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Q: I recently played a round of golf. I hit a ball that rolled into a backyard along the fairway. The owner took my ball and refused to give it back to me. He also told me I would be trespassing if I ever came on his property to retrieve a ball and he would call the police. Is this right? Can he keep my golf ball just because it was hit into his yard?

A: As far as the law is concerned, you are the owner of the golf ball and you did not lose your rights simply because it rolled into another’s yard. On the other hand, the neighbor is correct that you would be trespassing if you came onto his property without his permission. So where does this leave you? As a practical matter, it is a stand-off. You can’t force him to return it or go on his property, but he has no legal right to keep it. Hopefully, you could work things out by talking, but if you can’t, you could sue him in small claims court for the value of the ball. My guess is that he has acquired a nice collection of balls from people who did not sue. Sometimes asserting legal rights is just not worth it.

Q:My father’s will divides his property equally between me and my sister. He had a life insurance policy that names me as the sole beneficiary. My sister says the full amount of the policy counts as part of my share of his estate. Is this right?

A: Your sister is incorrect. Your father’s will divides the property in his estate at the time of his death. Life insurance is not part of the estate when there is a named beneficiary, and it is not divided according to the will. In other words, you receive all the proceeds of the life insurance and a full one-half of the remaining property.

Q: have a student loan from when I lived in New Jersey. They have threatened to sue me in Texas and told me they will garnish my wages. Can they sue me here? Can they garnish my wages? I thought there was no wage garnishment in Texas?

A: You may be sued where you live, regardless of where the contract arose. Moving to Texas from New Jersey does not get you out of the agreements you entered into while you lived there.

You are generally correct that Texas does not permit wage garnishment. There are, however, a few exceptions. Wage garnishment is authorized for child support, certain taxes and student loans. Prior to using wage garnishment to collect a student loan the lender must give you an opportunity to make arrangements to pay the debt. That sounds like what is happening and I suggest you take advantage of this opportunity and avoid a lawsuit and wage garnishment.

Q:I am 17 and live with my boyfriend as his wife. I want to know what I need to do to legally establish a common law marriage.

A: There is nothing you can do. A person under the age of eighteen cannot have a common law marriage.

Q:My mother owes several credit card bills. She is currently in a nursing home and really has nothing except her Social Security payments. How do we stop debt collectors from calling and harassing her?

A: If the person calling is a debt collector, that is someone collecting a debt for another, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act can help. This is a federal law that regulates debt collectors. Under this law, you can stop all further communication by sending the debt collector a letter demanding it stop. Send the letter certified so you have proof it was received. After that, the debt collector basically must stop all further communication. He may sue and try to collect on a judgment, but based on what you say, your mother has no assets that would be affected by a judgment. Most companies do not throw good money after bad by suing people with no assets.

Richard Aldermann, a consumer advocate popularly known as “the People’s Lawyer,” is a professor at the University of Houston Law School in Houston. His column appears weekly in the Victoria Advocate. Write to him at UH Law Center, Houston, Texas 77204-6391. He also maintains a Web page at www.peopleslawyer.net.