Title: April 5, 2006
Q. I am one of six owners of a vacant lot. Five of the six are ready to sell. How should we proceed to make this happen?
A. If the sixth party is adamant not to sell his interest, you may need to file an action for partition. A partition is the division among several persons of lands that belong to them as co-owners, either by physically dividing the property into as many portions as there are shares to be distributed among the respective owners, or by selling the property and distribution the proceeds among the owners according to their interest. In the absence of a waiver, a tenant in common or joint tenants has an absolute right to sever his or her interests from those of the cotenants. Partition may be effected wither by voluntary agreement of the co-owners or by judgment in an action undertaken for that purpose. The object is to enable each party to obtain title to and use of some definite portion of the property in severalty. There is no transfer of title; rather, property to which the parties already have title is divided among them. Thus partition transforms the right to common possession of the entire parcel into a right of exclusive possession of some portion of the property held in severalty. Methods of partition are as follows: (1) physical division of the property (2) sale of the property and division of the proceeds (3) partition by appraisal under which any of the parties may acquire the interests of the others at their value as determined in a court-ordered appraisal.
Q. I put my son on the title to my house as joint tenant because I wanted my house to go to him when I die. He got into a car accident and had no insurance. The other driver obtained a judgment against my son because he caused the accident and I fear that a lien is being placed on my residence. What can I do?
A You can do nothing. Adding your children to the title has serious consequences, such as the one you find yourself in. Your son could have inherited the house through a Revocable Living Trust where title to the house transfers to your son at your death and not before. Children sometimes get into trouble and if they are on title, any of their creditors can lien your house, because they own it too. Let it be a lesson to you and remove your son from title as soon as possible, if he assents to it. If he does not want his name to be removed from title, you are stuck.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 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-
Showing posts with label son. Show all posts
Showing posts with label son. Show all posts
Monday, March 23, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Legal Eaze #38 Road Accident/ Employer Fired
Title: January 25, 2006
Q. As I was driving my car this past weekend, it was very slippery and in applying my brakes too quickly, my car slid across the road on some black ice and slipped right into someone’s fence. Unfortunately, I severely damaged the fence, in addition to some damage to my car. I rang the bell at the front door, but no one answered. So, I left. What is my liability?
A. You are liable for the repairs to the fence. Your car insurance can take care of the damage. You should return to that residence in the evening or on the weekend when there is a good chance that someone will be home and tell the owner that you damaged his/her fence and give your insurance information. The owner will make a claim with your insurance. You should also call your insurance company and report the accident as soon as possible, if you have not already done so.
Q. I work for a small company in Bakersfield where the employees are all in the same room with no privacy whatsoever. My 14-year old son called me to tell me that he had been arrested by the police after shoplifting at a mall. The police let him make one phone call. I had to leave work to go pick him up. The next day, when I arrived at work, my boss told me I was fired for leaving the day before. What can I do?
A. You are not giving me enough information to give you advice one way or another. What are this employer’s policies as far as emergencies that may arise? Did you have vacation time, personal time, sick leave that could have been used to take care of your son’s problem? How long have you been working there? If you have been working there only for a few days, your employer’s attitude is understandable. It is possible that other employees overhead your telephone conversation and told your boss why you left. Unless you had an employment contract, a typical employer-employee relationship is “at will”. You can get fired anytime or you can quit anytime.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 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. As I was driving my car this past weekend, it was very slippery and in applying my brakes too quickly, my car slid across the road on some black ice and slipped right into someone’s fence. Unfortunately, I severely damaged the fence, in addition to some damage to my car. I rang the bell at the front door, but no one answered. So, I left. What is my liability?
A. You are liable for the repairs to the fence. Your car insurance can take care of the damage. You should return to that residence in the evening or on the weekend when there is a good chance that someone will be home and tell the owner that you damaged his/her fence and give your insurance information. The owner will make a claim with your insurance. You should also call your insurance company and report the accident as soon as possible, if you have not already done so.
Q. I work for a small company in Bakersfield where the employees are all in the same room with no privacy whatsoever. My 14-year old son called me to tell me that he had been arrested by the police after shoplifting at a mall. The police let him make one phone call. I had to leave work to go pick him up. The next day, when I arrived at work, my boss told me I was fired for leaving the day before. What can I do?
A. You are not giving me enough information to give you advice one way or another. What are this employer’s policies as far as emergencies that may arise? Did you have vacation time, personal time, sick leave that could have been used to take care of your son’s problem? How long have you been working there? If you have been working there only for a few days, your employer’s attitude is understandable. It is possible that other employees overhead your telephone conversation and told your boss why you left. Unless you had an employment contract, a typical employer-employee relationship is “at will”. You can get fired anytime or you can quit anytime.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 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 #24 medicated son/ bankruptcy
Title: June 15, 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. Our son resides with us. He is 22 years old and he suffers from schizophrenia. He has refused to take his medication on numerous occasions which is causing him to become aggressive, loud and obnoxious. He is a pretty big guy and my wife is sometimes fearful of him when she is alone with him in the house. He has never harmed her but sometimes I feel like it is only a matter of time before he does. I go to work every day and am away from our home from 7 a.m. through 7 p.m. five days a week. I don’t want my wife to feel like I am abandoning her and I don’t want her to be hurt by our son. What should we do?
A. You son need to be committed to a mental institution. What are you waiting for to do so? Are you waiting for your wife to be injured by your son? If your son refuses to take his medication, and that is the only thing that keeps him from acting out, then he is “an accident” waiting to happen. Until he realizes that taking his medication is what will keep him out of the hospital, he needs to be kept under control at all times. The medical staff at a hospital or a mental institution has the know-how to control a schizophrenic. You may also need to file a Petition for Conservatorship with the court in order to have the right to make medical decisions for your son. You may also need to manage his financial affairs, if he has any to manage, and becoming his conservator will give you that power.
Q. My credit card bills have become unmanageable. I am only working part-time now and I cannot keep a roof over my head and feed my family while continuing to pay for all our credit cards. My wife is eight months pregnant and cannot work anymore until she gives birth to our third child. What should I do?
A. File for bankruptcy, if you not done so already. I would advise you to hurry because the new bankruptcy laws will take effect in October 2005. Soon, it will be far more difficult for credit card debt to be discharged. In fact, many will be forced to file a Chapter 13, which entails repaying debt over time. Financial management classes will also be mandatory. The new bankruptcy laws will be disastrous for people who reached financial bottom through illness. Unfortunately, Congress members listed too closely to the credit card industry’s complaints. One can only expect that debtor’s prison will be reinstated next.
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. Our son resides with us. He is 22 years old and he suffers from schizophrenia. He has refused to take his medication on numerous occasions which is causing him to become aggressive, loud and obnoxious. He is a pretty big guy and my wife is sometimes fearful of him when she is alone with him in the house. He has never harmed her but sometimes I feel like it is only a matter of time before he does. I go to work every day and am away from our home from 7 a.m. through 7 p.m. five days a week. I don’t want my wife to feel like I am abandoning her and I don’t want her to be hurt by our son. What should we do?
A. You son need to be committed to a mental institution. What are you waiting for to do so? Are you waiting for your wife to be injured by your son? If your son refuses to take his medication, and that is the only thing that keeps him from acting out, then he is “an accident” waiting to happen. Until he realizes that taking his medication is what will keep him out of the hospital, he needs to be kept under control at all times. The medical staff at a hospital or a mental institution has the know-how to control a schizophrenic. You may also need to file a Petition for Conservatorship with the court in order to have the right to make medical decisions for your son. You may also need to manage his financial affairs, if he has any to manage, and becoming his conservator will give you that power.
Q. My credit card bills have become unmanageable. I am only working part-time now and I cannot keep a roof over my head and feed my family while continuing to pay for all our credit cards. My wife is eight months pregnant and cannot work anymore until she gives birth to our third child. What should I do?
A. File for bankruptcy, if you not done so already. I would advise you to hurry because the new bankruptcy laws will take effect in October 2005. Soon, it will be far more difficult for credit card debt to be discharged. In fact, many will be forced to file a Chapter 13, which entails repaying debt over time. Financial management classes will also be mandatory. The new bankruptcy laws will be disastrous for people who reached financial bottom through illness. Unfortunately, Congress members listed too closely to the credit card industry’s complaints. One can only expect that debtor’s prison will be reinstated next.
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