North Carolina Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

If your father changed your name legally, you would likely have to change it back legally in order to use it. The situation of trying to use your birth name is complicated, especially if all your other documents are in your changed name. For example, if you entered the US with a passport in your changed name, USCIS will likely have a difficult time accepting your birth name even if accompanied by your birth paper. 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

He needs to consult with a local attorney to go over the specific details ASAP. He can go to court and ask for a continuance if he can't find an attorney right away, but if the case has been pending a long time the Court may not grant a continuance, and even if they do, it will be for about 4 weeks at most. I would start with a consumer bankruptcy attorney. Most consumer bankruptcy attorneys are familiar with the laws on auto repossession and can advise about this. What your son needs to do depends upon what all he is being sued for. If the action is a "claim and delivery" where they are seeking possession of the car, he needs to make arrangements to get the car to the credit union because they are entitled to the car since he is not making the payments. The case will stay active until the credit union sells the car and calculates any deficiency, and then they will seek a judgment for that amount. If the credit union already took the car and sold it, an attorney can help your son figure out if they sold the car in a reasonable manner, refunded any premiums for warraty protection and credit insurance, and the amount they are suing for is correct. Financial harship is not a legal defense, so if his only defense is that he lost his job and could not afford the car any more, he will lose. The Court cannot force the credit union to "work with him", or make them accept a lower amount than what they are legally entitled to. Bankruptcy may be his best option if the amount they are asking for is large and especially if he also defaulted on other loans, credit cards, and so forth. He won't go to jail for this, and they can't garnish his wages, but depending upon what other property he owns, his assets may be at risk if he does not make arrangements to start paying the credit union the balance of what he owes or file bankruptcy. Judgments are good for 10 years and if they remain unpaid, can be renewed for an additional 10 years. Judgments accrue interest at 8% per annum, so he needs to address this sooner, rather than later. ... Read Answer

J-2 visas are given in the discretion of the consular officer, and there is a presumption of immigrant intent which must be overcome before such visas are given. Perhaps your wife can make another application with the embassy and bring all proof that she has many ties and bonds with Jamaica which would incentivize her return after her temporary stay in the US. 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

There's no reason to do that and there is some risk. You need to have a will anyways and adding them to the deed is unneccessary if you leave the house to them in your will. The risk is that if one or both of them have financial problems and get sued for debt, or they get sued for any other reason and a money judgment is entered against them, that's a lien on their portion of the house which will have to be paid upon sale or refinance of the property. The other risk is they would be free to convey their portion to whomever they choose. You may trust them completely, but you never know what might happen. Just because they reside there with you does not mean they have to be owners of the property.... Read Answer

OK so if you are a United States citizen and Dad entered the United States legally with a visa, then you can sponsor him to get a green card without him returning to his country. The process takes about a year from the time that you file until the interview date.   If Dad is overseas, you can still sponsor him but he would process overseas at the US consulate and that is taking a little bit longer. It does not matter if you are married, as you can still sponsor your father for a green card. You should retain counsel to process the case from start to finish. Some of us charge an affordable flat fee for these type of cases and remain in the case for its lifespan. ... Read Answer

Your attorney is the most familiar with the terms of your Plan and the policies in the District in which your case was filed. It is impossible to answer this question on an online basis because your entire case and Plan needs to be reviewed. I suggest you schedule some personal consultations with other local attorneys who have experience with Chapter 13 in your District. You should also ask your attorney about the consequences of dismissing your Chapter 13 and whether that is still possible. I can tell you that in general, your right to this distribution was in place when you filed your case. Your right to this would have been scheduled and exempted if you had exemptions available. This means it is part of the bankruptcy estate even before you earned it. In most situations, very little exemption is available to cover this kind of thing and the proceeds would need to be paid to the Trustee. My gut feeling is that your attorney is correct.... Read Answer

There are "supplemental proceedings" in aid of execution that can be used to ask the debtors to disclose information about their income and their assets. These include sending written interrogatories (questions) for the debtors to answer, and asking the Clerk to issue an order requiring the debtors to appear before the Clerk for questioning. You will probably need help from a collections attorney for this.    Unfortunately, most people who are evicted have no assets which are available for execution and we do not have wage garnishment for unpaid money judgments. You probably will never see a dime. If the amount of your money judgment is small, it may not be worth the time or effort to go further. An experienced collections attorney can help you make that decision.... Read Answer

Many employment law attorneys handle this type of thing. You have the ability to request an appeal, but that has to be done within 30 days of the overpayment determination. Contact an employment law attorney ASAP for specific advice. If all avenues of appeal have been exhausted, and especially if you are having other financial difficulties, you should consult a bankruptcy attorney. ... Read Answer

In general, a grandparent seeking full care and custody of a grandchild may file a petition for custody with the court. Because most courts prefer that children live with their parents, a grandparent's right to obtain custody is typically limited to the following situations:  The child's parents are deceased. The child's parents have been deemed unfit to retain custody. The child's parents consent to grandparent custody. The child has lived with a grandparent or grandparents for a year or more. In all child custody cases, courts attempt to determine what custody arrangement is best for the child. The court may consider the child's degree of contact with a grandparent before the custody petition is filed, the child's relationship with other blood relatives, and the grandparent's age, health and financial ability to support the child. You should retain counsel in your jurisdiction to file a petition for custody of your grandchildren.... Read Answer

OK there is no visa that exists that you described. If the ultimate goal is that your father-in-law wants to permanently reside here, but he enters on a non immigrant visa with pre-conceived intent to apply for a green card, then that would be considered immigration fraud. The only way that he could accomplish what he wants to at least partially, is to visit both of you with a visiting visa ,from time to time and then when his daughter acquires US citizenship then she can sponsor her dad.... Read Answer

So a child who was sexually assaulted can institute a legal claim against the homeowner and hold the adult responsible who knew or should've known of the sexual assault on the child, and therefore the action would be grounded in negligence. Insurance companies will cover The negligent party adult who knew or should've known of this conduct but failed to take action to stop it. You can always pursue a claim against the perpetrator but homeowners insurance will only cover negligence and not intentional conduct. Most insurance policies have what's called resident relative exclusions, meaning that if the child was visiting the household where the sexual assault occurred, then the insurance company will cover the claim, but if the child actually lived in the residence, then the resident relative exclusion will bar recovery on the child's claim. Any proceeds that are recovered will be placed in a child's annuity and distributed when the child reaches the age of majority. I have done several of these claims, and the language in the homeowners insurance policies will be dispositive of whether the claim can be successful. Feel free to call me to discuss your case 407-581-2581... Read Answer

You are a victim of extortion.  However, you do not want the information that is the source of the extortion to be revealed.  This is a tricky situation and you need the help of an attorney ASAP.   You will want to discuss your situation with a lawyer in more detail. Choose an attorney from your locale to help you.  Many lawyers offer a free phone consultation.    ... Read Answer

If I understand you correctly, you may be confusing ownership of property with a morgage loan.  I don't think you want your name off the house, I think you want your name off the mortgage loan which is secured by the house, which is a totally different thing, and to which the bank has no reason (unless your ex refinances) to agree.  Right now, both you and  your ex are responsible to repay the mortgage loan to the bank.  Even if you and your ex agreed that, as between yourselves, your ex would be solely responsible for the  loan, that only means that, if your ex defaults on the loan and you have to pay up, you can sue your ex for breach of the contract the two of you made.  It doesn't bind the bank in any way.   Simply put, getting your name off title to the house doesn't affect your obligation to repay the bank.  Why would the bank let you off the hook?  What's in it for the bank? As for modifying the loan, if you were a signatory on the loan, it cannot legally be altered without your consent unless the contract gives your ex that authority (highly doubtful) or you somehow gave your ex that right (in the divorce decree?  power of attorney?)  Frankly it's  more likely that your ex forged your signature.... Read Answer