Archive for the ‘General Information’ Category

« Older Entries

Can a policeman lie?

Saturday, February 13th, 2016

The short answer is ‘yes’, a policeman (or policeperson) can — and often does- lie to you during their investigation. Of course, if they are under oath and on the stand in a courtroom, they are required to tell the truth. But I am talking about during the investigation phase. That time when they are asking you questions usually at the police station.

Sometimes, the policeman will tell you that someone in another room has already told them everything and they are giving you an opportunity to tell your side of it so that they can talk to the prosecutor and help you get a better deal. Sometimes they will tell you that they have evidence that they really don’t have. I’ve listened to tapes where the same policeman went to four different rooms and told each one of the potential defendants that he already knew everything — when in reality he had not gotten information from anyone.

Remember that during the investigation, it is the policeman’s job to get the information needed to help get a conviction. If they are talking to you in an interview room, they are not trying to be your friend!

So what should you do? The police officer will probably read you what are called ‘Miranda’ rights. These include the ‘right to remain silent, and anything that you say can and will be used against you in a court of law’ and the ‘right to an attorney and have that attorney present during questioning, if you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed for you’. Once you have been read these rights you need to tell the officer ‘I want to talk to my attorney before I speak with you’, and then be quiet.

Don’t say, ‘do you think I need an attorney’? or ‘maybe I should talk to an attorney’. Very clearly say, ‘I want to talk to my attorney before I speak with you’. and then be quiet and say nothing else.

The policeman will probably tell you that they can’t help you if you refuse to talk to them, but stick to your statement and wait to speak to your attorney before you talk to them. This might mean you will spend the night in jail until you can have an attorney appointed for you, but that is much better than having you say something that can be used against you later.

If you have any questions about this or any other legal subject, please feel free to give us a call at 757-234-4650 or visit our website at http://www.BeaversLaw.com.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Crimes, General Information | No Comments »

Posting Online

Saturday, January 23rd, 2016

I read a lot of legal question and answer sites and it always amazes me that people will put very detailed and personal information in an online forum, especially about criminal activity.

DO NOT DO THIS!

Online legal forums, and other online places, are open to the public. Yes, this means that you might get someone to answer your question for free, but you are more likely to have the details of your particular situation seen by everyone including the police and opposing counsel.

As a lawyer, I regularly look for online posts that refer to my clients or their opponents. And, yes, I can and do use this information for the benefit of my client.

If you have any questions about this or any other legal subject, please feel free to give us a call at 757-234-4650 or visit our website at http://www.BeaversLaw.com.

Posted in General Information | No Comments »

Terminating Parental Rights

Saturday, January 2nd, 2016

I’ve had a few people contact me recently because they either want to voluntarily relinquish their parental rights, or they want to terminate the parental rights of an absent father. Trust me, I’m not picking on fathers but I’ve had the same question 3 times in the past 2 weeks and they all just happened to concern absent fathers.

First of all, the Courts in Virginia will not let anyone voluntarily relinquish parental rights. If both parents agree that the father won’t be involved in the child’s life, and the mother is able to properly provide for the child, there is no reason to have the court involvement at all. Just do it. Most people agree that it is better for a child to have both parents involved in their life, but it is still a personal decision.

However, if the parents think that they can get rid of a father who can not afford to pay child support and then apply for TANF to support the child, that won’t happen. And while the Courts themselves can terminate parental rights when a parent has been proven to be unfit, you can’t request that the Courts do so just because a parent has not been involved in the child’s life, and/or is unable to provide financial support.

If you have any questions about this or any other legal subject, please feel free to give us a call at 757-234-4650 or visit our website at http://www.BeaversLaw.com.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Adoption, Children, Custody, Family Law, General Information, Support, Visitation | No Comments »

Can we just agree to change the child support amount?

Monday, December 2nd, 2013

I had a person in my office recently who said that he and the children’s mother had agreed to reduce the amount of child support he had to pay because he was laid off from his old job and his new job didn’t pay as much. They even had a document that said the amount would be reduced, and it was notarized. He thought their agreement would cancel the court order.

And then she took him to court for non-payment and he was charged with failure to comply with an order of the court which included a possible jail sentence of up to one year.

First of all, when the Judge issues that piece of paper telling you what to do… it is not a suggestion….it is not an example….it is not an ‘if you want to’ or ‘if you feel like it’. It is an ORDER. That means you have to do it or face consequences.

Secondly, having a document notarized does not make it more ‘legal’ than having a document that isn’t notarized. Most of the time, a notarization just means that the person signing the document produced identification saying they were the person who’s name was on the document. This may keep your girlfriend from signing your wife’s name, but it doesn’t make the document legal.

What they should have done was to go to court to file a motion to amend child support due to a material change in circumstances. His change in employment status would probably have met the criteria for a material change, especially if both of them agreed. Then the court would have recalculated the child support payment from the date of the petition. You can also provide the court with a ‘Consent Order’ that says you agree to an amount even if that amount is different from the amount that would be calculated by the statutory guidelines.

Sure it takes time out of your day to go to court to get the amount changed….but it is probably worth it when you consider the amount of time you might be spending going to court on a show cause….and the possibility of going to jail!

If you have any questions about this or any other legal subject, please feel free to give us a call at 757-234-4650 or visit our website at http://www.BeaversLaw.com.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Children, Family Law, General Information, Support | No Comments »

I have my dead mom’s Power Of Attorney, can I sell her house?

Saturday, November 9th, 2013

I have had a few questions lately from people who say they have a Power Of Attorney for their parent and the parent recently died. Usually, they want to know if they can use that Power Of Attorney to sell their parent’s house.

A Power Of Attorney allows the agent to do anything that the principal can do. In the situation above, the child was named as the agent and the parent was the principal.

If we think about it logically, a principal can’t do anything after they have died, and that is exactly what happens with the Power Of Attorney. It dies with the principal.

The next question is ‘what happens to the house?’ That would depend.

If the house was deeded with some sort of survivorship option, then the house would belong to the survivor automatically and would not be considered as part of the deceased’s estate.

If there was a Will, the Will would describe what would happen to assets in the deceased’s estate, including the house if that was part of the estate.

If there was not a Will, the statutes covering intestate (without a Will) division of property would control. In Virginia, the house would then go to the legal heirs of the decedent.

The Virginia probate process is relatively easy in comparison to some other states. You can contact the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the jurisdiction (city or county) where the deceased lived and the probate clerk can often be of great assistance. Or, you can contact a probate attorney to help with the situation.

But remember that after the person dies, the Power Of Attorney terminates automatically and is no longer effective at all. Having a complete Estate Plan can help eliminate this problem situation.

If you have any questions about this or any other legal matter, please contact the office at 757-234-4650 to schedule a consultation.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Estate Planning, General Information, Power of Attorney, Probate | No Comments »

« Older Entries