What is the name of your state? California
I have a basic question that someone might be able to help -
Out of the blue my wife decided that our marriage isn't working and she is contemplating separation/divorce. I'm shocked about her decision and currently going through some counseling to better myself and how to cope with the situation.
The scenario is this - about a year ago my wife went through a surgery and 3 months after that we discovered that there was a foreign object left inside her. We naturally filed two lawsuits against the hospital/doctor for medical malpractice. One for her and one for me. We are in the process of settling this case and obviously there will be some compensation for both of us. Being that her lawsuit was the main one and mine was only for loss of consortium there obviously will be a large discrepancy between her settlement versus mine.
My question is - Will her settlement and my settlement be part of the community property should we divorce? Or will she get to keep all of her settlement? I am having a hard time getting a clear answer reading the CA. Family code section 780-783. My wife keeps telling me that this settlement is all hers to keep and I wanted to get an unbias opinion. Thanks in advance.
Here's the link to CA. Code 780-783:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=fam&group=00001-01000&file=780-783
I have a basic question that someone might be able to help -
Out of the blue my wife decided that our marriage isn't working and she is contemplating separation/divorce. I'm shocked about her decision and currently going through some counseling to better myself and how to cope with the situation.
The scenario is this - about a year ago my wife went through a surgery and 3 months after that we discovered that there was a foreign object left inside her. We naturally filed two lawsuits against the hospital/doctor for medical malpractice. One for her and one for me. We are in the process of settling this case and obviously there will be some compensation for both of us. Being that her lawsuit was the main one and mine was only for loss of consortium there obviously will be a large discrepancy between her settlement versus mine.
My question is - Will her settlement and my settlement be part of the community property should we divorce? Or will she get to keep all of her settlement? I am having a hard time getting a clear answer reading the CA. Family code section 780-783. My wife keeps telling me that this settlement is all hers to keep and I wanted to get an unbias opinion. Thanks in advance.
Here's the link to CA. Code 780-783:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=fam&group=00001-01000&file=780-783