Title: July 25, 2007
Q: My ex-wife remarried a man from New Zealand and she is moving there with our nine year old son. I spend a lot of time with my son, at least 2 full weeks per month, or sometimes more and I am totally opposed to being separated from my son forever. I have a dissolution judgment that gives both of us joint legal and physical custody over our son. What can I do to stop this move?
A: You need to file an Order to Show Cause in the original court to stop the move-away. If you have joint legal and physical custody of the child, it is possible that you would get full custody of this child at the OSC, or later, after a Child Custody Evaluation is performed, which can be costly and is a lengthy process. She will have to justify separating you from your son forever. Move away cases are filling the Courts right now. The law is changing constantly regarding this issue. Obviously a move to New Zealand would change the dynamics of your relationship with your son forever, and such a change requires serious justification. Various Courts apply the law differently, depending which county you obtained your judgment. You need to do this as soon as possible, as you are not telling me how quickly your ex-wife plans her move away.
Q: I bought a used car from a car dealership a couple of weeks ago and paid $15,000. Already the brakes are shot and I need to change the tires because they are threadbare. Isn’t it against the law to sell a vehicle without good brakes and good tires?
A: Yes, it is. However, when you buy a used vehicle, it is your responsibility to make sure you are not buying a vehicle in disrepair or that will fall apart the minute you drive it off the lot. You should have consulted a mechanic to look the car over before purchasing it. Nevertheless, it is against the law for a dealership to sell you a car that is dangerous to drive. You must go back to the dealership and make a complaint that they sold you a car without good brakes and good tires and they need to fix the bad brakes and put better tires on the car. $15,000 is not a measly sum of money to pay for a used car. There is a lot of information you can obtain from the Dept. of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Automotive Repair about this subject.
Maxine de Villefranche has been an attorney for 14 years and is practicing law in Tehachapi and Lancaster. Send your questions via fax at (661)825-8880 or e-mail at maxinedev@msn.com. She will answer your questions to the best of her abilities.
Showing posts with label Used Vehicle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Used Vehicle. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Legal Eaze #11 Care for Elderly Parents/ Car Dealership
Originally Printed: December 15, 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 parents are quite elderly. My father is already in a wheelchair from diabetes and arthritis, while my mother suffers from congestive heart failure. They live together on their 20-acre property and the closest neighbor is a couple of miles away. I fear for their health and safety and need to convince them this is not the safest way to live at their age. How can I convince them to change their lifestyle?
A. Do your parents still have all their mental faculties? If so, you need to speak with each one separately and convince each one to sign a Power of Attorney for financial decisions and Power for Attorney for healthcare. One way would be to ask each one: “Should anything happen to the other, how would you take the decisions that need to be taken in the absence of the other?” Listen to the response and if it does not make sense, formulate and make your argument using that response. Sometimes, elderly people can be very obstinate and not realize that their lifestyle can endanger their spouse. Your love for your parents should dictate how you need to approach them and prepare them to accept and sign Powers of Attorney. Such POA can be “springing” in other words are activated only if your parent’s mental ability is lacking according to a physician, or if one or both parents are physically incapacitated and unable to care for the other. POA’s wording can be very flexible.
Q. I purchased a used vehicle from a dealer that had a three-month warranty. The day after I took it off the lot, the brakes failed and I hit the back of another car that was stopped at a red light. I was raining pretty hard that day. I went back to the dealer and complained that my brakes failed and had a car accident. The dealer gave me the runaround and refused to do anything about the brakes, not to mention the $2,500 of damages to the other car. What can I do?
A. There are several issues here. First it was raining the day of the accident. How fast were you going and when did you start applying your brakes? Rain can render the pavement very slick, especially if it was the first rain of the season. Second how do you know that your brakes failed? It is against the law for a dealer to sell an unsafe used vehicle and that includes bad or no brakes. The accident was surely investigated by the police and the police report would certainly give you an idea of who was at fault and caused the accident.
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 parents are quite elderly. My father is already in a wheelchair from diabetes and arthritis, while my mother suffers from congestive heart failure. They live together on their 20-acre property and the closest neighbor is a couple of miles away. I fear for their health and safety and need to convince them this is not the safest way to live at their age. How can I convince them to change their lifestyle?
A. Do your parents still have all their mental faculties? If so, you need to speak with each one separately and convince each one to sign a Power of Attorney for financial decisions and Power for Attorney for healthcare. One way would be to ask each one: “Should anything happen to the other, how would you take the decisions that need to be taken in the absence of the other?” Listen to the response and if it does not make sense, formulate and make your argument using that response. Sometimes, elderly people can be very obstinate and not realize that their lifestyle can endanger their spouse. Your love for your parents should dictate how you need to approach them and prepare them to accept and sign Powers of Attorney. Such POA can be “springing” in other words are activated only if your parent’s mental ability is lacking according to a physician, or if one or both parents are physically incapacitated and unable to care for the other. POA’s wording can be very flexible.
Q. I purchased a used vehicle from a dealer that had a three-month warranty. The day after I took it off the lot, the brakes failed and I hit the back of another car that was stopped at a red light. I was raining pretty hard that day. I went back to the dealer and complained that my brakes failed and had a car accident. The dealer gave me the runaround and refused to do anything about the brakes, not to mention the $2,500 of damages to the other car. What can I do?
A. There are several issues here. First it was raining the day of the accident. How fast were you going and when did you start applying your brakes? Rain can render the pavement very slick, especially if it was the first rain of the season. Second how do you know that your brakes failed? It is against the law for a dealer to sell an unsafe used vehicle and that includes bad or no brakes. The accident was surely investigated by the police and the police report would certainly give you an idea of who was at fault and caused the accident.
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