Title: December 12, 2007
Q. I dated a married woman last year. We had sexual relations on several occasions. She told me that she had a platonic relationship with her husband. Before we stopped seeing each other, she informed me that I got her pregnant. She is about to give birth to the child. If this child is mine, I want to be involved in its life, but I have not seen or talked to this woman for several months. How can I become involved in raising my child?
A. How do you know that it is your child? Are you certain? You would need to have a DNA test performed on the child, the woman and you. As I am sure you realize, this might be cause for a breakup of this woman’s marriage. Maybe her relationship with her husband was not what she portrayed it to be. If the child is not yours, your willingness to re-insert yourself back into her life may cause problems for a lot of people. As it stands right now, the child is presumed to be her husband’s child. If she is not contacting you, she might not want her husband to know she had an affair with you. No matter what, I believe it is a mistake for you to force the issue. Stay out of her life right now. Believe me, she will contact you if you are the father of the child.
Q. Can my employer require that I work on the weekends without pay?
A. Your employer can ask you, but you can say no. You are not required to work without pay. You are entitled to compensation for all work performed for your employer. If you do not get paid for overtime, you can file a claim with the Labor Commission. If you are being retaliated against for having filed a claim with the Labor Board, this could be the basis for a civil lawsuit against your employer.
Q. I invented a product that can be used in a commercial kitchen. I have a meeting next week with the general manager of a large restaurant chain in Los Angeles to demonstrate my product. I do not have a patent for this product. What if this company steals my idea? How do I protect myself?
A. You should have a non-disclosure Agreement for the manager to sign. These agreements are very common. If he refuses to sign it, do not demonstrate the product. You can get a “provisional” application for patent at a minimal cost. This is good for one year. In the meantime, you can market the product to various companies. If it sells, then you should get a patent ASAP.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 14 years of experience. She practices law from her Tehachapi office as well as her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers to the best of her abilities. Email your questions to maxinedev@msn.com or fax to (661) 825-8880
Showing posts with label DNA test. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DNA test. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Legal Eaze #62 Insurance Damages/Extramarital Child Support
Title: January 17, 2007
Q. I had a car accident and two persons died as a result of the accident. I was at fault. My insurance was insufficient to pay for all the damages caused in that accident. Can my assets be taken away over and above what my insurance paid to the estates of the two deceased?
A. Yes, unless your insurance company settled the lawsuit for the total insurance amount paid to the deceased’s estates. For example, if the damages sustained by the Plaintiffs were $5 million, and the Plaintiffs won $5 million at trial but you only had insurance for $2 million, then $3 million remain unpaid and your assets can be taken to cover the unpaid amount, if you have assets worth that much. Future assets you might obtain may also may be taken away as you accumulate them. Interest also accumulates at 10% per annum on the unpaid balance if the full amount of the judgment is not paid swiftly.
Q. If I have an extramarital affair and have a child issued from that affair, but my husband raises the child as his own and is named as father on the child’s birth certificate, can I later get child support from the true father of the child after I get a divorce from my husband? Can I have the birth certificate changed to reflect the name of the true father and get him involved with his child?
A. After you get a divorce, you can get anyone you want involved with your child, but you need authorization from your now ex-husband to remove his name from the child’s birth certificate. Unless you do that, or litigate the issue, it is unlikely that you will ever be able to pursue the other man for child support. If you have a child out of wedlock, but are married at the time, your husband will be considered the father of your child, unless you let it be known that he is not, and he insists on a DNA test to prove he is not the true father of your child. I realize these incidents occur all the time, but it is not very ethical for you to let your husband believe for years that he is the father of a child, support that child for all that time and then try to get child support from someone else. At the very least, it seems opportunistic and calculating to use the child in that manner.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 14 years of experience. She practices law from her Tehachapi office as well as her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers to the best of her abilities. Email your questions to maxinedev@msn.com or fax to (661)825-8880
Q. I had a car accident and two persons died as a result of the accident. I was at fault. My insurance was insufficient to pay for all the damages caused in that accident. Can my assets be taken away over and above what my insurance paid to the estates of the two deceased?
A. Yes, unless your insurance company settled the lawsuit for the total insurance amount paid to the deceased’s estates. For example, if the damages sustained by the Plaintiffs were $5 million, and the Plaintiffs won $5 million at trial but you only had insurance for $2 million, then $3 million remain unpaid and your assets can be taken to cover the unpaid amount, if you have assets worth that much. Future assets you might obtain may also may be taken away as you accumulate them. Interest also accumulates at 10% per annum on the unpaid balance if the full amount of the judgment is not paid swiftly.
Q. If I have an extramarital affair and have a child issued from that affair, but my husband raises the child as his own and is named as father on the child’s birth certificate, can I later get child support from the true father of the child after I get a divorce from my husband? Can I have the birth certificate changed to reflect the name of the true father and get him involved with his child?
A. After you get a divorce, you can get anyone you want involved with your child, but you need authorization from your now ex-husband to remove his name from the child’s birth certificate. Unless you do that, or litigate the issue, it is unlikely that you will ever be able to pursue the other man for child support. If you have a child out of wedlock, but are married at the time, your husband will be considered the father of your child, unless you let it be known that he is not, and he insists on a DNA test to prove he is not the true father of your child. I realize these incidents occur all the time, but it is not very ethical for you to let your husband believe for years that he is the father of a child, support that child for all that time and then try to get child support from someone else. At the very least, it seems opportunistic and calculating to use the child in that manner.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 14 years of experience. She practices law from her Tehachapi office as well as her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers to the best of her abilities. Email your questions to maxinedev@msn.com or fax to (661)825-8880
Friday, February 27, 2009
Legal Eaze #25 Schizophrenia Again/Paternity
Title: June 29, 2005
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, 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.
A very nice lady wrote me a letter about the schizophrenic young man I talked about in my last “Legal Eaze” column. She informed me that there are very few available hospital beds for the mentally ill, and they are only available for the most seriously mentally ill, i.e. must be s serious danger to self, to others or gravely disabled, in other words cannot feed, shelter and dress themselves.
She explained that she has a son who has been ill with schizophrenia for 28 years and it has been a long and difficult road in attempting to provide the help and the care her son requires. She suggested that the only legal solution available to desperate parents is to obtain a restraining order against a mentally ill adult child. Obviously, this would entail homelessness or ending up in the criminal justice system. Our jails and prisons are filled with mentally-ill inmates, who in the past were cared for in state hospitals. Unfortunately, these state hospitals have pretty much been all closed, leaving the mental patients to fend for themselves. However, she mentioned Luann Baldwin, MSW, a family advocate with Kern County Mental Health Dept., who can be reached at (661)868-6109. Also mentioned is a group called NAMI (Nat’l Alliance for the Mentally Ill), which meets in Tehachapi once a month. This is a local, state and national organization providing support, education and advocacy for consumers and family members. For more information about this organization, call (661)822-5391. I apologize for previously misinforming my readers.
Q. I have been sued for paternity by a woman I dated last year after she broke up with her boyfriend of many years. She told me almost from the beginning that she was pregnant by this man. Now, she has sued me for child support. I am not the father of this child and I do not want to pay child support for a child that is not mine. What can I do?
A. You need to respond to the Paternity lawsuit within 30 days from service of process by explaining that you are not the father of the child and that the woman who is suing you admitted to you that she was impregnated by another man. Specify that you want a DNA test to prove that you are not the father. These DNA tests are very accurate and if you are telling the truth, you will be exonerated. Good luck.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, 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.
A very nice lady wrote me a letter about the schizophrenic young man I talked about in my last “Legal Eaze” column. She informed me that there are very few available hospital beds for the mentally ill, and they are only available for the most seriously mentally ill, i.e. must be s serious danger to self, to others or gravely disabled, in other words cannot feed, shelter and dress themselves.
She explained that she has a son who has been ill with schizophrenia for 28 years and it has been a long and difficult road in attempting to provide the help and the care her son requires. She suggested that the only legal solution available to desperate parents is to obtain a restraining order against a mentally ill adult child. Obviously, this would entail homelessness or ending up in the criminal justice system. Our jails and prisons are filled with mentally-ill inmates, who in the past were cared for in state hospitals. Unfortunately, these state hospitals have pretty much been all closed, leaving the mental patients to fend for themselves. However, she mentioned Luann Baldwin, MSW, a family advocate with Kern County Mental Health Dept., who can be reached at (661)868-6109. Also mentioned is a group called NAMI (Nat’l Alliance for the Mentally Ill), which meets in Tehachapi once a month. This is a local, state and national organization providing support, education and advocacy for consumers and family members. For more information about this organization, call (661)822-5391. I apologize for previously misinforming my readers.
Q. I have been sued for paternity by a woman I dated last year after she broke up with her boyfriend of many years. She told me almost from the beginning that she was pregnant by this man. Now, she has sued me for child support. I am not the father of this child and I do not want to pay child support for a child that is not mine. What can I do?
A. You need to respond to the Paternity lawsuit within 30 days from service of process by explaining that you are not the father of the child and that the woman who is suing you admitted to you that she was impregnated by another man. Specify that you want a DNA test to prove that you are not the father. These DNA tests are very accurate and if you are telling the truth, you will be exonerated. Good luck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)