Ohio Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

Report online to Adult Protective Services.  The caseworker may be willing and able to confront her -- or not. Hire an elder lawyer to send her a demand letter.  In Texas abusing, defrauding or exploiting an elder is a first degree felony. Neither of these may work.  Then hire a lawyer to file a Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order.   Whatever you do, get her off your bank account.  If she or your son is your agent under a Durable Power of Attorney, revoke it, grant a new one to someone else and record the revocation and the new Durable Power of Attorney in the county deed records and send them a copy. It can be hard to face the fact that there is a thief in the family.  But it is all too common.    ... Read Answer

You need to gather all relevant information (such as emails, texts, and other documents) that proves that you did not do anything wrong and that the allegations are false and present it in a persuasive manner to defend yourself.  Your efforts might not prevent your termination, but it makes sense to make your best effort to defend yourself.  Hiring an attorney at the attorney's hourly rate or for a flat rate is something you should consider doing.  If interested in discussing further, feel free to contact my office at 440-543-0670 ext. 8.  ... Read Answer

The short answer to your question is that yes you can use your retirement funds to buy a car, but I will go through the legal explanation below. Technically, the Trustee has until 30 days after they conclude the Meeting of Creditors (341a Meeting) to object to any exemptions that you have.   So assuming you properly listed the IRA and exempted it, and the Trustee concluded the Meeting of Creditors after your meeting a week ago (which is usually the case, unless the Trustee requested additional information or intends to pursue any assets that you have), then you may use your IRA funds any time after that 30 day period if the Trustee does not file an objection to your exemption by that time. Generally speaking, retirement accounts are exempt and Trustees do not typically object to them unless they are very high amounts (like over a million dollars), so it is likely fairly low risk that there would be any issue with you using the funds now.   But of course if the Trustee did successfully object to your exemption, you might have to turn over the retirement funds to the Trustee.   But again, that is a very unlikely scenario. What your attorney was likely telling you was that it is not a good idea to use your IRA to buy a car, regardless of the bankruptcy case.   If you take an early distribution on your retirement, you will both pay a penalty for the early withdrawal (if you are below the age at which the IRS allows withdrawal) AND that withdrawal will be considered income on which you will have to pay taxes.    So overall, since retirement funds in general are protected and to be used for retirement, plus the costs for early withdrawal, it is usually a bad idea to use them for anything other than retirement.    That being said, as you mention, you do need a vehicle and sometimes you need to use retirement for these things.  Just be aware of the costs of doing so.      ... Read Answer

From your description, your mother lacks the legal capacity required to grant a Durable [Financial] Power of Attorney or enter into a contract to buy a car.  If you think that she needs someone to take control of her financial affairs, hire a local probate attorney and apply for guardianship.... Read Answer

Hi Darlene. A fiancé visa can be issued to a foreign national spouse who is sponsored by a US citizen. Are you a US citizen? Also you must have physically met within two years from the date of filing? Some counsel charge a flat rate reasonable fee for these cases. This site precludes attorneys from soliciting your case so you would have to reach out to one of us. Finally the Trump travel ban may impact the K visa processing but because it's a nonimmigrant visa it may not. Discuss with counsel. Counsel in any state can represent you. ... Read Answer

It would be very unusual for an attorney to be able to finalize a settlement without his/her client's signature (or voluntary statement in open court).  I think the attorney is probably going to ask you to sign a settlement agreement. If you don't agree with the settlement, don't isgn it and dont' take the check.  If your attorney has actually finalized a settlement without your knowledge or consent, you can sue your attorney, but you will have to prove that you would have received more had you not settled, which may be very tough to do.  You can also bring a disciplinary complaint against your attorney with the bar.... Read Answer