North Carolina Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

Oh OK so at your interview for the L visa, it is imperative that you disclose all the facts and be completely truthful about your situation. The L visa is a non-immigrant visa and therefore is temporary in nature. So if during the interview, the officer realizes that you are married to a US citizen, then that would cast a lot of doubt on your intention to immigrate only temporarily using the L visa. And therefore that would be considered to be problematic because you are expressing a conflicting intent. On the one hand, you intend to only temporarily reside in the United States, but by getting married to a US citizen, you put that intent to temporarily reside in doubt.           ... Read More

You need to have a personal consultation with a consumer bankruptcy attorney to get a specific answer. It depends upon if you have any joint debts or not and if the house is titled under both names or not. In addition, the tax listed value of your home is probably lower than the actual market value in today's real estate market. Do NOT file Chapter 7 without an attorney. In many instances filing a Chapter 7 does not have to be done immediately and an attorney can advise you on the pros and cons of filing Chapter 7 now, versus waiting to file until the real estate market cools off. In addition, the Chapter 7 Trustee has the authority to make deals with creditors to accept offers on your home for an amount that may preclude you from receiving your full exemption value. In general terms, if both you and your husband are on the deed to the home, each of you gets a $35,000 exemption, so if you file Chapter 7 together, there would be $70,000.00 exemption available. What your specific exemption would be depends upon the factors I mentioned above. Many consumer bankruptcy attorneys offer free consultations. If you already had a consultation with one attorney, consider getting a second opinion. Good luck.... Read More

I don't know what you mean about "legal", since you don't allege that your dad has locked you up, held a gun to your head, or done anything other than make his wishes known  Certainly it's not a crime for your father to tell you who to see, but, as an adult, you have no obligation to obey him.  On the other hand, as you are an adult, he has no obligation to allow you to stay in his house (assuming he owns the home; if someone else was a co-owner, like your mother, that co=owner would certainly have something to say about it) or pay for your school, any may opt to do neither if you disobey him.  Legally, this is no different form an employer telling an employee that he/she has to work on Saturday.  The employer can't force the employee to work on Saturday, but the employer can fire the employee who refuses.  One caveat, the law may be different in NC than in the states where I practice, or there may be something unusual about your situation (on parole?  not legally competent for some reason?) which you haveen't mentioned that could make a difference.... Read More

You left out some important information. Was the car new or used when you bought it, and if it was new, what date did you buy it? There is no "lemon law" for a used vehicle. If this vehicle was purchased used, you only have the warranties that were provided when you bought it. An attorney would have to look at the warranties to tell if you have any claims. If it was new and its been less than 24 months or 24,000 miles, you may not have a claim yet. Here is a link to the North Carolina Attorney General description of when they have to buy your car back under the Lemon Law. https://ncdoj.gov/protecting-consumers/automobiles/lemon-law/  It sounds to me like you may not have a claim yet because it has not been 20 or more business days, and they may not have tried to repair it 4 times. If its been over 24 months or 24,000 miles, you cannot make a lemon law claim. All you have are warranty claims. I am not accepting these kind of cases right now because my bankruptcy and debt business is too busy. I hope you find this information helpful. Please continue to make all of your car payments on time to preserve your credit. Too many times people tell the dealer to take the car back and stop making the payments on it in these situations and don;t realize how harmful this is to their credit rating. Good luck.... Read More

You cannot "reinstate" a previously dismissed case for that reason (it is possible to reopen a closed case for certain other reasons). Depending upon how recently you previously filed bankruptcy and the circumstances of your choice to dismiss the other two cases, you may not be permitted to proceed with another case now - epecially if you failed to make Plan payments or failed to appear for the Meeting of Creditors, or failed to file all schedules, etc. on time. I certainly do not recommend that you try to file again without an attorney because if the Court views this third filing an an abuse, you could be barred from filing again for any reason for a significant period of time.... Read More

You cannot be put in jail just because you can't pay your debts, although your assets can be sold off and used to pay those debts.  However, if there was any fraud in connection with accumulating that debt, it is possible that you could go to jail for the fraud, depending on how serious it was, your prior record, etc.... Read More

Typically this objection by the Trustee is because the proposed Plan payments are not enough to pay all priority debt and administrative expenses in full by the end of the Plan. If you filed Chapter 13 "pro se" (without a lawyer), you need to consult a lawyer ASAP so that you can propose an amended Plan that will be confirmed. If you have a lawyer, this question is best addressed to your lawyer who will know why the objection was made - rather than asking for advice from other lawyers on a public forum who don't know the specifics of your case. ... Read More

Your bank account with Social Security benefits up to two months payments are exempt under Federal law and cannot be seized. In order to claim exemption for your pension benefit, you will have to timely respond to  "Notice of Right" to claim your exempt property. This won't be served upon you until at least 30 days after a Judgment is entered. The cheapest and fastest way for an answer is to have a consultation with a consumer bankruptcy attorney who will give a free initial consultation.... Read More

Filing a lawsuit in Superior Court to enjoin the foreclosure sale would be much more expensive out of your pocket up front (because of the attorneys fees)  than filing for Chapter 13 bankcuptcy, and it is not likely to succeed in the long term. It may very well be that under the terms of the lender, you do not qualify for a loan modification. Your safest bet is to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy and you must do so before the sale date to be safe. Either way you will need a qualified and experienced attorney - do NOT hire out of state "foreclosure rescue" firms - hire a local, experienced, North Carolina attorney. Do NOT try to handle this on your own. Filing this type of lawsuit in Superior Court is too complicated for a non lawyer to handle. You can file Chapter 13 without an attorney but most non lawyers do not understand how to propose a confirmable Chapter 13 Plan, and you may end up worse off than you are now and not be allowed to file Chapter 13 again for several months if you file Chapter 13 without following all of the rules and without serious intent. ... Read More

You and your sister are your father's survivors but not your stepmother's.  You are not the heir to your stepmother and lacked legal authority to put the deed to her property in your name.  Keeping up the property and paying the taxes gives you no rights of ownership.  You may think that there are no heirs but it is more likely that they are too distant for you to have become acquainted with them.  You have no right to the property and no right to sell it.  Any title company worth its salt will discover this if you try.  ... Read More

A quit claim deed does not pass title.  A power of attorney expires with the person.  Based on your description, someone should hire a local probate attorney to help them file an application for determination of heirship and appointment of an administrator of the estate.  After paying your mother's debts, that person (probably you or your brother) can distribute the remainder.  It may be that the house and the money are of equal value after all is said and done.... Read More

You can contact the police and/or you can sue her.  Assuming that you win your civil suit, and/or that she is convicted in any criminal proceeding arising out of your complant to the police and ordered to pay restitution, the money can be paid back out of her current assets and/or future earnings.... Read More

The general rule is to sue everyone, but in a contract action you would generally not have any recorse against a non-party to the contract, so who is your contract with, the physician individually or the P.A.?  if  you're suing on a contract between yourself and the P.A., the physician would generally not have any personal liability on that contract.... Read More

You don't need a lawyer at this stage. You need a trusted and honest financial counselor. Try finding a nonprofit debt management plan at nfcc.org. You need to stop using all credit cards now and live within your means. Do NOT fall for "debt consolidation" or "debt settlement" comapnies. Good luck.... Read More

Undue influence can be brought to bear over a competent person, as can elder exploitation.  Take your evidence to a local elder law attorney.  You can locate one near you using the Find a Lawyer function on the website of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (www.naela.org).... Read More