Indiana Personal Injury Lawyers » Electrocution http://www.youngandyoungin.com/blog Useful information for Indiana residents who have been injured in accidents Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:45:25 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 Do I need a Will if I Die As A Result Of Negligence? http://www.youngandyoungin.com/blog/index.php/wrongful-death/do-i-need-a-will-if-i-die-as-a-result-of-negligence/ http://www.youngandyoungin.com/blog/index.php/wrongful-death/do-i-need-a-will-if-i-die-as-a-result-of-negligence/#comments Sun, 31 Jan 2010 15:00:48 +0000 John Young http://www.youngandyoungin.com/blog/?p=258 If you are killed as a result of someone’s negligence, what happens to your will?  The first thing you need to know is that if you die, and you have a will, an estate will be opened to administer your estate.  This means that your Will is filed with the Court in the county where you lived and died.  A person is appointed as an administrator.  The administrator collects your assets, accounts for those assets, protects for those assets, pays your debts due after you die, pays all taxes due, and then distributes the assets to the persons you identified in your will.

If you die as a result of someone else’s negligence, such as in a car wreck with a drunk driver, a highway accident with a semi tractor trailer, a motorcycle accident, a construction accident, you are electrocuted, or burned or in any type of automobile accident, and you have a will, the process is the same as described in the first paragraph.

However, a second estate may be opened as well.  This is called a wrongful death estate.  It is not really an estate at all.  Along time ago, if you died as a result of another person’s negligence, your there was no compensation (remember, compensation simply means “to make up for") for the harm caused to your family.  This meant that if you died and you were the sole bread winner in your house, your spouse and children would be on their own. Most families fell into poverty and worse.  Hoosiers saw a huge problem with this and passed the Indiana Wrongful death statutes.  The legislature knew that a deceased person could not bring the claim in their own name (deceased people cannot legally do anything, for obvious reasons), so they had to come up with an entity which could bring the claim.  They settled on what they called a "Wrongful Death Estate" or WDE.  This works well, but it is a little confusing.  It is confusing because the WDE does not change how the estate described in paragraph one works.  The funds which are paid in compensation for the wrongful death do not become part of the regular estate.  The wrongful death statutes describe how the funds generated by the WDE claim are distributed.  Usually the funds are for the surviving spouse and dependent children, to make up for the loss these folks endure as a result of the wrongful death.

At Young and Young, we have more than fifty five years of experience helping families who have to deal with the tragedy of losing a loved one.  We have read and used the Indiana Wrongful Death Statutes to help families survive the economic hardships caused by losing a loved one.  Please call us today.

]]> http://www.youngandyoungin.com/blog/index.php/wrongful-death/do-i-need-a-will-if-i-die-as-a-result-of-negligence/feed/ 0 How Does the Social Security Administration Decide If I Am Disabled? http://www.youngandyoungin.com/blog/index.php/drunk-driver/how-does-the-social-security-administration-decide-if-i-am-disabled/ http://www.youngandyoungin.com/blog/index.php/drunk-driver/how-does-the-social-security-administration-decide-if-i-am-disabled/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:45:03 +0000 John Young http://www.youngandyoungin.com/blog/?p=200 I meet with people who need Social Security Disability Benefits two to three times a week.  Usually, they have already applied, and have been turned down.  They are disappointed and frustrated.  They worry about how they are going to take care of their families.  Almost everyone says, in one way or another, “I know a guy who gets the benefits and he is not even disabled, and I can’t work, how is that fair?”  I always say, let’s not worry about the other guy, let’s worry about you.  I then tell them about the rules the Social Security Administration uses to determine if a person is disabled. 

Most people who need disability benefits have been injured in one way or another. Some have been in car accidents with drunk drivers.  Others have been injured in a constructions accident or been in a highway accident with a semi tractor trailer.  Motorcycle accidents, vehicle accidents, electrocution, burns, it does not matter.  The injuries can be far ranging.  They include spinal cord injuries or back injuries resulting in paralysis such as paraplegia, quadriplegia, disc herniation, disc injuries, and brain injuries. Some people have heart problems, breathing problems, psychological problems.  It does not matter why the applicant has the problem.  What is important is that the person can prove, with objective medical evidence (we have discussed objective medical evidence in previous blog), they have the problem they claim to have. 

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will follow a five step process to determine if you are disabled: 

1. Have you worked since you claim to have been disabled? 

2. Do you have a medically determinable impairment? 

3. If you have an impairment, is it severe, and does it meeting a listing? 

4. If you do not meet a listing do you have the residual functional capacity to work your former job(s). 

5. If you can’t do your past work, can you do any other type of work? 

This five step process is set out in the Code of Federal regulations at sections 404.1520 and following for Title Two Disability, and 416.920 and following for Title Sixteen SSI.   If you have one of the listed illnesses, injuries or disease, and it is severe enough, you will be found to be disabled.  The listings can be found 20 CFR Part 404, Subpart P, Appendix 1.  CFR stands for Code of Federal Regulations.  Type 20 CFR Part 404, Subpart P, Appendix 1  into any search engine and the listings should pop up. The listings are broken down into 14 categories which include Musculoskeletal, Special Senses and speech, Respiratory,  Cardiovascular, Digestive, Genitourinary, Hematological, Skin, Endocrine, Neurological, Mental, Cancer, Immune System.

I have 21 years experience with these listings.  I have represented hundreds of claimants.  I have personally represented claimants in over 400 hearings.  I handle the cases myself.  When you hire me, I do the work.  I don’t hand you off to a paralegal.  When you call, you get me, or I call you back.  I make house calls and represent people all over the State of Indiana.  Give me a call. I can help.

]]> http://www.youngandyoungin.com/blog/index.php/drunk-driver/how-does-the-social-security-administration-decide-if-i-am-disabled/feed/ 0 What Affect does Bankruptcy have on my Injury Claim http://www.youngandyoungin.com/blog/index.php/accident-attorneys/what-affect-does-bankruptcy-have-on-my-injury-claim/ http://www.youngandyoungin.com/blog/index.php/accident-attorneys/what-affect-does-bankruptcy-have-on-my-injury-claim/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:30:53 +0000 John Young http://www.youngandyoungin.com/blog/?p=95 This entry is the third in a series of blogs dealing with the overall effect of an injury claim on a person’s ability to work, and lost wages.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be Peyton Manning or Dwight Freeny?  Of the many things they have to be thankful for is that they have earned enough money that if they get hurt (and that is likely in the NFL) they will not have to worry too much about lost wages.  Unfortunately the rest of us are not so lucky.  Say you are in a car wreck with a drunk driver, or you are hit by a semi tractor trailer in a highway accident, or you are hurt in a construction  accident, like a fall or electrocution, and say also you are severely injured, such as being paralyzed, having an amputation, burns, spinal cord injury, having a brain injury, a back injury, blindness, and you do not have a lot of savings.  You might have to consider filing bankruptcy before your claim is resolved.  What does that do to your claim?

Once you file bankruptcy, your creditors can no longer harass you.  However, in filing bankruptcy you must list all of your assets.  One of your assets is the injury claim.  This is an asset because it has potential value.  What I mean is that if you are properly compensated, you will be paid money to make up for your injuries.  The claim, as an asset, become part of your bankruptcy.  The trustee of your bankruptcy case will look at your claim and try to determine if it is a good claim, or a claim that is not likely to merit compensation.  If the trustee thinks the chances of recovering compensation are slim then the Trustee has the ability to abandon the injury claim.  What the trustee is saying when he /she abandons a claim is that it is not worth the time to pursue, and therefore he/she abandons it. You are then free to pursue the claim as if the bankruptcy did not occur.

If the Trustee thinks the claim has merit, he/she will hire a lawyer to give them an opinion about the value of the claim and to pursue the matter.  Usually the trustee will hire the same accident attorney or injury attorney as you hired.  The trustee will be the named plaintiff (in your place) and will have all the decision making powers.  The trustee can order the case settled or order it to go to trial.  No matter how the case is resolved, all the money will go into the bankruptcy to be distributed according to the plan of the bankruptcy.  The overall impact of the bankruptcy is that you give up control of the claim and of the settlement.  If there is money left over after the bankruptcy claims have been paid, then you will be entitled to that money.

It may not seem fair, as you were injured and the injury caused you file bankruptcy, but being free of the harassment of creditors has great value.  At Young and Young, we have handled many injury claims for people who must also file bankruptcy.  Give us a call, we can help.

]]> http://www.youngandyoungin.com/blog/index.php/accident-attorneys/what-affect-does-bankruptcy-have-on-my-injury-claim/feed/ 0