Vital new BMV form is a must have for everyone
Ever wondered how a police officer would know whom to contact if you got into an auto accident? Wouldn't you want your friends or family to be notified as soon as possible?
Fear no more. The Ohio Department of Public Safety's Bureau of Motor Vehicles has instituted a new system for contacting an accident victim's family and friends in the event of an emergency.
According to the BMV,
"Any holder of a valid Ohio driver license, commercial driver license, temporary permit or state of Ohio identification card will now have the option of providing the name and information of a contact person they wish to be notified in the event the individual is involved in a crash or emergency and is otherwise unable to communicate with the contact person."
The form is officially called the Next-of-Kin Notification form. After the form is completed, a person's information is loaded into a database. When an officer performs a search on an accident victim who has submitted the form to the BMV, the victim's information will automatically be displayed for the officer to see. The officer can then use that information to notify the necessary people in a timely manner.
Without submission of the form, officers have to rely on personal items such as a cell phone or information contained in the wallet or purse of the victim to determine whom to contact. Often times these personal items are destroyed or not easily accessible due to the severity of the accident. "In an emergency situation, time is critical to saving lives," said Director Henry Guzman of the Ohio Department of Public Safety. "We are encouraging all Ohioans to take advantage of this beneficial opportunity, to save time when trying to identify family and friends of a crash victim."
We have provided the Next-of-Kin Notification form in the Quick Links section below. Please click on the link provided and do not delay in completing and submitting the form to the BMV. |
Need a Speaker for your next event?
Did you know that Nancy is an author and frequent speaker to various civic and religious organizations?
October 22, 2009, Nancy will be the featured speaker for the Ohio Society of CPAs on the topic "Help, My Client Doesn't Remember Me?" Nancy will speak on the ever important issue of client competency, especially as it relates to providing services to people who are experiencing issues with senility and dementia, and the legal and ethical considerations a professional must consider when servicing those clients.
October 24, 2009, Nancy will present her classic "Are You Prepared?" speech at Centerville High School for Sinclair Community College's satellite program.
Please go to Nancy's speaking calendar on our website for more information on these events.
If you would like Nancy to speak for your organization, club, or house of worship, please call our office at 937-643-2000 and ask to speak to Judy Williams to book Nancy for your event.
Nancy provides her professional speaking services at no charge, but she asks that there be a minimum of ten people who attend the event. | |
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Roberson Law receives Outstanding Law Firm of the Year award!
As posted in the Dayton Daily News B2B Awards section:
"Roberson Law was recognized as Outstanding Law Firm of theYear at a ceremony held at the Sinclair Community College Ponitz Center and hosted by Sinclair's Paralegal Department."
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Lessons learned the hard way: Reasons why you may want to reconsider your POA
If you are a past or present client at Roberson Law, you know that we believe that having a General Durable Power of Attorney (GDPOA) is just as important as having a Will because if you become incompetent, without an effective, current (less than five years old) GDPOA in place, a guardianship may need to be established to give another person authority to make decisions for you. General Durable Powers of Attorney can cost as little as $150.00 to prepare, but guardianships can cost thousands of dollars in attorney fees and court costs because guardianships are established and maintained through the probate court.
On a side note, assuming that you do not need a GDPOA if you are married is a common but dreadful estate planning mistake. If you are married, you do not automatically have legal authority to handle personal and financial matters for your spouse. A married person therefore needs a GDPOA as much as a single person.
The authority that you give to another person in your GDPOA can be as broad, narrow, general, or specific as you want it to be. In other words, you can authorize your "attorney in fact" to do many things for you, or you can limit the authority of your attorney in fact to only a few matters.
If you are not 100% certain that the person who you have named as your attorney in fact can be trusted to use your money appropriately, you should think very carefully about enabling that person to act for you.
If you don't have anyone else to name as your attorney in fact, you should have your GDPOA re-written so that your attorney in fact has very limited authority to conduct financial transactions for you.
Recently we had a case where an attorney in fact, a family member of the client, wrote thousands of dollars in checks to herself from the checking account of the client. The bank didn't stop the family member because she had the authority to write the checks since she was named in the copy of the GDPOA that the bank had on file. Because of cases like these, you need to be very careful about whom you choose as your attorney in fact. |
Want more information about our staff and the services we offer? Click here to view our informative, interactive website and our new video on YouTube.  |
Did you know....?
According to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive for a study on behalf of LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell, one in five (21%) Americans uses a Trust as part of an estate plan, while 55% of people do not have a Will.¹
Considering that getting a Will is one of the most important things you can do to protect and provide for your children, we are shocked at those findings.
If you are the parent of an adult child who may be one of the 55% who does not have a Will, we invite you to consider paying for your adult child's Will for a Christmas or birthday gift? 
Remember, if your child is over eighteen years old, and especially if your child has children (your grandchildren), your child most certainly needs a Will. If you are interested in this gifting option, please feel free to call our office and discuss the costs to do so. We now have "a la carte" fees for documents such as Wills, so we can give you a quote on what the cost would be to give a Will as a gift.
¹ Michele K. Keith, Successfully Integrating an IRA with a Trust, in The Marvin R. Pliskin Advanced Probate and Estate Planning Seminar Manual 5.1 (Ohio State Bar Association Continuing Legal Education 2009) |
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Employee of the Quarter |
Judy Gibson, Document Retention Manager, has been named Employee of the Quarter. Judy has worked  at Roberson Law for the past eight years and is in charge of managing over 3,000 client files. Judy's organizational skills are impeccable, for she gives special attention to every file that comes across her desk. When Judy receives a file, she ensures that all documents are in order and are filed in the right place. "Misfiled" is a word that is never used with Judy around. Having a person as organized as Judy is essential to an office that concentrates on document production, so it is for that reason why Judy is being recognized. Thank you Judy! |
The Roberson Law birds...where did they go?
Anyone who visited our office this summer got the pleasure of meeting the protective robin who laid her eggs in a nest that she built in a wreath on our entrance door. As time passed, the mother robin became more and more fierce towards anyone who attempted to open the door.
After weeks of anticipation and dodging the mother robin, we finally witnessed the baby birds hatch. With an office full of women, you can imagine the mothering that went on with those babies! It was a sad day, however, when the baby birds finally grew strong enough to fly away, leaving Nancy with a staff of ladies who all had empty nest syndrome (literally). Thank you to Connie Porcher for sending the picture. |
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Our mission is to provide excellent, compassionate legal services to help people plan for the unexpected and prepare for the inevitable.
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