Gainesville Legal Issues Blog

How well you know your spouse may affect your legal status

On behalf of The Albarado Law Firm, P.C. on Friday, August 3, 2018.

Marrying a U.S. citizen and building a new life in Texas may have been simultaneously the most wonderful yet challenging time of your life. All newly married couples encounter challenges together, especially within the first couple of years of marriage. Adapting to living as a couple as opposed to the single life can be difficult. You and your spouse have, hopefully, been able to overcome any obstacles that have arisen since your wedding day.

Marital stress is often external, meaning someone or something outside your home is the source. If the U.S. government recently sent you written notice to appear at a Stokes interview, it is definitely understandable that you might be feeling anxious and afraid. After all, the results of a Stokes interview may affect whether or not you can stay in the United States. You should know several things before your appointment; the first is that you may ask an immigrant advocate to accompany you to the interview.

ICE agent calls you by name on the street: Should you respond?

On behalf of The Albarado Law Firm, P.C. on Friday, July 6, 2018.

After arriving in Texas from another country of origin, you may have faced many challenges as you adapted to your new lifestyle. If you brought family to the U.S. with you, your challenges may have included helping them make friends and also how to cope with a language barrier, as well as learning to navigate roadways and finding your way around town.

Not every immigrant's transition to life in the United States is easy. If you're one of many who have faced significant obstacles along the way, you should know you're not alone in your struggle. Many difficult situations have a lot to do with legal status. Perhaps your paperwork wasn't in order when you crossed the border; that can definitely intensify your stress. Many people in similar situations say they fear that ICE agents will target them in public and take them away to detainment centers.

Can divorce mediation work for me?

On behalf of The Albarado Law Firm, P.C. on Friday, June 8, 2018.

Divorce, though not an easy process to go through, does not have to be as dramatic as television shows and movies make it seem. Most couples do not need or want to fight things out in court. This is why many divorcing couples in Texas are choosing mediation to approach the dissolution of their marriages.

What is mediation? How do I know if it can work for me? What if I still want to have an attorney?

Tips for remaining safe around 18-wheelers

On behalf of The Albarado Law Firm, P.C. on Friday, May 4, 2018.

Sharing the road with big rigs often makes travelers feel uncomfortable. Horror stories abound in relation to accidents involving 18-wheelers that led to devastating and tragic outcomes. Because of the potential for this type of accident, many drivers prefer to get away from these trucks as quickly as possible and continue on their way.

Of course, if you travel long distances or for an extended period of time, you may come across many tractor-trailers on the road. Because you may not have the ability to stay out of the vicinity of every truck, you may want to heed certain precautions that may help you remain safer on the road and in proximity to these behemoth vehicles.

Things to know about supervised visitation

On behalf of The Albarado Law Firm, P.C. posted in Child Custody on Thursday, April 19, 2018.

Perhaps you can recall a few incidents where you and your spouse got into some pretty volatile arguments. Maybe you had the best of intentions to simply talk through some problems the two of you were having at the time, and then things unexpectedly escalated into full-blown screaming matches. Doors slammed, you both said unkind words, and you wound up leaving the house and going for a long drive on a Texas highway to try to cool down and to avoid further altercation.

You certainly wouldn't be the first married person to live through such events. However, if your spouse is using those bad memories against you now that you've decided to divorce, that may be a big problem. If your spouse has made false allegations of abuse against you so the court will order supervised visitation with your children, you have every right to take steps to protect your good name and seek a fair and agreeable parenting arrangement in your divorce.

Could cancellation of removal help you stay in the country?

On behalf of The Albarado Law Firm, P.C. posted in blog on Monday, March 5, 2018.

You may call the United States your home and feel that you belong here. You may have lived here for years, held a job and carried out other actions that made you feel as if this country held more of your life than your native country ever did. However, you may still face some apprehensions in relation to potentially being removed from the country.

Deportation and other removal acts are a serious concern of many immigrants. If you have received notice of deportation or been detained as part of the removal process, you may feel frightened for yourself and your family. You may also wonder whether any options exist that could help you remain in the country that you call home.

Has a drug addiction lead to you or a loved one facing charges?

On behalf of The Albarado Law Firm, P.C. posted in blog on Thursday, February 8, 2018.

Many people can find themselves in situations in which they feel powerless. Someone or something may have control over them, and as a result, they can feel trapped and helpless. If you know someone with a drug addiction or have one yourself, you undoubtedly know the struggles that can come along with feeling at the beck and call of this disease. Unfortunately, the effects of addiction can easily take over a person's life.

As mentioned, drug addiction is a disease. Once a person becomes addicted to a substance or multiple substances, his or her brain begins to change. As a result, you or your loved one could make decisions that may not have been made if the drugs had not affected the brain. In some cases, those decisions could lead to considerable legal trouble.

Type of drug crime could impact your defense strategies

On behalf of The Albarado Law Firm, P.C. posted in blog on Tuesday, January 2, 2018.

Many Texas residents find themselves in situations that can often feel confusing and overwhelming. You undoubtedly have felt this way at least once in your life, and you may have struggled to determine the best option for handling the predicament. Though, in the end, you likely discovered the best course of action, you could still find yourself thinking back on that incident and wondering how you could have handled it differently.

Now, you may have found yourself in an even more serious situation in which authorities have filed criminal charges against you. Not only do you feel overwhelmed, but you may also feel panicked at the idea of possibly facing serious consequences. If police have accused you of a drug-related crime, you may wish to ensure that you understand the specific type of crime with which they have charged you.

Facing a felony DUI in Texas?

On behalf of The Albarado Law Firm, P.C. posted in blog on Friday, December 8, 2017.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is something that many Texas residents have been accused of doing. Some have dealt with misdemeanor charges as a result and others have ended up facing felony level charges. Those who face the latter have a lot to lose if convicted.

What makes a DUI a felony DUI in Texas? What are the penalties? Is there any way to fight this type of charge?

Domestic violence charge doesn't have to destroy your future

On behalf of The Albarado Law Firm, P.C. posted in blog on Friday, November 10, 2017.

If authorities have accused you of engaging in domestic violence, you may understandably be fearful of what this means for your future. This is particularly true if such a conviction could complicate an existing immigration or child custody case, for example.

Still, a conviction cannot happen in Texas unless prosecutors can prove your domestic violence charge beyond a reasonable doubt. This standard exists in an effort to prevent innocent people from facing convictions for crimes they did not commit and thus facing unnecessary punishment.