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Deadbeat Dads Given New Life in New York
Many parents abandon their children, leaving them to be raised by the other parent or a third party, refusing to have meaningful contact with them or even to provide financial support. The remaining parent or caregiver may make attempts to bring the uninterested parent back into the child's life, or to force him or her to pay child support, but these efforts are often unsuccessful. So, what's to be done? The caregiver may be forced to give up and raise the child alone, perhaps gaining some comfort in knowing that the recalcitrant parent at least will not interfere in the child's life. But, is this necessarily the end of the story? As evidenced by a case holding last month, delivered by the Appellate Division, Third Department in a Workers' Compensation case, in New York at least, the missing parent can still cause trouble, even years after the child has reached majority.
Facts of the Case
The case, Caldwell v. Alliance Consulting Group Inc., 2004 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3700 (4/1/04), involved the question of who was entitled to receive Workers' Compensation benefits after an adult man, raised for most of his life solely by his mother, died intestate as a result of the attacks on the World Trade Center. The undisputed facts of the case established that the decedent's father, Leon W. Caldwell, voluntarily left the marital home in New Jersey when decedent was just over a year old, relocating to Philadelphia. Thereafter, the decedent had contact with his father on only two occasions: once when he spent a night at his father's home when he was 6 years old, and once at his maternal grandmother's funeral (the boy and his father did not speak on that occasion). The decedent's mother, Elsie Caldwell (claimant) suggested to Caldwell that he could spend some time with their son, but Caldwell rejected the idea.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Stranger to the Deed Rule
In 1987, a unanimous Court of Appeals reaffirmed the vitality of the "stranger to the deed" rule, which holds that if a grantor executes a deed to a grantee purporting to create an easement in a third party, the easement is invalid. Daniello v. Wagner, decided by the Second Department on November 29th, makes it clear that not all grantors (or their lawyers) have received the Court of Appeals' message, suggesting that the rule needs re-examination.