Oklahoma Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

To answer your quesiton, we need to address what "POA" means.  It stands for Power of Attorney.  While your Aunt is living, she can name someone as a power of attorney to handle her legal affairs (sign contracts, talk to the bank, untility company, etc on her behalf), but that power only exists while your Aunt is alive.  The POA is not a Last Will and Testament.  The POA does not control who inherits.  When your Aunt dies, the POA ceases to have power.  Normally, you only give a POA to someone you trust completely, because they have complete power over everything you own.  Neither your cousin or your Dad have any right to inherit based only on a POA.   If your Aunt prepared a Last Will and Testament ("Will"), then the Will governs who will inherit.  If your Aunt did not prepare a Will, then her property would go to her next of kin according to the order listed in the state statutes.  (Spouse, children, siblings and so forth). I would need to review any documents you are speaking of to be sure what legal rights exist. ... Read More

If either of you file for divorce, you can request the court enter a Temporary Order granting you temporary support to help maintain your living expenses while the case is pending.  The Court has the power to grant you the right to stay in the marital residence while the case is pending.  Each case is different.  The Court will look at your financial need and resources, her ability to pay, the length of the marriage, the debts to be maintained and possibly other factors.  ... Read More

Under the law, the surviving biological parent generally would be entitled to legal custody of the children.  The exception to this is if your  current husband can show that the bio dad is an unfit parent, then step dad could Petition for a guardianship.  Under the circumstances you described, it is possible the Court would find it the father is unfit, and that it is in the girls best interest to be with the step parent.  It would be beneficial to make sure you have a Will that indicates your wish for your current husband to be guardian of the children, so the Court has some record to know that is who you trust with your children. Another option would be to have your husband adopt the girls.  You can see if the bio father will voluntarily terminate his rights.  You can point out to him that he will no longer be required to pay child support if he terminates his rights pursuant to an adoption.  His rights can be involuntarily terminated if he fails to pay child support for 12 of the last 14 months, or fails to maintian a meaningful relationship with the children for 12 of the last 14 months and the Court finds it is in the best interest of the children.    ... Read More

The authority of an agent under a Durable Power of Attorney ends when the person granting it dies. The executor or administrator of a person's estate has the duty to collect the assets, pay the debts and distribute what remains to the beneficiaries under the Will or, if there is no Will, the heirs under the state's laws of heirship.  This could include evicting anyone in the home so that it can be sold.... Read More

Applying for a fee waiver is seen negatively by U.S.C.I.S. on the question of public charge, especially for applications for permanent residence filed on or after February 24, 2020. The public charge rule applies to applications filed on or after that date. Most applicants for green card adjustment must now fill out a form I-944 declaration of self-sufficiency in which there is a question on page 11 concerning whether you have ever taken a fee waiver from U.S.C.I.S. If you have not already filed your case, I believe that it is best that you do not ask for the fee waiver if you can avoid it. 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

No, but you are responsible to prove you actually paid your rent and that it was lost or stolen by the office staff. How will you be able to prove you paid your rent at the Smail Claims Court eviction hearing? If you paid by cash or money order, do you have a receipt for payment? It is always best to pay by personal check or electronically. You must show up for the eviction hearing or you will be evicted for sure. Good luck.... Read More

No -- or, at least, not yet.  First the estate of your stepmother's mother must be probated (proving what she owed, what she owned and who gets what according to her Will or, if she did not have one, the laws of heirship in her state).  Then your stepmother's estate must be probated.  If you "inherited everything," the Will should say this.  If there was no Will and you were not adopted, your stepmother's sisters may well win their contest.... Read More

Dear Carla: Based on your information, it's posible you may have misunderstood the lawyer or else, that is not the lawyer for you. Generally, in her will, a person can leave anyone whatever she wants, as long as the will was properly made by a competent person. As her stepchild, you most distinctly were not a stranger to your stepmom.   Unless there is proof the will is bogus or derived from some compromised circumstances, you have excellent odds of inheriting the entire estate.  However, litigation (lawsuits) can be costly and contentious.      Your choices are to: Pay lots of money in legal fees and court costs during the contesting of the will (the lawsuit) using an Oklahoma probate lawyer with whom you can communicate well; or perhaps Invite your stepmom's sisters to share some of the inheritance through a settlement developed with a neutral mediator.  If you are willing to consider a mediated settlement of some sort, seek out a mediator who is well trained in estate matters for the best chances of a mutually satisfactory settlement.   I am both a probate lawyer and certified mediator with estate experience. Let me know if I can help.     To your success, Gale Allison   ... Read More

For change of status in the US, please note initially that such does not change your visa as U.S.C.I.S. only gives an approval paper and not a visa if it decides to approve the change of status. That being said, whether you can convert to H-1B may depend upon whether your job opportunity is with a cap- exempt employer or with a  employer who can only file H-1B petitions in the first week of April and must wait until at least October for any approved worker to begin employment. In the situation of institutes of higher education, nonprofit institutions associated with institutions of higher education, government research organizations, or nonprofit research organizations which are cap-exempt, H-1B's can be filed at any time during the year and there is a good possibility of converting to H-1B if qualified. With all others, a difficulty is with the timing in that applicants for change of status who file within 90 days of entry are presumed to have misrepresented their intention of being a visitor when they entered the US. Even after overcoming that hurdle, the H-1B applicant must maintain legal status until at least October 1. B visa entrants are usually given 6 months to stay.  The filing of the H-1B petition in April does not freeze an applicant's status since the work is not authorized until at least October. 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

Ms. Paddock, Are you certain that the trust is irrevocable. That would mean, generally speaking, the trust you are referring to was not created by your father. If in fact this is a revocable trust which is a common estate planning tool, he can change it anytime he wants to and he can disinherit you if he wants to and it is not related to your sister’s death. If the trust is truly irrevocable, he would be able to change the terms of the trust if he had been given a special or limited power of appointment to change the terms of the trust usually to take effect after he dies.   Good luck. ... Read More

You would need a ton of additional information before you could even start to answer that question what were the circumstances of the ship and fall?  Does it fall within Ok workers comp. law?  Is there insurance involved?  What kinds of verdicts do the local juries award in such circumstances?  Etc. etc. You should hire a local personal injury attorney. ... Read More

 If the person does not pay for fair market value for the house, it is considered part gift. That would prevent The woman for a mediately qualifying for Medicaid, if that is an issue.  It is unclear to me what creditors the family is trying to avoid, But generally this is not going to work. ... Read More

It is very difficult to probate a copy of a will. Generally you have to produce a witness to testify that the witness saw the will after the decedent passed.   That is a tough standard.   However, you say your “copy” is signed and notarized. If there are also two witness  signatures and all of the signatures are original (bit machine copied)  then that is a duplicate original that you can probate.    Good luck. ... Read More

"On the account" is insufficient information.  If your brother was on the account as a convenience signer, he had no right to any of the money.  If he was on the account as a joint signer, he had a right to 50% of the money on your mother's death -- but a right to transfer 100% during her life.  If he was on the account as a joint survivor with right of survivorship, he had a right to 100% of the money on your mother's death -- aqnd a right to transfer 100% during her life.... Read More

Very sorry to hear about all your issues.  It sounds like bankruptcy would be  very good option to eliminate your debts and start to rebuild your credit and eliminate the pressure you have from your creditors. You should have a consultation with an experienced bankruptcy attorney in your area.... Read More

Under the law, anyone who is here illegally for an aggregate period of one year on or after April 1, 1997, leaves the US, and then attempts to reenter the US illegally falls under the "permanent bar" under which he or she would only be eligible for immigration if the Department of Homeland Security allows permission to reenter after the 10 year period. The question is whether he was here illegally for an aggregate total of one year illegally before going back home. If so, you could file for your fiancé, but the decision of whether he would be admitted remains in the discretion of DHS after considering the further application to waive the "permanent bar." If he was here less than one year illegally, he would not be barred as removal alone without other aggravating factors is at most a 10 year bar. 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