Staten Island Workers' Compensation Law Blog

It can be difficult to drag yourself away from life’s busy moments to start estate planning. But planning for your family’s future is crucial, especially when you’re a parent of young children. While many people think that estate planning is reserved for older couples or individuals, drafting a will as soon as possible can help bring your family financial security and peace of mind.

Choosing a guardian for your child is one step that you should include in the estate planning process. These four factors can help you make this important decision.

Most people do not anticipate suffering serious injuries. Unfortunately, severe harm can come seemingly out of nowhere, especially when a sudden accident takes place. It is not unusual for injury-causing incidents to occur for individuals who work with dangerous equipment while on the job. When this happens, individuals often need financial assistance from workers' compensation.

New York readers may be interested in an out-of-state accident that caused severe injuries to one worker. Apparently, the man had been utilizing some kind of saw while carrying out his duties on a construction site. The saw kicked back, and as a result, the blade hit the man in the chest, neck and jaw, causing a severe laceration from his sternum to his jaw.

The job market in America is in recovery. Even so, there are many New Yorkers unable to find full-time employment or who are between jobs. When this happens, they may consider temporary work to make a living while they wait for something better to come along. A lot of these workers end up in blue-collar work environments with heavy machinery, great heights and overall high risk for injury.

According to MarketWatch, temp workers now end up at desk jobs less and less often. For instance, in Pennsylvania, just 21% of temp workers are employed in an office. In contrast, 45% of workers end up working jobs in manufacturing and transportation. They also receive lower pay than most other workers.

For many New York residents, one of the most complicated aspects of planning for the future relates to health care. Part of your estate planning may include creating a health care advance directive and/or a living will to state your preferences for medical treatment. Another essential part of planning ahead includes figuring out how to cover health care expenses. One option is investing in long-term care insurance, which may help offset the cost of extended care.

While traditional health insurance generally covers medical treatments and medications, it may not pay for assistance with bathing, dressing and other daily activities. If you end up needing some of these personal services from a home health care worker or a caregiver in an assisted living or nursing home, you may have to pay for them yourself. Some experts recommend buying long-term care insurance to help protect retirement savings if you get an injury or illness that requires long-term care.