Sunday, September 5th, 2010
Losing a loved one or family member in a car accident can be one of the most difficult and trying times of your life. When a life is cut short unexpectedly, it can bring on a range of feelings from anger to depression and sadness to denial. Regardless of what stage of the healing process you are in, you have likely felt – or will feel – that someone should be held responsible for the loss you have suffered. If it was your spouse that was fatally injured, you may also be worrying about how you are going to support your family now that you have lost your spouse. According to California car accident attorney Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates, these are common feelings and concerns when someone has lost a loved one in a car accident. Nothing can bring your loved one back, but you do have legal options if they died as the result of someone else’s negligence.
Under California law, if your loved one died as the result of the negligence of another driver, you may be entitled to file as a claimant in a wrongful death claim. California law specifically enumerates who can file as a claimant in a wrongful death lawsuit. You should check with your car accident attorney to be certain that you qualify, but generally a spouse, child, parent as well as certain other people that were dependant on the decedent can file a wrongful death lawsuit.
A wrongful death lawsuit is a legal mechanism whereby you can receive compensation for the death of your loved one. If you were dependant on them while they were alive, then you may be entitled to receive financial compensation to help you and your family for the future. The exact amount of your wrongful death award will depend on many factors such as the earning capacity of your loved one at the time of death, their general health and anticipated life expectancy, the degree to which you were dependant on them and a variety of other factors. Again, talk to your car accident attorney to get a better idea of how much compensation you may be entitled to.
As with most lawsuits, a wrongful death lawsuit must be filed within the statutory time limit allowed under the law. In most cases you have two years to file a claim but that time limit can be as short as six months if a governmental entity is one of the defendants in the lawsuit. Consult with a car accident attorney as soon after your loss as possible to make sure that you do not loose your right to receive compensation.
If you have suffered the loss of a loved one in a California car accident and you believe that someone else was to blame for the accident, then please contact the car accident wrongful death law firm of Ledger & Associates. Your free detailed evaluation can give you a better idea of what legal options are available to you and what compensation you may be entitled to.
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Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
If you have just been involved in a car accident you have many decisions to make but the most important one could be whether to hire an attorney. This article will discuss some of the common pitfalls to handling a case on your own. The problem is that the general public has no knowledge of many of the issues involved in their cases and could miss something that could be pertinent.
Public Entities
It is fundamental to know who the defendant is immediately. If the person who hit you was working for the government or paid by the government then a public entity could be involved. If the defendant is a public entity then you only have six months to file your claim with the entity. There are additional time and other rules that apply. For purposes of this discussion, if you fail to file your claim with the government/public entity within the six month period from the date of the accident you could lose all your rights to any recovery.
Health Insurance Companies
If you have health insurance and they have paid for some or all of the medical treatment that you have received for injuries that you sustained due to the accident then they may have a right to recovery from your settlement proceeds. You may want to take a closer look at your health insurance policy to see what their requirements are because sometimes they have to assert notice of their lien (or right to recovery). “Notice” is a legal term which usually means that they must give notice by complying with the applicable notice requirements.
Med Pay
Med Pay, in California, is almost without exception “excess reimbursable.” This means that you can only use it if your health insurance company (if you have one) does not cover the particular medical treatment. Med pay is coverage on your auto insurance policy. If you don’t know what it is then chances are that you don’t have it. It is something to consider purchasing, especially if you don’t have health insurance. People can run into problems with both the “excess” and “reimbursable” issues. It can be hard to show that your health insurance company does not cover the treatment or show that it is “excess” because you are dealing with such large corporations which are not easily accessible to the average consumer. Most people don’t realize that their med pay coverage is reimbursable, however, in most cases you have to pay this money back to your auto insurance company because they have a right to reimbursement. There can be ways of either reducing the amount of reimbursement or getting around having to reimburse them altogether.
Medi-Cal and Medicare
There may be statutory liens on any recovery that you may have received. This means that companies such as Medi-cal and Medicare could have a right to recover the money they paid out for medical bills for treatment your received that was related to the accident by law.
In closing, there are clearly many issues that could come into play. You may want to consult an car accident attorney rather than trying to handle your case by yourself.
Tags: accident attorney, auto accident, auto insurance policy, car accident, car accident attorney, health insurance policy, lawyer, medical treatment, pitfalls, public entity, settlement proceeds, six months, your rights
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