SADnConfused17
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Ohio
*I posted this in the juvenile law section because I am a minor and thought that's where it should go, but then I found this section. Sorry about that. I've been looking up the laws, and it says that in the max for small claims is $3000. The amount I want to sue for is $4500 (read the post below for explanation), so if I can't do that in small claims, what court should I do it in?*
I hope I am putting this in the right place. My girlfriends mom came here for advice, and she told me to check it out for the problem I am having. It's a long story. I'm sorry.
I am 17 years old, starting my Senior year in high school in just a couple of days. I joined the military at the end of last year, and completed basic training this summer (I am Army Reserves). My dad has full custody of me, and I lived with him for a lot of years. Earlier this year, before school was out for the summer, my dad and I had some problems, so I asked him if I could move in with my mom for awhile and he agreed. Nothing was ever changed in writing, dad just verbally agreed to let me live with mom for awhile.
I got back from basic training 2 weeks ago. I had a nice amount of money saved up, from my after-school job, from my military pay, and also from bonuses. I really needed a car when I came home from basic training. So my mom took me shopping for a car. We found one that I really liked, and it was $6,000. I put $4,000 down on it, and my mom financed the rest, with me making the payments on it. Here's where the trouble starts. Mom wrote a check for $4,000 for the down payment. I took the money out of my account (the one that the Army set up for me and I have a debit card for the account, but no checks) and gave it to mom to deposit into her account to cover the check. This all happened on August 14th.
On August 16th, mom asked me if she could borrow $500. When I asked her why, she said that she had some bills that were over-due, and that some of her utilities would be cut off if she didn't pay them, so she wrote checks for them, but didn't have the money to cover the checks in her account. And, the check for the downpayment on the car hadn't come in yet, so it was going to bounce if I didn't give her the money. So I gave it to her, not wanting to get my car taken away when I just got it.
Tonight, I made a stupid mistake and lied to my mom about something really dumb, and she found out that I hadn't been honest with her (I told her I was staying all night with my dad, but I was actually going to crash at my girlfriends house because her mom was throwing an "end of the summer" party and we had rented a bunch of movies and a bunch of friends were coming over). Anyway, I know that was dumb. So mom got mad at me and told me to drive the car to my dad's house, because she was coming to get the car, and me, and take us both home. She was being totally unreasonable, and wouldn't even talk to me about anything, she just kept yelling at me. She said the car was going back, and I said that was fine, but I want my $4000 back, plus the $500 I let her borrow. She told me she didn't have to give me my money back, and she wasn't going to. So I said "Great, so you just screwed your own son out of $4500?" and she said "Yep, that's how it looks." When she asked to borrow the $500, she said that the reason she was so behind in her bills to begin with was because she "had" to drive 1,000 miles to see my graduate basic, and that cost a lot of money, so it was really all MY fault that she was behind in her bills.
So, I called my dad and talked to him about everything, and he told me I could move back in with him if I wanted to. I know what a lot of you are thinking, that I bounce from house to house when I don't get my way, but that is really not the case. My mom just seems to be going crazy and I don't know how to deal with her, plus, I can't really trust her anymore after all of this. BTW, she never did show up to get the car, she told me that I had to bring it to her, but my dad told her it was too late for me to be driving (town curfew for teens is 11:00pm), and if she wanted the car, she would have to come and get it. We can't stop her from taking it, she had it put in her name because of the financing and stuff.
So my dad told me that he would hire an attorney for me to sue my mom and get my $4500 back. At 17 years old, can I sue my mom, or will my dad have to do it? And also, can we do this without an attorney? I looked it up and I think it's called "pro se". Is that where I go to court without an attorney and represent myself? Isn't it cheaper to do that than get an attorney? I don't want my dad to spend a lot of money on this, even though I could pay him back when I get the $$ back from my mom (if I do).
Can anyone please tell me what to do? I'm so confused.
*I posted this in the juvenile law section because I am a minor and thought that's where it should go, but then I found this section. Sorry about that. I've been looking up the laws, and it says that in the max for small claims is $3000. The amount I want to sue for is $4500 (read the post below for explanation), so if I can't do that in small claims, what court should I do it in?*
I hope I am putting this in the right place. My girlfriends mom came here for advice, and she told me to check it out for the problem I am having. It's a long story. I'm sorry.
I am 17 years old, starting my Senior year in high school in just a couple of days. I joined the military at the end of last year, and completed basic training this summer (I am Army Reserves). My dad has full custody of me, and I lived with him for a lot of years. Earlier this year, before school was out for the summer, my dad and I had some problems, so I asked him if I could move in with my mom for awhile and he agreed. Nothing was ever changed in writing, dad just verbally agreed to let me live with mom for awhile.
I got back from basic training 2 weeks ago. I had a nice amount of money saved up, from my after-school job, from my military pay, and also from bonuses. I really needed a car when I came home from basic training. So my mom took me shopping for a car. We found one that I really liked, and it was $6,000. I put $4,000 down on it, and my mom financed the rest, with me making the payments on it. Here's where the trouble starts. Mom wrote a check for $4,000 for the down payment. I took the money out of my account (the one that the Army set up for me and I have a debit card for the account, but no checks) and gave it to mom to deposit into her account to cover the check. This all happened on August 14th.
On August 16th, mom asked me if she could borrow $500. When I asked her why, she said that she had some bills that were over-due, and that some of her utilities would be cut off if she didn't pay them, so she wrote checks for them, but didn't have the money to cover the checks in her account. And, the check for the downpayment on the car hadn't come in yet, so it was going to bounce if I didn't give her the money. So I gave it to her, not wanting to get my car taken away when I just got it.
Tonight, I made a stupid mistake and lied to my mom about something really dumb, and she found out that I hadn't been honest with her (I told her I was staying all night with my dad, but I was actually going to crash at my girlfriends house because her mom was throwing an "end of the summer" party and we had rented a bunch of movies and a bunch of friends were coming over). Anyway, I know that was dumb. So mom got mad at me and told me to drive the car to my dad's house, because she was coming to get the car, and me, and take us both home. She was being totally unreasonable, and wouldn't even talk to me about anything, she just kept yelling at me. She said the car was going back, and I said that was fine, but I want my $4000 back, plus the $500 I let her borrow. She told me she didn't have to give me my money back, and she wasn't going to. So I said "Great, so you just screwed your own son out of $4500?" and she said "Yep, that's how it looks." When she asked to borrow the $500, she said that the reason she was so behind in her bills to begin with was because she "had" to drive 1,000 miles to see my graduate basic, and that cost a lot of money, so it was really all MY fault that she was behind in her bills.
So, I called my dad and talked to him about everything, and he told me I could move back in with him if I wanted to. I know what a lot of you are thinking, that I bounce from house to house when I don't get my way, but that is really not the case. My mom just seems to be going crazy and I don't know how to deal with her, plus, I can't really trust her anymore after all of this. BTW, she never did show up to get the car, she told me that I had to bring it to her, but my dad told her it was too late for me to be driving (town curfew for teens is 11:00pm), and if she wanted the car, she would have to come and get it. We can't stop her from taking it, she had it put in her name because of the financing and stuff.
So my dad told me that he would hire an attorney for me to sue my mom and get my $4500 back. At 17 years old, can I sue my mom, or will my dad have to do it? And also, can we do this without an attorney? I looked it up and I think it's called "pro se". Is that where I go to court without an attorney and represent myself? Isn't it cheaper to do that than get an attorney? I don't want my dad to spend a lot of money on this, even though I could pay him back when I get the $$ back from my mom (if I do).
Can anyone please tell me what to do? I'm so confused.
