New Hampshire State Laws

New Hampshire Law

New Hampshire might have the most diverse state culture of all the fifty states. Irish ancestry tops the long list with nearly one quarter of the entire state’s heritage. English and French each take about a fifth of the population’s ancestry. Also New Hampshire currently has the largest French and French-Canadian of any other state. The rest of New Hampshire is made up of Italian, German, French-Canadian, Scottish, Polish, American, Scots-Irish, Swedish, and Portuguese ancestry.

New Hampshire residents once immigrated from French-Canada and Ireland and became mill workers. These mill workers established the milling towns that still are present today, including Manchester. These townships that became towns are now governed by New Hampshire state legislature. The state has created laws where federal laws do not apply and include bankruptcy laws, divorce laws, labor laws, gun laws, expungement laws, and others.

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is designed to assist those who have founds themselves in massive amounts of debt rather quickly. Many of these situations include recent divorces, losses of important clients, and long-term illnesses that have resulted in hospitalization. In 2005 the federal government created new laws to decrease those who do not need the bankruptcy system and abuse it.

Despite the ability to use bankruptcy effectively, bankruptcy cannot eliminate the debts of alimony, fraudulent debts, child support, some kinds of cash advances, student loans, pay back taxes, fines, penalties, or any kind of purchase made of five hundred fifty thousand dollars in a single ninety-day period of time. There are two different kinds of bankruptcy that are currently available for personal use: Chapter Seven bankruptcy and Chapter Thirteen bankruptcy.

Divorce

New Hampshire requires that individuals applying for divorce in the state first be state residents for a minimum of one year prior to filing. Each divorce case is to be filed to the county in which the individual resides. Those who reside in different counties than their spouses may file in either their own county or the county of their spouses. Only one spouse is required to file for divorce in New Hampshire. If a divorce petition is filed to the incorrect county, the case will be dismissed.

Expungement

New Hampshire has specific cases where expungement is possible. These cases only include prowling and loitering. Only when an individual has not been given the opportunity to explain his or her situation for the prowling or loitering incident is he or she able to expunge the incident. Felony offenses and misdemeanor offenses cannot be expunged from any records. Traffic offenses also are not eligible for expungement.

Firearms

In New Hampshire citizens are not required to have licenses in order to possess rifles, shotguns, and handguns. Those who have had past felony convictions are not permitted to possess any kind of firearm. This includes obtaining, controlling, and owning firearms.

Sick Leave

New Hampshire law does not require that employers provide their employees with sick leave nor does any federal law. Businesses and companies, however, have the right to provide sick leave for their employees. Many choose to provide paid time off instead of sick leave to eliminate system abuse.

New Hampshire Law Articles