California General Practice Legal Questions

You would start a court proceeding to probate his will or, if there is no will, to administer his estate, and you would ask the Court to apppoint you as executor (if there is a will) or administrator (if not) of the estate.  Some of these terms may be different in California, but the basic idea is the same.  It is probably a good idea to contact a Califronia estates attorney to help you.... Read More

If your boyfriend gave you everything before he died it belongs to you, assuming that he was of sound mind when he did so (considering his subsequent suicide, this is a real issue) and that you did not exercise undue influence or defraud him into the gift.  However, with no will attesting to your boyfriend's intent or anything else in writing, and (I'm assuming) no witnesses, a court may not believe you when you testify that he gave you all his possessions before he died, in which case the property would pass to his family.  The fact that you have the stuff in your possession may, depending on the circumstances, help to convince the court that you are telling the truth, but it may not be enough by itself to convince the court.... Read More

California law may be different (it often is) but in the states in which I practice this claim would be taken care of in the divorce.  You would claim that your husband's actions constituted a waste of marital assets and that all costs should therefore be charged to him when dividing up the marital estate.  Although California is a community property state, I would be surprised if it did not have a similar mechanism for addressing such a claim in a divorce action.  Still you should consult a California matrimonial attorney.... Read More

Anyone can sue anyone for anything, but that doesn't mean that she will win.  If the Court believes the facts as you related them, she gave you the truck and has no right to take it back.  Of course, she may present a different versuon of the facts.  While the title is strong evidence in your favor, there's no guarantee that the Judge or jury will believe you.... Read More

While you used the term "joint tenancy", sometime this term is used loosely to describe when property is owned by more than one person, when in actuality there are several forms of tenancy in which people can jointly own property.  If property is owned by a joint tenanct, it means that they each own an undivided interest in the property.  It is like the property is owned by a separate entity, like a corporation, which in turn is owned by two people equally.  When one joint tenant dies, the asset held in joint tenancy becomes the sole property of the other joint tenant, regardless of a living trust.  However, if the property is held as tenants in common, each party owns a 1/2 interest, and that 1/2 interest passes according to a will, or in this case, the trust instrument. ... Read More

There are a number of ways that this can be handled depending on several factors including your ultimate goal for the property, whether you or someone else resides at the property and what your relationship with your brother is like.  Your scenario would be covered by California's real estate laws. Happy to answer further questions if you have them or get on a call to discuss. Jon... Read More

You can sue her for breach of contract.  If you win and obtain a judgement, one of the methods available to you to collect is to have the car seized and sold, but you can't just take the car back from her at this point unless your agreement provided for repossession without further legal process, which I'm sure it did not.... Read More

Probably not.  Non-lawyers cannot represent anyone but themselves, i.e. you could represent yourself in a court proceeding but not your brother.  Also, if this is a hearing, that means that evidence will be taken, and you won't be able to provide it as you have no personal knowledge about hte circumstances giving rise to the name change.  However, things may be more relaxed at a simple  name change proceeding, so you should call the clerk of the court to get a definitive answer.... Read More

You should look at your policy, but probably not.  Unless the insurance company is asked and refuses to provide you with a defense to the case (and even then the settlement would have to be reasnable and made in good faith), it is not responsible to pay a settlement to which it never agreed   If you circumvent your insurance company in the setlement process, you must expect that you, personally, will be paying any settlement amount.  If you notify your insurance company properly, it will represent you in negotiating a settlement with the injured parties.  If it winds up reaching a settlement with the injured parties (90%, at least, of such cases will be settled, although not often at such an early stage), it will (assuming that there is no coverage dispute, the settlement is within the policy limits, there is no retention, etc.) pay the settlement.... Read More

Assuming you mean that you have been served with a lawsuit, you are generally going to have 30 days from the date of service to file a response. Depending on the size of the debt, you pay want to retain an attorney to defend you. Even if you do owe the debt, often times an agreement can be reached to settle for a reduced amount and/or to agree on a payment schedule that makes the payments manageable.   Thanks,Jon... Read More

It's an interesting question, but I don't think you would win because, even though you weren't the first to back out, you were provided the opportunity to take the vacation by yourself and declined.  In other words, you decided not to take the vacation, and thereby lost your nonrefundable deposit.  Had you had an agreement beforehand with your friends that your vacation was contingent on all the others going as well, I might feel differently.... Read More

It depends on the intent of the parent.  Is there any evidence of what the parent intended?  Most likely, it's the named child, and not the social security number, that is to receive the property.  No one calls their child by their social security number.  And if the child was a minor, then either there was no income tax to pay or the parent was paying the kiddie tax.... Read More

Usually, any usused portion of a retainer (i.e. amounts above the time that has been spent) would be refundable, but this has nothing to do with whether a case goes to court or not.  If an attorney spends 5 hours preparing a complaint, but the client settles tha case before the complaint is filed, the attorney is still paid for the 5 hours.... Read More

Unfortunatley there isn't really an easy yes or no answer to this question without knowing a bit more. If your association does approve the project the first question would be to ask whether the association properly followed existing artchitectual guidlines for your association when they gave their approval. You would also want to look at whether the association has ever approved or denied similar applicaitions in the past.  Thanks,Jon... Read More