Washington Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

I'm going to assume that the "she" you refer to in your question is your cousin's spouse.  If you leave the property to your cousin outright, his/her spouse will probably have some sort of claim to it after your cousin dies, and possibly before.  However, you can leave your cousin a life estate (meaning that your cousin would have the right to use the property during his/her life, but won't own it) with ownership passing to domeone you designate (your cousin's child perhaps) after your cousin dies.  This will prevent your cousin's spouse from having any claim of ownership to the property.  However, if you don't leave your cousin full ownership, your cousin won't be able to sell the property or mortgage it.... Read More

No, you do not need to reaffirm your mortgage, and yes it is probably too late to reaffirm it now.  You still own the home, and there is still a mortgage on the home.  All the mortgage means is you must continue to make the mortgage payments to keep the home.  You can sell or refinance the home at any time.  Your nine year old bankruptcy is likely irrlelevant to your credit by now.... Read More

Currently, the July visa bulletin “dates for filing” chart shows that there is visa availability for those who submitted petitions before 9/22/16 under the F-2B category for unmarried sons and daughters over the age of 21, and the “final action dates” chart shows availability for petitions filed before 9/15/15. So it will likely take approximately five years before an adjustment of status application can be filed as long as USCIS accepts the “dates for filing” chart when your son’s priority date becomes available. (That is assuming that visa chart progression remains approximately the same). On the question of OPT, in our experience, we have not seen students denied OPT by USCIS where they have had immigrant visa petitions pending or approved. 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 More

Wills are filed with the local probate court.  In Washington State this may be the local district court.  If nothing passes under the Will, it need not be probated.  But you might do well to check with a local probate lawyer:  "joint owners" does not mean "joint tenancy" or "joint with right of survivorship."... Read More

They have zero duty to respond to you.  In most states an heir or benefiiciary is not even entitled to demand an accounting until over a year after the court has appointed an executor or administrator.  This gives that person time to gather the assets, file the final tax return and pay at least some of the creditors.... Read More

A US citizen child over 21 years, can sponsor his or her mother for a green card, provided that she entered the United States legally even though she is out of status. However if she exited the United States after overstaying for more than one year, then she is barred from returning for a period of 10 years, unless you can qualify for a waiver.... Read More

This seems to be a question of timing and it would make more sense for the families to apply for visiting visas when the K-1 visa has been approved. Once approved, your fiancé may try to work out the timing of his coming to the US vis-à-vis the families applying for their visas. The trick of course is that once he enters the US, he must marry within 90 days. With the present deteriorated status of nonimmigrant visa issuance at most American consulates because of the pandemic, the timing may prove a challenge. 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 More

The Will decides who gets what.  The executor administers (executes) the Will.  But the Will has no legal effect until a court appoints the person named as the executor and issues Letters Testamentary, giving them authority over the deceased's property.  Take the Will to a local probate lawyer.... Read More

The answer to your question ultimately depends on what the deed states for the property. If the property was transferred by deed into the trust, then the property should be able to avoid probate as the property will pass pursuant to the terms of the trust, as the trust has become the "legal owner" of the property. Now, if the property was simply listed as an "asset" in the trust and the deed still has your father's name on it, then the property will have to be probated to remove the property from your father's name.... Read More

Yes, if he made a comment that defamed your reputation, then you could sue him for defamation and slander. I am sure that counsel in your jurisdiction would be interested in at least looking at the case to take on contingency fee. Reason being is the car dealership may have an insurance policy that protects their employees and covers their employees for acts like this defamatory acts like this.... Read More

Unfortunately, the immigration law only gives you what you ask for, and in this case your parents asked for five months instead of six. Under the rules of immigration, they are allowed to remain during the time that their application is being adjudicated, but when approved, the approval would only be for the five months and they would not be in status when their applications are decided. I do not know whether a consular officer or immigration officer at the port of entry might consider that they violated status and that their visas are no longer valid for travel. Hopefully any adjudicator will take cognizance of the difficulties of travel during the time of pandemic. 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

At this time, USCIS has given notice that its issuance of receipts is delayed. You can continue to stay legally in the US so long as the application is ultimately receipted and not rejected by the Service. In the event that it is rejected, you may wish to correct the error and send the application back in as soon as possible with a request to USCIS to forgive the late filing (See form instructions for late filings). 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

Yes a US citizen can sponsor his/her spouse for a green card provided that they entered the USA legally. If the married couple either marries or files an adjustment of status case before 90 days of the immigrant's arrival, there could be a presumption of immigration fraud. Consider retaining counsel to represent you. Some of us charge a very affordable flat fee for representtation from start to finish. ... Read More