Page 36
Joe Wood District.
There are a large number of Loen civilians living here. Although their lives are not rich, they can basically maintain food and clothing, and they are not like the chaos and poverty in the East District.
Lecturer Follen and Hastur took the steam train and arrived at two o'clock in the afternoon.
As a lawyer with a strong sense of justice, Lecturer Foran once established a legal association with other lawyers called the Research Association for the Implementation of Justice.
When Hastur first heard the name of the association, he wanted to change it directly to the Justice League.
After thinking about it later, I decided to forget it. After all, Lecturer Foulun and the others were just ordinary people. We should leave the fight against evil to the Seven Righteous Gods Church.
The Justice Research Association has a secret base in the Jowood District that is difficult for ordinary people to know.
According to Lecturer Foulun, this is not an ordinary stronghold, but a place of hope that gathers the future laws of Loen.
It is the soil from which justice is born and the spear that implements fairness.
Well, it’s actually just an ordinary law firm.
There are only five people in the entire Justice Research Association, including Hastur, who has not yet officially joined.
Lecturer Foulun and Hasta came to the law firm. The other three were busy with their own affairs for the time being. Today, it was up to the two of them to provide legal aid to those in need.
Hasta chose the location of the legal aid near the Holy Wind Church. Originally, Lecturer Foulen wanted to locate the location near the workhouse, after all, there were more people in need of help there.
But this proposal was directly rejected by Hasta.
Workhouse
There was no way a place like that could be safer than the area near the Holy Wind Church.
Although Old Storm Pigeon can be very irritable at times, he will never stand aside when it's time to take action, and he still feels very safe.
Moreover, if you encounter irresistible force, you can still shout His honorable name and seek His help.
The clergy of the nearby Holy Wind Church knew the purpose of Lecturer Hastur and Foren's visit, so they specially came to provide them with some help.
Among the two temporarily rented rooms, Professor Hasta and Foren each chose one as the place where they would work today.
Hastur sat in a chair with his hands placed naturally on the table. Beside him was a cup of Earl Grey tea and his heavy cane.
After adjusting his mentality a little, Hastur lowered the black curtain, his eyes sharpened, his expression serious, he looked at the door of the room, and said in a deep voice: "Come in."
When he first came here to serve as a legal aid provider, it was easy for people to doubt his professionalism because of his smiling face, gentle attitude, and slightly immature appearance.
Male help seekers are fine. They will implicitly express that they will refer to the suggestions, and then line up at lecturer Follen's door.
Some female clients are more troublesome. Generally, those who need legal aid have pain in their hearts that they want to vent.
When facing Hastur, they naturally treated him as a listener and a bucket for their tears.
Someone was crying heart-wrenchingly one second, and begging Hastur to hug her the next second.
Others approached Hastur quietly while talking about their tragic experiences.
This made him feel very uncomfortable, but he didn't want to say anything harsh or chase the person away. In short, he felt very uncomfortable.
Later, he discussed with Lecturer Follen and decided to draw a black curtain in front of the table to block the view of those seeking help.
This method is really good. It not only blocks those distrustful gazes, but also saves a lot of unnecessary entanglements. It also increases confidentiality, making those seeking help more willing to reveal their true feelings.
After waiting for about five seconds, the first person seeking help today walked in.
Hastur also couldn't see the other person clearly and could only guess their identities from their words and actions.
The person seeking help today should be a middle-aged man in his forties, and his concern is about property distribution.
He has three children, two boys and one girl. The eldest son is 23 years old, the youngest son is 11 years old, and the daughter is 17 years old and has not yet married.
Originally, his family conditions were just above the poverty line. Although the family was not very rich materially, they had a good relationship with each other.
But when he made a lot of money last year because of luck and vision, subtle changes took place in his originally happy family.
The eldest son is married and has a child. Logically, he should be the best choice to inherit the property, but the eldest son's mother is no longer alive, and the youngest son's mother is his current wife.
Regarding the division of property, she naturally wanted to fight for her son.
The solution she proposed was to divide the family. She would let her eldest son and his family move to another place, give him a sum of money, and then the rest of the property would be inherited by her son.
The eldest son's family was naturally unwilling, and he even threatened his stepmother many times, saying that if he could not inherit the property, he would not care about brotherly love.
The implication is that he might do something cruel to his younger brother.
This is not uncommon when faced with a huge property dispute. As long as other potential inheritors are eliminated, the eldest son will be the only heir.
The thing that the person seeking help is most afraid of now is the tragedy of his sons killing each other, so he has been hesitant to make a decision.
Hasta listened to the middle-aged man's story silently and had an idea in his mind.
Things like this are actually very common, and are more obvious in aristocratic families.
Fortunately, Loen law only protects the inheritance rights of the eldest son. How much the other descendants can get depends on how generous the eldest son is.
There is no legal problem in kicking others out even if they are not given a penny.
However, such behavior is very indecent. Generally speaking, no noble would do such a thing. On the contrary, they would give their brothers a portion of their considerable property to show their generosity.
Another point is that the stepmother cannot directly interfere with the distribution of the nobles' property. No matter how favored she is, her children cannot inherit the title unless there are no other suitable heirs before her children.
Ordinary civilians do not have much property, and generally there will not be much property to inherit. What they may even inherit is a pile of debts. In this case, it is difficult for property disputes to arise.
The cases that occur more frequently are actually about the support of the elderly.
Chapter 37 An Old Man, a Story
"What outcome do you want most?"
"Of course, our family can live in harmony and no longer have barriers and disputes over money. I also hope that my eldest son can be kinder and treat his younger brother better."
"Then you are willing to leave all the family property to your eldest son to inherit it, in exchange for his taking care of your younger son in the future?"
"...I no longer dare to expect him to have such a kind heart. This is also what I have been struggling with."
"Then you prefer to hand over the property to your young son?"
"He's still too young."
Having said this, Hastur already understood the middle-aged man's thoughts.
He would rather distribute his property to his younger son, but because his older son may act impulsively, he will get into trouble.
It is not difficult to solve his troubles, just let him postpone the inheritance of property until his younger son grows up.
"You can divide your property into two parts, large and small, and then find an excellent notary to complete the notarization and protect the property for you. Wait ten years or after your death, and then let the notary public handle the property according to your wishes. Make allocations.”
Hastur offered his own little advice, even though it was a bit unfair to the eldest son.
But this is not something that a lawyer like him should consider. He is just protecting their employer's interests within the scope permitted by Loen's laws.
If the person who comes here to seek help from him today is the eldest son of a middle-aged man, then he will try his best to fight for his eldest son's interests within the scope of Loen's Law.
In this aspect, lawyers' attitude is still very equal.
The middle-aged man hesitated and said, "But shouldn't the inheritance rights of property belong exclusively to the eldest son? That's what the noble men do."
"First of all, you are not a noble, and there is no title in your family that needs to be inherited. Secondly, the Loen Law has different requirements for nobles and commoners in this regard. Finally, there are certain prerequisites to ensure the priority of inheritance for the eldest son, even if it is a noble gentleman .”
Hasta explained: "If the eldest son is poor in all aspects, for example, he is extremely unfilial, has a bad reputation, and people have a low opinion of him, then he can be replaced by a better heir."
The Loen Law also leaves a certain amount of leeway for the nobles in this regard.
As for civilians like middle-aged men, their property distribution is not worthy of being truly protected by the law.
To put it another way, middle-aged men have greater freedom than nobles when it comes to distributing property.
"Then, if the notary office embezzles my property in the future, what should I do to protect my rights and interests?" The middle-aged man has already made some moves.
At this point, Hasta can't guarantee anything. Even if the money is deposited in the bank, it may be stolen.
"No matter what industry there are, there are trustworthy and untrustworthy people. I can only hope that you can find a notary who is truly fair and just."
The middle-aged man was silent for a long time, then stood up, took off his hat and saluted: "Thank you for your guidance."
"Being able to help you is the greatest compliment to me." Hasta responded with a smile.
"I think I should pay a certain amount of gold for this.
As a reward, but this seems to be an insult to your noble character."
The middle-aged man suddenly said this when he was leaving the house.
"..."
Hastur looked calm and was speechless.
After a minute of rest, a second caller walked in from outside.
The voice sounded like that of a woman. Her trouble was the divorce issue of her husband cheating on her.
This problem is not difficult to solve, either divorce or continue to make do.
Of course, if the situation is intense, it may turn into a family homicide.
This lady no longer wants to continue living with her current husband and wants to use this matter to obtain more financial compensation for herself and her children. This is a very reasonable request and is also protected by the Law of Loen.
But the two did not reach an agreement on the issue of financial compensation.
The husband believed that the financial compensation demanded by his wife was too much, while the wife believed that this was a reasonable request from the betrayed party.
After several discussions ended unhappily, the husband directly made harsh words, either accepting the amount of compensation he proposed or going to court to sue him.
After recounting her experience, the lady asked in a low voice: "I heard that if I really wanted to go to court to sue him, the judge would not side with me. Instead, he would think that the amount of compensation I requested was too excessive."
Hasta tapped the fingers of his right hand on the table to signal the lady to pay more attention. After she waited quietly for a while, Hasta spoke:
"The Loen Law will indeed protect the interests of the cheated party in the marriage, and the amount of compensation will be appropriately increased during divorce due to this incident."
“However, the law does not specify the amount of this amount, nor does it detail the fraction of the property. Normally, the two parties would conduct multiple mediations and then compromise on a compensation range acceptable to both parties. "
"If your husband is never willing to accept mediation, it will be difficult for you to obtain adequate compensation from him in the end, even if it is what you deserve."
In this matter, Loen Law is more in the interests of men, because cheating is not uncommon among Loen nobles.
But the way aristocratic couples get along is different from that of commoners. Even if they find out that the other party has cheated and betrayed, they may still continue to live together and then play their own lives.
At this time, cheating can hardly be a reasonable request for more financial compensation.