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Good inheritance lawyer in NYC?

korpios — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:51:01 -0800

My maternal great aunt's husband just died; this guy had been lying to my great aunt for years, claiming they were destitute and living off of her while squirreling away all his money. It looks like he's trying to leave everything to his son, and leave her cold; where can my mother find a good inheritance lawyer in New York City? Neither my mother nor her aunt is rich. There are complications, of course:

- My great aunt had been showing signs of dementia for some time now, meaning my mother may have to assume power of attorney.

- *However*, my mother claims that her aunt has been much more lucid since the husband was hospitalized (prior to his death); my mother has suspicions that he had been drugging my great aunt based on this and items found in their home (her favorite wine being re-bottled by him, a jar with a funnel containing some of the wine, etc.). I'm not sure how you call the police on a dead guy based on stuff like this, unless his son was in-the-know.

Does my great aunt have a case here? We're talking around $500k, which is nothing to sneeze at, especially if my great aunt ends up needing a nursing home. I don't argue that her husband didn't have a right to leave *something* to his son, but leaving her with zip, while claiming all along that they were in the poor-house, is pretty cold.

What should my mother (who would be trying to help here) be doing? I'm assuming (as per the question) that it's "find a lawyer", but she doesn't even know where to start; she lives upstate about 90 minutes away, she doesn't have money to be throwing at this, and she doesn't know any lawyers in the NYC area.

NYC LegalFilter exocortical module: help? ^_^

Prey seeks hunter

kenzi23 — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:06:20 -0800

My head needs hunting...how do I find the hunters in my field? I want to make a move into software training in the legal field and am not finding a lot of jobs in the usual listings (monster, careerbuilders, hotjobs, nytimes). I'm just starting the search for real and calling all my contacts in the legal field, but I also want to put myself in the path of headhunters in this field. My googling looked like this "software trainer headhunter legal new york", and the results were not at all helpful.

Is there a reputable guide to headhunters, maybe with breakdown by field and rankings/ratings? Should I be looking at IT headhunters? or legal headhunters? How do I know I'm getting a good one? If you have actual headhunters or agencies to recommend, please post them.

BTW, I'm in New York City. Thanks!

Underage show attendance in NYC

phrontist — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:27:38 -0800

Is there any chance of a 19 year old male getting in to a club in NYC next Friday? I'd really like to see the Kode9 show next Friday, when I'll be in town for HOPE. I've already purchased tickets, and though there was no warning on the website, it looks like it's 21+.

I don't drink, and coming from seeing shows in DC/Europe it's kind of infuriating that the mere presence of alcohol makes it impossible for me to see this show.

I've encountered two legal situations in the US where this is a problem. The first are areas that rule any establishment deriving Y% of their income from alcohol as a bar, and banning anyone underage from entering a "bar". The second is where liquor licenses are so difficult to keep establishments aren't content with the common solution of marking underage individuals hands (as is the case at almost every venue in DC).

Which category does NYC fall under, and if the latter, is there any conceivable way I could convince these people to let me in? Will they check every ID? Is it worth risking my $10, not refunding the tickets, and just trying to walk in (I'm rarely carded except where it's compulsory).

I work for a college radio station and requesting press credentials has worked in the past, but it's in Kentucky and I doubt a request would carry much weight that far away.

How do I stop repeated door-to-door solicitation, inside a NYC apartment building?

lorimer — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 11:43:37 -0800

How do I stop repeated door-to-door solicitation, inside a NYC apartment building? It wakes me up (I have to sleep during day shift) and it's really frustrating. Every couple of weeks I get a doorbell ring from a salesperson trying to get me to switch from the main energy provider in nyc (ConEdison) to another gas & electric supplier.

(This is a building where anyone will be let in if they wait by the outside door -- there's no way for me to change this, it's universal behavior among 100+ tenants.)

When these people ring and you ask who it is, first they say, "gas and electric," obviously trying to get people to think they're from ConEd. When pressed, the guy today said he was with "IDT Energy."

I told him his company needed to permanently mark my apartment as one they should never visit. Instead he started to get in an argument with me, saying "We're just helping people; we're trying to help you save on your energy costs." He wouldn't give me a phone # or business card.

Even assuming these are actually sales agents (as opposed to people costumed as sales agents just seeing who's home or not), this is a serious problem for me because I work at night and need to sleep during the day shift.

I did call 911 (there is no way to phone police here except 911) and told them there was someone knocking on every door in my building, asked if a cop could come and see what the guy was doing. The operator said they would send someone but no cops have come in an hour (I'm sure this is a very low priority for them).

So is this legal? Whether or not it is, what can I do about it? If it's illegal I was thinking of having a sign made for the building's front door, "DOOR-TO-DOOR SOLICITATION IS ILLEGAL. POLICE WILL BE CALLED AND BUSINESS WILL BE FINED $__," or whatever the legal consequence is.

Although: I told today's guy I was calling the cops but then they didn't come, so it appeared to him as an empty threat.

I have an absentee management (my building is one of many owned by a big management company, miles away in another borough), no single "landlord" lives here and certainly no doorman. I left them a message but if they ever return it (not likely, you usually have to leave a few messages to get a callback) I'm not sure what to ask them for.

I'm sorry I haven't googled this thoroughly before posting, I'm just really sleepy and frustrated. I was hoping somebody here knows already.

How do I pick the right tenants to sublet (or swap for) my apartment, and how do I help them feel at home?

allterrainbrain — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 16:05:12 -0800

Have you done a short-term sublet (or housing swap)? If you were the renter: how did you evaluate applicants, and how did you help your subletter feel at home? If you were the subletter: what worked, and what do you wish the renter had done for you or told you? I'll be subletting my apartment in NYC but I'd love to hear from people in all areas & situations. I'll be allowed to sublet my rent-stabilized apt if I give advance written notice. I will ask to make sure, but I assume the same rule would apply if I did a housing swap (where two people in different cities trade apts, with no exchange of money).

I'll give details here but will divide them into three parts (in case there's only one part you care about).

• CHOOSING PEOPLE:
I'm not worried about finding enough applicants (since my rent is low both in absolute terms and relative to location/niceness), but I don't know how to evaluate these applicants. Other mefi threads emphasize checking references -- but "references" are almost as easy to fake as self-decriptions are (as a seven-year New Yorker, I've seen my share of people lying in all kinds of contexts, especially real estate). I don't care about financial references since I will ask for the rent up front, but I really care about find people I can count on to do what I'm asking (keep the place clean, water my plants, never smoke inside).

• WELCOMING PEOPLE:
I plan to
- orient each subletter in person on the first day;
- leave welcome stuff (some food & toiletries, a Metrocard & subway map, and my general NYC maps & books);
- put together a good neighborhood guide & map (all the local food/services/etc.);
- leave a page of apt stuff (landlord contacts, plant watering instructions, etc.); and of course,
- leave everything clean & leave space free for their stuff.

What else would a subletter appreciate? Also, I think I should allow couples to apply as well as single people -- are there advantages or disadvantages of subletting to couples, or swapping (:)) with couples?

• PAYMENTS & TIMING:
I'm planning to do a few short sublet blocks (ranging from 2 to 8 weeks -- maybe 3.5 months total) over the course of each year. So I think in each case, I should ask for all rent up front (payable on the arrival day), plus a small security/damage deposit (payable in advance to ensure against flaking?) which I'll refund in cash when we meet at my place on the departure day. On my end, I'll pay these months in advance to my landlord, and I'll make a big advance payment to the utility company.

I pay for electricity & cooking gas, so I guess I should estimate a fair-but-safe max usage and include that in one "all utilities paid" rent amount? If I end up getting broadband at home (still undecided since there are so many free-wifi places around), I'll just include its cost in the amount. I have a white iBook I can leave for the subletter to use in the apt & take out to free-wifi places (so if a subletter wanted to use it, I'd make a fresh user account for them and I'd make their security/damage deposit include the iBook's current value).

I also need to figure out some way to ensure people won't flake with little or no notice. And if the only real anti-flaking insurance is an advance deposit, then I need to figure out how an out-of-town person can trust *me* enough for that (since of course I could be totally faking my apt pics & info, to collect "deposits"). If they're able, would it help for them to video chat with me while I'm in the apt, so I can show them stuff live & answer their questions?

Thanks for your thoughts on any of this!

Does my name remain the same?

TG_Plackenfatz — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 09:36:49 -0800

Have I successfully changed my name? So, I got married over a year ago in NYC. I opted not to change my name at that time, but recently decided that I would like to.

This morning, I went and got my name changed on my Social Security Card to my new desired name: "First Middle Maiden" is now "First Maiden Married." When I researched how to change my name on my Passport, it said all I'd need to do is send them my Marriage Certificate. And here's (what I'm afraid might be) the rub: my Marriage Certificate says "New Surname: Maiden."

It would seem to me that because of this, the Marriage Certificate doesn't really help certify that I've changed my name. I'm pretty sure I'd be okay at the DMV and with credit cards and the like by using the SS card, but might this cause problems? And if not with the Passport people, then might I eventually run into an issue? How else can I certify that I've changed my name, if I have indeed done so at all?