Personal Injury Cases: What if the driver who hits you has no insurance or inadequate insurance?
If the person who hits you has no automobile liability insurance or has only $20,000.00 of insurance (the minimum amount required by Connecticut law), your own insurance company steps into the shoes of the at fault driver. This insurance coverage is called “uninsured/underinsured motorists’ coverage”. It often is referred to by the shorthand “UM/UIM Coverage”. Literally, UM/UIM Coverage means that your own insurance company assumes the responsibility that should have been assumed by the at fault driver for any personal injuries you have sustained. When your insurance company makes a UM/UIM payment to you, it does not affect your rates.
• As an example, if you have $50,000.00 of UM/UIM Coverage, the at fault driver has no insurance, and the damages for your personal injury are $50,000.00, your insurance company is obligated to pay you $50,000.00.
• As another example, if you have $50,000.00 of UM/UIM Coverage, the at fault driver has $20,000.00 of insurance, and the damages for your personal injury are $50,000.00, your insurance company is obligated to pay you $30,000.00.
There are time limits for notifying your insurance company that you are making a UM/UIM claim. An important responsibility of our office is to assure that those time limits are complied with.
Medicaid planning: Should you give your home to your children now?
As with many legal questions, the answer is an annoying “sometimes you should, and sometimes you should not—it depends on the individual family circumstances.” Here are some of the considerations:
• If one spouse is in a nursing home, but the other spouse remains at home, the family home is an excluded asset any way.
• If one child has lived with you for at least the past two years, giving the home to that particular child may have no negative Medicaid consequences, but giving it to all children may have negative Medicaid consequences.
• What is the likelihood that one or more of the children who own your home will experience financial difficulty?
• What is the likelihood that one or more of the children who own your home will experience marital problems?
• If your home is sold by your children before your death, there almost certainly will be state and federal capital gains taxes that could have been avoided if you had not given the home to the children.
We would be pleased to meet with you to review your individual family circumstances and determine whether giving the home to your children, now, makes sense for you.
Wills, trusts, and estate planning: Who do you tell?
Estate planning documents such as Wills, Revocable Trusts (“Living Trusts”), Durable Power of Attorney Instruments, and Health Care Instructions are private documents. Unlike the deed to your home or the title to your car, your estate planning documents are neither recorded nor registered anywhere. The only people who know of the existence, content, or location of these documents are you, the attorney who supervised their execution, and anyone you choose to tell. In order to avoid confusion and uncertainty, it is advisable to tell the executor named in your Will, and the financial and health care agents named in your Durable Power of Attorney Instrument and Health Care Instructions where the original documents are located, and the name, address and phone number of the attorney who prepared the documents for you. It also is advisable to give your primary care physician a copy of your Health Care Instructions. We retain a copy of all estate planning documents you signed at our office in your client file, either as a paper copy or as a scanned electronic copy.
Real estate transactions: Will the closing really take place on the closing date?
If you are buying or selling a house, you assume that the closing date stated in the Sales Agreement means the closing actually will occur on that date. That is not always the case. Connecticut courts consistently have concluded that unless the Sales Agreement says “time is of the essence” there is a reasonable period of time after the date specified in the Sales Agreement within which to close. If it is essential for you that the closing occur on the date specified in the Sales Agreement, the Sales Agreement must, at a minimum, say that closing on that date is of the essence. If we meet with you before the Sales Agreement has been signed and you tell us that time is of the essence, we will assure that the appropriate language is included in the Sales Agreement.
Business entities: What happens if an owner dies or becomes disabled?
A written Agreement among business owners concerning what happens following the death or disability of one of them is critically important for both the family of the deceased/disabled business owner and the remaining business owner(s). This is true whether your form of business is a partnership, a corporation, or a limited liability company. Connecticut trial courts and appellate courts regularly describe cases involving disputes among business owners following the death or disability of one of them. A written Agreement spells out the rights and responsibilities of all owners in those circumstances, and, as a result, often avoids the uncertainty and disagreement that otherwise may arise when one owner dies or becomes disabled. We would be pleased to meet with you to review your individual business circumstances and help you formulate a workable agreement among the business owners.
Insurance Company Bad Faith: What happens if the company says they won’t cover you?
When you purchase liability insurance as an automobile driver, homeowner, or business owner, your expectation is that if you injure someone who makes a claim against you your insurance company will both defend you and, if necessary, pay the claim. What do you do if your insurance company says the claim that has been made against you is not covered by the policy? Your only recourse may be a suit against your own insurance company in which you ask a court to order your insurance company both to defend you against the claim, and, if necessary, pay the claim. If a court finds that your insurance company has acted in bad faith, the court has the discretion to award you attorney’s fees. If your insurance company says the claim that has been made against you is not covered by your policy, seek legal advice immediately—the insurance company may be incorrect in taking that position.
Very truly yours,
STEVEN P. FLOMAN