, but the above paths are all I see now. 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 More

If the attorney was a private attorney appointed by the Court, you can approach and ask to hire them. If the person was a county attorney such as a public defender or an alternate public defender, under most circumstances they cannot be privately retained and maintain their employment. However, some counties do allow that.... Read More

It sounds like he is being detained pending an immigration court hearing.  Depending on the basis for the removal action, his case may or may not be expedited.  I would have to see his court paperwork to better advise you about the process and timing.  If he came to the US without authorization, there is very little chance he would be able to stay.... Read More

There are many experienced family law attorneys who offer a consultation at a minimal cost, or for free. You should consider such a consultation. If there is a family law hearing set you should have received a document from the court called a minute entry. In that minute entry you should find information and deadlines for items that will be presented at the hearing. There is a deadline for you to disclose any documents you intend to present to the court at the hearing, and also a deadline and a procedure for you to deliver copies to the court.... Read More