Do fathers have the same parental rights as mothers?
The idea that mothers get custody over fathers is really based on the model that 90% of split families (parents don't live together because of divorce or unmarried parents living apart) are households with mothers having primary custody of the children. But that 90% are cases where custody was undisputed. When parents break up, the father usually doesn't want to be saddled with the kids full-time. They may want to have the kids with them some of the time, but it's rare when they want primary custody.In the cases where custody is disputed by mother and father, however, fathers win full custody about 70% of the time. So it isn't true that fathers are less likely to gain custody of children. It's only true that about 90% of the time, mothers end up with the kids because custody is undisputed, or the fathers aren't even around. When custody is disputed, though, fathers get it more than two-thirds of the time.
Is it illegal to sell other people's stuff without their consent?
Unless you have some legal basis to take and sell someone’s property, then it is illegal. Let me give you a for instance. You won a verdict in small claims court in the amount of $1000. The person won’t pay you the money. As a result, you work your way through the court system and follow the proper procedures for a sheriff’s sale of some of the person’s property. The sheriff, with the appropriate authority from the court, is allowed to seize the person’s property, their car for example, and sell it. The sheriff would then give you the $1000 plus any appropriate court costs, fees and interests, take their own fees from the sale, and give whatever amount is left over to the original owner of the car. This is a legally acceptable way to sell someone else’s property.There are other laws which will allow you to sell another person’s property. For example, a mechanic’s lien, would allow a mechanic to sell a car left on their property with money owing, after a certain period of time and after following certain procedures.A landlord may be able to sell property after a person has moved out and after a certain period of time has passed.If you leave your property at a friend’s house for a long enough period of time, it may be considered abandoned, at which point your friend could sell it.In all of these cases, it is critical that you follow your jurisdiction’s law properly. If you fail to do so, you can end up in quite a lot of trouble.Regardless of the above, you cannot just randomly take someone’s property and sell it.Let’s say your friend leaves their phone at your house one day. You grab the phone and sell it on eBay. You tell your friend that they didn’t actually leave the phone there. Your actions violate the law and your now ex-friend can sue you for the value of the phone.Let’s change my hypo a bit. Your friend owes you $250. They are being slow about paying you back. It has been months. They forget their phone. You sell it for $500. You keep $250 and give them $250. You aren’t allowed to do that either.So, in most cases, you cannot just sell someone else’s property. You have to have a specific legal basis to do so.This is general law for the US. I cannot speak to other countries.
I want to break up with my boyfriend, but he threatens to post my naked photos. What should I do?
The exact same thing is happening to me right now. He threatened to post the photos that he screenshot while we were video chatting and I had to convince him that I still wanted to be with him so that he wouldn't post them so that I can have enough time to turn him into the police and file a restraining order on him and send him to jail for assault. I don't like this type of behavior. He makes me feel as though he is lying to me everyday and when I catch him in a lie, he blows up and acts as though someone has done something wrong to him. He acts as thought he is never wrong. He wants pith from me, I can tell, because he is always cryinG to make me feel bad. He was the "perfect guy" at first, always buying me gifts and being a sweetheart but he is also phsycotic and a manipulato. So everyone, keep me in your prayers and wish me luck. No one deserves relationships with people who do things like this, forcing them to stay or to ruin their lives.
Can my parents kick me out of their house if I'm 22-years old, on the grounds I own a motorcycle? Is it legal for them to kick me out on the grounds that I own a bike? Isn't that a form of illegal discrimination?
There's something horribly wrong with your parents. It sounds like they let you live under their roof with zero obligations (thinking this was some sort of entitlement) for a few years too long. Shame on them for not kicking you out 4 years ago. Horrible horrible people they are.I love how you've responded to their fairly reasonable request to subdue their anxieties about you driving your irresponsible ass around on a motorcycle by going online in hopes of finding some legal recourse you can take against them. That's a particularly classy move. Yes, sue them. Brilliant!You poor tortured soul. If only your parents could see that you're only trying to LOOK responsible by driving a motorcycle, NOT BE responsible by paying for all your own bills. Shush! Jeeeezzzzz! Jerks!In all seriousness now, get rid of the motorcycle. Go tell your parents you're sorry and that you know it's because they care about you and that even though you're getting rid of the bike, you think it's a good time to shove off anyways. Ask them for their help in doing so and go start looking for apartments. If in a couple of years after living on your own you still want the bike and can afford it, go for it! Until then you haven't demonstrated the maturity necessary to make that decision. I say this as someone who knows the world needs more donated organs (my father got a heart transplant from a 22 year old motorcycle accident victim) and 22 year old punks who think they know better than their parents are usually where they come from. I'm happy for the many extra years I've had with my father, but, I can't imagine what the family who lost their son went through. Your parents concerns are not unfounded. The moment you realize this, is the moment you become an adult.
Can parents legally kick out a 15-year-old?
Legally? No. If they do you should find the nearest police officer or call 911 and say your family is abandoning you.In practice?Kinda; If they are the least bit imaginative they can make your life bad enough that you run away. Certainly they almost never face jail time for child abandonment even though they technically should if they kick you out. On average the American foster care system seems to concentrate on family therapy far more than threatening parents with jail, or taking the kid away and jailing the parents (possible exception if drugs are involved, in which case CPS will overreact). The United States is not party to the UN convention on the rights of the child.Its kind of messed up when you think about it. Imagine if domestic abuse was solved almost exclusively by therapy, and men were almost never prosecuted even when it had been established that they were guilty of physical assault.Imagine if Homer Simpson strangled Marge instead of Bart? Not so much the lovable oaf I think.If your parents are saying that they’ll kick you out then I’d get it on a recording before going to CPS. (assuming your state isn’t a two party consent state).The quality of CPS also varies by state quite a bit though. You also get some niceties, like in Utah you would get full tuition waiver for state schools if you were placed into CPS.This is, of course, assuming you’re talking about the United States.
What are the consequences of punching someone in the face after you were deliberately provoked?
I normally answer these questions from my current point of view as a legal practitioner. But, as I have personal experience with this particular scenario, I’ll give you this info as a former/reformed hothead.I personally have had someone provoke me; and, I punched him right in the nose. It was a gratifying crunch and he dropped, crying about how sorry he was; but, only for a few minutes.As soon as I walked away he called 911 and the coops showed up to arrest me for battery. So, I went to jail.As that was not my first arrest for such asinine behavior the magistrate decided I could spend the remainder of the weekend in jail until I saw the judge on Monday.The judge agreed with the magistrate and denied me bail, setting the trial for a month away.A couple of weeks later I was finally assigned a public defender who told me about a deal being offered by the prosecutor. I pled no contest to simple assault, they dropped the felony, and, after 20 days in jail I got a quick hearing where the judge released me to my new buddy for the following three years - a probation officer. I ended up paying nearly $18,000 in damages (medical bills), fines and court costs and was chained to a PO for those three years where I had to take time off work (costing me more money each time; and a couple of jobs during those years) to go take drug tests or just come in for meetings. Plus, I got to spend a couple more weeks in jail until the court figured out I wasn’t the one who beat that same guy to a pulp outside of a bar one night.So, if you’ve already done this, good luck (honestly, I got off easy, your sentence is likely to be much worse). If you haven’t punches this moron yet; don’t do it.I’ll leave you with the words that judge spoke to me all those years ago- “Son, there is absolutely no word in the English language anyone can say to you that gives you the right to put your hands on them!”
What can a landlord do if a tenant refuses to leave after an eviction notice?
That depends on what you mean by “eviction notice.”An eviction notice is issued by a court after a legal process in which the landlord has been awarded possession of the premises.The eviction process is handled by a court and, if necessary, by local law enforcement pursuant to a court order. If the tenant refuses to leave after the eviction notice has been served then he or she will be forcibly removed from the premises. There is nothing the landlord needs to do.A landlord cannot issue an eviction notice because only a court has the power to evict someone from their home.But a landlord can issue a “termination notice” or a “notice to vacate” or similar notices to the tenant pursuant to the terms of the lease. If such notices have been properly issued and served, and the tenant refuses to leave, then the landlord must file a dispossession action in the local civil court which, after due process, will result in the court issuing an “eviction notice” as described above.
Can you get arrested just for slapping someone? If so, how serious would the charges be?
You can. Slapping someone is what we call a battery. A battery is an “offensive touching”. The name of the charge can vary by jurisdiction. It could be assault and battery, for example. The level of the charge will depend on the circumstances. If you slap someone hard enough that they fall down and hit their heads, ending up in the hospital, your charges will be more serious than if it is just a light slap. If you slap someone else’s child, you could end up charged with some sort of crime related to children. If you slap an elderly person in your care, you could be charged with elder abuse. In some jurisdictions, you probably can get in trouble for slapping your own child.Assuming you are slapping another adult and didn’t do much harm, here in Pennsylvania you would be charged with a simple assault. (We don’t use the term battery for this issue here in PA). The penalty for simple assault is up to 2 years in jail. You can also be fined. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 18 Pa.C.S.A. Crimes and Offenses § 2701 | FindLawLet me add this, people should keep their hands to themselves. There is no reason to slap someone. I don’t care how offensive the thing they said is. Just walk away.
Can a police report be deleted if no charges were filed?
No, but it might be sealed. Things like arrest records and charges might be sealed if the evidence is suppressed, dismissed, or dropped.