The Law Offices of Joseph A. Marra, PLLC Divorce, Estate Planning, and Personal Injury Lawyers in Yonkers, New York

The statute of limitations establishes a limit for how long you have to file a personal injury claim in the civil court system. In New York, this limit is 3 years for most types of personal injury cases. The clock generally starts on the date of the accident. However, there is an exception if the victim is a minor. In this case, the 3-year timeframe doesn’t start until the child turns 18. Some types of cases have different statutes of limitations. Medical malpractice cases, for example, have a statute of limitations that is only 2 years and 6 months.

When you file for divorce in the state of New York, you have to provide grounds, which is the reason you are ending the marriage. Some of the allowed reasons include adultery, abuse, and spousal abandonment. However, the law also allows you to select the option of the marriage being irretrievably broken as your grounds for divorce. Most people choose this option unless there is a specific reason for the divorce, such as adultery, and they want it to be noted in the legal record.

It’s common to believe that estate planning just means making a will or that any other tools, like trusts, are reserved for those who are very wealthy. However, having a comprehensive estate plan in place can ensure that your assets are distributed according to your wishes and that your loved ones don’t have to wonder what you would have wanted. An estate plan should include a last will and testament as a bare minimum, but other tools such as a living will, powers of attorney, life insurance policies, and trusts can provide additional protections.

Probate is the process of inventorying, valuing, and settling your estate after you pass. It can take several months from beginning to end, and your assets are tied up during this time and can’t be distributed to the beneficiaries specified in your will. This lengthy waiting time leads many people to wonder if it’s possible to bypass probate, and the answer is yes for some things. Assets that are in trusts pass directly to the beneficiaries without going through probate, as does anything that has a transfer-on-death designation or is jointly owned. New York also allows estates that are valued at less than $50,000 to go through a simplified probate process that can be much faster.

If you are drawing up a will, it’s important to ensure that it meets the requirements for legal validity. New York’s laws are fairly lenient. You have to be at least 18 years old and be of “sound mind and memory.” This generally means that you need to be aware of what a will is, what it does, and what you are doing by creating and signing the document. A will is generally typed up, but it can be handwritten or even oral in rare situations. These are usually reserved for members of the armed forces or mariners. To be valid, the will must be witnessed by at least two people who are not in the will.

To establish a power of attorney, you will first need to choose the type of power of attorney you want to create. The most common are financial powers of attorney, healthcare powers of attorney, and durable powers of attorney. Each type has its own purpose. A financial power of attorney gives someone else the ability to handle your finances, while a healthcare power of attorney allows someone to make medical decisions on your behalf. Once you choose someone to make the decisions, called the “agent,” you will need to fill out and sign the power of attorney form and have it witnessed and notarized, as necessary.

New York is a no-fault state for automobile accidents, which has significant implications for personal injury claims. In a no-fault state, it doesn’t matter who was at fault for an accident. Instead of having to prove fault and have one party sue the other, both parties simply file claims with their own insurance companies. However, the limit on these claims is $50,000, which may not be enough if you sustained severe injuries. In these cases, it’s possible to move outside the no-fault system and file a personal injury claim against the other party with the assistance of an attorney.

Elder law is a category of legal practice that includes all aspects of the law that relate to seniors. The purpose is to help seniors understand what legal matters appear as we age and to ensure they have a voice in their care, important decisions, and quality of life. A large portion of this is often estate planning and Medicare planning, but elder law attorneys can also help with elder abuse cases and understanding veterans’ benefits. Elder law attorneys have experience with both legal and financial matters, which gives them the knowledge and ability to provide counsel in complex cases, such as long-term healthcare planning or guardianships.