Title: November 24, 2004
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 12 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her home office in Alpine Forest, as well her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities. Please forward your questions to maxinedev@msn.com.
Q. My wife beat my 13-year-old son with a fire poker made of heavy metal. When I got home from work, he was bleeding heavily from a wound on his right arm, through which I could see a bone. He was shying away from her, hiding underneath hung clothes in a closet. She left the house and ran to her sister who lives in another county. Besides taking him to the hospital, what can I do to stop this madness?
A. Call the police. This is a criminal matter. When a mother starts beating up her child with a metal rod and injures the child, it is time to put “mom” in jail. She might need psychiatric care and/or psychological therapy. Once she comes out of jail, you may need to obtain a temporary restraining order against her and get her out of the house and away from your son. It does not matter what your son did to anger her to that point, she does not have the right to “discipline” him in such a harsh manner. In fact, it is a crime now to even spank a child. Parents need to find another way to instill respect and obedience in their children besides “beating” them up.
Q. I obtained a divorce about five years ago and the residence I have been living in was awarded to me as my sold and separate property in the divorce decree. I am now trying to refinance the house and I just discovered that the tile of the house is still held jointly with my ex-husband. I have no idea how that could have happened, and I don’t know where my ex-husband now resides. What can I do?
A. If you were represented by an attorney, he committed malpractice. If you represented yourself, such omissions are the reason why you should have hired an attorney to represent you. You need to file an Order to Show Cause with the same court that signed the divorce decree. If you cannot find your ex-husband, the court clerk will have to sign the Quitclaim Deed for him. But you need to prepare and file a declaration telling the court what the problem is and why you need the court clerk to sign the deed. If your declaration is believed by the judge, you will get the Order you need, instructing the court clerk to sign your Quitclaim Deed, which you can then have recorded with the county recorder.
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