Staten Island Chuck, Richmond County’s spring–predicting groundhog, is quite the local celebrity. On Saturday, the anticipation was palpable as throngs of people gathered at the Staten Island Zoo to witness Chuck, also known as Charles G. Hogg, fail to see his shadow, thus indicating an early spring.
New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio declined to attend the groundhog ceremony for a fourth year in a row. It was during his first Staten Island Groundhog Day ceremony in 2014, when the mayor dropped Charles G. Hogg, as he took him to his burrow. In a strange twist of events, authorities later revealed that Chuck was really Charlotte and that she died a week after her fall from internal injuries presumably sustained from the trauma. Of course, following the reveal, debate ensued as to whether the mayor dropped Charlotte or whether she contributed to her fatal injuries by jumping.
Charlotte’s demise illustrates the intersection of the trusts and estates and personal injury bars, two areas of law that usually approach the idea of death from different perspectives, but in certain cases, work together in synergy.
Trusts and estates attorneys plan for death. They encourage their clients to think about their estate plans, their wishes for their children, and preferences for the management of assets. They encourage writing memoranda and record keeping. They make their clients reflect on end-of-life care and pontificate unpleasant scenarios as they relate to their eventual demise. People who consult with trusts and estates attorneys are definitionally responsible as they exhibit concern either for their own future or for their parents or children. Similarly, a nominee under one’s estate planning documents also trends towards responsible and capable. The competent child will serve as the executor of Mother’s last will as opposed to the flippant and irresponsible son.
Often personal injury attorneys do not have clients who can afford to be contemplative. In personal injury cases, tragedy unexpectedly strikes and everyone must run into action. Victims are compelled to speak with attorneys, not because they necessarily choose to, but because they must as a result of their loss.
These two legal worlds converge in a few cases. When one dies as a result of another’s actions, a civil cause of action exists known as “wrongful death.” Often standing to sue for wrongful death belongs to the family of the victim. A personal injury attorney will represent Charlotte’s family in a cause of action, and she will often work with a trusts and estates attorney to help settle and compromise the matter in Surrogate’s Court and have an estate representative appointed so that pain and suffering damages can be sought. Unlike wrongful death, pain and suffering represent damages that inure to the decedent herself. As such any pain and suffering is awarded to the estate of the decedent, which may or may not be her next-of-kin depending on what her last will reads, if one exists.
Trusts and estates attorneys are often summoned when a plaintiff or a defendant in a lawsuit dies. Upon the demise of a party, an estate representative must be appointed and granted the specific power to pursue or defend a lawsuit under which she is named. Tremendous difficulty may ensure when a defendant dies, as her family may not cooperate with plaintiffs in having a representative appointed to carry on the lawsuit.
In cases where disabled individual or minors receive monetary damages, trusts and estates attorneys petition the courts for the establishment of special trusts so that the monies may be used for the awardee’s benefit. If one is receiving governmental benefits, it is important to hold the award in a supplemental needs trust.
Of course, issues resulting from an unexpected death are always mitigated by the existence of a last will and testament. A last will appoints the executor to pursue any potential causes of action and names beneficiaries, directing how their monies shall be held. Last, but certainly not least, the establishment of a last will can also include a trust for the benefit of your pet groundhog or even a donation to the zoo that will adopt it upon your passing.
Cori A. Robinson is a solo practitioner having founded Cori A. Robinson PLLC, a New York and New Jersey law firm, in 2017. For more than a decade Cori has focused her law practice on trusts and estates and elder law including estate and Medicaid planning, probate and administration, estate litigation, and guardianships. She can be reached at cori@robinsonestatelaw.com.
Groundhog Death And The Intersection Of Trusts And Estates And Personal Injury Law curated from Above the Law
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