How a Pending Divorce Can Affect Your Personal Injury Case?

While divorce can be arduous and stressful by itself, a pending personal injury case can add to your woes. If you stand to recover personal injury damages in the midst of a divorce, you may be right in wondering how much of it is yours and how much would you need to split with your estranged spouse.

The answer may vary, depending upon how adversarial your soon-to-be-ex-spouse is and the specific circumstances of your case. Read on to find out the extent to which your spouse can claim entitlement to your personal injury settlement funds in a divorce in Alabama.

What Does Alabama State Law Say About Marital Property?

Unlike some of the states, Alabama applies the equitable distribution concept to split up marital assets and debts. Instead of simply apportioning half of the earnings or accumulations in the marriage to each spouse, the state law seeks to divide assets amongst the spouses in such a way so as to account for disparities in income and non-marital assets.

Under the Alabama marital property distribution laws, equitable distribution is applied to only the marital assets. If the court determines an asset to be non-marital, you are legally entitled to own it entirely and exclusively. However, equitable may not necessarily mean fair. Suffice to say that only the division of marital estate falls under the purview of the court.

Marital Assets and Debts in Alabama

Income earned by either spouse in the course of the marriage

Money received by either spouse in the course of the marriage

Debts accumulated in the course of the marriage

Property purchased in the course of the marriage

Any asset that is commingled with marital property

Non-Marital Assets and Debts in Alabama

Assets acquired through inheritance

Assets acquired before marriage

Assets acquired after legal separation

Assets specifically excluded through a prenuptial or postnuptial contract

Family heirlooms

Division of Personal Injury Damages During a Divorce

Personal injury settlements cover compensation for a wide range of expenses and losses, from medical treatment bills to lost earnings to damages for pain and suffering. While some of these losses impact only the victim in a personal injury case, others may affect their spouse too.

This may lead to some parts of a personal injury settlement being subject to distribution in a divorce and other parts being treated as individual property. The allocation is mainly contingent on the reason for which the damages were awarded in the personal injury case.

While every case has its own unique aspects, here is how a personal injury settlement may be typically divided during divorce in Alabama:

Personal Injury Damages That Are Deemed Marital Assets

Personal injury compensation for the losses and expenses borne in some or equal measure by the spouse include:

Compensation for Medical Expenses

Extraordinary medical expenses can prove to be a substantial drain on a married couple. Under healthcare insurance plans both the spouses may be liable for the payment of medical bills, leading the law to label medical expenses as marital property.

Compensation for Lost Wages

The sudden loss of income due to the incapacitation of one spouse can hit the household budget hard, irrespective of the fact whether one or both spouses are gainfully employed. The compensation amount awarded to an injured individual for their lost wages following an accident is often considered marital property because it supports both spouses during the period of recuperation.

Compensation for Loss of Spousal Support

When an individual who sustains injuries is unable to provide physical, emotional, or mental support to their spouse, damages awarded in lieu of the loss of that support are deemed marital property meant for both the spouses.

Damages That Are Considered Non-Marital Assets

Some share of a personal injury settlement awarded to the injured individual compensates for losses that they bear alone. The damages that may not be considered marital property include:

Compensation for Disfigurement or Disability

The compensation that an individual may recover for permanent disability or disfigurement caused due to an accident, may often be considered to be theirs alone. The court may not allow the other spouse to access damages awarded for such losses, in a divorce.

Compensation for Pain and Suffering

The pain and suffering that an accident victim goes through are theirs to endure alone, and cannot be felt by a spouse, no matter how sensitive or sympathetic they are. Therefore, the court does not designate pain and suffering compensation as a marital asset.

Compensation for Work-Related Training

If an injured person needs supplementary job training to resume work after their recovery, compensation awarded for the purpose is typically not considered marital property.

Compensation for Future Medical Expenses

Typically, each spouse will take care of their own insurance after the divorce. Hence it makes sense that the money to be used for future medical costs should not be divided as a marital asset.

Choose a Dedicated Alabama Divorce Attorney to Protect Your Rights

If you were involved in an accident and are in the middle of your divorce at the same time, you must retain the services of both a personal injury attorney and an experienced divorce lawyer. Alabama law can prove to be a little intricate and perplexing when it comes to the division of personal injury settlements in divorce.

Even in an amicable divorce, emotions can sometimes run high, and you do not want to find yourself without competent legal support and guidance against an adversarial partner. Reach out to us at Smith Law Firm, where we have decades of experience in handling divorce cases as well as divorce-related complications.

Call us today at 334-377-1674 or contact us online to schedule a initial consultation with one of our Alabama family law attorneys.