Would a former spouse have legal grounds for seeking a portion of the money from a former partner’s personal injury settlement?
The loss of an existing spouse deprives the widow or widower of the ability to enjoy the delights of married life.
A settlement award does not count as marital property.
At the time of a divorce or separation, the court looks at all accounts, all funds held, all property possessed, and all debts. Personal injury lawyer in Highland knows that a personal injury settlement does not count as marital property.
What are the features of an item that allow it to be classed as marital property?
It was registered in the name of one or both parties. A joint bank account has that feature.
It was used jointly. That could be a car, even if it had been registered to just one person, but was used by both of the marital partners.
A former spouse could not claim that the money from a former marital partner’s personal injury settlement qualified as marital property.
The money from a personal injury settlement is viewed as private property.
That money belongs to just one person.
The court decides on any division of property, if family members try to claim some portion of a decedent’s estate.
The court deals with both community properties and private property.
Both the money provided by disability compensation, and the funds that might have come from workers’ compensation are viewed as community property.
Suppose that the decedent had been living with someone that had hopes of becoming a new spouse. Could that same person claim a portion of the decedent’s personal injury settlement?
Unless the one spouse had shared utilization of the settlement funds with the unmarried partner, the answer to that question would be “no.”
No former and surviving spouse could try to change arrangements for delivery of the money from any personal injury settlement, if those funds had been delivered to the decedent on a monthly basis. The court would decide on any arrangements for a designated person to receive such deliveries.
It might put one family member in charge of dispersing out the funds from a decedent’s personal injury settlement. Alternately, it might appoint an attorney, so that any dispersed funds were more likely to get apportioned in a fair manner.
Note that all of the family members would have the right to share all or part of what might have been granted to them with one or more of the other family members. Still, none of them could be forced to grant any money to a former spouse.
Furthermore, each family member could count on the court to oversee a fair division of the money that belonged to a loved one.