Wednesday, January 9, 2008

What is Subrogation?
Subrogation is a legal term where one party steps into the shoes of another party so as to have their rights against a third party (the responsible party). Subrogation most often arises in insurance matters.
The common example is where you are involved in an automobile accident and the other driver is at fault. If the other driver does not have insurance, your insurance policy will pay for the repairs to your vehicle, minus your applicable deductible. Your Insurance company will then try to recover the funds that it paid to you (or your repair shop) from the responsible party. This is called Subrogation. When the Insurance company pays out any monies on your behalf, they are in essence purchasing your rights to recover against the responsible party. Most often, they will first attempt to work things out with the responsible party, and if that fails, they will file a lawsuit against that person.
In order to prevail at trial, your Insurance company likely will need your testimony in Court to prove what happened in the accident. Unbeknownst to many people, there is actually a clause in virtually all of your insurance policies that says that you have to assist the Insurance company in its Collection or Subrogation efforts. This could mean speaking with an Attorney, Investigator or other individual, or it could mean spending a day or so in Court testifying as to the facts of the incident. If you fail to honor this obligation, there is the possibility that the Insurance Company could file a lawsuit against you, for what would be a “breach of your insurance contract”. If you fail to assist the company with its Subrogation efforts, that may be construed as a breach of your contractual duties under the given insurance policy.
Subrogation is not limited to automobile insurance policies. Many of the cases that I handle are for Homeowners’ or other Property Insurance. The scenario might include a Landlord who owns a rental property, then suffers a loss because one of his Tenants negligently causes a fire. The Landlord’s Insurance policy will pay for the repairs to his building, then it will attempt to recover those funds from the Tenant (responsible party). Again, the insured (Landlord) would have the duty to assist the company with its Subrogation or Collection efforts.
Another situation where Subrogation arises is where you suffer an injury as the result of another’s conduct. Your medical insurance carrier will pay for your medical bills/costs, and then may seek to recover those expenditures from the responsible party.
Greg Artim is an Attorney located in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. For answers to more of your legal questions, please visit his website at www.gregartim.com/subrogation


Changing Washington State Child Support Orders
As the circumstances of parent’s and children’s lives change, there may be a need to modify a Washington State child support order to best serve the interests of children. For example, children may change schools, get involved in activities, or seek tutoring. Parents may change health care providers, suffer a decrease in income, or get married.
An order of child support that has been in effect for less than one year may not be modified except upon a showing of a substantial change of circumstances. However, if a year or more has passed, a party may modify a Washington State child support order without a showing of a substantial change in circumstances if one of the following factors exists:
-Where the current order of child support works a severe economic hardship on either party or the child;
-Where the age of a child being supported under the current order has changed to a different category; or,
-Where the child is still in high school and there is a need to extend support beyond the child’s eighteenth birthday to complete high school.
Furthermore, Washington State family law requires the use of mandatory forms for child support modification, which can be found at Washington State child support attorneys forms.
All Washington State child support orders may be modified once every twenty-four months based upon changes in the income of the parents without a showing of substantially changed circumstances. Either party may initiate the modification by filing a petition and child support worksheets with the court.
Washington State Child Support Lawyers
As with all family law issues, there are many factors to consider in modifying a Washington State child support order. A McKinley Irvin attorney should be consulted to better inform a parent of his or her rights and obligations concerning Washington State child support. For example, in some cases verifying income for a party may be difficult, or there may be expenses for which the primary residential parent is entitled to reimbursement that is not addressed in the current order. There are other technical matters that a competent Washington State child support attorney can deal with such as whether Washington State has jurisdiction over a particular case.
For specific statutory language regarding child support modifications in Washington State please refer to RCW 26.09.170: Modification of decree for maintenance or support, property disposition — Termination of maintenance obligation and child support — Grounds.