personal injury division in alabama

[lilbit4590504]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? alabama

i am currently going through a very ugly divorce. my husband was injured during our marriage and we underwent a lawsuit to gain compensation for it. about a year after the injury he decided he wanted to stay married and live together but do our on thing because he didnt want a divorce to affect the outcome of his lawsuit. he talked me into not filing for divorce because he needed my testimony in the depositions and if it went to court convinced me that it would look bad if we were not married. the agreement was in return i would have 1/3 of the settlement for doing this and we could get a divorce immediately after settlement was reached...ofcourse he became abusive in jan this year and i moved out but honored the non divorce agreement to insure a good future for our children. now he has reached a settlement and has ofcourse decided that i don't get any of it.. so i am curious to what the personal injury division laws are on divorce in alabama.

 

[mistoffolees]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? alabama

i am currently going through a very ugly divorce. my husband was injured during our marriage and we underwent a lawsuit to gain compensation for it. about a year after the injury he decided he wanted to stay married and live together but do our on thing because he didnt want a divorce to affect the outcome of his lawsuit. he talked me into not filing for divorce because he needed my testimony in the depositions and if it went to court convinced me that it would look bad if we were not married. the agreement was in return i would have 1/3 of the settlement for doing this and we could get a divorce immediately after settlement was reached...ofcourse he became abusive in jan this year and i moved out but honored the non divorce agreement to insure a good future for our children. now he has reached a settlement and has ofcourse decided that i don't get any of it.. so i am curious to what the personal injury division laws are on divorce in alabama.

His verbal agreement is irrelevant. Even if it's a written agreement, it will not be binding on the divorce court. However, if it's written (or you can prove it some other way - such as witnesses), the AL divorce court can consider it since AL is an equitable distribution state (the judge can divide the property in a 'fair' manner.

If it's not provable in any way, it goes to whatever the judge decides. The division will depend on what the lawsuit was for. If it's recovery of PAST damages, then there's a good chance you could get a part of it. If it's for loss of future earnings, you may be entitled to part of the portion of lost earnings that occurs during the term of the marriage, but the portion that covers lost earnings AFTER the marriage is separate property. If it's personal damage (loss of a finger, for example), it would be separate property and you would not get any. It gets complex.

How long were you married and how much is the lawsuit settlement?

 

[lilbit4590504]

we are married now and have been since 2004. we have 3 boys 8,5, and 3 and i have been a stay at home mom the entire marriage... his injury was a loss of eye sight in one eye.

 

[mistoffolees]

we are married now and have been since 2004. we have 3 boys 8,5, and 3 and i have been a stay at home mom the entire marriage... his injury was a loss of eye sight in one eye.

Chances are that you won't get any of the settlement - unless you can prove that he agreed to give you 1/3. Even then there's no guarantee.

 

[nextwife]

What portion is pain and suffering?

 

[lilbit4590504]

almost all of it was for pain on a small portion was for future wages cause he was able to go back to his current job he will just never regain eye sight.... i also have the original contracts where we were both taken on as clients... when we originally hired attorneys we were both under contract to the attorney's

 

[lilbit4590504]

and the eye sight loss was in one eye

 

[mistoffolees]

almost all of it was for pain on a small portion was for future wages cause he was able to go back to his current job he will just never regain eye sight.... i also have the original contracts where we were both taken on as clients... when we originally hired attorneys we were both under contract to the attorney's

I really don't think that's going to change anything. Unless you can prove that he said he'd give you 1/3 of the settlement, the only portion you would be entitled to is 1/2 of the amount for lost wages during the time you were married. The rest is his separate property (and why should you benefit from the fact that he lost an eye?).