Washington Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

You and your sister may sue the driver of the other vehicle and the owner of the other vehicle to recover your personal injury damages and your sister’s property damages. You should contact an attorney as soon as possible about this matter. You will normally have three years from the date of the accident, but it is best to address this matter sooner than later. Best Wishes!... Read More

Social security is generally exempt. You probably had the monthly check sent automatically to the bank. You must explain to social security and the bank the circumstances and point out the transfer/ automatic deposit on your bank statements. Sit down with the officer at the bank and he should be able to assure you the social security deposits will not be taken by the bank.... Read More

You need to start the adoption. As part of it there will be a termination proceeding which the father can agree to, or if not, you can ask the court to terminate his parental rights. If he has little to no contact with the child, doesn't pay child support and is unable to act as a parent, there's a good chance the court would terminate. See a lawyer. Don't try to do this on your own.... Read More

You have no legal rights to the child. If the child is not with either of his parents, CPS can take him as part of a dependency proceeding based on their abandonment of the child. If you want the child to live with you and the parents have consented to the arrangement, you can file a 3rd party custody, which has to claim that neither parent is a fit parent. CPS does not have to tell the mother beforehand that they are taking him if she has abandoned him.... Read More

I am assuming that for the initial assault and theft you are still in probation? One of the provisions in your sentencing was no further law violations. Not knowing the circumstances of the fight, one cannot give specifics. If you started the fight, you will be expelled from school as a minimum. The potential assault charge will impact you directly if you are in a Stimulated Order of Continuance (SOC) or a deferred sentence. You have completed the diversion program for the assault, so they likely cannot renew the assault charge. Here again, it depends upon the terms you entered into. I would talk to a criminal defense attorney about the specifics of your case. There may be mitigating factors. Good luck.... Read More

Whether you are in violation of your lease or not depends upon what it says about guests. Typically, a lease will provide that guests are welcome for a certain period of time before they will be considered unauthorized tenants. There is a usually a range from 5 days to 2 weeks. If your lease does not say anything at all about the time, then it would be treated as a reasonable time. Your landlord cannot stop you from having guests, but the landlord can make sure you are not subletting or moving extra people in as unauthorized tenants. If the landlord thinks your daughter is moving in as an unauthorized tenant, the next step would be to give you a 10-day notice to comply or vacate. Your daughter would be out before the 10-day notice expired, so problem solved. If the landlord tried to push it and evict you over it, it shouldn't be too difficult to prove your daughter did not move in with you. She can provide her own lease, or copies of current utility bills in her own name as proof she lives elsewhere. Your landlord shouldn't be harassing you about this, but if you give written notice that she is only staying to watch the pets for a few days and affirm she does not live there, then you at least have documentation you tried to be reasonable with the landlord about the situation. Then you can leave it to the regular process and deal with the 10-day notice, etc. Before heading out, you may want to consult with a local landlord tenant attorney and maybe have them help you craft a letter to your landlord about the situation. Disclaimer: This answer is general in nature and is not intended to be legal advice. Accordingly, you should not act or rely on any information in this answer without seeking the advice of an attorney licensed to practice law in your jurisdiction. This answer does not, and is not intended to, create an attorney-client relationship between you and the answer.... Read More

If there is an order in place that says he gets only supervised visitation and he shows up at your house to see the child, call the police. If you don't have a domestic violence order get one. Again, if he violates it (if you have one now) call the police as it is a crime to violate a restraining order or domestic violence order. Make sure that what you have is still in effect and wasn't just good for one year.... Read More

Unless the estate itself is named as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy, it is not considered to be part of the probate estate and is not controlled by a Will.  Instead, a life insurance policy is like a contract between the insurer and the insured with a promise to pay a certain amount to the named beneficiary or beneficiaries when the insured dies.  Even if the Will stated that life insurance should go to someone else, it is the beneficiary designation made by the insured that controls who receives the payout, not the Will.  The confusion made be that life insurance proceeds are considered estate assets, because they were an asset of the person who died, but they are not probate assets, which are a sub-set of estate assets that are controlled by Wills.  Retirement funds, for example, are also estate assets but they are paid out to designated beneficiaries, not by Will. ... Read More