Normand & Associates

Be Our Facebook Fan and Win a Free Meal!

Jmnormand — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:52:06 +0000

We wanted to show our appreciation to our loyal Facebook fans, so we are having a contest! Every two weeks, we will randomly select a fan of our Facebook page and award them with a gift certificate to one of five fantastic NH restaurants!

All you need to do is “Like us!” Click here and click on the “Like” button at the top of the page.

We’ve already awarded a $50 gift certificate to Gaucho’s Brazilian Steakhouse to Meredith Adams. The next winner could be you!

Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program

AHansen — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:43:08 +0000

If your child is under the age of 18, and you are concerned his or her other parent might attempt to take the child out of the country, you should be aware of the U.S. Department of State’s Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program (CPIAP).

Although federal law already requires the consent of both parents before a passport may be issued to a minor, you can take the additional step of entering your child into the CPIAP.

Go to www.travel.state.gov and enter CPIAP into the search field for more information.

Albert Hansen

Criminal Restitution

AHansen — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:23:12 +0000

In the recent case of State v. Daniel Bent, (N.H. Slip 01/27/2012), the New Hampshire Supreme Court vacated a trial court’s ruling that it was bound by a restitution figure set by the Department of Corrections, and remanded for a new hearing. Citing RSA 651:64, the Court held that only the trial court has the authority to set an amount of restitution. The Supremes also directed the trial court on remand to determine whether the award would result in an impermissible double recovery contrary to RSA 651:63 which precludes a victim for being compenstated more than once for the same injury. See also, State v. Burr, 147 N.H. 102 (2001). The victim in Bent had filed a civil suit against the defendant and a settlement was reached out of court.

Albert Hansen

Congratulations Attorney Higham

Jmnormand — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:13:15 +0000

Effective January 1, 2012, Attorney Maureen Higham has been named as a director of Normand & Associates, Professional Association. She has been serving as the Personnel Director for the past several years and has added responsibility in the management of the firm as one of the directors.

Congratulations Attorney Higham, you’ve earned it!

We Can Help You Through Your Bankruptcy

Jmnormand — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:47:55 +0000

Some people think that that filing for bankruptcy is seen as “giving up.” In reality, bankruptcy can give you the opportunity to start fresh and begin again. You owe it to your family to do everything you can to help them lead a happy life and filing for bankruptcy may be the solution.

We can stop the harassing phone calls and save many of your assets that you may think would be lost when declaring bankruptcy. Remember, it’s always free for the initial consultation. Our bankruptcy law professionals will fight for you.

-Jim

Review Your Underinsured Motorist Coverage

Jmnormand — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:40:20 +0000

We are finding at an increasing rate that our clients who think they have “full insurance coverage” actually have far too low uninsured motorist coverage to protect themselves and their family when they are hurt.

We have a client who travels around New England as a contractor. He is the major breadwinner in the family, and any injury that he could sustain would put the family in financial jeopardy. Since he worked for himself, he would not even be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits if he was hurt on the job. Since he drives quite a bit, there is a reasonable risk that if he sustained an injury, it would be from a car crash.

He has a new truck and his wife has a car. When his wife went to the insurance agent, she asked for “full insurance coverage” because she knew that her husband had a new truck, they had a home, and she wanted to be protected. Unfortunately, while she was sold insurance coverage for every category, namely, property damage, liability, collision, rental and towing, she actually was sold the absolute minimum available for bodily injury liability and uninsured motorist coverage. While she should have purchased at least $250,000 in uninsured motorist coverage, she was actually sold only $25,000 in uninsured motorist coverage.

When her husband sustained serious injuries in a car crash, we found that the person responsible for the car crash had only $25,000 in liability coverage. Accordingly, we looked towards the family’s auto policy to check their underinsured motorist limits. Since they had the minimum of only $25,000 in their “full coverage” policy, there was no additional insurance coverage to cover the serious injuries that our client sustained.

It is our experience that for a very small fractional increase in the amount of the insurance premium, you can significantly increase your uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage to at least $100,000 and preferably, $250,000. Additionally, we find that for a small additional price of about $200 to $250, your family could have an umbrella coverage of at least $1,000,000 so that if you or a family member is hurt in any way in a car accident or even as a pedestrian, you would have up to $1,000,000 in underinsured motorist coverage available to pay for your injuries.

The moral of the story is that you should check your policies carefully. If your bodily injury liability and uninsured motorist coverage is less than $250,000, you should ask your agent to increase those two coverage’s to at least $250,000. You will be quite surprised that the increase in your premium would be very modest.

These days when injuries and death from a car crash is one of the most frequent causes of injury and death, you should make certain that you have adequate coverage in your own insurance policy to cover you when a careless driver is uninsured and you need protection . . .

-Jim

Have You Seen Our Facebook Page?

Jmnormand — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:58:11 +0000

We do our best to update our blog with useful information, but did you know that you can find more on our Facebook page? Read the firm’s current events, stay updated with our latest Youtube posts, and leave a friendly message for our attorneys!

-Jim

SSA COLA INCREASE

JWard — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:44:07 +0000

SSA has announced that there will be 3.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security and SSI beneficiaries in 2012. This is the first increase since 2009. The COLA is determined by comparing the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2008, the last year that a COLA was determined, to the third quarter of 2011. The last COLA increase in 2009 was 5.8 percent, the largest increase since 1982.

The average monthly benefit in 2012 for all disabled workers will be $1,111 (vs. $1,072 in 2011). For a disabled worker, spouse, and one or more children, the average monthly benefit in 2012 will be $1,892 (vs. $1,826 in 2011).

Workers’ Comp-Mileage

JWard — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:19:55 +0000

If you have a workers’ compensation claim remember to keep track of all the mileage you drive for doctor’s appointments. Under the workers’ compensation statute you are entilted to reimbursement for mileage incurred related to your claim. Depending on your injury, the mileage can add up fast.

FYI-On Juy 1, 2011 the mileage rate was increased to 55.5 cents per mile.

SSDI-MEDICARE

JWard — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:09:39 +0000

Don’t forget if you are found eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) one important benefit is qualifying for the federal Medicare program. People with disabilites become eligible for Medicare 24 months after recieving SSDI; sooner in some instances. However, due to the five-month waiting period from the start of the disabling condition for individuals to qualify for SSDI benifits, Medicare coverage cannot start sooner than the beginning of the 30th month after the start of the qualifing disability.

As mentioned above, SSDI beneficiaries with specific conditions may qualify for Medicare sooner. This includes people with:

ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease (you qualify for Medicare the first month SSDI benifits are recieved)

End stage renal disease or kindey failure (you qualify for Medicare after the third month of recieving SSDI benifits.

A kidney problem in which you recieve a kidney transplant (you qualify for Medicare in the month you recieve the transplant)