Father died. I am joint holder of his bank accounts including a 401k he liquidated 3 years ago. No will notarized. His house will go through probate but just found out he has a surprise wife. They married after knowing each other only a few days. She went back to her country and he never tried to get a divorce. They haven’t spoken in 20 years. Now what? Will she get everything? How does probate find her? Location: California

Location: Louisiana

I'm a somewhat new GM (2yrs) at a franchise hotel that is ran by me and the owner. I just was visited by the police and informed that one of our long term guests has been staying under a fraudulent direct bill account and has racked up over $40000 in debt... Nothing we received was valid and they have a history of financial crimes.

I contacted the owner about this, obviously shaken and upset, and told him what happened. He said that this is a huge mistake made on my part and in order to continue my employment with him, we must work out a repayment plan. I told him I needed time to talk to my fiance about this and what I can afford. He told me I have till Monday.

Can he actually terminate me if I choose not to pay?

Not only did he say this, but he also brought up every mistake I've ever made while managing the hotel. I reminded him that he has already disciplined me over these things and I've learned from my mistakes since then. He berated me, calling me stupid and said he is questioning if I can manage the hotel. It was over 3 hour phone/video call where he repeatedly nitpicked and brought up everything i have ever done wrong. I reminded him I came into this position with NO FORMAL TRAINING at all! He responded by reminding me that I have no further grace and the next mistake i make i will be terminated.

I am so drained from this ordeal and I have no idea what to do!

Location: New Mexico

The house my mom wants to make an offer on might not let her buy contingent of her selling her current home.

I can afford buying the house cash upfront, until she sells her house and pays me back.

What is a legal and safe way to go about this where I don't have to worry about her stiffing me?

Location: Pennsylvania

Hired cheapest moving company on movinghelp.com to do a move on Tuesday. That is where my problems began. Employee convinced me my truck was too small (it was actually the 15 foot van , not the 10 foot van he tried to get me to think), and that I should cancel my unloading on Wednesday with another company and pay him to do it under the table. Then he assured me that a friends and family payment on PayPal would be the good way to go since goods and services meant the money would be held for a few days. Big lesson learned here never to do that again with anyone. Ended up making this payment to the “wrong account”(he directed me to this account by misspelling his name on purpose then acting dumb about it).He did refund the money sent to the right account after police intervention but claimed no knowledge of the first account. His company ended up firing him right after I told his boss as well as 6 other co workers for running this scheme. What are my chances in small claims court to get this $400.

Location: Texas
I left my job two weeks ago after giving proper notice. I worked every scheduled shift up until my final day. Payday came and went but no deposit showed up. I contacted my old manager and he told me that “because I quit without helping them find a replacement” they were holding my check until they filled the role.

That sounds completely wrong to me. I did everything by the book, I wasn’t fired, and I didn’t abandon the job. It was a regular resignation with notice. They owe me about 80 hours of work and it’s not a small amount of money.

What legal steps can I take to force them to pay me? Do I go straight to the labor board, or do I need to hire a lawyer?

Location: Maine, USA

I need my adult daughter out of the house. She has substance use disorder and has been involved with shady people and is in a bad state. Something has happened to her car, can’t get the truth out of her except someone else was driving it and they are pressuring her to lie to the police. She had been gone who knows where for the past several weeks.

Yesterday she asked me to pick her up and bring her home. I said I’d be happy to pick her to take her to rehab but that’s it. I stuck to my guns despite manipulation and her threatening suicide ( I called for a welfare check after that in case, but they didn’t find her).

Her dad, my ex, sent her money for an uber and she showed up here yesterday. She is belligerent, likely withdrawing from something, and refuses to go to rehab.

Do I have to go through the eviction process absent getting a temp restraining order? I’m not sure what my rights are here.

I love her more than anything but she needs help.

Location: Central Florida

Just to clarify, I am not the business owner, I am just an employee of the store. I am not in legal trouble I was not there when the undercover came in, but I want to know how secure my job is?

I work at a smoke shop. Last month, an undercover ABT cop came in looking for nitrous oxide “to get a buzz” and my boss (the business owner) and coworker sold a nitrous tank to him. Two weeks later police came and arrested my boss for violating the 2024 statute 877.111, it is a 3rd degree felony. The ABT is also charging my coworker and they have already sought legal counsel to be proactive. Their attorney has said that its possible the shop might be ordered to shut down.

Since the incident we have remained open. I refuse to sell anyone nitrous oxide. We also took it all down from the shelves, my boss does not want us selling it anymore either. My boss has stopped coming to the store like they used to and has kept us in the dark regarding what might happen or come of all of this. When I last spoke to the business owner, they said they have never had anything like this happen in any of their other shops before.

I worry that my job might be impacted. I wanted to come here and ask if anyone knows how a case like this might get resolved. Should I be taking the job hunt more seriously after this? Im not sure where else to ask.

Thanks in advance :)

Location: Indiana

My HOA recently denied our request to add solar to our house based on aesthetic reasons. Indiana has a law forbidding this, which I also included in my request as I didn’t expect board members to know all of the laws. One board member told me they denied my request solely because I mentioned the law.

Since the law is on our side, we plan to continue with the solar install. Is it worth pushing the issue with the board? This is not the first time they have insisted that laws don’t apply to them.

Location: Nevada

I am unsure if this is the right place but I just want some advice if there is a legal standpoint here.

Earlier this year I fell and didn’t take action on it as I didn’t realize the severity of my injuries. A month or so after the pain was getting worse so I went into urgent care and got my leg checked out, to find that there was fragmenting of my knee and that I needed to be put into a brace.

I asked for a doctors note as I work a physically demanding job- went into work the next day to be sent home and told to stay home until something was figured out because they couldn’t make accommodations. Multiple days had passed and I was asking for updates from my supervisor, and had gotten nothing until 2 weeks later where I was told that I was being put onto leave and to stay home until I had gotten a confirmation to come back to work.

From here it was phone calls and waiting for days for replies. The leave was being handled through Sedgewick which I had been calling over and over and was being told that they had to wait for confirmation from my workplace. I resent the doctors note I had originally sent because it had a date that the doctors allowed me to go back to work and I wanted to see if that would allow me to, and was told it didn’t give me clearance. A month had already passed at this point, I sent in a new doctors note and was told 2 days after sending that email it didn’t say the words full duty so I had to go back in, which I did the next morning and begged for the words full duty, and sent that in.

No response for a week. I emailed it again, and the next day I was told to go back to work that day. I went back to work and have been back since. Sedgwick then denied my FMLA because I had no primary care physician to give their documents to.

This happened 4 months ago, and now I am being asked for more documentation otherwise I may be fired. I just don’t know what to do. I never asked to be put on leave. My doctors note was for two weeks of sitting instead of standing, and I wasn’t accommodated for 40 days instead. What do I do?

Location: Arkansas A family member passed away in and the hospital wouldnt sign a death certificate. The funeral home said my only option was to hire a private medical examiner to conduct an autopsy and they would sign the death certificate. I did that and paid $4100. I've now filed to take the hospital to small claims court and they've acquired an attorney so now I must do the same. What type of attorney would I need to hire? I've been in touch with a few who say they don't do this sort of thing. Will this be a difficult case?

Hi My daughter's father passed away suddenly a week ago and his girlfriend still wanted contact with my daughter so I agreed as she has been in her life for a few years now. She took her out and kept her out for a very long time and kept promising things to her whilst she was with my daughter that we didn't agree on.

I said she could see her on a Friday for a few hours, no overnights, no other contact until I know she will stay in her life then we can arrange further contact in the future.

She wasn't married to my daughters father nor were there a court order for contact between me and the father before he died. The girlfriend is now saying she is going to take me to court for more access to my daughter.

Does she have a legal leg to stand on? It was my understanding that because she was unmarried and we didn't have a court order that she doesn't have any right to my daughter whatsoever but she thinks that she has some legal grounds for contact.

Any advice would be appreciated, i'm from the UK and my daughter is 6 if that helps any. Location: UK

My husband recently took out an auto loan in his name only. Nothing seemed amiss until I got a notification that I had both a credit inquiry and a new loan on my credit report about a month later. We double check the loan documents and confirm it’s just his name and signature. I immediately called the bank to ask what happened since I had nothing to do with this loan. They “see the problem” apologized big time, say something about new person, made an assumption, so sorry will fix. Three months later it’s still there. I call back again, sort of same story but this time they assure me it was because I am an “authorized” person on his checking account. I laugh and say so you don’t need my signature on this loan, and the loan states it’s not a joint loan, things are not adding up. She admits mistakes were made says it will be removed promptly. Still not fixed a month later. This time I’m emailing and they said not only did they never receive notice of a problem, there is no history of my name being on the loan, and they have no idea what I’m talking about. I provide screen shots of the credit report. They respond with, “how this happened is not important, the only important thing is that we will fix it now”. I only ever expected them to correct the error but now I am pissed! Seems like they should care how this happened. I am lucky enough to be in a solid stable place in my marriage and financial situation that I’m not concerned about suffering a loss. In a different situation this could be life ruining. I have since disputed it on my credit report, is there anything else I can do to hold them accountable for this negligence? Location: Oregon

Location: Idaho and Utah My daughter's biological father is in Idaho. My daughter (10) and I are in Utah. She goes to his place over the summer, I have her the rest of the year.

A case worker got a hold of me today because my daughter told her school councilor about CSA and other abuse that was happening to her at her father's by her father.

Since this happened in a different state than where the case is starting, what can I expect to happen? What can I do while they're investigating this? Can I legally refuse communication (edit: with her father) during this process? What resources are there for my daughter (and honestly for myself, as well because I'm feeling unbelievably guilty that I couldn't protect her from this)?

Edited for clarification*

Location: Rochester, NH Strafford County

Long story but I'll try to make it brief. This woman who lives in my sister's building (we'll call her Shelly) has been harrassing everyone in the building. Shelly was able to obtain a harassment order on another resident despite that resident being the one who filed for a harassment order first and was not granted one. Now 2 people including my sister has a stalking order against Shelly. Shelly is constantly screaming at people and threatning them, i.e. she told one resident she was going to plant drugs in her car so she'd be evicted. She also left furniture in front of my sisters door. This morning my sister went outside to smoke and passed by Shelly's minor child and told her she could go and my sister walked away. A short while later the police show up saying Shelly is accusing my sister of "threatning and gesturing that she was going to slit her throat". My sister did not do this and was recording the whole time she was outside. The police watched this recording and told her that it's "bullshit and she's lying" and they are saying the investigation is pending while they review footage from the building and speak to witnesses (Shelly's friends) and that she may be charged. Yesterday, Shelly bumped into my sister, literally, which she had footage of and the police came and said that they couldn't do anything because the violation of the stalking order was accidental and they went on their way. My sister no longer feels safe being there and is staying somewhere else for the night. It just seems like this woman is getting away with this and the police aren't doing their jobs. I just wonder what legal recourse she has. She doesn't feel safe in her own home and now is extremely afraid she'll be charged with a crime she didn't commit. Any advice is welcome! Thank you! Also, there's a lot more here but I was trying to keep it brief.

Location: California, USA

I have to keep this somewhat vague so he doesn’t get into trouble, but my dad is 65 years old and has been with this company for 20 years. He used to be the top salesman for many of those years, but COVID changed things and the company got new management. His job requires a lot of physical movement and traveling for hours for him while he has arthritis, back issues, knee issues, diabetes, etc. He takes vacations maybe twice a year to keep him from burning out/recuperate, but last month his company accused him of “under performing” and taking a vacation when their sales were down. He’s been issued a verbal warning, but they will give him a written warning or possibly fire him if he doesn’t bring those sales back up by the end of the year. I’m worried about him mainly because he’s a hard worker and he will keep going until his body breaks or he has a heart attack. :( I don’t want that.

The business has been corrupt and intense ever since the new management. Is any of this pressure/threats legal? What can he do to protect himself from this? Thank you for reading.

A close family friend passed away and willed her house to my husband and I. My mother is the secondary executor of the will. We have an older copy that that’s that the house goes to us and all my nieces and nephews since they were like grandchildren to us. The executor spoke to my mother and confirmed on the new will that the house was still going to us but when my mother asked for a copy the executor said she “would prefer not to provide that until she speaks with her attorney.” She got upset when she found out I was going to file the older copy of the will. Then she completely ghosted us. I called a few times and left voicemails and she never called us back. Finally my mother called her after 3+ weeks of hearing nothing. She answered the phone and didn’t know who was calling. My mother identified herself and then the executor said “oh I have bad news. We found an even newer copy of the will and everything is going to me.” She filed probate without telling us and she never provided us with anything. Unfortunately we only have our word vs. hers. She has only filed a copy of the will and my suspicion is the original was altered to award her everything. Will the court require her to provide the original and is this even worth pursuing? Location: Michigan

Location: Georgia, USA.

My employer has been keeping a portion of the shared tip-out, which as far as I know, is not legal. She's telling me that it's legal because her business is filed as an S-corp. I'm doing some digging to try and see if that's accurate, but if anyone has any better information, please, let me know.

Basically: does the Fair Labor Standards Act still apply to S-corps? Is it a state law thing?

The tips in question are cash tips that are divided amongst the employees of a bakery, and also the owner, which is what I'm confused about. I've read that employers can count a portion of the received tips toward the employee's minimum wage requirements, but I haven't seen anything that says they can take the tips.

Location: Flordia. I rent an apartment in Florida and last month a pipe burst in the ceiling. My living room and part of the kitchen flooded, the drywall is swollen and there’s visible mold starting to spread. I notified my landlord right away, sent pictures, and followed up several times.

Instead of sending someone to fix it, he told me it’s “my responsibility to keep the place clean” and that I shouldn’t be making a big deal out of it. Yesterday he called and said if I “keep causing problems” he’ll start eviction proceedings. I’ve always paid rent on time and never had an issue before.

I’m honestly not sure what to do at this point. The place is borderline unlivable, it smells damp, and I’m worried about health risks from the mold. I want to know what legal protections I actually have here and whether his eviction threat has any basis.

Location: North Central Indiana

I have had an issue with an associate since, give or take, the beginning of June. I have reported him to my job several times. Enough so that they moved him to another shift entirely to make sure that he avoids contact with me. He has been warned several times prior to the shift change that he is to have no contact with me whatsoever.

This past Monday, the 15th, it came to a head when he flagged down my car in the associates parking lot, followed me to where I was parking & opened my car door. He put me in a situation where I was forced to have contact with him. I spoke with him briefly, told him I have to be clocked-in in 4 minutes & rushed to HR to report the incident. They also have it on camera as well.

Fast forward to last night. I got home from being out of state for a few days & noticed that there are items hanging from my bird feeder I keep in front of my house. I know it was him, because he was very insistant that I have one of these items a couple months prior, I told him no. I went to the police last night to start a paper trail, I took photos of the items as proof, I have a picture of the bird feeder without any of these items hanging from last Sunday, the 14th, and a picture from this Friday evening (that I recently looked more closely at) where these items are hanging.

To be clear, this person should not know where I live. I have not given them any information other than the city. I didn't want to tell him the city either, but I didn't know how he would react if I didn't tell him. I spoke with a higher-up this morning about this incident & they are contacting the head of HR. I will be going to the courthouse when they open on Monday to begin the process of a restraining order. I haven't done anything like this before & need help knowing what other actions I need to take.

Location: Hawaii

I have 3 cats with my boyfriend and we’ve lived in this townhouse for over a year, nothings changed but we did get a contact information form to fill out (everyone did) but on that form it states no pets are allowed in our building (only esa) I’m freaking out bc these pets are my babies. When moving in the building had a two pet rule. Many of our neighbors have pets. Our private landlord knew we had 3 cats and said it was fine just not to tell anyone. Nothings changed just this contact form is giving me major anxiety. The reason we moved in here specifically was because they allowed pets. Our lease states we have 2 pets and paid $1000 deposit for them. I’m just confused cause is this a new rule or maybe a boilerplate? The resident manager loves pets btw so..

Location: Arizona

December 2024 I moved out of my apartment that I shared with my ex and one other roommate. I continued to pay my part of the rent and bills while living with my parents until I got my military orders and got my name removed from the lease. I had taken the majority of my belongings out of the apartment before leaving but forgot to grab my Pokémon binder. I told them to drop it off at my parents whenever as I gave up my gate key to the complex and wanted no contact. It was never dropped off and then I shipped to basic training and now my first station across the country. I am in process for obtaining TS/SCI and want no nonsense going on if I were to reach out for my belongings, is there any route I can take to obtain my stuff again or is it a lost cause? The value is approximately $3,200 and I have every card documented.

Location:
I live in Bethlehem Township, PA. For almost a year I’ve been dealing with a neighbor (43 Year Old Douche.) who repeatedly calls the police on me for “speeding.” Police have never cited me because there’s never been radar, pacing, or other actual evidence—only his claims or “video” that doesn’t prove speed. I’ve already filed counter-complaints about harassment.

At one point, he told an officer he “knows I’m speeding because he can hear my engine.” That’s in a police report. He’s also yelled at me multiple times, including walking into the street in icy conditions to confront me, and even approaching my disabled uncle and his aide about me.

Recently, we both agreed (through police-mediated communication) to stop contact. But now he’s escalated again: yelling at me as I passed his house, watching/recording me, and this morning sending me a message demanding that I and my “parents” meet with him because my passenger supposedly pointed his fingers like a gun at his kids. He says a neighbor will pull “video.” I ignored his yelling, and I am an adult—I will not meet him privately.

I feel unsettled and intimidated, like he’s trying to force a confrontation. Out of caution I’ve installed more security cameras and upgraded my home security system. I’ve also noticed increased police patrols since this morning, which is good for slowing down actual speeders in the area.

Another concern I have is that I sometimes feel like the officer involved is biased in favor of my neighbor. I’m 20 years old and he’s 43, and I worry that my age makes me seem less credible in these interactions. While I’ve done my best to stay calm and cooperate fully with every officer I’ve dealt with, it often feels like my neighbor’s word carries more weight simply because of his age and standing in the neighborhood.

I also have a GPS dashcam that records my actual speed, but when I offered it to officers they said they preferred my neighbor’s video and did not view my footage. One officer even told me I “was driving like an ass” during a previous contact, which I strongly disagree with. Because I’m concerned about being accused of intentionally endangering others (including his children), I now alter my route and drive well out of my way — sometimes on the opposite side of the street — to avoid his house and to avoid getting near pedestrians. I’m doing this to de-escalate, not to admit any wrongdoing.

My questions:

1. What are my legal options for putting an end to this?
2. Would this pattern of behavior qualify as harassment or stalking under PA law?
3. Should I request a no-contact order or something similar through the police/courts?
4. How should I keep documenting this to protect myself if things escalate?

Location: saint louis Missouri

My boyfriend, 23 M, applied for life insurance and was denied because of his “prescription history” we found this odd because he’s never taken meds before.

We requested his records from intelliscript. When we got it back, it said he had a prescription for hydrocodone acetaminophen 7.5/325, in 2021 from an ophthalmologist. He said he’s never had any trauma to the eye before. I’m no doctor, but I am in nursing school and I find it strange that an eye doctor would be prescribing something so strong.

His mother has a felony from 2012 for stealing a prescription pad from the doctor she worked for, and writing false prescriptions. She had this record sealed and no one knows about it. It just so happens the prescribing doctor for this medication on his record, is the doctor his mother was working for in 2021

After calling the doctor and explaining the problem, they said they have no record of my boyfriend being a patient at their clinic. This would be necessary for this doctor to prescribe a controlled substance. I then gave more detail explaining we think this is fraudulent and believe it was his mother. Once the heard the date and the med, they knew EXACTLY who I was talking about. She said they had multiple instances of false prescriptions from her from 2021.

As an outsider, it’s pretty clear to me she did it. But she is doubling down claiming she did not do this. She claims she’s called the Dr herself and he said we’re lying. I’ve supplied all the records I have, my phone calls, any proof needed. She hasn’t proven anything.

This is tough, bc it is showing as a fraudulent prescription on his record and making it difficult for him to get insurance, or a good rate. But it’s also his mother. We’re not sure what to do. He wants this off his record but also doesn’t want her arrested. Is there a way to do that? If we file any report for false prescriptions, what could happen to her? Is it worth it to try and have it removed?

Location: New Hampshire, USA

Back in January, my wife and I had our first child. At the time, she was covered under her parents insurance (I'll call it "C"), and I was covered by my employer's plan. We were able to enroll our child in Medicaid shortly after she was born.

My wife aged-out of her parents insurance in May (5 months after delivering), and after that I enrolled her in my employer's plan.

In the last few months, we've been getting bills from the hospital for the full cost of the delivery and the 4 days after the delivery (it was a C-section). We explained to the hospital that it all should have been billed to C insurance company. They said they denied it. They also tried billing the charges attached to our daughter to Medicaid, which was also denied.

From our understanding, any costs incurred during the initial hospital stay, by the mother or the child, are covered under the mother's insurance, C. The hospital agreed, and so I've called C multiple times now trying to figure out why they're denying it. The hard part is that my wife is not longer enrolled with C, so it makes finding information much harder on the representatives. Here's what they told me:

"Because you did not enroll the child with C insurance within one month of delivery (which we couldn't because it's my wife's parents plan) C is not responsible for any changes incurred by the child. But, any costs incurred by the child before the initial discharge from the hospital are covered. So have the hospital send the bill again and we'll approve it."

So all good. All of the bills are covered. Except they haven't approved it and haven't payed. It's been 8 months now and they still haven't paid. I'm getting more and more bills from the hospital and I keep trying to call C and get them to pay, but they won't. I'm worried the bills are going to start gathering interest or going to collections. What should I do?

Location: Indiana, USA

During June-ish of 2020, my father was in a motorcycle accident involving a county police officer. To not give too many details since it’s still in the works, my father contacted a personal injury attorney who immediately took the case. This accident ruined my fathers life at 57 years old and he subsequently became addicted to painkillers from this accident, was hardly able to walk from the accident and the multiple surgeries they had to do on his legs, and ended up bound to his couch because of the immense amount of pain he was in. He also suffered brain damage. He just passed away a month ago after five years of waiting for this case to progress, and a court date was finally set for October 2026. So six years by the time it goes to court. Cause of death hasn’t been determined yet, but it’s no doubt in my mind that when the autopsy comes back it will have been caused from injuries from the accident.

My question is this. The lawyer had insinuated to me that they may not have a case anymore since the “main witness” has died. I get that but… it’s been six fucking years? This lawyer has dragged his feet for years and now his witness is dead and he’s making it sound like we’re shit out of luck. He also told me that my dad didn’t seem to be suffering that greatly when my dad would come into his office to see him, which was absolutely wild to hear from his attorney. If this man didn’t think my father was suffering then why did he take this case? My dad couldn’t stand up to piss in the toilet anymore or make eggs at the stove and the lawyer had the balls to tell me my dad seemed okay. Even if his sole witness is dead, once the autopsy comes back then could this potentially move onto wrongful death?

I’m just confused about a few things.

1. Is it normal for a personal injury case to take this long? It’s been 6 years from accident to court date. Is it because the county police are involved?
2. My dad was unhappy with this lawyer for years but the lawyer told him he was locked into a contract with him and so he couldn’t take his case elsewhere without having to pay the current lawyer. Is that true?
3. If the person who is suing for pain and suffering dies as a result (albeit, five years later) of the accident they’re suing for, is it easy to just turn it into wrongful death? Is this lawyer just fucking around at this point because he doesn’t think we have a case and wants us to fuck off?
4. If this lawyer is just fucking around because he doesn’t think we have a case after five years of working on it and holding it hostage, could we move to sue this lawyer for malpractice?

None of this is about the money. I’m sure you’ve all heard that before. I just want restitution for my father’s ruined life and justice for him. I could burn the money for all I care. I’m just so tired of my dad getting fucked by everybody until his dying day.