July 24th, 2024
On this episode of the Law Frog, David and Ross talk about a few different cases including a repair shop who took someone’s Camaro for a joy ride and crashed it, a mother who is dealing with hospital bills from her daughter’s birth over three years ago, and a lethal motorcycle accident.
Ross: A man dropped off his collectible Camaro, worth $97,000 at a repair shop to get some work done on it and someone took it for a joyride and crashed it. The owner of the car is going to sue, but since it is a collectible car that is an investment and gains more value each year, can he sue for more than the $97,000 the car was worth at the time of the crash?
David: The best way to answer this is to identify the different damages that you can sue for in a situation like this and recognize that they are going to be limited to property issues. You could argue that you have some emotional stress from this, but that is not going to fly in a case like this since he was not in the wreck. In this case you are suing for two losses, the loss of the car itself and the loss of the use of the car. Your damage is going to be determined by what you can prove the damages are and what the car was worth. They will probably want to get another appraiser to come in and talk about how the value has increased since that first appraisal. Now, the other thing has to do with insurance, a car like that needs to be insured. The first stop is to go to your insurance company and see what they can do.
Ross: Colleen has been fighting with UC Health over a bill from when her daughter was born three and a half years ago. Her insurance had some issues and thought it was paid but it was not. Now her insurance says it is paid but UC Health says it is not. Is it her responsibility to sort out issues between the hospital and the insurance? Would she have any rights to go after them for unfair billing practices?
David: Unfair billing practice is a law that is designed to make sure that hospitals are not billing people based on some kind of bias. There are other laws that that help make sure that people understand what the bills will be so that they are not surprised by them. Without looking at everything myself, with something like this the breakdown of the bill gets sent to Anthem and they get billed. Anthem would only be able to tell you whether or not they have paid the bills that they have received from the hospital. So, the hospital may have sent their bills, but there may be a provider who sent a bill to Anthem, and it never made it to them, or Anthem decided they cannot cover it. Anything that Anthem will not cover falls on the patient to pay. The best procedure is to go through everything to make sure that there are no outstanding bills and maybe schedule a meeting with someone in the financial offices at the hospital. You can also make an appeal on decisions made by your insurance for what they will and will not pay.
Ross: Christina’s parents in-law have a lien on their vehicle in Arizona. She wants them to release the lien or surrender the vehicle without having to see them. Do they have any legal obligations to be present? Can they handle this without having to see them?
David: It sounds like they would like to keep the car and just get the in-laws off the lien. As a caveat I do not practice law in Arizona, so I am going off of legal fundamentals and the Arizona Department of Transportation’s form for lien release. Depending on what kind of lien it is once the lien is released from the in-laws that does not necessarily mean you are free and clear, but for a particular type of lien the lien holder just needs to fill out this form releasing the lien. This form can be found on the Arizona Department of Transportation’s website, once this is filled out you can take the necessary documents to register the car and get a title.
Ross: Lizzie’s friend was killed in a motorcycle accident, he had no will and was common law married but separated at the time of his death. His common law wife has a child that was four when they met, he claimed the daughter as his own. Prior to his common law marriage, he would have meetings with a friend that resulted in a son. He did not know this child existed until they were 12 years old, and the mother wanted nothing from him at that point. He would try to spend time with his son, but the mother did not allow this often. The mother wanted him to leave his common law wife and daughter to be with her instead. In retaliation to him saying no, she would not let him see their son. Now that he is deceased, the mother is suing the estate saying she is entitled since her son is the only blood related child. Does she have any rights to the estate?
David: They have something in Colorado and a lot of states called intestate succession. If you die intestate, meaning you do not have a will outlining everything, there are statutes in Colorado under the probate code to dictate how your assets are distributed to the people that you have left. A common law wife would have all of the rights of a spouse who has filed a marriage certificate, assuming that the have met all of the criteria to be considered common law. There is no such thing as common law divorce, they would have to go through divorce proceedings. So, let us assume that he was married at the time of his death to a woman who has a child from a previous relationship. He also has a biological son who is now of majority age. The spouse gets an immediate share of a person’s assets up to a certain amount. Beyond that amount, they get a percentage share of what is left. In a situation where you have a child from another relationship, and then you also have a spouse, typically the surviving spouse gets the first $150,000 plus one half of any of the balance if the other child is from a different marriage. This is all based on the way I understand the situation and read the probate code. I do not practice probate law, so you need to confirm this with a probate lawyer. Since the son is now an adult, his mother does not really have any claim to this money, the son does.
Ross: Chad’s daughter fell in love with an ex-con and they got married. The wedding night ended in a domestic violence case. They bought a house together, but because of his past he could not get any of the financial paperwork to be put on the loan. His daughter put him on the deed along with hers when they moved in together. He is now living in the house, and she is not for the last two and a half years.
David: Since he is on the deed, he will stay on the deed, unless you can force him off or he agrees to be off of the deed. If he is not going to agree to voluntarily give up his name on that house, you will have to file a quiet title action. That is one way to do it. Again, I am not a real estate lawyer, and I really think she needs to consult with one.
