I get asked the question all of the time, why are the laws different in each state, and, why do people need to get different lawyers when they have legal issues in other states.
The answer goes back to the founding of our country, we have always had a federal system, meaning that individual states make most of their own laws, and, to a large extent govern themselves. Our country was formed not as a single entity, but, as a union of states which existed as colonies decades, in some cases more than a century before the United States became independent. Virginia and Massachusetts were founded over a hundred and fifty years before the U.S. Constitution was signed, at the time of signing they and the other 11 states were largely self governing, and wanted to keep it that way. While state laws have much in common, murder, theft are illegal everywhere, and you can get divorced in any state, each state sets it’s own penalties for crimes, and, it’s own procedures for divorce, eviction, civil disputes, and other cases. I have practiced law for 30 years here in Minnesota, I have a pretty good idea of how criminal law, divorce, eviction, civil disputes are handled, but, I do not dare to try to give people in different states advice, first, because it is against the rules of my profession, and, second, I will not know what I am talking about because I do not know the rules of that state.
Bottom line, if you have a legal issue in a state, get advice from a lawyer in that state, and, avoid online sources that may be from a different state than the one you need help in.
Ed