Legal Matters

presented by: Frank S. Buck P.C., Personal Injury

A hit and run wreck occurs when the driver of a vehicle hits another vehicle or pedestrian but leaves the scene of the crash. Leaving the scene of a motor vehicle wreck is illegal in Alabama and is a felony if it results in personal injury or death. Occasionally, the injured driver or an independent eyewitness is quickly able to write down the license tag number of the fleeing driver. With the tag number, the investigating police officer can track down the other driver to make a police report. Then the injured party will be able to see if the other driver that left the scene of the wreck has auto insurance coverage that can be used as compensation for the injuries and damages to his or her vehicle. However, if the fleeing driver cannot be tracked down, the injured party could still be compensated for his or her injuries, if he or she has an automobile insurance policy with full coverage, including uninsured motorist coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage would kick in and pay for injuries when the other driver cannot be identified and is therefore an uninsured motorist.  

Many people in Alabama have liability automobile insurance only but do not realize the importance of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in case of an injury. Liability insurance and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage are two separate coverages under a policy with separate premiums. Liability insurance protects other people if you cause a wreck and injure another person. However, if another driver hits you and either does not have enough insurance to compensate you for your injuries or does not have insurance at all, that is when your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is supposed to pay for your injuries and medical bills. Underinsured coverage comes into play when the other driver has liability insurance, but the policy limits are not enough to compensate the injured party for injuries. Uninsured motorist coverage is used when the other driver does not have any liability insurance.  

Alabama law requires automobile insurance companies to automatically add uninsured motorist/underinsured coverage to policies unless the insured specifically rejects that coverage in writing when applying for a policy. Please do not reject uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. This coverage does not cost much and can go a long way if you are injured in a hit and run.  

-Frank S. Buck, P.C., Attorneys at Law have been offering professional legal services and serving Alabama citizens for over 43 years. We have experienced trial attorneys who have over 100 years of combined trial experience. You can reach us 24 hours a day at (205) 933-7533. Please call us for a free consultation. Visit us at www.franksbuckpc.com.

Legal Matters

If the state will provide a method for distributing assets after one’s death, why even bother making an estate plan? Alabama has intestacy statutes in its code, and they provide a method for the orderly transition of assets to a person’s heirs. It costs money to make an estate plan. It takes time. More than that, making an estate plan forces a person to consider the shape of the world when they are no longer in it, which is not something everyone wants to consider. Not everyone is interested in brooding on their own death and having to pay to do so.

Control. Control is the answer to the question in the previous paragraph. An estate plan provides an individual with a degree of control over their own affairs while alive, and allows an individual to maintain some control of their property even after death. 

An estate plan typically includes at least three documents: a durable power of attorney, an advanced directive, and a will. 

A durable power of attorney allows someone to designate an agent who may act on their behalf. The power of attorney document may specify when an agent may act and what actions the agent may take. 

An advanced directive allows a person to make decisions about end-of-life care. It is the document where a person can state whether or not they wish to be kept alive by artificial means, specify the types of care and feeding that they wish to receive, and make similar decisions. It allows individuals to make those decisions for themselves, rather than waiting until something happens that forces the decision on a family member or health care worker. 

A will allows an individual to specify who, or what, will receive their property, after the individual’s death. Further, when a will is written to work in conjunction with a trust, a will allows an individual to exercise a degree of control over their property potentially for many, many years to come. 

Thus, when considering whether or not to create an estate plan, ask yourself three questions. First: “Do I wish to exercise a degree of control over my affairs if I am incapacitated?” Second: “Do I wish to exercise a degree of control over my end-of-life medical care?” Third: “Do I wish to exercise a degree of control over my property after my death?” Your answers to those questions will guide whether or not you choose to make an estate plan and will help guide the type of estate plan that you may choose to create.

Watch the video below to learn more about what happens when someone dies without a will.

 

–Mitchell McNaylor

McNaylor Law, LLC

Shelby County, Ala.

205-419-7377

[email protected]

Legal Matters

The season for watching and reading Charles Dickens’s classic A Christmas Carol has arrived. Let’s take a moment to review this oft-viewed tale in the context of estate planning.

With some prodding, Mr. Scrooge spent Christmas Eve reflecting upon his life and the shape of the world when he would no longer be alive in it. Afterward, Mr. Scrooge took decisive steps. He purchased a turkey, went to church, visited his relations, and made good with the Cratchits. 

If his life review prompted Mr. Scrooge to retain counsel to plan his estate, what might he have needed? A twenty-first century answer would be that he would want at least three documents. A durable power of attorney, delegating his authority to an agent, so that his business might operate if he became incapable of managing his affairs. An advanced directive, making many of his health care decisions in advance of his final illness, although such documents weren’t typical in Dickens’s day. Finally, at the very least, Mr. Scrooge would want a will that would identify an executor and dispose of the property and assets he spent a lifetime accumulating. Although Fred, Mr. Scrooge’s nephew, might inherit the bulk of the estate, Scrooge did become a second father to Tiny Tim, and would likely have provided for him by a specific bequest in the will. Indeed, given Tim’s poor health, Mr. Scrooge would have wanted to consider a trust, to set aside funds for his care. 

We may surmise that Mr. Scrooge had an estate. From what we know of his character, he likely took a buy and hold approach: purchase shares in a sound company, and watch those investments grow exponentially. Was he a miserable miser? Humbug! He lived a life long devoted to two words: compound interest.

No doubt Mr. Scrooge kept records, which greatly benefitted his executor when the estate went into probate. He likely accounted for every lump of coal that he doled out to Bob Cratchit. When the great man died, his executor did not face a wilderness of disorganized papers and debt collectors red in tooth and claw. No, after Mr. Scrooge went to his reward, his executor sat down to review clean balance sheets, greatly simplifying the probate of the Scrooge estate. 

This holiday season, I hope that you will, between church and turkey, find time to enjoy A Christmas Carol, whether or not it inspires you to reflect on estate planning. 

A Happy Christmas to you all!

– Mitchell McNaylor

McNaylor Law, LLC

Shelby County, Ala.

[email protected], 205-419-7377

Watch the video below to learn more about estate planning.

Legal Matters

Probate is the court supervised process by which a decedent’s debts and taxes are paid, and a decedent’s assets are transferred to the decedent’s heirs. For people unused to legal terminology, a decedent is someone who has died. 

Chapter 8 of Section 43 of the Code of Alabama is known as the Alabama Probate Code. That chapter has two underlying purposes and policies: first, to simplify and clarify the law concerning the affairs of decedents; and, second, to discover and make effective the intent of a decedent in the distribution of his property. The probate process is overseen by county probate courts.

In Alabama, there are two types of probate: intestate, where the decedent did not leave a will, and testate, where the decedent left a will. In intestate probate, when someone dies without a will, a decedent’s assets are distributed according to Alabama statutes. In a testate probate, the decedent’s assets are distributed according to the decedent’s intentions, as stated in the will. Also, the terminology of intestate and testate probates is different.

Testate probate provides the name for the entire process. The word probate likely derives from the Latin verb probare, meaning “to prove.” Testate probate is, quite simply, the process of proving a will. What does that mean? When a person executes a will, it is signed and witnessed. When a will is presented to a probate court, the court will want to verify that the will presented was properly executed, and is the will of the decedent. Only after the will is proven to the court’s satisfaction may the process move forward.

As part of the probate process, a probate court will appoint a personal representative to settle the decedent’s affairs. Personal representative is a general term that includes both administrators, who work with intestate estates, and executors, who work with testate estates. In this context, an estate is the property that belonged to the decedent. The court will grant the personal representative letters that show that the personal representative has the authority to act to settle the estate. After receiving those letters, the personal representative has the duty to use the decedent’s estate to pay any debts and taxes owed by the decedent and to distribute the remainder of the estate to the decedent’s heirs.
 
–Mitchell McNaylor

McNaylor Law, LLC

Shelby County, Ala.

205-419-7377

Watch the video below to learn more about probate.

Legal Matters

Presented by: Frank S. Buck, P.C., Personal Injury

This joyous time of year is full of excitement as we scurry around to the various holiday events of churches, friends, coworkers, and family. However, the holiday season is also a time of increased travel on the roadways, due to the hustle and bustle of wrapping up the end of the year. 

Sometimes a person’s mind wanders off to checklists of the demands of the season, causing one to be more focused on the Thanksgiving grocery list rather than the road on which he or she is driving. If that person’s car veers into your lane and does not actually hit your car, but runs you off the road, causing you to crash and sustain injuries, but keeps driving and does not stop, you still have a valid auto insurance claim for personal injury if you have full coverage under your automobile insurance policy, including uninsured motorist coverage. In Alabama, if the identity of the driver cannot be determined for various reasons, including leaving the scene of a crash without someone obtaining the license tag number, and that driver causes injury, death, or damage to another person, that driver is called a phantom driver, driving a phantom vehicle in insurance terms. As in the example above, physical contact is not required between the vehicles to have a phantom vehicle claim.  

Alabama law also allows pedestrians to have a phantom vehicle claim if they are injured by an unknown driver. Another example of a phantom vehicle claim is when a driver is injured when he or she hits something in the roadway that has fallen off a vehicle such as a mattress, boxes, trashcan lid, large pieces of trash, tire, air conditioning unit, or any other foreign object that came off a vehicle, but the vehicle or the driver’s identity of that vehicle cannot be determined. In a phantom vehicle claim, the injured driver’s own insurance coverage would kick in and pay any injury or property damage claims under his or her uninsured motorist policy. If the injured party has liability insurance only, not full coverage, including uninsured motorist coverage, he or she could not collect any compensation for injuries or property damage from a wreck caused by a phantom vehicle based on the terms of the policy.  

Many people in Alabama have only liability automobile insurance but do not realize the importance of uninsured motorist coverage in case of an injury. Alabama law requires automobile insurance companies to automatically add uninsured motorist coverage to policies unless the insured specifically rejects the uninsured motorist coverage in writing when applying for a policy. Uninsured motorist coverage does not cost much and can go a long way if you are injured by a phantom vehicle.  

-Rachel Buck, Frank S. Buck, P.C. Attorneys at Law have been offering professional legal services and serving Alabama citizens for over 49 years. We have experienced trial attorneys who have over 100 years of combined trial experience. You can reach us 24 hours a day at 205-933-7533. Please call us for a free consultation. Visit us at www.franksbuckpc.com.

Legal Matters

Recently, a friend of mine said that he needed a will because, if he died without one, everything he owned would go to the state. I reassured him that although a will does allow for more control over what happens to one’s property after one heads to their reward, the lack of a will does not mean that the sheriffs will immediately descend and start the auction. Alabama law provides for an orderly transfer of assets to classes of heirs specified in the Code of Alabama. In simpler terms, if you don’t have a will, state law specifies which of your relatives gets your stuff, and which ones get first crack at it. 

A spouse, if one has one, gets priority. If one has a spouse, but no children and one’s parents are dead, then the spouse gets everything. If one leaves a spouse and children, then the spouse gets the first $50,000 from the estate, and then the remainder of the estate is divided in half. The spouse gets one half, and the kids divide up the other half in equal shares.

If one dies with no spouse, but with children, then the children take the estate in equal shares. If one dies without a spouse or children, then the estate will go to one’s parents in equal shares or, if they are no longer around, to one’s siblings, in equal shares. If there are no siblings, then there is still the chance that one’s estate might go to more distant relatives.

Only if one has no living relatives will one’s estate go to the state. 

This process, known as intestate succession, might appear orderly – at least on paper – but it isn’t satisfactory to anyone who values their property. One could work a lifetime, only to have one’s bounty descend to someone who couldn’t manage to send a Christmas card. And it leaves out some of life’s great joys and supports including one’s church, one’s friends, and one’s pets. 

So, to return to my friend’s question, the state might not inherit your property if you die without a will, but it will get to decide who inherits your property. So, reader, by a roundabout path, we’ve reached one of the great reasons to make a will. To celebrate, even in one’s last act, private property, and the freedom to dispose of it as you wish. 

-Mitchell McNaylor

McNaylor Law, LLC

Shelby County, Ala.

205-419-7377

Legal Matters

Presented by: Frank S. Buck, P.C. Personal Injury

School is out for the summer! Many families look forward to spending quality family time traveling for vacations and other family outings. The excitement of these activities often overshadows the dangers lurking on the roadways with other people who are celebrating summer too. There is an increase in drivers who drink and drive in the summer and around the holidays. Wrecks involving drunk drivers can cause catastrophic injuries and even death.  

In the event you or one of your loved ones is injured or killed by a drunk driver, it is important to contact an experienced personal injury attorney immediately to ensure you and your family are protected. We can seek compensation from an auto insurance company or even a bar or restaurant where the driver had been drinking. Our law firm has been in practice for nearly fifty years, and we regularly handle car crashes involving drunk drivers.   

There may be an instance where a drunk driver has no insurance that would pay for injuries. Unfortunately, even though the law in Alabama requires drivers to have auto insurance, we have many cases where a driver who caused a collision and injuries has no auto insurance. Many people in Alabama have liability auto insurance only, but mistakenly think they have full coverage. In order to protect yourself, it is important to check with your auto insurance agent and review your policy to ensure that you have full coverage, including uninsured motorist coverage. 

Uninsured motorist coverage would kick in and pay for injuries in the event an uninsured drunk driver hits and injures or kills another person or people. Alabama law requires automobile insurance companies to automatically add uninsured motorist coverage to policies unless the insured specifically rejects the uninsured motorist coverage in writing. Please do not reject uninsured motorist coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage does not cost compared to its value in the event of a drunk driving wreck or any other wreck with injuries caused by an uninsured motorist. If you or your friends, relatives, or family members have been injured by a drunk driver or in any automobile or trucking collision that was caused by another person or were injured in another manner caused by another person, please contact our firm.  We would love to start working for you.  

-Rachel Buck, Frank S. Buck, P.C. Attorneys at Law have been offering professional legal services and serving Alabama citizens for over 48 years. We have experienced trial attorneys who have over 100 years of combined trial experience. You can reach us 24 hours a day at 205-933-7533. Please call us for a free consultation. Visit us at www.franksbuckpc.com.

Legal Matters

Brought to you by: Community Partner Holliman & Holliman, www.hollimanlegal.com

1. I’m too young to need an estate plan. Accidents happen at all ages. Even if you are single with no children, you must decide who will get your assets. You may not want your assets to go to parents or to siblings or only to one parent or to one sibling. Regardless of your age, you need an estate plan. You may want to bequeath assets to friends or to charity. You have the right to decide how your assets are distributed, but it takes an estate plan to make it happen. If you have minor children, you absolutely need an estate plan to name who will take care of your children. Family fights over custody are common.

2. I don’t have enough assets to need an estate plan. the key question is, “Do you have assets that are important enough to you that you want to control who gets the assets?” If so, you need an estate plan.

3. My spouse gets everything anyway. Not necessarily. Without a will or trust, your spouse may not receive everything due to Alabama intestate law. It is entirely possible that your parents or your children could receive some assets rather than your spouse.

4. I can’t decide how to divide things up. Would you really want Alabama intestate law to decide who gets your assets? Hint: The answer is NO. Wouldn’t you prefer to make a decision that you can change later if needed instead of leaving it to chance and the State of Alabama?

5. I can’t decide who to put in charge. If you do not make this decision, the State will assign a lawyer to the task. You could name an unrelated third party rather than a family member. You can always change your nomination in the future if you later feel the person is no longer a good choice.

6. It costs too much. An intestate estate generally will cost more than an estate plan. An administration following intestate law is more complicated and can allow more opportunities for family to fight in court– all of which increases the costs.

Don’t let excuses determine your family’s future. Work through your concerns with an experienced estate planning attorney who can help you make the right decisions for you.

-Melanie B. Holliman, JD

Partner at Holliman & Holliman, PLLC

www.hollimanlegal.com

205-663-0281

No representation is made that the quality of the legal service to be performed is greater than the quality of service performed by other lawyers.

Legal Matters

presented by: Frank S. Buck P.C., Personal Injury

What to Do to Protect Yourself. Due to the hectic demands of life, we often find ourselves on the road. Daily interstate travel brings many drivers in frequent contact with larger vehicles like 18-wheelers or semi-trailer trucks. Many truckers work lengthy hours, driving long distances hauling cargo, which can result in fatigue and distracted driving, both of which can lead to catastrophic crashes. In addition, truckers often face strict delivery deadlines, causing some to disregard speed limits. Many drivers do not realize how different a car wreck involving an 18-wheeler is from one involving two average vehicles. 18-wheeler trucks can weigh up to 80,000 lbs. which often causes serious and substantial damage to the cars involved in this crashes and sometimes fatal consequences. One in every eight automobile wreck fatalities involves a large truck like an 18-wheeler. If the past is any indication, more people will be killed in traffic accidents involving large trucks this year than have died in all the domestic commercial airline crashes over the past 45 years. Because of statistics like these, there are strict laws and regulations that apply to trucking companies and their drivers, which do not apply to non-commercial drivers. Examples of such regulations include limitations on the amount of time that truck drivers can spend driving before they take a break and what they can haul.

If you are in a wreck with an 18-wheeler, it is important to call an attorney who handles trucking collisions immediately. The trucking company will begin investigating the wreck right away with a team of experts and lawyers on the case to protect itself, so time is of the essence for you to hire an attorney to begin investigation to protect yourself.  There is valuable evidence such as black box data or other GPS recording devices from the truck that need to be preserved promptly by an experienced attorney working on your behalf. A “black box” is a recording device that is triggered by certain events to start recording important data about the truck and its movement and speed. Black box data can provide critical evidence later for an expert such as an accident reconstructionist to determine what happened in the wreck. If this data is not requested early, there is nothing preventing the trucking companies from destroying it. It is also important to document the wreck with photographs of the vehicles at the scene of the collision to show exactly what occurred. An attorney can also investigate the background of the trucking company as well as the driver. It is important to have someone who will fight for you after an 18-wheeler collision.

Frank S. Buck, P.C., Attorneys at Law have been offering professional legal services and serving Alabama citizens for over 44 years. We have experienced trial attorneys who have over 100 years of combined trial experience. You can reach us 24 hours a day at 205-933-7533 or visit us at www.franksbuckpc.com. Please call us for a free consultation.

Click Here To Learn How To Reach A Christian Audience in Alabama.

Legal Matters

Brought to you by: Community Partner Holliman & Holliman, www.hollimanlegal.com

Thinking of your loved ones? Do more than send them valentines and flowers. Use your estate plan to put your love into action.

If your spouse’s eyes glaze over when you want to talk about finances or estate plans, you can still make life easier for your spouse by organizing this info all in one place. Include an updated list of all your key contacts such as your accountant, financial planner or advisor, and estate planning attorney, and keep it in a place that your spouse would know to find it. Update your net worth statement with all accounts and assets the two of you own and make sure you include whose name(s) is on each account or asset. Be sure to include life insurance policy details, pre-paid burial plans, funeral preferences, and digital identity info such as online bill payments and passwords. Do not keep these files in a bank box.

Next, think about your adult children and their strengths and weaknesses. Talk to your estate planning attorney if one of them can’t manage money or has a stormy marriage that could end in divorce. If your adult children are your beneficiaries in your estate plan, you can build in protections from your child’s creditors or divorcing spouse by using the correctly structured trust. Consider if your children’s strengths make them good candidates to serve as your durable power of attorney, executor, healthcare power of attorney, or other roles that will become more important as you and your spouse age. Remember that your estate plan should address your late life as well as after you’re gone.

Next, think about your grandchildren and their future needs such as college, support if they are permanently disabled, and their interests in your hobbies or collections. Keep in mind that divorce decrees will impact their lives if they are part of blended families. Also, make sure that your estate plan addresses future grandchildren.  

You can’t control the future, but you can make sure that your estate plan expresses your deep love for your loved ones much better than a valentine covered with hearts. Changes in your financial affairs, your family members through deaths and divorces, and your designated agents occur more often than you think. Consult with your attorney especially if your estate plan needs to be updated, and then let your loved ones know just how much you love them.

-Melanie B. Holliman, JD

Partner at Holliman & Holliman, PLLC

www.hollimanlegal.com    

205-663-0281

No representation is made that the quality of the legal service to be performed is greater than the quality of service performed by other lawyers.