Washington Injuries Definition

Legal and insurance terms explained plainly

Miss this idea after a crash or DUI stop, and a breath test can look more damning than you expect. The absorptive phase is the period after someone drinks alcohol but before...

DEFINITION 2026-03-30

adversary proceeding

You might see this in a bankruptcy notice, a court docket, or a line that says a creditor or trustee has "filed an adversary proceeding" in your case. That usually means the...

DEFINITION 2026-03-25

automatic stay

You just got a letter that says a bankruptcy case was filed and an automatic stay is now in effect. That means a legal freeze started the moment the bankruptcy petition was...

DEFINITION 2026-03-28

BAC legal limit

The maximum blood alcohol concentration the law allows for driving. "BAC" means blood alcohol concentration: the amount of alcohol in a person's bloodstream, usually measured...

DEFINITION 2026-03-30

bankruptcy trustee

One of the quickest ways to lose money in a bankruptcy case is to underestimate the person checking your paperwork, your property, and your payments. That person is the...

DEFINITION 2026-03-25

cease and desist letter

Defense lawyers and insurance companies sometimes wave around a cease and desist letter like it is a court order, hoping people will go quiet, delete posts, stop talking to...

DEFINITION 2026-03-23

Chapter 11 reorganization

A court-supervised process that lets a business, and sometimes an individual, keep operating while restructuring debt. "Court-supervised" means the case is filed in federal...

DEFINITION 2026-03-26

Chapter 13 repayment plan

You just got a letter that says your Chapter 13 case can move forward only if a repayment plan is filed, confirmed, and kept current. That plan is a court-approved schedule for...

DEFINITION 2026-03-26

Chapter 7 liquidation

What trips people up most is that filing does not always mean a person loses everything. Chapter 7 liquidation is a type of personal or business bankruptcy in which a...

DEFINITION 2026-03-26

CR 35 exam

You just got a letter that says the defense wants you to attend a "CR 35 examination" after a crash on I-82 near Yakima or a fall on a Seattle sidewalk. That usually means the...

DEFINITION 2026-03-21

cramdown

You just got a letter that says a bankruptcy plan may "cram down" a lender's claim, and the phrase sounds harsher than it is. In plain terms, a cramdown is a court-approved...

DEFINITION 2026-03-25

discharge of debts

This is what can stop old bills from draining your paycheck, freezing your bank account, or swallowing money that should go toward rent, groceries, or recovery after an injury....

DEFINITION 2026-03-29

dry reckless

Not a separate crime for "driving carefully after a drink," and not the same thing as a DUI. A dry reckless is usually a reckless driving charge that gets negotiated down from...

DEFINITION 2026-03-30

exempt vs non-exempt property

The part that trips people up most is simple: "exempt" does not mean nobody can ever touch it, and "non-exempt" does not mean you automatically lose it. In plain terms, exempt...

DEFINITION 2026-03-23

field sobriety test

You may see this show up in a police report, charging papers, or an officer's words at the roadside: "failed field sobriety tests" or "refused field sobriety testing." It means...

DEFINITION 2026-04-02

foundation

What an insurance company does not want you to know is that a photo, record, or witness statement is only as strong as the footing under it. Like a ladder in an orchard row,...

DEFINITION 2026-03-21

fraudulent transfer

People often mix this up with a preferential transfer, but they are not the same. A fraudulent transfer happens when someone moves money or property to keep it away from...

DEFINITION 2026-03-27

homestead exemption in bankruptcy

Can bankruptcy take your home? Sometimes yes, but the homestead exemption is the rule that can protect some or all of the equity in the place you live when you file bankruptcy....

DEFINITION 2026-03-28

horizontal gaze nystagmus

The part that trips people up most is that this is not a breath test and it does not give a blood-alcohol number. It is an eye test used by police during a roadside field...

DEFINITION 2026-04-02

implied consent

Not the same as freely saying "yes" to anything police ask, implied consent is a legal rule that treats certain consent as already given because a person chose to do something...

DEFINITION 2026-04-02

licensing agreement

Not a sale, and not a transfer of ownership. That is where people get burned. A licensing agreement lets one party use someone else's intellectual property or other protected...

DEFINITION 2026-03-23

means test

People mix up the means test with the median income cutoff, but they are not the same thing. The median income number is just the first gate. The means test is the bigger...

DEFINITION 2026-03-24

meeting of creditors (341 hearing)

You just got a letter that says you must attend a "meeting of creditors" on a specific date after filing bankruptcy. That notice is about a required bankruptcy proceeding under...

DEFINITION 2026-03-28

misdemeanor DUI

A misdemeanor DUI is a criminal charge for driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or both when the offense is treated as a lower-level crime than a felony, even though...

DEFINITION 2026-03-31

non-dischargeable debt

Whether a debt can be wiped out in bankruptcy can change everything about a person's finances and the value of a legal claim. Some debts go away when a bankruptcy case ends,...

DEFINITION 2026-03-28

operating under the influence

Like trying to steer a boat through winter chop with a fogged windshield and a slow reaction time, operating under the influence means being in control of a vehicle, vessel, or...

DEFINITION 2026-04-04

OWI

A label like this can cost far more than a ticket: towing, bail, higher insurance, license trouble, and a criminal record can pile up fast. Bad advice often starts with "it's...

DEFINITION 2026-03-29

preference payment

Miss this issue in a bankruptcy case, and money you thought was safely paid can get clawed back months later. A preference payment is a payment or transfer a debtor makes to...

DEFINITION 2026-03-26

prejudicial effect

A bad piece of evidence can cost real money. If a judge lets the jury hear something that sparks anger, fear, or disgust more than it proves a fact, that can drag down a...

DEFINITION 2026-03-22

probative value

You just got a letter that says a photo, medical note, or witness statement has "low probative value," and after everything you have been dealing with, that can feel like...

DEFINITION 2026-03-22

proof of claim

Miss the deadline, file the wrong amount, or leave out supporting records, and a debt that should have been paid in a bankruptcy case can end up ignored or paid at a lower...

DEFINITION 2026-03-23

reaffirmation agreement

Not a magical way to "keep everything" in bankruptcy, and not a casual promise you can shrug off later. It is a written deal made during a bankruptcy case where a debtor agrees...

DEFINITION 2026-03-26

retrograde extrapolation

You'll usually see this phrase in a police report, prosecutor's charging papers, a toxicology report, or hear it from an officer or expert saying they can "work backward" from...

DEFINITION 2026-04-01

secured vs unsecured debt

Miss this distinction after a serious injury, and a creditor may have rights against specific property you thought was safe. Secured debt is backed by collateral - something...

DEFINITION 2026-03-28

super extreme DUI

Insurance adjusters and defense lawyers may throw around labels like "super extreme DUI" to make a driver sound especially reckless, push blame onto an injured person, or...

DEFINITION 2026-04-02

wet reckless

Insurance adjusters and defense lawyers often use "wet reckless" to make an alcohol-related driving case sound minor, arguing there was "no DUI conviction" or that impairment...

DEFINITION 2026-03-30