Patrick Marutiak

10/31/2024

Two years ago today we lost this great man. He was my boss for many years but so much more. My friend, neighbor, confidant, humor sharer, problem solver, butt coverer, and so much more. But more than to me he was a husband, brother, son, uncle, a supporter of the less fortunate. I miss him.

11/21/2022

11/21/2022

PATRICK MARUTIAK OBITUARY
Our community lost a good and honest lawyer, a wonderful husband and brother, a kind man and a hell of a poker player when Patrick Marutiak passed. Pat was born on March 13, 1959 (a Friday the 13th). He died on October 31, 2022
(Halloween) from lung cancer and complications from Covid. A memorial for Pat will be held Saturday, November 26, 2022 (Thanksgiving weekend) from 4:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. at the Wrought Iron Grill in Owosso. Heavy appetizers will be served. Tributes will be spoken at around 5:00 p.m.
He was taught how to play poker at a young age. He had 5 brothers so there was always a game to be had. On his 13th birthday he went to the horse races with his dad and won, what was to a young man, a huge payout. This cemented a lifelong
love of recreational gambling in all forms.
In 1985 Pat went on his first date with Laura Emmer, came home and announced to his family that he just met the woman he was going to marry. They married in 1986 and she has been the love of his life since. Together they built a country
house that became a sanctuary for animals of all kinds.
Pat attended St Joseph elementary school and Owosso High school (class of 1977). He worked his way through school including working on the railroad which taught him the dignity of manual labor. He obtained a Bachelors from MSU and in 1987 a Juris Doctorate from Cooley Law School. He established a thriving law practice in mid-Michigan which focused on helping people with worker's compensation and social security matters. He was known for his patience with clients and the ability to guide them on decisions. His sense of community included involvement in the ARC, the Michigan Bar Association, Respite Volunteers of Shiawassee, Best Friends Animal Society and a number of other animal welfare organizations. Pat loved dog walks, giving and getting funny greeting cards from his sister-in-law Lisa, the Perry Mason show, Noir movies, fine dining, good landscaping and pranking the neighborhood kids. He hated bad drivers, rude neighbors and onions or garlic. He enjoyed vacations to Anguilla and Mexico which gave him time to read books non-stop. He enjoyed golfing but only for fun, not competition. Pat was very generous and known for giving things large and small to friends and those in need. He gave trips abroad to a number of people. Whenever he bought cookies, he took half of them to his neighbor Liz. The first Valentine's Day after his sister-in-law Leslie's husband died, he sent her a huge bouquet of flowers. His friend and secretary Gail loved him as a boss who not only let her bring dogs to the office but offered to walk them. But he wasn't perfect, he was not allowed to
use power tools and he was unable to master modern technology and still used a flip phone.
He is survived by his wife Laura Marutiak, and 4 brothers: Peter (Gail), Michael (Gerda) Joseph (Mieken) and Mark. He is also survived by sisters-in-law Carolyn Orazi, Leslie Long and Lisa Emmer (Steve DeDoes). He is also survived by nieces and nephews, Eileen, Katrina, Erica, Peter Leroy, Kristian Wilde, Lizzie and Mattias. He leaves behind good friends Judge Matthew Stewart, Michael Goree and many others.
Pat is preceded in death by his father Judge Peter Marutiak, mother Helen Stengle Marutiak, brother David and sister Teresa Marie, mother-in-law Sally Emmer and brother-in-law Jim Long.
Pat always played the cards he was dealt with spirit and, in the end, with wonderful help from Hospice of Lansing, he "knew when to fold them" with dignity and grace.
Memorial Donations are suggested to the ARC of Mid-Michigan 215 N Water, Suite 19, Owosso MI 48867 or to Best Friends Animal Society 5001 Angel Canyon Road Kanab, Utah 84741.

11/21/2022

PATRICK MARUTIAK OBITUARY
Our community lost a good and honest lawyer, a wonderful husband and brother, a kind man and a hell of a poker player when Patrick Marutiak passed. Pat was born on March 13, 1959 (a Friday the 13th). He died on October 31, 2022
(Halloween) from lung cancer and complications from Covid. A memorial for Pat will be held Saturday, November 26, 2022 (Thanksgiving weekend) from 4:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. at the Wrought Iron Grill in Owosso. Heavy appetizers will be served. Tributes will be spoken at around 5:00 p.m.
He was taught how to play poker at a young age. He had 5 brothers so there was always a game to be had. On his 13th birthday he went to the horse races with his dad and won, what was to a young man, a huge payout. This cemented a lifelong
love of recreational gambling in all forms.
In 1985 Pat went on his first date with Laura Emmer, came home and announced to his family that he just met the woman he was going to marry. They married in 1986 and she has been the love of his life since. Together they built a country
house that became a sanctuary for animals of all kinds.
Pat attended St Joseph elementary school and Owosso High school (class of 1977). He worked his way through school including working on the railroad which taught him the dignity of manual labor. He obtained a Bachelors from MSU and in 1987 a Juris Doctorate from Cooley Law School. He established a thriving law practice in mid-Michigan which focused on helping people with worker's compensation and social security matters. He was known for his patience with clients and the ability to guide them on decisions. His sense of community included involvement in the ARC, the Michigan Bar Association, Respite Volunteers of Shiawassee, Best Friends Animal Society and a number of other animal welfare organizations. Pat loved dog walks, giving and getting funny greeting cards from his sister-in-law Lisa, the Perry Mason show, Noir movies, fine dining, good landscaping and pranking the neighborhood kids. He hated bad drivers, rude neighbors and onions or garlic. He enjoyed vacations to Anguilla and Mexico which gave him time to read books non-stop. He enjoyed golfing but only for fun, not competition. Pat was very generous and known for giving things large and small to friends and those in need. He gave trips abroad to a number of people. Whenever he bought cookies, he took half of them to his neighbor Liz. The first Valentine's Day after his sister-in-law Leslie's husband died, he sent her a huge bouquet of flowers. His friend and secretary Gail loved him as a boss who not only let her bring dogs to the office but offered to walk them. But he wasn't perfect, he was not allowed to
use power tools and he was unable to master modern technology and still used a flip phone.
He is survived by his wife Laura Marutiak, and 4 brothers: Peter (Gail), Michael (Gerda) Joseph (Mieken) and Mark. He is also survived by sisters-in-law Carolyn Orazi, Leslie Long and Lisa Emmer (Steve DeDoes). He is also survived by nieces and nephews, Eileen, Katrina, Erica, Peter Leroy, Kristian Wilde, Lizzie and Mattias. He leaves behind good friends Judge Matthew Stewart, Michael Goree and many others.
Pat is preceded in death by his father Judge Peter Marutiak, mother Helen Stengle Marutiak, brother David and sister Teresa Marie, mother-in-law Sally Emmer and brother-in-law Jim Long.
Pat always played the cards he was dealt with spirit and, in the end, with wonderful help from Hospice of Lansing, he "knew when to fold them" with dignity and grace.
Memorial Donations are suggested to the ARC of Mid-Michigan 215 N Water, Suite 19, Owosso MI 48867 or to Best Friends Animal Society 5001 Angel Canyon Road Kanab, Utah 84741.

03/29/2022

The Social Security Administration offers two programmes to provide financial support for people with disabilities, each designed for different groups.

08/24/2021

NO-FAULT UPDATE
The new law for no-fault insurance is now in effect. Most of us received a multi-page questionnaire this summer about what kind of car insurance coverage they wanted. You could elect anything from full coverage on down. I dare say everyone was confused when they got this paperwork. I know I was.
The new law mandates people elect the type of no-fault insurance they want, everything from keeping the unlimited medical coverage down to having no medical coverage at all. These changes put the burden on us to notify our insurance companies of any changes in our health insurance. If you elect to have your health insurance cover your bills first and after purchasing your car insurance you lose that health insurance you must notify your auto insurance company of the fact that you lost your health insurance. If you do not do it within their timeframe and you are injured in a car accident you may not have any coverage anymore. Take for example someone who was hurt on motorcycle in a car accident and the difference between the old law and the new.
Under the old law if you were hurt on a motorcycle and had insurance you would have unlimited medical coverage. Even under the new law you can elect to have unlimited medical coverage. However, if you are hurt on a motorcycle it does not matter what type of coverage you elected. Now if someone is hurt on a bike they are bound by the type of coverage the person has who hit you. I recently heard of one case where an individual lost his leg when he was hit by a car while riding a motorcycle. Though he had full coverage the new law limited him to the car driver’s coverage which was only $50,000.00 for medical bills. He incurred more than $50,000.00 in bills before they even took his leg! Even though he did the right thing by trying to have lifetime medical coverage it did him no good.
There are many other examples of how this new law is going to severely limit claims not only for medical bills but also for pain and suffering if they are hurt by a drunk or negligent driver. Changes will have to be made to the way they modified the law. Much of it makes no sense and exposes people to unnecessary limits to recover damages when they are hurt by no fault of their own. In my opinion it is still best to elect unlimited coverage but it is already evident all this talk about how much it was going to save us in premiums was a fallacy made up by the insurance companies to make more profit.

02/03/2021

Honesty, Integrity, Hard Work, Personal Service, Experience. All the things you get at the Law Office of Patrick Marutiak.

10/01/2020

2 FAVORITE QUOTES

Things are a little slow so I thought I would start posting some of my favorite sayings and poems. The following are two of my favorite quotes. When I have more time I will post a short poem. They are:

I can resist anything but temptation.
Oscar Wilde

No man is totally useless. At least he can serve as a bad example.
Author unknown

08/26/2020

CHANGES IN NO-FAULT LAW
Recently the laws concerning car insurance have had the biggest changes in no-fault since its inception in the early ‘70’s. You can now select what type of medical coverage to have under personal injury protection benefits (referred to as PIP). PIP covers medical and wage expenses which also encompasses such things as nursing care and rehabilitation. These are benefits you draw for economic loss, usually from your own insurance company regardless of who is at fault.

As your car insurance premium becomes due you will notice your company will send you a list of changes where you have to elect what kind of PIP insurance to purchase. Essentially you can elect to keep the old coverage where all medical expenses are covered 100% for life down to being able to elect to have no coverage at all. Michigan’s medical coverage for motor vehicle accidents was the best in the country but there is no question we paid more for these benefits. I believe it is worth the extra cost and the extra cost is nowhere near what the insurance companies lead you to believe.

The main thing to remember is this. Take the extra 15 to 30 minutes and talk to your agent about your options. Go over the difference in annual costs between full medical coverage, partial, or if you can elect it, no coverage at all. Compare the extra cost to the advantages of additional coverage should you be hurt in a car accident.

There are overall to many changes in the no-fault law to go over with in a simple bulletin so if you have any questions regarding coverage feel free to contact us at (989) 725-8118.

06/10/2020

The local courts are starting to open up again. We are allowed to go to court now on a limited basis, but if there are too many people, the overflow must watch the proceedings on YouTube or Zoom. Unfortunately, many of the administrative courts are still closed.

The Workers’ Compensation Disability Agency and the Social Security Administration are still closed. Disability hearings are being held via teleconference calls only (not even by way of Zoom video conferencing). Attorneys cannot even go to these agencies yet.

We will post an update when Workers’ Compensation and Social Security open up. Our office is open for business Monday through Friday. If you want an update as to the status of the courts or have legal questions, please call or stop in. 989-725-8118

04/23/2020

Just to let you know the money we offered to help people has been spent. If we do it again we will post it. Hope we are coming around the corner of this thing.