Tate & Tate provides experienced legal representation in many different areas of the law. We focus on estate planning and administration (including wills, trusts, and probate), Social Security disability insurance and Supplemental Security income appeals, and misdemeanor criminal defense and other matters involving local municipal courts, such as DUI, criminal trespassing, petty theft, and moving violations cases.
Estate Planning and Estate Administration
Estate planning involves putting several strategies in place to manage your assets, express your healthcare preferences, and protect your beneficiaries and your legacy. At Tate & Tate, we handle most kinds of estate planning and administration matters, including those involving wills, trusts, family limited partnerships, conservatorships, guardianships, powers of attorney, advance health care directives, and more. Part of our estate planning practice focuses on veterans’ benefits, Medicare, and other elder law or eldercare issues. We can also help you plan for and navigate the probate process. Whatever your specific estate planning needs may be, we’re here to help you put the necessary protections in place to keep the future bright.
Social Security Disability Insurance
When an American worker cannot go back to their job due to the onset of a temporary or permanent disability, they have the right to apply for federal Social Security disability insurance benefits. This involves submitting an application to the Social Security Administration, which is then turned over to Alabama Disability Determination Services for consideration. Unfortunately, ADDS often denies benefits to first-time applicants. Some of these denials (called technical denials) stem from the applicant’s lack of sufficient work history to qualify for SSDI. Under such circumstances, the individual concerned may be eligible for Supplemental Security Income. If the ADDS denies your claim, you still have the right to appeal your case to have the denial overturned. Fortunately, most people who move to appeal their applications successfully obtain their benefits at some stage of the appeals process. What’s more, those individuals who partner with an experienced SSDI attorney during the appeals process are roughly twice as likely to get their benefits approved than those who do not.
If you are unable to continue working because of a physical or mental disability and the ADDS has denied your appeal for non-technical reasons, call the father-son attorney team at Tate & Tate to learn more about the SSDI appeals process in the State of Alabama. We never collect a fee unless we’re successful in getting your denial overturned, and even then, the law entitles us to only a modest fraction of your past-due benefits.
Traffic and Misdemeanor Criminal Defense
Under Alabama’s State Code, the municipal court of the city in whose jurisdiction the offense occurred handles most criminal misdemeanors, including traffic violations. Examples of cases tried in the municipal court include DUI, domestic violence, misdemeanor cannabis possession, shoplifting and other petty theft, criminal trespass, and speeding tickets and moving violations. In most cases, convictions in municipal court result in fines of up to $500 and a year in jail, among other consequences like mandatory counseling, restitution payments, or probation. However, when drunk driving charges like DUI or DWI are involved, the Alabama Criminal Code can impose much harsher sentences. In some cases, defendants can expect to pay thousands of dollars in fines if convicted. If you have been charged with a misdemeanor or traffic offense, the experienced criminal defense attorneys at Tate & Tate are here to help. Even when we can’t beat our clients’ charges – or get them dismissed – we can usually still find ways to get them substantially reduced. We can also assist you with protecting your driving privileges if you are facing an administrative suspension of your license by the Alabama DMV following an arrest for DUI.
