A Father’s Secret Will

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

There was a case where the father died five years ago and a daughter discovered that there was a will kept secret from her by the solicitors.  It emerged that the solicitors were holding on the father’s will and the daughter was named as a joint executor together with the stepmother.  The child was never informed about this and it came as a shock to her when she discovered it.  The father clearly left everything equally to her and her stepbrothers but she did not receive any inheritance.

There might be a case for this or there might be none.  The first point is that if the father held joint property with the stepmother, everything could have passed automatically to her anyway, regardless of the contents of the will.  However, this is unlikely in second marriages, and if the will is valid, there’s certainly a slip-up when the father died and the will’s solicitors failed to inform the daughter of her rights.

In a case like this, the daughter can consult a lawyer and file proceedings to recover assets from the estate of the stepmother - the costs of these proceedings should be covered by the solicitors.  They may also bear costs of consequential losses such as capital growth and interest accruing to the assets of the stepmother.

Tags: daughter, estate, father, inheritance, joint executor, lawyer, losses, proceedings, rights, solicitors, stepmother, will
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Overseas Detainees Still Being Mirandized

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Some detainees that were captured and held abroad are still being read Miranda rights in order to preserve evidence for potential prosecution. Obama administration officials said that Bush administration also did this in some instances related to certain criminal cases.

Although the actual Miranda rights differ depending on the state, they would adhere to court ruling that “prior to investigation, the people in custody must be informed of their rights to remain silent and anything that they say may be used against them in court. They must also be clearly informed that they have the right to consult attorneys and to have those attorneys present during questioning. Also, an attorney will be provided at no cost to represent them if they are indigents.”

Rep. Peter Hoeskstra (R-Mich), House Intelligence Committee’s ranking Republican, expressed his concern about this news. “The last thing we want is to let the al-Qaeda terrorists remain silent. We should be focused on knowing and preventing the next attack. We can’t give these radical jihadists new tactics they could use to resist interrogation,” he said.

In March, President Obama was interviewed by 60 Minutes and he said “the whole Guantanamo premise promoted by Cheney (Vice President) was that the American justice system is somehow not equipped to deal with these terrorists. I disagree with that. So do you think these folks deserve to be treated the same way as a shoplifter in the neighborhood block? Of course not.”

Tags: al-Qaeda, attorney, attorneys, Criminal, detainees, Miranda rights, Obama, Peter Hoekstra, rights, terrorists
Posted in Criminal, Criminal News | No Comments »

Privacy and Rights after a Criminal Conviction

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

Whether you have a prison sentence or just a payment of fine on your record, these are still histories of conviction. But even if you have been a convicted criminal, you still have privacy and rights under Human Rights act. In other words, others should respect your right to have a private family life.

First of all, you need to know that you’re obliged to declare your conviction record when you’re applying for a credit card, insurance, new home, or even a job. But after some time, you’re no longer required to do so (called the rehabilitation period). This period would depend on the sentence that you served.

Another thing is that you no longer have the right to request the destruction of data found during an investigation involving you – these are your DNA samples, photographs, or fingerprints. The police are entitled to retain samples and prints on these records since the 2001 terrorist attack.

Here are other rights after a criminal conviction:

· Rights to Privacy – the media must respect your private life because your name and details should be protected by Data Protection Act. You are entitled to contact a defense lawyer and sue if there’s any breach unless organizations or employers require these details when you’re applying for a loan or they’re hiring you for a “position of trust.”

· Rights to View your Prison Records – the prison office should provide you a copy of your records when you request it. You also have the right to correct any of the errors in it.

Tags: conviction, Criminal, Defense lawyer, Human Rights act, privacy, rehabilitation period, rights
Posted in Criminal, Defense lawyer | No Comments »