Q: im 17 tunring 18 in two months, will i be able to sue my aunt for emotional abuse and spreading rumors when im 18?
She has made me feel like a burden to everyone, she lies and tells me that im over reacting. Recently my dog passed away, her lungs collapsed and she had bruising from something, the first person she said it was , was me. I know i never did anything to my dog but she said she "thinks" it's my fault. She then proceeded to tell everyone that she thinks someone told me to kill the dog. These are serious accusations, and I dont take these accusations lightly at all. three people live at the house, me and my grandmother and my grandpa, my aunt doesnt live with us so why would she make these crazy assumptions? can i sue her for making a serious accusation? when we went to the vet she lied and told them that she ran outside and came back hurt, we both know that didnt happen, we actually have no idea what happened to her. She told me that if i told the cops that she lied about what happened to the dog they can take her to jail, is this true? What can i do when im 18?
A: You can certainly sue someone for defamation / slander if they are making false statements about you. In any defamation case, however, you have to prove that the false statements caused you damages. Moreover, unless your aunt has any assets worth pursuing, a successful lawsuit against her might result in nothing more than a paper judgment. Here's an article I found online which you might find helpful, https://www.justia.com/injury/defamation/
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