Despite the need to file for bankruptcy, many Americans want to hang onto at least one credit card. This is especially true if you have a card with a low balance or a great interest rate. If you want to keep your card, you may want to reconsider the idea. To keep your card is not always the wise decision. Here is why it is time to take a break from your credit cards when you file bankruptcy.

Creditors May Cancel Your Card

Even if you want to keep a credit card, you may not be able to. Creditors will often cancel your cards when you file bankruptcy. When it comes to bankruptcy, you cannot hide any of your debts or your lines of credit. It does not matter if you do not have a balance on the card. You have to list all of it. When you file, you cannot exclude any of your debts. The bankruptcy itself can void your contracts with the creditor and hence they will cancel your card.

Credit Cards Are Part of the Problem

Remember why you needed to file for bankruptcy to begin with. If you try to keep your credit cards or if you try to apply for a credit card right away then you may end up in the same cycle as before. Credit cards can be handy financial tools. They can help you pay for emergencies and likewise help you to build your credit score. This does not mean that you need to keep your credit cards when filing bankruptcy, however. It may help you to be able to take a break from credit cards.

Credit Card Breaks Can Help

A break from a credit card can be a breath of fresh air after bankruptcy. You have an opportunity to start over. There are a lot of reasons that people rely on credit cards and many reasons why you may have to utilize credit. No matter the reason, once you are out from under your credit cards, you can begin to rebuild your credit score. If you receive a credit card right away, the interest rate may be too high and cause problems in the future.

To get out from under credit card debt can be a refreshing feeling. However, you do want to be careful if you are thinking of hanging onto cards that you owe less on. In general, this is not something that you can do when you file for bankruptcy. The creditor may cancel your card anyway. For more information on bankruptcy, set up a consultation with a credit card lawyer in Clearwater, FL today.

Thanks to The Law Office of Michael A. Ziegler, P.L. for their insight into bankruptcy law and why to get rid of credit cards.

Being injured or becoming ill on the job can be debilitating. Some employees end up in a depression, others just get jittery because they want to be doing more and others become angry. Of course, there are those who also wait it out and recover without those negative feelings, but it can still be difficult to endure that recovery. If you are out on workers’ compensation and your employer contacts you to let you know you’ve been fired, is that even legal? The following goes over some information you should know in such a situation.

The Workers’ Compensation Claim

Under the law, your employer cannot legally fire you simply for filing a workers’ compensation claim. Your employer does have a right to dispute the claim, and if that happens, the whole process could take longer to be resolved. It is possible for your employer to secretly have that as the underlying reason for your termination, but you would have to prove that in order to have a case against your employer.

Other Reasons for Termination

There are plenty of others reasons your employer might terminate your employment while you are out on workers’ compensation. The following are just a few examples.

• Your workplace injury was the result of horseplay that you have previously been warned about, possibly even multiple times.
• Your employer was gearing up to fire you for a legitimate reason before the accident occurred.
• Your injury was the result of something you did that was a blatant disregard for company policy.
• You’re a contracted employee and there’s a long-term workers’ compensation provision that allows your employer to terminate employment if you are out longer than a certain amount of time.

What You Should Do

If your employment was terminated while you were out on workers’ compensation, you should first work to understand the reasons why. While it may look like one thing on the surface, there could be an underlying reason. Get your lawyer involved so you can really figure out the reasons why. Doing this could lead to taking legal action against your employer.

The next thing you should do is become familiar with the statute of limitations regarding your case, as well as the process of fighting this issue. Your lawyer can help you figure this all out.

Getting in Touch With a Lawyer

Your employment status should never suffer because of a workplace injury. Whether you were fired while out on workers’ compensation, or simply worried your employment is coming to an end because of your time away from work, it’s best to get in touch with a Fort Lauderdale work injury lawyer.

Thanks to the Law Offices of Franks, Koenig & Neuwelt for their insight into workers compensation and being fired while on leave for an injury.

A fiduciary is a person or organization trusted to act on another’s behalf in managing assets. This position requires an extremely high level of trust and loyalty since the fiduciary is given a legal right to act on behalf of those he represents. Usually, the fiduciary is placed in charge of financial assets and can include anyone who is responsible for managing money for another person. In most situations financial advisors, bankers, attorneys and accountants all have fiduciary power. All these positions have one important similarity—they are required to put any personal opinions and motivations aside to ensure your intentions are being upheld.

Here are some common duties of a fiduciary.

Executor 

An executor is fiduciarily responsible for settling your estate according to the directions specified your last will and testament. If you have not designated an executor at the time of your death, the court will appoint someone to that position—usually a bank or trust company. The named executor is responsible for gathering all assets, settling all debts and distributing your estate according to your last will and testament.

Trustee 

A living trust is a legal document in which you place assets in a trust for your lifetime. After your death, the assets in your trust are then transferred to designated beneficiaries. The person who manages these assets during your lifetime and distributes them after your death is called a “trustee.” As a fiduciary, this trustee is legally obligated to act within the confines specified in the living trust. Once you pass, the trustee is then fiduciarily responsibilities for the beneficiaries. He will be responsible for managing their assets in accordance to your wishes.

Guardians

If you were to pass while your children were still minors, a fiduciary would be responsible for their care. This individual can be designated in your living will or last will and testament. It’s important to note that the fiduciary does not have to be the same individual or company in all circumstances. For example, while you might want to make your banker your trustee in the case of your living trust; you probably don’t want him becoming the legal guardian of your children. However, if you’re married, you could name your spouse the fiduciary in all estate planning circumstances. This would mean he would be your trustee, executer and legal guardian of your children. Other prefer to name other individuals as fiduciaries when it comes to minor children. These could include other relatives or godparents.

There are countless other fiduciary responsibilities across a variety of situations from law to medical care, and an estate planning lawyer in Arlington, TX can explain this to you in detail. All designated fiduciaries have a legal responsibility to maintain your trust and can be held liable if they are found to be acting outside of your intentions.

Thanks to Brandy Austin Law Firm, PLLC for their insight into estate planning and fiduciary.

It can be particularly hard to lose someone and determine if you or a loved one should file a wrongful death claim. You never want to do something simply out of revenge or because you hold a grudge, but especially when you feel that a loved one’s life has been ripped away, you may believe that you and your family are owed retribution and even compensation. In addition to the massive heartache that you feel, you may also be stuck paying extremely high medical bills as well as funeral and burial costs. Wrongful death attorneys understand this kind of pain and know that you should not be forced to go through it. However, they are here to help you walk this journey together and try to get you and your loved ones the compensation you all deserve. 

How do you determine if something is wrongful death?

Attorneys know that it can be hard to determine if a situation is a wrongful death. Just because someone else is involved in the death somehow does not automatically make it their responsibility or mean that they contributed to it. However, we look to see if your loved one died because another person was acting:

• Negligently
• Recklessly
• Carelessly
• Illegally

While we are primarily looking for someone to be acting negligently when it comes to causing wrongful death, acting illegally, carelessly, or recklessly are all signs that a wrongful death may have occurred. Thus, if someone else was being negligent and failing to meet the same standards of other people by acting in a manner that was otherwise unsafe and caused your loved one to become so severely injured that they died, we would consider this to be wrongful death. 

If you believe that your loved one’s death could have been prevented, you are likely on track to thinking that this was a wrongful death. That is why it is good to get in contact with the attorneys from our firm quickly so that we can look at the evidence of the time in question and determine if negligence played a key role.

Common Examples

For example, if your loved one was driving in a car, paying attention to road signs, and otherwise making sure to abide by the rules of the road while another person was driving and texting or driving drunk then hit them, the other driver would be considered driving negligently. They were driving in a manner that could (and should) have been prevented.

For more information on how we can help you with your wrongful death lawsuit, please contact a wrongful death attorney in Longwood, FL as soon as possible. 

Thanks to David & Philpot, P.L. for their insight into personal injury claims and steps for filing a wrongful death claim.

Wrongful Death Attorney

When someone is killed as a result of someone else’s actions, a wrongful death lawsuit can be filed by the family of the deceased. This allows the loved ones of the victim to be compensated for their loss. Wrongful death lawsuits are unusual because they are filed on behalf of the deceased. This raises the question of what kinds of damages can be recovered.

Types of Damages

There are three types of damages that can be recovered in a lawsuit of any kind. These are special compensatory damages, general compensatory damages, and punitive damages. All three of these types of damages can also be received in wrongful death lawsuits.

Special compensatory damages refer to compensation for financial losses. If the loss has an objective monetary value attached to it, then it falls into this category. For example, a $500 hospital bill would be special compensatory damages.

General compensatory damages refer to compensation for non-financial losses. Any loss without 

an objective monetary value falls into this category. The most common type of general compensatory damages is pain and suffering.

Punitive damages refer to payment that is assigned to punish the defendant, rather than to compensate the plaintiff. These are also assigned when the judge does not think the first two types of damages are punishment enough.

Damages Against the Victim

It is possible to claim damages that the victim suffered. Because a wrongful death lawsuit is being filed on behalf of the deceased, these claims are completely valid. Examples of damages against the victim include:

• Medical bills
• Pain and suffering
• Lost wages
• Damage to property
• Miscellaneous expenses

Damages Against the Loved Ones

It is also possible to claim damages that the loved ones suffered as a result of the victim’s death. This is called “survival action.” Examples of this type of damage include:

• Funeral costs
• Burial costs
• Emotional distress
• Loss of financial support
• Loss of companionship

It can be difficult to know whether or not a loss or type of suffering qualifies for a damages claim in a wrongful death lawsuit. The easiest way to clarify this matter is to speak with an attorney. A legal professional who specializes in wrongful death claims will be able to easily identify which are valid and which are not. It is usually possible to speak with an attorney to get more information without agreeing to hire him or her. Likewise, it is common for the attorney you hire to accept no payment until the case is won. Contact a wrongful death lawyer, like a wrongful death lawyer in Houston, TX, to find out more information. 

Thanks to John K. Zaid & Associates for their insight into some of the damages you can recover in a wrongful death lawsuit. 

A survey on stroke inpatient hospitalizations was recently published in the National Health Statistics (NHS) Report. Stroke is a major source of disability and death in the United States. In many instances, strokes can be prevented or minimized, so disability resulting from stroke can be the basis of a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Statistics about Strokes

The NHS Report is published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These reports cover a broad variety of health-related topics. A recent report compared outcomes from hospital in-patient discharges and ambulatory visits for stroke involving a variety of age groups. According to the report, “cerebral vascular disease, or stroke, is a disease affecting the arteries leading to and within the brain, occurring when a blood vessel leading to the brain either ruptures or is blocked.” The report notes that stroke is the leading cause of death, killing approximately 140,000 Americans each year. There were 94,695 hospitalizations for strokes in the year studied. People who suffer a stroke require immediate medical attention. Emergency medical care is shown to reduce stroke-related disability and mortality. That is the essential concept behind the PSA motto “time means brain.” In other words, if medical attention is prompt and proper, the brain damage caused by a stroke can be minimized or reversed entirely. 

Medical Malpractice that Results in a Stroke

Medical malpractice cases involving stroke typically arise from a number of common scenarios. One scenario involves the failure to administer clot busting medications or use endovascular techniques like thromboembolectomy to remove a clot that is obstructing the flow of blood to the brain. When this treatment is delayed, injury to the brain becomes permanent. This is called an “infarction.” When brain tissue is infarcted, the brain damage is permanent, leading to paralysis, cognitive decline, blindness, and disability. 

Another common scenario involves failure to monitor a patient’s INR when the patient is on an anticoagulant medication, like warfarin or coumadin. If a patient becomes hypercoagulated, they are at risk of developing a brain bleed which can lead to stroke. The INR is monitored via a blood test to determine whether the patient’s coagulation is occurring within acceptable limits. Typically, the INR is checked frequently once a patient is first prescribed the anticoagulation. Once a pattern is established, monitoring may occur less frequently; however, adjustments in the medication or complications may require more frequent monitoring. Failure to properly monitor or adjust blood thinning medications to reach a therapeutic range that end up resulting in a brain bleed or hemorrhagic stroke may furnish the basis for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

One other common scenario arises out of a failure to anticoagulate a high-risk patient having atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is a common condition affecting many older adults. Many of those a-fib patients also have risk factors for developing a cardioembolic stroke as a result of ineffective heart pumping causing clot formation. The erratic heartbeat associated with a-fib can cause intracardiac clots to dislodge and travel into the brain causing obstruction and stroke. These patients must be anticoagulated with Coumadin or Eliquis. Sometimes, “bridging” anticoagulation is required using short-acting heparin to anticoagulate the patient either before, during, or after a surgery or other medical procedure. A failure to anticoagulate high-risk patients can lead to a medical malpractice lawsuit. 

Finally, a common scenario for a medical malpractice lawyer who handles stroke lawsuits occurs when a patient who is at high risk for the most common type of stroke is not properly screened, advised, or treated. Most strokes originate from clogging of the carotid arteries that supply most of the blood to the brain. As these arteries begin to clog over time, certain symptoms can develop, such as dizziness, lightheadedness, fainting, or loss of consciousness. These symptoms in an older adult or in individuals with risk factors for atherosclerosis should be advised to undergo a thorough diagnostic workup, including auscultation of the carotid arteries with a stethoscope and an ultrasound. Patients at high risk for an embolic stroke related to stenosis of the carotid arteries should be advised to undergo endarterectomy, stenting, or a bypass.  Failure to do so may furnish the basis for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Contact an Attorney

If you or someone you know had a stroke that was possibly related to medical malpractice, contact a medical malpractice lawyer, like a medical malpractice lawyer in Cleveland, OH, for more information on if you may have a case. 

Thanks to Mishkind Kulwicki Law for their insight into medical malpractice lawsuits that involve a stroke.