43 Little-Known Laws And Legal Loopholes That Are Surprisingly Useful To Know

A lot of states have a law that says if you refuse a breathalizer, your license is automatically suspended for a period of time (90 days, 6 months, etc).

But, if you are drunk driving, the penalty is way worse, usually you lose your license (plus possible jail time, etc)

It is very difficult to get convicted of drunk driving without a 'chemical test' (Breathalyzer)

So, if you get pulled over while you are drunk driving in one of those states, cut your losses and refuse the breathalyzer.

TL;DR: stupid law tries to force people to submit to breathalyzer, but actually gives people an 'out' to not get a DUI conviction.

This isn't really a loophole, but its something that TV most people consistently get wrong.

Pressing Criminal Charges. You don't have a right to do that. You can't "press charges" against someone for a crime they've committed. In fact, its not up to you at all even if you are the victim of said crime. It is *entirely* up to the prosecutor's office to determine if there is enough evidence to proceed with the case against the person. They will take the victims/witnesses/police testimony into account but in the end the decision rests with them and only them.

TL;DR: The decision to bring or not bring criminal charges is not up to you.

Adverse Possession!

This is a really complicated doctrine, but to put it really simply: Let's say you and your neighbor have big unfenced yards. Somewhere between your two properties there's a nice Cherry tree. One day you get a little Golden Retriever puppy and you want to build a fence. So you build that fence and include the Cherry Tree on your side.

In reality, that Cherry tree is on the neighbor's side of the property line. BUT after 10 years of that fence being there (depends on state), it's yours. You have now adversely possessed that land.

Someone you're married to can't testify against you about something you told them, even if they wanted to, so feel free to tell your spouse about that time you did something illegal.

However, someone you're married to can choose whether or not they want to testify against you about something they actually saw you doing, so only let your spouse watch you do something illegal if you really trust them.

The guy who paid $16 dollars for a $330 000 house using a loop hole that said something along the lines of if a house was abandoned and no one contested it and you moved in and lived in the house for 3 years you had ownership.

Massachusetts has two ages of consent, 18 if you're a virgin, 16 if you're not. Also Self-defense is not a valid legal defense.

In Australia if you immediately contest the results of a breathalyzer test with police, you can go to a nearby hospital for a blood test within one hour of being tested (can't drive yourself though). A friend was driven there but on the way ate two 12-inch subs and drank a litre of Gatorade. The result showed a significant enough difference between the reading and the blood test for it to be thrown out in court.

A contract signed with a minor is voidable by the minor, but not the other party. Would have been fun to take advantage of that as a kid.

California has some interesting towing laws.

You can park on someone's private property for 24 hours after the police have been notified if your vehicle is not considered safe to operate on a highway. The vehicle must also not be a camper or dwelling. Unless the property has a sign which must have 4 specific things. It must say it is private property. That vehicles will be towed. The number for the traffic enforcement agency. And the number for the towing company to be used. If it is missing one of those it isn't considered valid.

So if someone's property doesn't have that specific type of sign, park and remove a tire and throw in the trunk. You got yourself 24 hours at least.

Also if you show up and your car is in the process of being towed (they are putting it up onto a trailer) the tow truck operator must release your car on the spot and you can only be charged up to half of the cost of the tow.

There is a legal defence in Australian common law called the change of position defence. It basically says that if you accidentally receive a payment and use it to change your position, you won't be required to pay it back. It only works though if you spend the money on something that can't be traced. It also has to be something that amounts to a 'change of position' (i.e. can't spend it on bills). So if you're in Australia, and cash every magically appears in your back account and you don't know why, book a trip to Vegas immediately.

If you save earth from an asteroid, you never have to pay taxes ever again. Lawyered.

If you put a grate over your fire pit it's now an outdoor BBQ, and fire bans don't apply.

Apparently there's a bunch involving taxes but im not rich enough to know about them.

In the UK the Monarch can't technically break the Law...Or at least she can't be prosecuted for it.

In Scotland, the Social Work department can apply for a Child Protection Order to take your kids off you whenever they want. In practice, the reasons they give for taking said kids aren't required to be backed up with evidence. Tis nonsense.

If you fail to praise Kim Il-sung, you can avoid being forced to work in a salt mine for the rest of your life by not living in North Korea.

In the UK. Heard a story where a guy went through 3 successive speed cameras hence got 3 tickets. He went into the police station and said I didn't slow down so technically it was only one offence. He got away with it and only got one ticket.

Private student loan debt is not dischargeable in bankruptcy; however, it is treated like any other contract. If you don't pay private student loans, private student loan lenders (like Sallie Mae) only have the same rights as other creditors like credit card companies, and their debts come off your credit reports in 7.5 years just like any other bad debt.

NOTE: This only applies to PRIVATE student loans, not Direct loans, not FFELP loans, Stafford or other kinds of government-backed loans. Also, this is of course not legal advice and Redditors should seek the advise of retained counsel before deciding not to pay private student debt.

You can move someone's property if it has no fixed address.

If you exceed the income limit for a Roth IRA account, you can make a non-deductible contribution to a traditional IRA and then roll that money over to the Roth IRA, thereby circumventing the income limit. Granted, the rollover is a taxable event, but assuming you don't already have money sitting in the traditional IRA from before, the taxable amount should be low or zero as you're rolling the funds over soon after the contribution and therefore likely have very little gain.