The Best Time to Begin Estate Planning

The Best Time to Begin Estate Planning

A necessary and important life step, estate planning is the process of preparing the transfer and allocation of your assets and wealth in the unfortunate case of death or incapacitation. If you have wealth in the form of assets, bank accounts, pensions, life insurance, real estate, cars or other personal belongings, then now is the time to begin preparing for the future. Whether old or young, sick or well, rich or poor, it is important to ensure that when the time comes, your belongings and those dear to you are taken care of. It is advised, however, that estate planning be done while still relatively young and in good health, because whether we accept it or not, the future is very uncertain.

Although the time is always right to begin estate planning, there are significant life points at which these preparations may be especially vital. You should probably begin planning if:

1. You’re Young, Single and in Good Health

Ideally, this is the best time to start estate planning. Though death is probably unfathomable … Read the rest

Personal Injury Settlements and Paying Medical Bills | Patterson Bray Law

Personal Injury Settlements and Paying Medical Bills | Patterson Bray Law

If you are involved in a personal injury case, chances are you’ve been saddled with a great deal of medical bills. You may be waiting awhile if you’re waiting on an insurance company to pay out your fair settlement. How can you cover your current costs in the meantime? The following tips can help you pay your medical bills until the settlement comes through.

1. Seek a Lawsuit Loan

If you have a strong case, it’s possible that you could receive a lawsuit loan from a lender. Having your lawyer speak to the validity of your case might make such an individual more likely to help you and approve your request.

2. Have Your Attorney Negotiate an Out-of-Court Settlement

The process of taking your claim to trial can be long and drawn-out. When you work with an attorney, like a personal injury lawyer  relies on, he or she may guide you through the process of settling with the insurance company outside of court. In so doing, you may get … Read the rest

Comparing Civil Suits to Criminal Charges | Patterson Bray

Comparing Civil Suits to Criminal Charges

There are significant differences in how civil cases and criminal cases are adjudicated.

For starters, civil suits are tort law cases where one private party is claiming they have been a victim of the neglect of another individual. This can be a personal injury situation or a contractual dispute. Contract disputes can be both oral implied agreements and written definitive agreements, complete with signatures and exact language. Civil suits can involve governmental agencies. The plaintiff’s attorney in a civil case is the prosecutor in the tort matter, but if the civil case reveals activity that is against codified law, then the state may still step in and apply the criminal charges. Criminal charges may be brought by an individual, but the case is actually prosecuted by the state or federal government.

Burden of Proof in Civil Cases

The burden of proving guilt in a civil tort case is the duty of the plaintiff’s attorney. However, there is still a major difference in determining the final outcome of the claim.

Civil cases are decided by … Read the rest

Truck Rollovers and Personal Injury Settlements | Patterson Bray Law

Truck Rollovers and Personal Injury Settlements

When a truck rolls over, the results can be catastrophic or fatal. A tractor-trailer can weigh 20 times more than a passenger car. There’s also the cargo spillage factor that can create a dangerous high speed obstacle course for other drivers on the highway.

Common Causes of Truck Rollover Accidents

As per the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), about 327,000 large trucks are involved in accidents every year and an estimated 3,500 people lose their lives in them. About 15,000 of those accidents involve rollovers. The FMCSA has concluded that nearly half of all large truck rollover crashes involve the failure of drivers to adjust their speed to road curves. Other causes involve:

• Drowsy or fatigued driving
• Distracted driving like using a mobile phone or navigational device
• Over-steering or over-correcting
• Load shifts or improper loading

The Right to Compensation

Every trucker on the road has a duty to operate their rig in a safe and careful manner so as not to endanger the safety of others around them. Some truck drivers breach that … Read the rest

Tax Issues Associated with Estate Planning | Patterson Bray Law

Tax Issues Associated with Estate Planning

An estate planning attorney is extremely useful to help you deal with the issues that arise when a family member suddenly passes away or requires intensive medical care. The attorney can provide services to facilitate asset distribution, minimizing tax fees and clarifying the final wishes of the family member. The Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, defines an estate as the net worth of a person at a specific time–in some cases at time of death. This includes the final amount of someone’s assets, legal rights and interest in property (real or intellectual).

Transferring property after someone’s passing can be difficult if they did not hold a title to the property. In some cases, a beneficiary can be allowed by a lender to inherit property. Usually a lender requires they be paid the full amount of the loan upon death of the property owner and typically the lender will not refinance a loan on property given to someone in the form of inheritance. It is highly advised to consult with an experienced Estate and Probate … Read the rest

Estate Planning with Your Children in Mind | Patterson Bray Law

Estate Planning Lawyer Tennessee

Estate planning is something that every person needs to keep in mind, regardless of their family structure, age, or even their asset value. Estate planning is more than delegating and splitting up your belongings, it is about ensuring that your family will be well prepared in the event of your death. It is highly recommended to consult with an experienced professional such as the Estate Planning Attorney  locals have been trusting for years.

What is Estate Planning?

The process of creating legal documents that allocate your goods to your family and friends is called estate planning. There are many upsides to having an estate plan. You can protect your family by creating a last will so that they will know what your final wishes were and can properly follow them. It can also protect them by establishing your wishes for guardianship of your children, beneficiaries for your belongings and even select an individual in case you are incapacitated and cannot make your own decisions regarding your healthcare. Estate planning can establish a trust fund in order … Read the rest

Why you should speak to an attorney in your personal injury case

Why you should speak to an attorney in your personal injury case

We’ve all heard those silly jokes about attorneys. Lots of people like to say a lot of things about why you should or shouldn’t hire an attorney. But if you have been injured and suspect that you may have a personal injury case on your hands, it is important to at least speak with one. To break it down, here are four reasons why:

1. The Law is Complicated

There is a reason why attorneys go to law school, and there is a reason why they are required to pass the bar. The law is complex, and the specifics vary on a state by state and city by city basis. Effectively pursuing a personal injury lawsuit involves hours of tedious paperwork and difficult negotiations. Even simply determining how viable a personal injury claim is can take hours of legal research and resources that only an attorney would have at their disposal.

2. Navigating the legal system alone is dangerous

The law isn’t just complicated. There can be serious repercussions from … Read the rest

Can Airbags Injure You in a Car Accident?

Can Airbags Injure You in a Car Accident?

There has been an alarming increase in the number of auto accidents resulting in airbag injuries during the past decade. Sometimes the protection devices deploy without impact and are essentially the actual cause of the accident. The number of vehicle models that have been recalled due to this problem has also increased drastically in the past year after the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration began investigating the specific accidents. At issue are various Takata airbags that are now known to have been installed in a very wide variety of vehicle models for practically every car manufacturer.

This is not to mention the injuries that occur when airbags do release properly after being impacted by a vehicle. Airbags effectively explode when they engage, releasing fast and with considerable force. When the passenger is turned in a vulnerable position, the final result can be injuries to the face, arms, and neck area, potentially causing central nervous system problems that can prove catastrophic in some instances. However, pinpointing that an injury was caused by an … Read the rest

The World’s Largest Airbag Recall — Are You Affected?

The World’s Largest Airbag Recall — Are You Affected?

Takata, one of the world’s largest airbag suppliers, is settling for $1 billion after pleading guilty to distributing defective and fatal airbags.  Even with a minor fender-bender, these airbags can explode and fire bits of shrapnel into the cabin.  These airbags have been the cause of at least 17 known deaths worldwide.  These airbags are incredibly dangerous, and what’s worse, is that millions of cars have had their airbags recalled, but many people don’t know!

Please look through this list to see if your model has been affected, or look up your VIN to see the specific recalls here: https://vinrcl.safercar.gov/vin/

 … Read the rest

Estate Planning – Protecting Your Assets

Estate Planning – Protecting Your Assets

One of the issues that is often overlooked in the estate planning process is the protection of assets from third parties.  Most of the effort in estate planning is around making sure that the right heir gets the right asset at the right time.  What many of us do is forget to make sure that those assets are protected so that they are actually there when the time comes to pass them to the heirs. Let’s take a look at some of the basics around how to protect assets so that we actually have those assets to pass on.

How can Your Assets be Vulnerable?

One of the biggest ways that your assets could be vulnerable to a third party is through some sort of personal injury claim, as an estate planning attorney Leawood, KS trusts can explain.  These arise in two major circumstances for most employed persons:  First, someone comes onto your property and gets injured.  Let’s assume that you have a great Independence Day celebration planned.  Everyone is over and having a … Read the rest