Should we get rid of the "legal" tag?

Question

I recently discovered we have a legal tag. I feel like this tag is something that doesn't belong here. This is a parenting site, not a legal advice site. While I know that legal issues come up in parenting, especially when it comes to divorce, I don't feel that we should be even trying to answer legal questions. We aren't lawyers (or at least I'm not, and I suspect most people here aren't). Even if we were, I doubt most of us know where a given user lives and know the laws there well enough to give an answer. On top of that, even if we could answer these questions, wouldn't really be useful for future visitors (because people live in different places and laws also change with time).

I feel like we should get rid of this tag. Keeping it around at least shows some level of acceptance of those types of questions. Should we get rid of it?

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Answer 1

Tricky. I could possibly be convinced otherwise, but I think that it's OK for us to have legal.

Even Law.SE will only give general comments rather than specific case advice, and we certainly won't go further than that. But, I don't think the following are unreasonable:

• This is a legal issue that will require a lawyer, but [some general research into the laws for your state/country]
• I've had a similar experience with this situation [here is how it turned out]. A lawyer will be able to give you the best advice about your specifics.
• That situation sounds very tough, and may even be illegal -- consult a lawyer about that. In the meantime, here are some coping strategies to help your child get through it...

There are times when legal questions come up as a parent, around divorce and custody, obligations of a school, and so on. Ideally, this is somewhat tangential to the actual issue:

• What are important legal and financial steps for new parents? is OK, in my opinion
• The answers to Should I cancel child support? are a little borderline, but most explore the ethics of co-parenting and the rights of a child

If a question is only about the legality of a situation, and doesn't get into talking to kids, preparing for children (e.g. write a will), or parenting aspects of a legal situation, then it should be migrated (and we've done so for a number of questions).

In other words, if legal is the only tag, it either needs retagging or is very likely to be off-topic.