How do TBIs change your temperament?
On Behalf of Simon & Gilman, LLP | Feb 20, 2021 | Firm News |
After suffering from a traumatic brain injury (TBI), it is not uncommon to experience changes. Some of these changes are somewhat severe and hard to handle. They can even include changes to your overall personality.
But why does your temperament change? And what might those changes look like?
Emotional control and TBIs
Mayo Clinic takes a look at how traumatic brain injuries can affect a person’s overall behavior and temperament. Unfortunately, many of the most notable changes are not positive ones. For example, it is common for TBI sufferers to experience increased agitation. They often grow easier to irritate. Many cannot control their tempers. They may lash out at loved ones and friends. This is one of the hardest things for carers to deal with.
It also gets harder for victims to process negative emotions and stressors. Many may collapse under the slighted amount of distress, especially in high-demand positions. TBI sufferers often report struggling to reintegrate with work-life after a TBI because of this. They feel constantly overwhelmed and underequipped for dealing with normal, everyday workplace annoyances.
Why does this happen?
These effects often occur as a result of the area of the brain that suffered damage. For example, the frontal lobe controls impulses. When damaged, a victim experiences a higher level of impulsivity. This can include with thought, actions or words. It makes them more likely to say or do things without thinking.
Unfortunately, it can take a long time to recover from this sort of effect. In the meantime, you may want to contact a lawyer about compensation possibilities. After all, therapies for TBI recovery often cost a fair amount.
Filing a lawsuit against a New York nursing home
On Behalf of Simon & Gilman, LLP | Feb 12, 2021 | Firm News |
A personal injury or wrongful death action filed against a nursing home generally requires showing the facility’s negligence caused preventable harm. A Department of Health citation may serve as evidence that the care center’s management knew its employees provided substandard care.
When, after receiving a warning, management fails to properly supervise its staff and continues to operate carelessly, the facility may face liability for its negligence. Showing that a nursing home breached a duty of care could provide cause for a legal action requesting damages.
A family or an estate may claim negligence
A family representative or a deceased’s estate may allege that careless actions resulted in harm or a preventable death. As reported by WABC-TV Eyewitness News, a wrongful death action filed by a family member seeks to hold a Long Island nursing home liable for gross negligence. The suit claims the facility failed to safeguard its residents against a foreseeable illness.
Regularly visiting a loved one at a care facility may provide clues regarding how its employees treat patients. Signs of physical neglect and discussions regarding a resident’s daily treatment may help demonstrate the type of care a loved one receives.
A facility may assert contributory negligence as a defense
As noted by the NY State Senate website, a defendant may respond to a personal injury or wrongful death action by claiming contributory negligence. A facility could attempt to show that a resident contributed to his or her own harm. Medical records, for example, may appear to indicate that a patient refused to take medications or resisted treatment.
A plaintiff may counter a contributory negligence defense with evidence that a facility did not fulfill its duty of care. Citations lodged against a nursing home or onsite observations made during visits may provide a jury with ample proof.
On Behalf of Simon & Gilman, LLP | Jan 31, 2021 | Firm News |
If you sustain injuries in a car accident, you may assume that your health insurance company will cover the cost of medical expenses. This assumption may prevent you from exploring other, and possibly better, payment options.
While, according to ValuePenguin, you can use your health insurance to cover the cost of medical care following an accident, you would, ideally, turn to PIP or MedPay first. There are several advantages of doing so.
Why you should use PIP or MedPay first
There are two good reasons you should file a personal injury protection or MedPay claim before you file a health insurance claim. The first is that with PIP and MedPay, you do not have to pay an out-of-pocket deductible unless you specifically opted for one. A deductible is a dollar amount you must pay before your coverage kicks in. If your cost of care does not exceed your PIP or MedPay coverage limits, you may not have to pay anything for treatment. However, if you use your health insurance, you will likely owe several hundred to several thousand dollars in deductibles and fees.
The second reason you should only use your health insurance as a last resort is because your policy likely contains a “subrogation clause.” Per this clause, your insurance company may be able to recoup any money it paid on your behalf if you later collect money related to the reimbursement of your medical costs. This means if you win a personal injury settlement, your health insurance company has a legal claim to part of it. If you later use PIP or MedPay, you will have to repay your health insurer regardless. Using your PIP or MedPay first can save you a step.
Why invest in PIP or MedPay
Aside from the fact that New York is one of 12 states that requires drivers to carry personal injury protection insurance, there are a few substantial benefits to this additional coverage. As already mentioned, neither PIP nor MedPay requires insureds to pay deductibles, while most health insurance policies do. PIP also covers the cost of lost wages, living expenses and funeral expenses while health insurance does not. With PIP or MedPay, anyone who you named on the policy or who was in your vehicle at the time of the crash can file a claim. With health insurance, only people named on your policy may benefit from coverage.
On Behalf of Simon & Gilman, LLP | Jan 20, 2021 | Firm News |
Car accident injuries are not exactly rare in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the number of non-fatal car accident injuries to be roughly three million every single year. While some of these injuries are minor and heal on their own, others change lives forever.
In any car accident, you are vulnerable to a variety of injuries, ranging from whiplash to organ damage or even death. If your mouth smashes into the steering wheel or another object, you may also sustain a serious injury to your teeth, tongue or larynx. These accident-related mouth injuries often require specialist care.
Teeth injuries
Your teeth play a critical role in eating, talking and making you look like you. Unfortunately, the impact from a car accident may cause teeth to shift, break or even detach. If you have a major tooth injury, an emergency room physician may refer you to a surgical dentist. To restore your appearance, you may also need to consult with a cosmetic dentist or even a plastic surgeon.
Tongue injuries
Because the tongue has five cranial nerves running through it, even small tongue injuries can be extremely painful. If you bite through your tongue during a car crash, though, you are likely to need emergency medical care. You may also have to undergo surgery to repair an accident-related tongue amputation.
Larynx injuries
The larynx in your throat encases your vocal cords and facilitates breathing. If a car accident includes a blow to your throat, you may lose your ability to speak. An ENT surgeon may repair damage, while a speech and language pathologist or therapist may help you regain your speaking voice.
How do a property title and a deed differ?
On Behalf of Simon & Gilman, LLP | Jan 15, 2021 | Firm News |
Some people use the terms title and deed interchangeably when it comes to real estate. For this reason, it is no surprise if you think the two concepts are the same. It is true that titles and deeds overlap. Still, they are not identical in all respects.
Clearing up any misunderstandings between the concepts of a deed and a title is crucial if you are in the process of buying a new home and want to avoid disputes with other parties who may claim ownership of the residence. U.S. News and World Report explains the differences between deeds and titles.
Deeds
A deed represents the fact that you own a piece of property. It is a document used to transfer ownership from a seller to a buyer. If you possess a deed, it should contain your name and the name of the seller of the property as well as the seller’s signature.
Deeds take different forms depending on the transaction and the history of the property you purchase. You may have a general warranty deed, which is common to many home sales. Alternatively, you may have received your property through a quitclaim deed, a bargain and sale deed, or a grant deed.
Titles
While a deed represents your right to own your home or commercial property, it is not the right itself. The property title is your right to own a piece of property. This is an important distinction because while you may have a deed that says you own a property, someone else may also have a claim to your property. This other party might claim ownership through financial records or a lien placed on your property.
This problem is why it is a good move to have title insurance. Some deeds like quitclaim deeds do not guarantee that someone else does not possess an ownership claim. A title insurance company protects you from undiscovered claims by researching a title history and covering expenses like unpaid liens.
Are my adult children eligible for SSDI benefits?
On Behalf of Simon & Gilman, LLP | Jan 11, 2021 | Firm News |
Only the Social Security Administration has the final say on whether your adult child qualifies for benefits. Even when your child meets all the basic criteria, the SSA may deny your application. Even so, some good criteria exist that may help you determine your chances of obtaining benefits for your adult child.
According to the SSA, it may pay benefits for your adult child under your application until 21 years old. Adult children often become eligible for these payments if at least one parent receives disability payments or received retirement benefits.
What children become eligible?
Some parents wrongly believe that unless they are the birth parents of the child, they cannot receive benefits. However, the SSA states that, depending on the specifics of each case, it considers the following as eligible children for benefits purposes:
- Biological child
- Adopted child
- Stepchild
- Grandchild
- Step grandchild
What can disqualify a child?
Marriage may disqualify your children from obtaining benefits under your application. Even so, who your child marries may make a difference. For example, if your child marries another adult disabled child, the SSA may choose to continue benefits. These and some other types of marriages fall into its protected class.
The SSA may also put a cap on how much the adult child can earn to continue to receive benefits. In 2020, the SSA set a cap at $1,260 per month in 2020. Fortunately, children receiving benefits tied to parents may not need to work to earn those benefits. The benefits received generally depend on your earnings and prior tax payments.
Your adult children may choose to secure SS benefits on their own. If they chose this route, approval may prove more difficult.
Documenting facts after an accident
On Behalf of Simon & Gilman, LLP | Dec 9, 2020 | Firm News |
Even the most minor fender bender accident may leave a person feeling rattled and unsure of what to do next. Regularly reviewing the best steps to take after an accident may help give a person a better chance of remembering what to do in this situation.
Some people find by creating a checklist and storing that list in their glove compartment or other area in their vehicle, they can confidently handle the post-accident time.
People first, property second
As recommended by NerdWallet, taking stock of any potential injuries to drivers, passengers, pedestrians or others in the area should take precedence over anything else. If injuries result from the accident, people should immediately call for medical assistance.
Find a safe location
When an accident happens in the middle of a road, vehicles and people should move to a safer area, such as a nearby parking lot, if possible. They should remain in those safe zones until help arrives.
Filing a police report
WalletHub indicates that calling for police assistance may help in even minor crash scenarios. A police report may go a long way toward helping the investigation later on. While waiting for police, people should talk to any witnesses and get their full contact information.
Document with good photos
Most people today have phones with cameras with them at all times. These phones prove useful after an accident by allowing a person to take photos of any vehicles involved, road conditions, street signs and other elements that an insurance investigator or other professional may ask about when assessing liability and other issues.
On Behalf of Simon & Gilman, LLP | Nov 30, 2020 | Firm News |
Landowners in New York have cause for concern about trespassers for many reasons. Just one of these may be “squatters’ rights,” or the right of trespassers to claim ownership of your land or a portion of your land if you do not remove them in a timely manner.
As FindLaw explains, adverse possession is an old legal doctrine to discourage neglected land. To encourage land use, “squatters” or trespassers who care for and make use of land may eventually be able to claim it as their own.
Adverse possession
Adverse possession laws historically encouraged mass land use, but today they typically apply to disputes between neighbors. For example, your neighbor may be mistaken about your property line and encroach upon your land. These are the most common cases in New York today.
Courts rarely seize land from an owner through adverse possession, but there are certain circumstances when they may consider it. Under the law, there are several requirements.
Requirements
For a court to consider an adverse possession claim, the trespasser must have used the land openly for at least 10 years as if it belonged to him or her and paid taxes during that time. The law calls this “open and notorious,” meaning that the public must be reasonably aware of the squatter’s use of the land. This requirement gives the actual owner greater opportunity to intervene before it becomes too late.
Next, the “hostile claim” requirement dictates that the squatter’s use of the land must be without the owner’s permission. If you have granted permission to a third party to use your land, other laws apply to your interactions. In other words, someone using your land with your permission may not claim adverse possession.
Courts may consider other matters when looking into adverse possession claims, such as “color of title,” concerning circumstances when the squatter mistakenly believed the land belonged to him or her.
3 people not to take advice from about your injury
On Behalf of Simon & Gilman, LLP | Nov 19, 2020 | Firm News |
People are likely to tell you many different things if you receive an injury. Friends, coworkers, family members, property owners, employers, insurance companies: These people and organizations all have different perspectives and, in some cases, conflicting motivations.
Your job is to protect your own best interests. Sometimes, that means casting reasonable doubt upon the statements of others.
1. Acquaintances
Everybody has an opinion — especially in New York. You might even have friends or family who have been through similar situations. We would urge you to ask yourself: Are the situations identical?
For example, even if you and a relative slipped and fell in the same location, you would have very different cases. There is virtually no chance that every significant factor was the same.
2. Employers
Another source of opinions would probably be your employer. This is typical in construction accident injury cases. The contractor or company for which you work will probably want you to follow their policies, even if those guidelines do not completely apply to your case — even if you might have recourse outside of that standard path.
3. Adversaries
Insurers and property owners are, by far, the largest sources of questionable guidance we encounter in our injury practice. Insurance adjusters, in particular, often present inadequate initial offers in a way that attempts to convince people to accept less than they deserve.
If you slip and fall on somebody’s property, they could be liable. It is usually safe to suspect any interaction you have with that person. The same is often true of insurance companies — they attempt to minimize the amount they have to pay.
To form a personal injury case, it is typically helpful to know the legal details of your situation and act completely in your own best interests. As you can see, none of these parties have these two essential elements of success.
Good intentions without knowledge — or vice versa — are likely to result in you receiving less compensation than you deserve. Your only trustworthy ally is yourself — and possibly those you hire to represent you.
The times when estate planning counts the most
On Behalf of Simon & Gilman, LLP | Nov 2, 2020 | Firm News |
For many people, having a solid estate plan in place offers a sense of confidence and minimizes late-night worries. Those who plan ahead do an important service for their loved ones at critical stages in their life.
While it is always beneficial to have legal paperwork in order, there are two major moments when an estate plan becomes crucial.
Death
A Forbes article describes an estate plan as a collection of documents that, among other things, directs the treatment of a person’s assets upon death. These documents achieve several goals:
- Reduce legal expenses
- Minimize taxes
- Save time
- Lessen complications
The will is the centerpiece of many estate plans. It names an executor who oversees the distribution of a deceased person’s assets, and it could also direct the circumstances of the custody and care of minor children. One other vital document at this time is a personal property memorandum, which lists a person’s assets. Individuals should periodically review and update documents to ensure they reflect current law and personal changes.
Incapacity
Many people suffer a sudden incapacity that makes it impossible to convey their wishes. A US News and World Report article shows how estate planning alleviates the stress and uncertainty of this time. A medical power of attorney designates a trusted agent to make decisions for a person suffering from a stroke or in a coma. It clearly indicates a person who the doctors can legally speak with about medical choices.
Another form of advanced directive is the living will. This allows a person to communicate their wishes about the types of medical treatments they want to receive in different circumstances. As with other estate planning documents, it assures a person’s wishes remain in place during difficult times.
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