Pennsylvania Law Monitor : Pennsylvania Lawyer & Attorney : Stark & Stark Law Firm : Yardley, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey

When I meet with a client following a car accident, I often find that there is some confusion with regard to who should be paying for their medical care. Many times, clients tell me that they have been submitting their medical bills to their private health insurance carrier. Sometimes clients believe that medical coverage should be provided through the vehicle that hit them because they were responsible for causing the accident. Other times clients tell me that they have yet to seek medical treatment as they do not have private health insurance and they do not know what to do.

What these clients don’t understand is that medical treatment for injuries related to a car accident are actually covered under their car insurance policy. In Pennsylvania, all car insurance policies are required to provide a minimum of $5,000 in first-party medical coverage. This coverage is commonly referred to as Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and is provided regardless of who was at fault for causing the accident. Only after this PIP has been exhausted should medical bills be submitted to a private health insurance carrier.

While this may seem like an inconsequential detail, the failure to take full advantage of PIP benefits can have an adverse impact on your recovery. This is because private health insurance companies frequently have a statutory right to be reimbursed for a portion of the payments made for medical treatment arising out of a car accident while PIP providers do not. In other words, if your medical bills are paid by a private health insurance carrier that carrier will likely be able to assert a lien against any proceeds recovered in relation to the car accident. If the medical bills are paid by the your car insurance carrier, there will be no such lien.

If you, or someone you know, has been injured in a car accident have questions regarding your rights, please contact me for a free consultation here in my Yardley, Pennsylvania office to discuss your questions in more detail. 

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Henry E. Van Blunk, R. Tyler Tomlinson, Joseph A. Cullen, Jr., and Jeffrey A. Krawitz have been appointed by the President Judge of Philadelphia County to serve as a Judge Pro Tem to assist the courts in resolving civil litigation cases.

As part of the Judge Pro Tem program instituted by the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Messrs Van Blunk, Tomlinson, Cullen and Krawitz were part of a select group of experienced attorneys appointed for the purpose of serving at the request of the court. The duties of the Judge Pro Tem include helping the parties mediate settlements of cases about to go to trial in order to preserve judicial economy.

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Social Security should be notified as soon as possible when a person dies. In most cases, the funeral director will report the person's death to Social Security. You will need to furnish the funeral director with the deceased's Social Security number so he or she can make the report.

Some of the deceased's family members may be able to receive Social Security benefits if the deceased person worked long enough under Social Security to qualify for benefits. You should get in touch with Social Security as soon as you can to make sure the family receives all of the benefits to which it may be entitled.

A surviving spouse receives a $255 one-time payment if he or she was living with the deceased; or, if living apart, was receiving certain Social Security benefits on the deceased's record. If there is no surviving spouse, the payment is made to a child who is eligible for benefits on the deceased's record in the month of death.  

Certain family members may be eligible to receive monthly benefits, including:

• a widow or widower age 60 or older (age 50 or older if disabled);
• a widow or widower at any age who is caring for the deceased's child under age 16 or disabled;
• an unmarried child of the deceased who is either younger than age 18 (or up to age 19 if he or she is a full-time student in an elementary or secondary school), or age 18 or older with a disability that began before age 22;
• a stepchild, grandchild, step-grandchild or adopted child under certain circumstances;
• parents, age 62 or older, who were dependent on the deceased for at least half of their support; and
• a surviving divorced spouse, under certain circumstances.

If the deceased was receiving Social Security benefits, you must return the benefit received for the month of death or any later months. For example, if the person dies in July, you must return the benefit paid in August. If benefits were paid by direct deposit, contact the bank or other financial institution. Request that any funds received for the month of death or later be returned to Social Security. If the benefits were paid by check, do not cash any checks received for the month in which the person dies or later. Return the checks to Social Security as soon as possible. 

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During most depositions, questions in the following areas are asked:

• General Background: Name, age, residence, marital status, children, who you live with, school experience, military experience, work experience, recreation activities, hobbies.
• How The Accident Occurred? You will be asked very specific questions about how the accident occurred, including what you did and what you observed.  Questions may focus on time or distance issues.  Be careful when answering specific questions regarding time or distance.  If you can only give an estimate, remember to say it is only an estimate.
• You will also be asked questions about what happens to your body during the accident. To the extent you can remember how your body was caused to move during the accident, it is important that you communicate this to the attorney.
• Injuries: You will be asked to describe what parts of your body were injured as a result of the accident.  You will be asked specific questions about when you began to experience injury(ies) and for how long you continued to experience injury(ies).
• Medical Treatment For Your Injuries: Although the Defendant’s attorney has been given all the information and records regarding your medical treatment this is the opportunity to confirm that all medical treatment and providers have been produced.  You should know generally who you treated with; generally when you saw them; and generally what they did for you.  Again, this is not a memory test and you are not expected to know exact times and dates.  In addition, you are not a medical doctor and you are not expected to know medical terminology or diagnoses.  The lay person’s explanation of what hurts and how it hurts in best.

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The answer: absolutely!

A recent Bucks County custody battle involved a father who created a website which, among other things, related his experiences with the Bucks County court system. Included on the website were blogs which referenced his ex-wife. These references were described by the judge hearing his custody case as “denigrating and belittling comments about mother”. The judge further advised father “You may say anything that you would like to say. You may publish it. You may put it on a billboard. But you will not have your children, because that is abusive”. Purportedly, the judge then ordered the website shut down and ordered father to stop blogging. The father has filed an appeal claiming the judge’s order violates his constitutional rights to free speech.

Whether or not the judge’s order violates father’s right to free speech is a separate issue from whether the judge can use the website information and blogs as evidence in the custody case. 

Pennsylvania has recently detailed the factors a judge must consider in awarding custody. The relevant factors in this case include:

• The level of conflict between the parties and the willingness and ability of the parties to cooperate together.
• The attempts of a parent to turn the child against the other parent
• Which party is more likely to encourage and permit frequent and continuing contact between the child and another party.
• The present and past abuse committed by a party or member of the party’s household.       

Additionally, research is conclusive across the board and child custody experts are unanimous: the more animosity displayed between parents, the greater the negative impact on the children.
   
While the father can proudly, and in all likelihood legally, stand up and champion his First Amendment rights - he does it with a price. While he may win in his appeal, he will lose in  custody and, most importantly, in his relationship with his children.
   
The internet and various forms of social media are playing larger and more significant roles in custody disputes. It’s important for a parent who contemplates custody litigation to consult with an attorney experienced in these issues so they can put themselves in the best possible position to obtain a favorable outcome.

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