Title: November 23, 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 or fax them to (661)825-8880.
Q. I have been married for 18 years and have three children. My wife has not worked since we got married. Lately, I have noticed that she is up all night and sleeps a good portion of the day. She leaves the house sometimes in the evenings and does not tell anyone where she goes. The children have been late to school because she falls asleep. Two months ago, she crashed the car because she fell asleep at the wheel. She had two of our children in the back of the car and one of them was pretty banged up in the accident. She gets calls 24 hours a day from very rude people who hang up when I answer the phone. What should I do?
A. I fear your wife may be on drugs. Her “stay-up all night and sleep all day” routine is very much that of a person addicted to “crystal meth” which has become the scourge of Kern County. Before another dreadful accident occurs, I would strongly suggest you file for legal separation and get temporary custody of your children until she seeks drug rehabilitation. Her “sleep at the wheel” episodes could be deadly to your children. There is a strong possibility that a judge would grant temporary custody of your children to you if he or she believes your children are in serious danger.
Q. Last summer, on July 4, my neighbor’s kids were playing with fireworks despite the existing County ban on such dangerous toys. One of the “firebombs” they used exploded and was projected right into a woodshed located on the back of our property. Half of the shed burned down and damaged most of the items stored in it, such as tools, barbecue implements and other things. Our neighbors promised to pay for the damage which amounts to around $8,000, including a new shed. They have not paid a cent yet. What can we do to get our money?
A. You will have to sue them. If you file a Small Claims Court action, you can only obtain damages up to $7,500 (that’s a one time amount, then afterwards only $5,000 can be sued for). If you want to recover the full $8000, you will have to file a lawsuit in Superior Court (limited jurisdiction). Such a lawsuit could take up to a year or longer because it entails far more than a Small Claims Court action, which is usually over and done with within two months. Make sure that you take photographs of the burned out shed and make a list of the damaged items that were stored inside as well as the price you would have to pay to replace these items..
Showing posts with label drugs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drugs. Show all posts
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Legal Eaze #27 Children Custody/ Common Law Marriage
Title: July 27, 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 or fax them to (661)825-8880.
Q. My brother has custody of his two young children, a 6-year old boy and a 4-yeard old girl. My brother has been out of work for the last 8 months while his new girlfriend goes to work in Bakersfield everyday. Just a couple of weeks ago, I walked in my brother’s house, uninvited, and found him unconscious in the living room, sprawled on the couch, with a syringe stuck in his arm. Both children were crying hysterically. I called an ambulance and he was taken to the hospital. He overdosed on drugs and had I not come in, he would have died. His girlfriend does not seem to have a clue as to what he was up to. What should we do?
A. If you want to help your brother, you need to either return the children to their mother or if that is not an available solution, you need to petition for temporary guardianship of these children until your brother goes into and completes a drug rehab program. At this point, his actions are endangering the lives of his children and if Children Protective Services (CPS) hears of this situation, the children may be taken away from your brother and placed into foster care. Since you are “family”, these children would be better off remaining in your care, if you are in a position to take care of them.
Q. I have been living with my boyfriend for the last 22 years. I mentioned to him that we should get married, but he says that we are already married because we have been living together for so long. Is this true?
A. No, it is not. There is no such thing as “common law marriage” in California. You are not married and unless you apply for a marriage license and go through either a civil marriage or a religious one, you will remain “boyfriend and girlfriend”. Maybe he just does not want to get married. But as long as you are not married, you have little legal protection as to the property you purchase together, not to mention that any children you have together may eventually suffer because they are illegitimate.
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 or fax them to (661)825-8880.
Q. My brother has custody of his two young children, a 6-year old boy and a 4-yeard old girl. My brother has been out of work for the last 8 months while his new girlfriend goes to work in Bakersfield everyday. Just a couple of weeks ago, I walked in my brother’s house, uninvited, and found him unconscious in the living room, sprawled on the couch, with a syringe stuck in his arm. Both children were crying hysterically. I called an ambulance and he was taken to the hospital. He overdosed on drugs and had I not come in, he would have died. His girlfriend does not seem to have a clue as to what he was up to. What should we do?
A. If you want to help your brother, you need to either return the children to their mother or if that is not an available solution, you need to petition for temporary guardianship of these children until your brother goes into and completes a drug rehab program. At this point, his actions are endangering the lives of his children and if Children Protective Services (CPS) hears of this situation, the children may be taken away from your brother and placed into foster care. Since you are “family”, these children would be better off remaining in your care, if you are in a position to take care of them.
Q. I have been living with my boyfriend for the last 22 years. I mentioned to him that we should get married, but he says that we are already married because we have been living together for so long. Is this true?
A. No, it is not. There is no such thing as “common law marriage” in California. You are not married and unless you apply for a marriage license and go through either a civil marriage or a religious one, you will remain “boyfriend and girlfriend”. Maybe he just does not want to get married. But as long as you are not married, you have little legal protection as to the property you purchase together, not to mention that any children you have together may eventually suffer because they are illegitimate.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Legal Eaze #22 Guardianship/ Refund
Originally Printed: May 18, 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.
Q. My daughter ran away with her drug-dealing boyfriend about a month ago. She left her 16-month-old baby with my husband and I and we have no idea of her whereabouts. It is incredible that we are left with total responsibility for her little boy. However, we want to make sure that she does not come back to pick up this child, only to have him around drugs and bunch of drug addicts. What should we do?
A. This theme comes back on a regular basis. You need to file a Petition for Guardianship with the County court in order to become guardians of this child. An investigation will be conducted by a court-appointed probate investigator to ascertain who would be first choice to become substitute parent(s) to the child. The Court often appoints grandparents as guardians of children left behind by drug-addicted parents. Once you are found to be fit as guardians, the Court will not allow a drug-addicted mother to again be responsible for her child until she cleans up her act. A guardianship is often temporary, until at least one parent of the child undergoes drug rehabilitation and can safely take responsibility for his/her child, but it also sometimes becomes a permanent arrangement. Drugs have become the scourge of today’s society and have affected hundreds of thousands of children across the world. They are the true victims. You are very brave to be willing to take care of this little boy and hopefully, your daughter will be thankful for what you have done for her son.
Q. I have a satellite dish to connect to the Internet, which promised immediate access, but is actually slower than dial-up. I constantly have to call in because have problems with connectivity. They charge an arm and a lef for the service, with which I am totally dissatisfied. I had to pay $700 for the dish. I want money back. Can I?
A. It is doubtful but it depends if you had a warranty and how long ago you had it installed on your property. Your story sounds so familiar. In fact, I went back to a dial-up connection because I was tired of paying $65 a month for this so-called “really fast connection”. Satellite dish is highly affected by the weather unfortunately, and of course customers are never told about these problems ahead of time. You best bet is to give your satellite company notice that you want to stop their “bad” service and find another way to connect to the Internet. 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.
Q. My daughter ran away with her drug-dealing boyfriend about a month ago. She left her 16-month-old baby with my husband and I and we have no idea of her whereabouts. It is incredible that we are left with total responsibility for her little boy. However, we want to make sure that she does not come back to pick up this child, only to have him around drugs and bunch of drug addicts. What should we do?
A. This theme comes back on a regular basis. You need to file a Petition for Guardianship with the County court in order to become guardians of this child. An investigation will be conducted by a court-appointed probate investigator to ascertain who would be first choice to become substitute parent(s) to the child. The Court often appoints grandparents as guardians of children left behind by drug-addicted parents. Once you are found to be fit as guardians, the Court will not allow a drug-addicted mother to again be responsible for her child until she cleans up her act. A guardianship is often temporary, until at least one parent of the child undergoes drug rehabilitation and can safely take responsibility for his/her child, but it also sometimes becomes a permanent arrangement. Drugs have become the scourge of today’s society and have affected hundreds of thousands of children across the world. They are the true victims. You are very brave to be willing to take care of this little boy and hopefully, your daughter will be thankful for what you have done for her son.
Q. I have a satellite dish to connect to the Internet, which promised immediate access, but is actually slower than dial-up. I constantly have to call in because have problems with connectivity. They charge an arm and a lef for the service, with which I am totally dissatisfied. I had to pay $700 for the dish. I want money back. Can I?
A. It is doubtful but it depends if you had a warranty and how long ago you had it installed on your property. Your story sounds so familiar. In fact, I went back to a dial-up connection because I was tired of paying $65 a month for this so-called “really fast connection”. Satellite dish is highly affected by the weather unfortunately, and of course customers are never told about these problems ahead of time. You best bet is to give your satellite company notice that you want to stop their “bad” service and find another way to connect to the Internet. Good luck!
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