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Preparing a Will: Ensuring Your Wishes are Honoured

By AMJ LAW | May 23, 2023

Preparing a will is ...

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TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY

If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of a motor vehicle accident or some other accident or act of negligence, the lawyers at AMJ LAW are here to help.

Traumatic brain injury is a very significant injury and often results in memory problems and cognitive defects which include lack of focus, problems sleeping, and personality changes. Many persons with traumatic brain injury require significant rehabilitation to recover and others never really do completely recover the function they had prior to the accident.

It is complex and can be quite extensive and time consuming to gather the necessary evidence to prove a traumatic brain injury and the consequences to the person suffering the injury. There are many types of experts and many types of testing that can be done.

Oftentimes, symptoms of traumatic brain injury mimic symptoms of depression and stress and are thus difficult claims to prove in the absence of complex medical evidence and skillful expertise.

The situation can be complicated if the person suffering the traumatic brain injury has had some pre-existing problems. We have the experience and resources to assist you if you believe you have suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of an accident. There may be a significant loss of earning capacity and a significant need for future care. As a full service Vancouver law firm with decades of experience, AMJ LAW has the knowledge and resources to assist you in obtaining the best possible settlement for you or your loved ones.

There may be other problems co-existing with traumatic brain injury, such as post-traumatic stress order and depression. It can be sometimes difficult to sort out which issues were caused by the accident but it is also possible to prove that the pre-existing problems were exacerbated or made worse by the accident and should be compensated just the same.

Contact AMJ LAW

At AMJ LAW, we will work with you and the medical experts to assist with your recovery, rehabilitation and legal rights.

ORTHOPAEDIC INJURIES

Fractures and related-injuries can be caused by motor vehicle accidents, slip and fall accidents and other accidents. Often these injuries are the result serious accidents and the victim is suffering from soft-tissue injuries and other injuries at the same time.

Serious fractures often require specialized treatment, including:

surgery to correct the fracture or damage to tissues
insertion of hardware
extensive rehabilitation and pain management programs

Fractures to joints, such as shoulders or knees, may result in permanent impairment and pain. In some cases, arthritis or other degenerative changes in the joints can be accelerated. The loss of function and income can be severe. In some cases, the need for ongoing therapy, pain management or additional surgery in future can have a lifelong impact.

Contact AMJ LAW

If you have suffered a fracture or injuries in an accident, contact us for help. We have extensive experience assisting individuals who have suffered serious orthopedic injuries and multiple injuries. Our litigation lawyers will meet with you and help you obtain care and financial compensation for your injuries.

WRONGFUL DEATH

It is possible to sue for the death of a family member as a result of the wrongful act, negligence, or default of another person.

The wrongful death lawsuit can be brought by an immediate family member, including a child, parent, or spouse, even though that person was not directly involved in the incident which resulted in the wrongful death of their family member.

Damages may include:

expenses for medical bills
hospital bills
funeral costs
loss of earning contribution of the family member who died
loss of guidance to a surviving child

If you are a child or a spouse of somebody who has died due to the wrongful act of another person, you can make a claim against that person, including persons who are also dead (their estate), to recover the financial and emotional loss that occurred to you.

Contact AMJ LAW

This can be an emotionally difficult time. At AMJ LAW, our experienced lawyers will work with you to ensure that your claim is advanced with skill and compassion.

SPINAL CORD INJURY

If you have suffered a spinal cord injury as a result of a car accident, a work place accident, or any other act of negligence by somebody else, the experienced spinal cord injury lawyers at AMJ can help.

This type of injury can be very debilitating and have a significant impact on your day-to-day activities and your ability to earn income. The lawyers at AMJ LAW have the experience and skills to assist you in finding proper therapists and proper medical practitioners, both for assessment and treatment of your spinal cord injury. We will ensure that you are taken care of.

There may be psychological and emotional injury as well as the spinal cord injury and all of these injuries can be addressed in the same claim. The rehabilitation can often be difficult and the legal issues complex, but you can count on the experience of the personal injury lawyers at AMJ LAW to help you all the way through this process.

CHRONIC PAIN

If you are injured in a motor vehicle accident and you have pain that extends beyond six-months, doctors categorize that as chronic pain. Chronic pain can be debilitating and have a profound affect on you life and your ability to engage in your previous activities, including earning income. People with chronic pain often require significant therapy and medications, all of which can be very costly.

Persons suffering from chronic pain often exhibit emotional and sometimes psychological problems as well. We can assist you with your lawsuit for all of the injuries and consequences associated with developing chronic pain. The litigation lawyers at the AMJ LAW firm have extensive experience in lawsuits for chronic pain, which include emotional consequences, a reduced ability to earn income, and significant out-of-pocket expenses.

If you believe you are experiencing chronic pain as a result of an accident and if you are incurring expenses and concerned about your future, our experienced lawyers can assist you with understanding your case and getting you the maximum settlement and compensation to which you are entitled.

PSYCHIATRIC / PSYCHOLOGICAL INJURIES

After an accident, it is not unusual to suffer pain and suffering and other losses from the physical injuries you have suffered. In many cases, the physical injuries are accompanied by emotional distress. The financial impact and possible long-term consequences on serious injuries can be devastating to the victim and his or her family.

In some cases, in addition to the personal injury compensation claim for the physical injuries, there is also a claim for psychiatric injury. These claims can arise if you were the victim or even if you were at the scene of an accident and witnessed it.

Gathering the medical evidence for a claim of psychiatric injury is complex and advancing such a claim usually is more difficult than claims due to physical injury alone. Many situations can result in serious psychiatric injuries. It can be difficult to convince the insurance company and obtain medical or financial assistance if you have suffered a psychiatric injury. We have the experience and skills to assist you if are suffering from emotional injuries. Some of the cases we handle include:

Depression and stress caused by physical injuries
Anxiety or fear of driving resulting from a motor vehicle accident
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Other psychiatric injuries or conditions caused by an accident or a prior condition that has become aggravated due to an accident

NECK, BACK & OTHER INJURIES

Soft tissue injuries and strains involving the neck (whiplash) and back frequently result from motor vehicle accidents but can also be caused by slip and fall accidents or other accidents. Often these injuries can be much more severe than initially expected, and the symptoms may worsen in the days and weeks after the accident.

In some cases, injuries to the neck and back can last for months or years and for some individuals, the symptoms are permanent. Soft-tissue injuries can result from motor vehicle collisions even when the speeds involved are not very high.

Soft tissue injuries can include:

severe bruising
painful swelling
strained muscles
damage to ligaments or tendons
repetitive stress injuries
injuries to the muscles and tissues around your shoulder

Injuries involving the neck and back can seriously interfere with your enjoyment of life and your ability to work. It is important to document the symptoms and to seek early diagnosis and treatment of the these injuries.

Contact AMJ LAW

At AMJ LAW, our lawyers have extensive experience in claims involving neck and back injuries and will be pleased to assist you if you are suffering from soft-tissue injuries caused by someone else’s negligence or carelessness.

WHIPLASH

Are you suffering from Whiplash due to a motor vehicle accident in Vancouver’s Lower Mainland? We can help!

Whiplash (soft tissue injuries) are one of the most common injuries caused by motor vehicle accidents.

These types of injuries may appear immediately after impact of an accident or days after an accident. With whiplash, you may experiences symptoms such as:

pain
stiffness
soreness in your neck, shoulders or back
headaches
dizziness

You may have soft tissue injuries only or they may be accompanied with other injuries, such as bruises, cuts, fractures or spinal problems including disc herniation’s or disc bulges. It is important to be properly examined by your doctor and follow any advice that he or she provides, such as going for x-rays, CT scans or MRIs and attending physiotherapy or other types of therapies.

Whiplash injuries may last for many years and affect your:

ability to take care of your home
ability to take care of your children
ability to work
ability to participate in sports or other activities

At AMJ LAW law firm in East Vancouver, our lawyers have seen the effects of many people involved in motor vehicle accidents suffering from soft tissue injuries and our personal injury and ICBC lawyers are experienced and skilled at dealing with ICBC claims to obtain the compensation which you deserve.

Usually a medical opinion is an essential step in proving your claim of soft tissue damage, to show how the injuries have affected your activities or work and to demonstrate how your injuries may affect you in the future.

Our law firm can obtain the medical information necessary to properly prove your whiplash claims so that you are compensated for your injuries and any other losses arising out of your injuries as well as consider the effects of your injuries into the future in order to obtain a fair settlement from ICBC or award from the court.

FIBROMYALGIA

There are multiple symptoms and causes of fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is disorder that is characterized by:

muscle pain
fatigue
tender points on the body
headaches
sleep interference
difficulty with thinking or memory

The effects can interfere with everyday activities at home and work. Sufferers may be forced to take many medications to cope with the pain.

Fibromyalgia is a disease that may be difficult to diagnose or can be misdiagnosed. This can add to the stress and frustration of the sufferer. For some individuals, motor vehicle accidents and post-traumatic stress have been associated with fibromyalgia. For others, the injuries and suffering caused by an accident have worsened or prolonged pre-existing fibromyalgia. If your fibromyalgia was caused by an accident or made worse due to injuries or trauma you have received, you may be able to claim compensation for this.

Obtaining compensation in a claim involving fibromyalgia may be difficult as the condition is not simple to diagnose and many aspects of this disorder still are not fully understood. In many cases, expert medical evidence is necessary to advance the claim.

Contact AMJ LAW

At AMJ LAW, our lawyers can help you to prove your case and receive the compensation and therapy you deserve.

MOTOR VEHICLE / CAR ACCIDENT

Legal Advice for Victims of Motor Vehicle / Car Accidents in Vancouver’s Lower Mainland

If you are the driver or passenger in a motor vehicle accident and you have suffered injuries or financial loss due to the negligence or carelessness of another motorist, you may have a claim for damages (compensation).

The compensation often will be for the pain and suffering caused by the injuries but can also be for losses such as,

lost income, including future income loss
damage to property
out-of-pocket expenses (including medications, travel to therapy sessions, medical equipment or aids, and user-fees for physiotherapy, chiropractic treatment, massage therapy and other therapy)
cost of future care, including costs of living with a disability

Lawyers specializing in ICBC claims

AMJ LAW lawyers in Vancouver have extensive experience dealing with the ICBC claims process and adjusters and negotiating settlements out of court. We are proud to have represented thousands of ICBC claimants over the last three decades.

AMJ LAW’s approach is based on listening carefully to your objectives, addressing your questions and concerns, investigating and presenting the strongest evidence, and obtaining the best possible settlement. In most cases, a favorable settlement can be achieved out-of-court by our direct settlement discussions with ICBC’s adjuster or ICBC’s lawyer, or by mediating the dispute. Our lawyers have attended many successful mediations and have taken many injury claims to trial in both the Provincial Court and the B.C. Supreme Court.

We begin every claim by meeting with you and providing a free, no-obligation, initial consultation to answer your questions about the claims process, the court system, how compensation is assessed and how legal fees are calculated. At AMJ, we don’t pass your case to junior lawyers or staff members once the case is started. As a firm that prides itself on working as a team to most effectively put our resources behind you, we rely on the experience and skill of every lawyer and staff member but the lawyer you meet and who initiates you case is the lawyer who will handle your claim and who will be available for you to call or meet at any stage you wish.

MOTORCYCLE & SCOOTER ACCIDENTS

Legal Advice for Victims of Motorcycle and Scooter Accidents in Vancouver’s Lower Mainland

At AMJ LAW, our personal injury litigators are experienced in handling injury claims from motorcycle and scooter accidents. Motorcyclists often are blamed when an accident happens but if you have been injured in an accident that was not your fault, you may be entitled to compensation.

Motorcylists share the road with other motor vehicles and generally must follow the same rules. However, there may be other factors and considerations when an accident happens involving a motorcycle. The factual and legal issues in each case concerning who will be found at fault for an accident can be complex. A lawyer can help ensure your side of the case is fully investigated and decided fairly.

Motorcyclists are at much greater risk of serious injury when an accident happens due to increased vulnerability and the speeds that often are involved in such collisions. Significant injuries to motorcyclists often include:

head injuries
paralysis
fractures and orthopedic injuries
internal injuries
soft tissue injuries and sprains
damage to the nerves
scarring
other permanent damage

If you have suffered injuries while operating a motorcycle or riding as a passenger on a motorcycle, especially if the injuries are severe and may affect you permanently, you should consult a lawyer who will represent your interests from the earliest stages of your claim.

PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT

Were you involved in a Pedestrian Accident in Vancouver’s Lower Mainland? We can help!

Most accidents involving pedestrians occur when someone is struck by a car, truck or motorcycle while he or she is crossing an intersection in a crosswalk. But pedestrian accidents can also happen when crossing outside of a crosswalk, or walking on the sidewalk through a driveway or even in a parking lot or other private property.

Thousands of pedestrians are injured or killed in motor-vehicle related accidents, even in collisions that may not involve high speeds. Often a pedestrian may suffer injury after the initial impact, when he or she is thrown by the impact or falls down.

Determining the cause of an accident and who is at fault for it can be complicated and requires a full investigation of all the relevant facts and an understanding of the laws that govern the rights and duties between pedestrians and motor vehicles. Our lawyers are skilled and experienced at gathering the facts and presenting your case to the insurance company or the court.

Contact Us

If you have been injured as a pedestrian in an accident involving a motor vehicle, you should contact AMJ LAW immediately to speak to one of our personal injury lawyers.

BICYCLE ACCIDENT

Were you involved in a Bicycle Accident in Vancouver’s Lower Mainland? We can help.

Despite training and education, use of safety equipment, and an increase in bike lanes and designated bike routes, accidents involving bicycles and motor vehicles continue to occur. As bike use increases, the number of accidents and injuries from accidents involving cyclists and cars has increased.

In B.C., the laws and regulations that set out the rights and duties of cyclists and motorists who must share the road can be complicated and determining fault for any accident can be difficult. In many cases, cyclists are blamed for accidents but if you have been injured in an accident that was not your fault, you may be able to claim for the losses you have suffered. It is important, however, that the circumstances of the accident are fully investigated and that fault for the accident is decided fairly. A lawyer can assist you to ensure that your side of the story is heard before important decisions concerning liability are made that may affect you negatively.

In accidents involving a collision between a cyclist and a motor vehicle, it is likely that the rider will suffer injury even if the motor vehicle is not damaged or the vehicle was not moving quickly. Often there can be injury not only from an impact between the car and the bicycle but further injury caused when the cyclist falls to the ground or if the cyclist collides with something else while trying to avoid the collision or regain control the bike.

Sadly, many accidents involving bicycles and motor vehicles result in serious injuries or death because of the increased vulnerability of cyclists. These injuries can include:

fractures
spinal cord injuries
brain injuries
head injuries
internal injuries
scarring
soft-tissue injuries

Contact AMJ LAW

If you have suffered injuries while operating bicycle, especially if the injuries are severe and may affect you permanently, consult a lawyer who will represent your interests from the earliest stages of your claim.

COMMITTEESHIP

Committeeships allow an incapable or incompetent adult person to legally act and make decisions by way of another person who is appointed by the court. This person is called a committee.

Representation agreements and powers of attorney may be granted by people who are competent and capable to do so and are an important part of estate planning which our law firm can assist you with. However, committeship applications are sometimes necessary when a person does not have a representation agreement or power of attorney in place and becomes incapable or incompetent.

As your full-service estates law firm, AMJ LAW can assist you to make a committeeship application, oppose a committeeship application or end or rescind the appointment of a committee.

The Patients Property Act provides for two types of committeeships one of the person and one of the estate. A person can be appointed to be a committee of just the person, just the estate or both. A committee of a person’s estate administers the legal, estate and financial affairs of an incapable adult, while a committee of the person makes decisions about the day-to-day care and living arrangements of an adult.

For both committeeship applications of the person and of the estate, the basic necessary evidence required are:

affidavits from two medical practitioners that provide clear opinions that the adult is incapable of managing himself or his affairs/estate, or both because of mental infirmity from disease, age or otherwise, or because of a disorder or disability of the mind arising from the use of drugs, and
an “Affidavit of Kindred and Fortune” from the person applying to be a committee which provides personal information about the adult, the proposed management of the adult’s estate, the qualifications the applicant has for the position, and the reasons for being the most appropriate person to be appointed as committee

The Public Guardian and Trustee is a public body which assists adults who need support for financial, estate and personal decision making to protect their rights and interests. The Public Guardian and Trustee may act as an incapable adult’s committee. However, it usually only acts as committee when there are no other suitable candidates available or willing to act as a committee. Usually family members or close friends are appointed committees by the court.

Committeeships are meant to protect the care, rights, finances and estate of adults who are mentally incapable of managing themselves and their affairs and their estates on their own. Committees are fiduciaries to the incapable adult and once appointed, have various powers and duties, including investing the incapable adult’s property and money in the best interests of the adult, providing periodic accounting of the adult’s finances to the Public Guardian and Trustee and acting for the incapable adult in any legal action.

Contact AMJ LAW

At AMJ LAW law firm, we can also assist with the happier event of applications to end or rescind an appointment of a committee for court order declaring that an adult is no longer incapable and discharging the committee.

WILLS VARIATION ACT CLAIMS

As your full service wills and estates lawyers, AMJ LAW provides legal services pursuing and defending Wills Variation Act claims.

Wills and estates disputes within families can be difficult and stressful and our law firm can assist you in providing early legal advice before further and irreparable damage is done to family relations.

Our law firm will assist you in settling and if necessary, bringing to trial or defending your Wills Variation Act claims, whether you have been disinherited by your parent, left out of a will by your spouse or are being sued under the Wills Variation Act as an executor or beneficiary under a will.

The Wills Variation Act is legislation in British Columbia which allows spouses and children to make claims against a deceased spouse or parent’s estate for not making adequate provision for their maintenance and support. If a claimant can prove this, then the court may make an order for a provision that it thinks adequate, just and equitable for the spouse or children out of the estate. There must be a valid will before the Act applies.

Spouses who may apply under the Wills Variation Act include married, separated and common law spouses. Both birth and adopted children can apply under the Wills Variation Act.

The Wills Variation Act may be used to ensure that legal and moral obligations are fulfilled to a surviving spouse or child. If not, a court may vary the will to provide for that spouse or child. If a parent disinherits a child in a will, the Wills Variation Act can be used to change that will if the reasons the child was disinherited were not valid and rational.

Various factors will determine the amount to which a child or spouse may be entitled from the estate, such as the financial circumstances or any disability of the surviving spouse or child, the size of the estate, gifts made by the deceased outside of the will, and competing claims against the estate by others.

There is a six month limitation period to start a Wills Variation Act claim. This means that a spouse or child must start an action within six months of the date probate, grant of administration with will annexed or an order sealing a grant issued in another jurisdiction. In most circumstances, if an action is not started within the limitation period, the claim will be extinguished, which means that you can no longer make a claim under the Wills Variation Act.

316 - 2800 East First Avenue
Vancouver, British Columbia V5M 4P3

(604) 253-4525

(604) 253-1080

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