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Not everyone waits for marriage to start a family. Whether it’s because of economic reasons, political constraints, or personal choice, an increasing number of unmarried couples desire to adopt and raise children together without having to say “I do.” But can unmarried couples legally adopt children? In many states, such as California and New York, unmarried couples are allowed to jointly adopt children. But this isn’t the case in every state, as the nonprofit advocacy group Unmarried Equality explains....

Due to a legal concept called the statute of limitations, some homeowners may be able to keep their homes despite years of missed mortgage payments. In Florida, one homeowner may have beaten her foreclosure because the case against her was dismissed by the court. Since the statute of limitation on foreclosing her home has passed, the bank cannot refile its claim against her. Sounds too good to be true? Here is what you need to know about foreclosures and the statute of limitations:...

Janitorial work is not fun. Overnight janitorial shifts can be even worse. And working eight hours overnight cleaning a Cheesecake Factory without rest or meal breaks, and then having a kitchen manager come in and tell you there more to do before you can leave? Well, you better be getting some overtime pay for that, at least. Not so, according to California’s Labor Commissioner’s Office, which found that eight Cheesecake locations in the state owed 559 underpaid janitorial workers $3....

Delaware’s death penalty is back on and the state will resume lethal injections. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the state’s death penalty as constitutional, allowing Delaware to resume carrying out executions that have been on hold since 2006. According to the News Journal, the courts warned that although the state’s death penalty does not cause unnecessary or unconstitutional suffering as claimed by 18 death-row inmates in the class-action lawsuit, executions must be carried out with a degree of seriousness and respect....

Summer is almost here, meaning many parents will have to figure out how to keep their kids occupied for those three months. Some of those parents might be hoping their child can land a summer job. And some other parents may be hoping to put their kid to work in their own office. So let’s say that Junior comes to work for you at the family business. Do you have to pay him?...

Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation and makes crimes out of things that are not crimes. – Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln was never a big fan of prohibition as he said in this famous quote. Perhaps Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash) should look to Lincoln for guidance as he tries to push Congress to legalize online gambling. His bill supports the legalization, regulation and taxation of online gambling in the United States....

So, the sad and arguably, inevitable, conclusion many anticipated to the Jon and Kate Gosselin marriage may have arrived. People reports that divorce papers for the two stars of the popular TLC show Jon & Kate Plus Eight were filed in Pennsylvania this afternoon. Speculation on the rocky state of the Gosselin marriage had been rampant, and it was long-rumored that a split was coming. This was particularly so after rumors surfaced of an alleged affair by Jon....

Does the average American support gay marriage? And, conversely, how many American oppose gay marriage? Recent polls have suggested that the majority of Americans actually do support same-sex marriage. Support for gay marriage has been on the rise in recent years. A Gallup survey, the most recent, found that 53% of Americans support gay marriage, reports the Los Angeles Times. In California itself, the increase seems to be even higher - a CNN survey last month showed that 61% of Americans polled in the Western states supported gay marriage, according to the Los Angeles Times....

A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal said there was substantial evidence for a finding of implied malice when Nicola Bucci sped up a hill on the wrong side of the road in a no-passing zone to get around a semi-tractor trailer, slamming into an oncoming car and killing two children in a 2006 crash. The appeals court supported the the jury’s conclusion that Nicola Bucci knew he was endangering lives and upheld second-degree murder convictions and a sentence of 23 years to life, the San Francisco Chronicle reports....

“So how’s that hopey changey thing workin out for ya?” It was one of Sarah Palin’s digs at President Obama’s campaign messages for hope. Critics such as Steven Colbert mocked her, suggesting a campaign slogan for her based on that theme: Palin 2012: Abandon All Hope That Anything Will Ever Change. But politics aside, one thing remains clear–the economy is still not where most people would like to see it....

Ritzy New York establishment Gramercy Park Hotel’s ADA suit was settled this Thursday. The government had alleged that the Hotel’s disability access was not up to par with federal standards. This isn’t the first time the hotel was put on notice. The government expressed its concerns earlier after complaints from guests. And, in 2006, the hotel underwent a $200 million renovation that was meant to address the claimed deficiencies. Instead, the suit alleged that the renovations actually made the situation worse....

The New York Senate rejected a measure for microstamping handguns. The bill requiring microstamping technology on semiautomatic pistols was supported by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg along with police officers and other local leaders from around the state, the Albany Times reports. “This was a defeat for our police officers, district attorneys, and the public – and a victory for criminals who use illegal guns to shoot and kill innocent people,” Bloomberg said in a statement....

An Oklahoma charter school board has rescinded a controversial “no dreadlocks” policy that also applied to other “faddish styles” of hair. This action follows the public outrage that occurred when 7-year-old Tiana Parker was told that her hairstyle wasn’t allowed at school. In a 4-0 vote, the board for the Deborah Brown Community School in Tulsa replaced the rule referencing hair with the general statement that administrators “reserve the right to contact parents/guardians regarding any personal hygiene issues that it believes causes a risk to the health, safety and welfare of the student, his or her classmates, and faculty or staff or detracts from the education environment....

San Francisco will be joining a new national fingerprinting program next month that will undo its long-standing city sanctuary policy. Under a new federal program, Secure Communities will automatically link the fingerprint databases of state justice departments with a database used by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, known as ICE, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Currently, under the 1989 sanctuary city policy, law enforcement is required to report to federal officials only felony suspects whose legal status cannot be confirmed upon booking....

Selling your car can be a hassle, but you can save yourself a good deal of frustration by avoiding some common legal mistakes. Yes, it’s difficult to get a buyer interested enough to purchase your car without all the extra legal mumbo-jumbo, but you still want to protect yourself in the process. Check out these five easy legal mistakes to avoid: When selling your car, remember that an online ad isn’t a contract – it’s an invitation for offers....

The self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff in America,” Joe Arpaio, has fallen victim to identity theft in the form of credit card fraud. The outspoken sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, which includes Phoenix, said that his credit card information was stolen and used to purchase $291 worth of groceries in Chicago, reports Reuters. Arpaio hasn’t visited the Windy City in years. Arpaio has gained fame (and come under fire) for hard-line tactics against illegal immigrants and suspected criminals – as well as for other stunts like alleging President Obama’s birth certificate was “forged....

Would you want to know if your doctor was on probation? Would it make a difference in how you received that expert’s recommendations? Patients’ rights activists think so and are disappointed that this week a California bill was nixed by the senate that would have required doctors to tell patients if they’re under state supervision in an easy-to-read one-page document. The information is already available online, but some say it’s not easy to access....

UPS has agreed to pay $70,000 to a former Jehovah’s Witness employee who claimed the company failed to reasonably accomodate his religious beliefs and then fired him. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued on behalf of the ex-employee, who worked at a UPS facility in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The worker requested a schedule change in order to attend a religious service but was denied. He was fired a few days later....

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. should have had more effective crowd control measures in place at a Long Island store on 2008’s “Black Friday,” when a temporary employee was crushed to death in a stampede of Wal-Mart shoppers. That was the finding in a citation issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today, which also ordered Wal-Mart –the world’s largest retailer – to pay a $7,000 fine, an amount likely dwarfed by what the company earned in the time it took you to read this sentence....

Whether it’s the midterms or the presidential election, the importance of election day can’t be underestimated. There’s always a lot riding on the votes that are cast. But you may have also heard a little about registration requirements, voter ID laws, and something called “illegal voting.” When is it actually illegal to cast a ballot, and when can voting be a crime? Here’s what you need to know. Most of tomorrow’s ballot will be made of local candidates and ballot measures....