Divorce and personal injury settlements

Q: "I have just filed divorce and I'm due a personal injury settlement next week. Is my spouse entitled to any of the money? I'm the one who suffered!"

Your spouse may indeed get a portion of the money. A settlement from an accident may include compensation for lost wages, loss of earning ability, loss of enjoyment of life, and many other things.

The problem is that the wages you lost due to the accident would have gone to both you and your spouse had you not been injured. In other words, you'd have been making money that would have gone to both of you. The same is true for loss of earning ability: you would have been making more money were it not for the accident and that extra money would have gone to the marriage.

Therefore, your spouse does have a claim for a portion of your settlement.

But when you get a settlement, they don't break it down into how much is lost wages, how much is loss of enjoyment, etc. They just give you a check.

This makes it very tough for a judge to determine how much money your spouse is entitled to.

If you are in the position of divorcing and also expecting a settlement, run, don't walk, to your nearest divorce lawyer's office. Otherwise, you may lose a whole lot of money.