You and your spouse will decide which of you will retain ownership of your marital home after your divorce. However, the division of property in a divorce agreement is not enough to completely transfer ownership of the home to one person. As long as both of your names are on the deed and mortgage, you both will have some control over and responsibility for the home. The most efficient way to settle the issue is to transfer the deed and modify the mortgage while your divorce is still ongoing.

Potential Problems

Your divorce agreement states your intention for one of you to occupy and control your marital home after your divorce. It does not automatically change your deed or mortgage. Failing to update these documents may not have immediate consequences but will eventually cause complications:

• One of you cannot sell the home without the other’s approval if the deed still says that you both own the home;
• The person who no longer lives in the home could be liable for property tax and mortgage payments if the occupant does not pay them; and
• If the occupant files for bankruptcy, the mortgage lender can pressure the other person on the mortgage to pay the remainder.

It is easier to settle these issues between each other now than returning to court years later when you are having problems.

There is an ongoing debate in the workers’ compensation insurance industry about whether more insurers should adopt a value-based care model for paying claims. VBC proponents in the industry cite the potential to provide treatment that is more effective in cost and outcome for the patient. How would a VBC system change workers’ compensation for claimants? It may benefit them in theory, but there are still questions about how the system would actually work.

Value-Based Care vs. Fee for Service

Workers’ compensation insurers use a fee-for-service payment model, in which the insurer pays the healthcare provider for each visit or procedure that it performs. Critics of fee for service say that it puts a greater incentive on the number of visits than the quality of care provided. A VBC payment system compensates healthcare providers based on the nature of the injury and the recovery of the patient. There are several payment models for VBC, including:

• Pay for performance;
• Bundled payments; and
• Outcomes-based payments.

VBC proponents call this a more holistic and patient-centered approach to workers’ compensation. The doctor’s financial incentive is to help a worker reach maximum recovery as soon as possible, which could result in injured employees returning to work more quickly. Of course, insurers could also benefit from more predictable pricing and shorter periods of disability payments.

Being involved in an accident with a truck is both frightening and perilous if you are driving a smaller vehicle. Victims can suffer serious or even fatal injuries because of the force of colliding with a such a large object. Pursuing personal injury damages will help you afford the recovery treatments you need, as well as compensate you for your pain and suffering. However, building a personal injury case involving a truck is different than with other vehicles.

Crash Causes

Driving a large truck requires greater skill and caution than with a normal-sized vehicle. A truck takes longer to stop, has larger blind spots, and needs more space from other drivers when making turns or changing lanes. Drivers have more difficulty avoiding an accident with a reckless truck driver because of the length of the vehicle. The truck driver may have been at fault for your accident if he or she:

• Was driving too fast;
• Did not apply the brake in time to stop from rear-ending your vehicle; or
• Changed lanes without consideration for other vehicles.

To prove that the truck driver was reckless, you will need to recount how the driver was behaving before the accident, his or her actions that put you in danger, and how you responded. A witness may have had a more complete view of the circumstances that led to the crash and be able to corroborate your account.

Your right to confidentiality is one of your fundamental protections when organizing a defense against a criminal charge. Your attorney cannot discuss any of your private conversations with someone else, even if you confess your guilt. If a defense attorney spoke to you but does not represent you, he or she cannot testify about what you said to him or her. Conversations with a therapist or your spouse are also confidential in most cases. However, there are situations in which your private conversation is not protected and could be used against you:

1. Public Conversations: A witness can testify about your conversation with your attorney if you were speaking loudly in a public place. Conversations are confidential only if you make an effort to be discreet. You may not realize how loudly you are speaking if you are talking to your lawyer on a phone.
2. Jailhouse Conversations: Though jail is not a public place, you must be careful when talking to your lawyer in a common area. Inmates may try to overhear you making an incriminating statement in hopes of testifying against you and gaining favor with prosecutors. Jailers may also be monitoring phone calls you make in a common area.
3. Third Parties: Inviting someone other than your attorney to join your conversation may mean that what you said is not confidential, depending on the reason you invited the third party. You can claim that the conversation was still confidential if you needed the other person to provide insight into your case. However, a friend or family member other than your spouse could be asked to testify against you if you simply wanted him or her to be present.
4. Future Crimes: Your attorney cannot disclose your confession to a crime you committed, but that does not apply if you express an intent to commit a crime in the future. Your attorney is allowed to contact the authorities in order to prevent you from committing a crime.
5. Crimes Against Children: The exception to confidential conversations with a spouse or therapist is if you discuss a crime involving a child. A therapist is obligated to report crimes against children, and prosecutors could force your spouse to testify about such a crime.

Contact a Crystal Lake Criminal Defense Attorney

When you talk about your criminal case with someone other than your lawyer, you risk the prosecution trying to use that person as a witness. A McHenry County criminal defense attorney at Botto Gilbert Lancaster, PC, will protect your confidentiality during your case. To schedule a free consultation, call 815-338-3838.

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Whether it is for spring break or over the summer, many parents are already making vacation plans. Children of a recent divorce can benefit from a fun trip because it is a chance to create happy family memories. However, there are different factors to consider when planning a vacation as a single parent than when you were married. You need to work out these complications well in advance so that nothing gets in the way of giving your children the vacation that you promised.

Parenting Schedule

Trying to fit your vacation within your normal parenting schedule could limit where you can go and how long the trip can last. Divorced parents commonly create separate vacation parenting schedules. You can do this by:

• Scheduling designated vacation time for each parent when creating your parenting agreement during your divorce;
• Modifying your parenting schedule to create vacation times; or
• Entering a written agreement to deviate from your parenting schedule in order to allow a longer stay with one parent.

Your co-parent will likely expect to receive additional parenting time at another date to make up for his or her loss of parenting time during your vacation. You should not enter an informal agreement to modify your parenting time. You need documentation to prove your agreement if your co-parent later accuses you of denying his or her time with the children.