Ocean County Workers' Compensation Law Blog

While most in Ocean County might claim to understand workers' compensation benefits, that understanding is typically limited to the knowledge that said benefits help cover the expenses that arise from a work-related accident. Beyond that, details such as benefit limits, reporting requirements and qualifying criteria are likely a mystery to them. Speaking specifically about that final point, many may think that certain aspects about one's job may actually disqualify them from workers' compensation coverage. An example of this line of thinking may be people believing that certain jobs already present inherent dangers, and those who do them agree to assume those risks. 

Information shared by Time Magazine lists the most dangerous professions in America as follows: 

• Logging
• Commercial fishing
• Aviation
• Roofing
• Waste management
• Iron and steel

As you have begun to look into developing an estate plan in New Jersey, you have probably heard about all of the options you have for designating how you would like your assets distributed to your beneficiaries. While you are starting to get some clarification on which route you would like to go, you are interested in knowing if you have the option of gifting some of your assets while you are still living. 

The benefits of starting to distribute your assets while you are still alive can reduce the amount of taxes that your loved ones are required to pay following your death. Additionally, you can experience the satisfaction of seeing your assets benefit people that you care deeply about. According to Fidelity Investments, some of the ways that you can begin gifting immediately include making contributions to help pay for the education or medical bills of a certain beneficiary.

Many in Ocean County may view any civil action taken in conjunction with criminal proceedings as a way for victims of an alleged crime to punish its accused perpetrator even further. This line of thinking may be particularly in wrongful death cases that accompany murder charges. Yet oftentimes, the targets of such actions are not those who committed the crimes themselves, but rather third parties whose actions (or inactions) may have permitted them to do so. 

That was the claim made in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a college student in Ohio following her murder. The family alleged that the state department charged with monitoring the man who killed her was negligent in its duties. The young woman's killer had been released from prison only three months before the crime, yet incidents of him failing to charge the GPS ankle monitor he was mandated to wear and leaving his residential housing center had already been documented. It was discovered later that the man had committed a string of robberies in the days leading up to him abducting and ultimately killing the young woman. He has since been sentenced to life in prison for the crime. 

There is a reason why the car accidents that occur in Ocean County are referred to as "accidents." This may prompt you to be understanding towards whomever caused the collision that you were involved in. Yet what if it is discovered that said driver should not have been operating a vehicle at all (either due to his or her own demonstrated incompetence behind the wheel, or not having a drivers' license)? Your frustrations may not only be directed at the driver, but also to whomever gave him or her access to a vehicle in the first place. 

The question is whether you can hold that third party liable if you choose to seek compensation. The legal doctrine of negligent entrustment allows you to do just that. Simply put, negligent entrustment means that a vehicle owner entrusted said vehicle to a driver when he or she should have known the driver was likely to cause an accident. Up until recently, New Jersey state court rulings had established that in order for negligent entrustment to be applied to your case, you needed to be able to prove the following: 

• The driver that hit you was incompetent, inexperienced or reckless
• The person who entrusted him or her with a vehicle knew this (or should have known)
• The person did indeed entrust the driver with his or her vehicle
• That act created an appreciable risk of harm to others
• The harm or injury you (and others) experienced was proximately due to the actions of both of the aforementioned parties