Car accidents can leave you with a lot of pieces to pick up afterward. What you might not know is that those pieces often have deadlines that you must meet to get rightfully compensated. If you need to file a claim for damages to your car, you only have so much time to do so. The same goes for seeking medical help and filing a lawsuit. Here’s your guide to deadlines in car accident claims.

Filing a Claim

A statute of limitations refers to a given timeline for certain legal matters that you must complete before the deadline. Each state has its own for car accident claims. In some states, you have a little as two years to file a claim. In others, the deadline extends up to six years following the accident. There can be a difference in deadlines depending on if you’re claiming for an injury or property damage. A good rule of thumb for both is two years, as that is about the average among all states. You should check your state laws immediately so that you don’t miss it.

Filing a Lawsuit 

Most states allow two years to file a lawsuit. The main reason for having this statute of limitations is so that the defendant has an idea of when they might need to go to court. It also helps you collect relevant evidence that isn’t outdated. If you are considering suing, you should talk to an attorney early on in the process. Sometimes cases can take a very long time to build, and you want to make sure it is ready in time for the deadline. This is another reason to file your claim early — in the event that it gets denied and you need time to sue.

Seeing a Doctor 

There aren’t any legal deadlines for seeing a doctor after an accident, but there are general guidelines you should take into account. If you wait to see a doctor, the insurance company may claim that your injury was unrelated to the car accident based on your late doctor’s report. It’s good to see a doctor no more than three days after the accident to make sure your injuries can be traced to the crash.

Hiring a Lawyer

There isn’t necessarily a “right” time to hire a lawyer. Some cases don’t need a lawyer at all. If you think you can handle the case yourself, only to run into problems halfway through the process, you can still hire a car accident lawyer, like from John K. Zaid & Associates, at any time.

The Constitution guarantees freedom of movement and protects you against unreasonable searches and arrests. However, if there is an indication that you may be breaking the law by driving under the influence, the police have the right to pull you over. The indication that you might have committed a crime is called reasonable suspicion.

Reasonable suspicion alone is not enough to arrest you. However, it is sufficient for the police to detain you briefly and look into the matter more thoroughly through a brief investigation. They can arrest you if they uncover enough evidence to suggest that you have most likely committed a crime. The term for this is probable cause.

What Are Some Examples of Reasonable Suspicion?

A law enforcement officer may pull you over for something unrelated to intoxication. Perhaps you ran a red light or have a nonfunctioning taillight on your car. Having pulled you over, if the officer observes signs that you may be intoxicated while talking to you, such as the smell of alcohol or marijuana on your breath, slurring of your speech, unsteadiness in standing, or bloodshot eyes, these would suggest that you may be intoxicated, which would give the officer reasonable suspicion.

However, an officer would not have to pull you over for something else first. Irregular driving may be enough to provide reasonable suspicion. For example, the officer may observe you braking frequently, driving noticeably slower than the speed limit, straddling the center line, or nearly missing other objects. Signs such as these are enough to provide reasonable suspicion and justify the officer in taking the next step.

What Happens Next?

Once an officer has reasonable suspicion, he or she can conduct a limited investigation to try to obtain probable cause for an arrest. During a DUI stop, this usually involves performing a breath test to gauge blood alcohol concentration and/or performing field sobriety tests. If you pass these tests, the officer cannot arrest you. However, if you fail, the officer has probable cause and can make an arrest.

Some people think that they can take a third option and refuse the testing. However, because of the implied consent laws on the books in every state, this has consequences as well, and you can lose your driving privileges as a result. Furthermore, the laws of some states allow the arresting officer to obtain a warrant for testing from a judge via mobile app.

If you do not believe that an officer had reasonable suspicion for a DUI stop, an attorney may be able to make that determination. Contact a DUI lawyer, like from Morales Law Firm, to arrange a consultation.

When you get arrested for either driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while impaired (DWI), you will likely see that two separate claims were filed against you. Don’t be alarmed—this was not a mistake on the officer’s end and you are not in deeper trouble because of the second charge. Rather, you are being charged for two different types of DUIs, each of which requires a different type of proof.

Usually, an officer will convict the impaired driver for both offenses just in case there isn’t enough proof for one of the DUIs. Even if you are found guilty of both “per se” and “impairment,” the judge can only issue punishment for one of the convictions.

Per Se DUI

A per se DUI proves that the driver was operating a motor vehicle with a certain amount of drugs and alcohol in their system. This can be proven by having the driver partake in a chemical test, usually of the driver’s choosing. These options include either a breathalyzer test on-the-site of the arrest or a blood or urine test at a hospital. In all 50 states, anyone driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 percent or more can be convicted of per se DUI. In some states, if you have a certain amount of drugs in your system, you can also be convicted for per se drug DUIs.

Impairment DUI

To convict a driver of an “impairment DUI,” the officer must prove that the driver was actually drunk or stoned while operating the vehicle. However, the level of impairment needed for conviction varies across different states. In some states you can be convicted for an impairment DUI if the officer can prove you were affected in any way by drugs or alcohol. However, in other states, the officer has to prove that you were substantially affected by drugs or alcohol.

Impairment DUIs don’t have to apply to just illegal drugs or alcohol—you can also be convicted if you are substantially impaired by prescription drugs.

Since DUI and DWI laws vary across different states, you should contact an attorney soon after you are convicted. A skilled DUI lawyer, like from May Law, LLP, will be able to help you understand next steps and how your driving record, license and insurance will be affected by the conviction. It’s also important that you contact an attorney who’s local to the state in which you were arrested. They will be able to better understand the specifics behind the state’s DUI charges.

The widow of a prominent Roswell, New Mexico businessman and former Golden Glove boxer has filed a wrongful death claim in connection with the 2017 death of her husband, reports the Roswell Daily Record (https://www.rdrnews.com/2020/07/03/anaya-widow-files-wrongful-death-lawsuit/).

Lynda Anaya, widow of Raymond Anaya, filed the claim against the owners of a commercial and office building on West Second Street in the City of Roswell. She is seeking unspecified compensatory and actual damages in connection with her husband’s death.

According to the court filing, Mrs. Anaya is alleging that the building’s owners were negligent because they did not notify her or her deceased husband that there were known chemical contaminants near the building, despite the owners receiving notice of this issue from the government as early as 2012. The widow is contending that the contamination near the building is what led to Mr. Anaya’s death.

The Anayas rented office space in the building in question for ten years, from 2007 to 2017, for their tax service and gross receipts consultations business. According to the lawsuit, Mr. Anaya began to show serious symptoms in 2008, which eventually led to him going into a coma and dying.

The court documents state this building is owned by a Taylor Investments, Inc., and one of the requests in the lawsuit is for the court to hold all of the corporation’s beneficiaries responsible for what happened. Many of the corporate beneficiaries are from the King family, whom the Anayas knew personally. According to Mrs. Anaya, it was this personal connection that was part of their decision to rent office space in that building.

The office building in the center of this case is in an area known as the “Lea and West Second Street Superfund.” For many years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been in charge of environmental remediation and cleanup of locations like this site in the area. According to reports from the EPA, there are hazardous chlorinated solvents that got into the groundwater by the office building, and these hazards could also be detected in vapor form in nearby air samples. The contaminants have been linked by the EPA to chemical leakage from area dry cleaners.

Mrs. Anaya contends that a dry-cleaning business in the building knew back in 2007 that New Mexico was concerned about contaminants. In September of 2012, she alleges the building’s owners were notified by the EPA that they were in a Superfund site.

The Anaya’s first learned of the environmental pollutants in early 2017 but were not aware of how serious it was until the fall of 2017, which prompted them to leave the building.

A local high school graduate, Raymond Anaya was 73 when he died. He and Lynda have had five sons, and he was known throughout the city for his work, his time as a Golden Gloves boxer, and his involvement with several area charities, including Job Corps, the Salvation Army and the League of United Latin American Citizens.

If you’ve lost a loved one due to someone else’s actions or negligence, speak to a personal injury lawyer, such as from The Law Office of Richard J. Banta, P.C., today.

If you are paying child support and your financial situation changes, can that support be modified? Or if you feel the amount you are required to pay is unfair or it has become a financial hardship, can the amount be lowered?

A court can change your child support amount, but in order to do so, the judge has to approve your support modification request. 

What is the Procedure for Modifying Child Support?

The first step is to request a modification at the same court where the initial support order was granted. You must follow your state’s procedures. The change must be done in front of a judge, even if you and your ex-spouse have already come to an agreement amongst yourselves. A family law attorney that is qualified in child support can assist you with the proper procedures.

If you and your ex-spouse cannot mutually agree on the amount of the child support modification, you must request a hearing to appear in front of a judge. At this hearing, the judge will listen to arguments from both of you as to why or why not the amount of child support needs to be modified. This change cannot just be made arbitrarily. One party must show that their financial situation has changed in a way that makes it necessary to modify the support.

Can a Modification of Support be Temporary?

If there is an emergency situation that disrupts your finances, if you lose your job, or there is a medical emergency that happens to either the child, parent, or supporting parent, the amount of the support can be modified temporarily. If a medical emergency necessitates the need to temporarily change custody of the child, the support and custody change can be done in the same modification order. 

What Situations Would Permanently Change the Amount of Child Support?

There are several situations that would permanently change the child support conditions. If one parent remarries and as a result their income increases, this may increase the amount of child support they are required to pay. Other circumstances that may necessitate a change in support include any changes to family law which affects child support, if one of the parents becomes permanently disabled, the child’s needs change, or one parent experiences a change in employment.

Is it Always Necessary to Go Through a Judge to Change the Child Support Amount?

There is a clause in all child support orders that includes a provision for a cost of living adjustment. Each year the support may increase in conjunction with the Consumer Price Index. If your child support order includes this clause, there is no need to appear before a judge to modify the support payment if all you are requesting is the standard cost of living increase or decrease.

Contact a Family Law Attorney 

If you have questions about how to modify the child support payments, contact a lawyer, like a child support lawyer from Pioletti Pioletti & Nichols, today. Your lawyer will always put the best interests of your child first.